I literally said “oh NOooo” aloud in a Mario-like cadence without even thinking when I read this headline. It’s sad to see him go, he was such a perfect fit for the job in every way.
I hope Chris Pratt replaces him but actually doesn’t want to. He just didn’t realize the contract also stated he would voice the character in video games in perpetuity.
@MyFairJulia I wish but let's be real, dude is old, he would retire sooner or later. It will be so difficult to top him though, but perhaps someone was already found as Mario's voice in Wonder sounds slightly different.
Do they even need to replace him though? There's a 25-year back catalog of recorded voice lines to recycle, and most of those consist of "Let's-a-go" and "Yahoooo!" I think the most complex sentace I've ever heard Mario speak in game is "Thank-a-you so much for playing my game". Combine that with AI voice recreation, and there's literally no reason to ever hire a replacement. Just cut Martinet a big-ass check for perpetual use of his voice, and they're golden.
They'd probably prather not pay likeness fees, and there are a LOT of legal considerations Martinet would have to consider as signing the rights away to his own voice brings a lot of considerational challenges.
I feel like I used to have a Mario card game on my 90’s Macintosh? We played go fish in the back of a limo or something… I recall he had pretty complex voice lines in that game.
I'm pretty sure all the edutainment titles predate Charles Martinet as the voice of Mario, and I don't think Nintendo would ever make a game like that these days.
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