Nintendo is conservative yes, in some ways, and a few Nintendo gamers are conservative. But when I read "most of Nintendo's IPs haven't really changed much since years gone by" it baffles me really, since Nintendo ans Nintendo gamers are actually the ones who endure more new and different things. I don't want to make a big thread on this since it's not the right topic for it but so I'll make, instead a few topics.

Consoles/controllers

N64 - Gamecube - Wii - WiiU: Nintendo owners see Analog - Dual Analog - motion controllers - tablet controller, everyone else see: gimmick - gimmick - gimmick

PS1 - PS2 - PS3 - PS4: don't need to point out, controllers are pretty much always the same

Xbox - X360 - X1: don't need to point out, controllers are pretty much always the same

Games (Xbox/PS heavy sellers)

Uncharted - 1 to 4, all in same generation, all same game, improved visuals, different story

CoDs - 1 to 367th, mostly 7h generation, all same game, same visuals, differente story (worse every itineration)

FIFA - every itineration same game,  different teams (a few players that is)

Assassin's Creed - Same game, same visuals (improved with unity), same gameplay, different story, gets worse every new itineration, they now seam to release 2 games per year (!)

GT/Forza - same games, same gameplay, improved visuals (only per generation, but they release more than one game per generation), hell until PS3 generation GT had 7 entries (not counting prologues and such) while Mario Kart had until Wii 4 entries and has been around since SNES (one generation earlier)

Games (Nintendo heavy sellers)

Mario - Super Mario Bros (SNES) - Super Mario 64 (N64) - Super Mario Sunshine (NGC) - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - NewSMBros (Wii) - SM3DW (Wii U) which are: 2d mario - 3d Mario open worldish - 3d Mario open worldish where gameplay revolves around a waterthrower - can't really describe what Galaxy is but again it's completely differente gameplay - again back to 2d Marios 3 generations later - 3D mario in closed levels (can't find the words to describe it)

Metroid: Super Metroid - skips generation - Prime Trilogy - Other M and that is 2D Metroid - (skips generation) - 1st person adventure - 3D Metroid on 3rd person, different games, different stories, same skin

Zelda: Started as 2D open world from the top down, to 3D Zelda, to Celshaded Zelda, to linear Zelda with "gimmicky" motion controls, to open world 3D Zelda, i.e., it keeps changing with different aesthetics/art styles and gameplay tweaks

Mario Kart - Until Wii, 4 entries for consoles, few gameplay improvements over predecessor, improved graphics. This changes as much as a driving game can change, i.e., very few, the difference is you get one entry per gen while GT/Forza get get 2-3 games per gen;

SSBros - the same as for Mario Kart, Fighting genre doesn't change that much, but use Tekken/Street Fighter instead of GT/Forza

And  could go on saying Nintendo publishes the likes of Bayonetta/Devil's Third, introduces motion control sports gaming in millions of homes with new concept called Wiisports games, several Mario games (Super charged, Tennis, Party - footall, Tennis, Party game, different games same skin), etc.

Long story short you might not like their games, might not like Mario & Co., might not like the "non-mature" and "gimmicky" way of Nintendo, they sure as hell have made several mistakes in the past, but to argue their IPs haven't changed much and they are the conservative ones (at least gamingwise) when other consoles sell tons of the same stuff every year, is just plain stupid, no offense.

I read plenty, but in a Video game reading a pop-up thing does absolutely nothing to help immersion.

The best solution would be the Animal Crossing approach (or Midna, more pertinently). Just get a few voice actors in for a day to record some phonemes, have the game engine compile random honks, burps and warbles from them, then just say everyone's speaking Hylian.

Aonuma is just evil enough do this. This is what he has been "considering".

Well, by timeline wize, yes, Link/Zelda/etc are "different" but when people first hear their voice, they won't justify the voices like that if they don't like it. There will just be hate and nothing else and the few people that try to justify it won't matter cause it butchered the sales regardless. And bad VA is a valid argument and you havn't really disproven it at all... All you essentially said is that it can't happen which isn't really disproving it but rather just ignoring the fact that its a possibility.

