Super Mario Bros. Wonder team once experimented with live commentary

destructoid.com:

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if someone commented on every decision you made in Mario? Well, according to a recent Super Mario Bros. Wonder developer interview, the idea of live commentary was tested for the game.

Takashi Tezuka, a producer on Wonder, asked the game’s programming director, Shiro Mouri, about the concept during the game’s development. From there, the team “actually spent about six months seriously developing live commentary,” according to Nintendo’s Koichi Hayashida, in hopes of adding voices that matched the player’s actions.

During development, a generic “newscaster” voice and a “Tsundere” option were entertained. A Japanese adjective, Tsundere is usually attributed towards a person or personality that’s cold and harsh with glimpses of affection. Popular examples include Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Rukia from Bleach.

“In fact, according to our play test records, quite a few people were switching to the Tsundere commentary,” said Mouri, which prompted laughs from the team.

Unfortunately, Tezuka—one of the supporters of the idea—realized that “if we were to do this commentary feature seriously, just the process of creating voice variations alone would’ve involved a tremendous amount of work.” The idea was dropped but the concept led to the creation of the Talking Flowers, which give the player comments when roaming the Flower Kingdom.

“We thought the gameplay might be more enjoyable if the Talking Flowers speak to you and you can resonate with what they’re saying,” said Tezuka.

“They’ve got some funny lines like, ‘Make sure you’re getting your veggies!’ as a parent might say,” added Masanobu Sato, Super Mario Bros. Wonder‘s art director. “I think it’s a fun experience for those