Curse you dubbers!

[Blue Blood]

See, this is one other reason I prefer subtitles, actually.

If you're watching something subtitled, it doesn't matter about little distractions and noises so much- people talking in the other room, noise from eating/ crunching/ sweet and snack packets, simply doesn't matter. Whereas if you're watching something in English, you're at the mercy of your ears, and anyone else making a noise within earshot is going to make you miss something. At least with subtitles, even if you get the odd bit of background noise, you can still read it. Although maybe that's just me, coming from a full house and with parents who have little concern about interrupting you in the middle of something.

It does also solve the matter that some dubs have where the background music and sound effects can almost drown out the dialogue at times.

If that's a bother you set the audio and the subtitles to English.

[Mauro Fonseca]

If that's a bother you set the audio and the subtitles to English.

[SuperStingray]

I really wish there was more often an option to turn off subtitles in cutscenes but turn them on ingame. With a cutscene, it's just a movie and subtitles kind of ruin the immersion for me there, but ingame, there are other things and noises going on- I need to be able to see the words on screen. Seriously, the clever wit of Eggman over the PA in Sonic Colors was completely for naught since I couldn't hear a word out of him.

[Blue Blood]

I really wish there was more often an option to turn off subtitles in cutscenes but turn them on ingame. With a cutscene, it's just a movie and subtitles kind of ruin the immersion for me there, but ingame, there are other things and noises going on- I need to be able to see the words on screen. Seriously, the clever wit of Eggman over the PA in Sonic Colors was completely for naught since I couldn't hear a word out of him.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Blue Blood

[Glenn]

Subtitles during gameplay are when they're the most frustrating, personally. Sure, they annoy the heck out of me during cutscenes, just as they do during films or television, but you can at least try to ignore them. During gameplay, however, you're supposed to be alert and aware of many things: your character, the environment, any incoming enemies, the path ahead, your HUD display, new objective updates, crosshairs, etc. etc. Having subtitles flash up in-game immediately catches your eye (natural human instinct to read writing when it appears) but means you're distracted from a move, a shot, your health bar, an enemy's movement, a QTE command or the wall of spikes you're about to run into.

[TheGerkuman]

People should have the option of both, and people should not look down on others for liking dubs when they like subs and vice versa. Anime fans forget that they are actually only a small part of the market and that the main audience the companies are going for is for a general audience. To get a general audience, you generally need a dub. So companies make both sub and dub versions, to cater for both markets.

I'm personally a Dub fan. But then, when my favourite anime of all time is Samurai Pizza Cats, you can see how far down that track I am. ;

[Marcello]

A weird situation I was in once was when I rented Tony Hawk Project 8, I think. I had my 360 set to English and when the game started it was in French xD. I had to play in German then.

[Remy]

Good Dub > Sub > Bad Dub, tbh, although as long as I can read the text, spoken language factors very low into my list of things to buy a game for.

I do think it's nice touch when a foreign game has a well done dub (recent example: persona 3/4) but when games are left in the original language (or in some cases, contain no spoken acting) it doesn't really bother me either.

Bad dubs totally suck though. I mean, PS1 JRPG Grandia is one of my favourite games /ever/ but that doesn't make it any less awful when I have to listen to the characters speak. Sue and Justin sound terrible, yet despite this it's still one of my favourite games- essentially it irks me but it doesn't really worry me severely, voice acting, that is.