But okay, the other issue is that what's good enough for Nintendo might not be good enough for their fans. Another example of this is Mario Sunshine which had good enough VA for Nintendo cause they released it but the VA Nintendo was terrible and cringeworthy at best for the rest of us and this was one of their main franchises! Compare that to GTA 3 which had excellent voice acting by comparison and it came around the sametime. Sure, times have changed and Zelda has more dialog than Mario but that does not mean that what's good enough for Nintendo might be good enough for the rest of us. And its not really unacceptable, look at the 3ds, look at Pokemon X and Y as well as other 3ds games, they sell a shit ton without any VA what so ever. And imo, the best way to get money from its fans is to make sure Nintendo doesn't piss them off by taking unnessary risks and most fans won't care about VA until Nintendo puts it in themselves

And we won't know this for sure but of course, if they hit the right strides, then it will be a positive, no one is arguing that fact, the issue is that if it doesn't, it will be a huge issue that will plague the franchise forever. And I am pretty sure the reason they couldn't take say SS (cause it was the last console Zelda) seriously is cause of its handholding, annoying Fi and motion controls as well as other things and not cause the lack of VA.

And its not really settling for less cause Zelda exceeds in many other aspects where many games in its genre has failed or give a sub-par experience and those parts are far more important than any kind of VA

What was good enough for Nintendo 15 years ago is completely different from what's good enough for them now, when it comes to VA. They've made great advances in VA quality since then, and there hasn't been a poor job of VA in Nintendo since Other M, nearly half a decade ago. Everything since has been superb.

The issue is not "if it doesn't." If it doesn't, then Nintendo needs to fire their localization staff and hire more compitent writers and more talented casting staff for the next Zelda game. That's not a VA problem, and that's not a valid argument. It is settling for less. Zelda has failed in terms of pacing, cohesion, and storytelling compared to other games in it's genre presicely due to the lack of VA. Not explecting Nintendo to improve on an area where it fails is, by definition, settling for less.

I never said that bad voice acting can hapen. I said that bad voice acting is not an argument against the implementation on VA, because it's not, and I've explained why half a dozen times already.

Well, sure, the Other M was a long time ago but considering how little # of games that actually have VA when it comes to Nintendo, it should be counted. And it hasn't been completely superb... Look at Pandora's Tower for the wii, the VA was terrible (as well as other things) and that got released in 2012.

And thats the thing, if it doesn't, then the Zelda sales for the wiiU is fucked and the wiiU sales will take a hit hence why its better to do VA when their console is successful rather than when its selling terribly. And also, look at other games without VA from Nintendo that has managed to do excellent. Heck, look at Mario Galaxy. That was one of the highest rated games of the generation but no once did any reviewers say, you know what I miss, some VA from Sunshine or VA in general cause the gameplay was that excellent which is really, all Zelda needs in order to succeed. The sales might not be as high as the other Zelda's but that won't be due to a lack of VA, but rather a lack of an install base provided the rest of the game is excellent. And the same goes for every other game these days that don't have VA when it comes ot Nintendo games. No one ever really complains or docks points for not having VA in a Nintendo game if it has already been the staple in the blah franchise.

Well... Firstly, I wasn't trying to downplay Nintendo if thats the impression you got out of it. I was trying to say is that they stick with what they know and they do it better than anyone in the specific catogory. Secondly, I do love Nintendo games and the only console/handheld I own right now is the wiiU/3ds and I get my third party stuff from PC and I am proud of it cause the only reason I bought those two at launch is cause of the Nintendo games. Thirdly, I never said that they don't innovate in anyway cause they do change it up, just not very drastically imo (except for a few exceptions) which isn't a bad thing at all and as you have listed, every developer does this and imo, Nintendo does this better and more consistantly than any other developer/publisher hence why Nintendo should stick with what they know and not try to be like some other developers that went into places just for the sake of trying to drastically change.

Seriously Zelda will not be ruined if it doesn't have voice acting, nor will it be ruined if it does. I don't see why this has to be such a heated issue for people.

The presence of voice acting requires a change to the writing approach in a video game. The sort of dialogue typically found in the Zelda series works very well for the text-only approach, but it would sound awkward and forced if voice-acted. If they want to maintain the same writing style, I've no problem with them eschewing voice acting. If they want to use voice acting, which I'm fine with, they'll have to take that into consideration while writing the dialogue. I think this is one of the reasons the gibberish approach interests Aonuma, because they could technically have everyone "speaking" without having to factor it into the writing.

Honestly, if ever there was a time for them to consider voice acting, this is it. The game is already huge, might as well go big or go home. And I do want to have voice acting in a modern Zelda game, just to see how it feels. I might like it, I might not.