A voiceless Mario? Voice Actor Charles Martinet steps down from his iconic role of the Mario

Mario has been arguably the most prolific video game icon the world over. This is for many reasons. From the iconic moustache and the sprite like pep in his platformer antics, and, in the more latter part of his existence – his voice.

And sadly Mario may be losing his pipes all together, albeit the ones that made him a iconic staple at Nintendo. Voice actor Charles Martinet, who has been responsible for the iconic voice of the video game character Mario spanning decades, is “stepping back from recording character voices” for Nintendo.

Noted for the decision is Martinet’s transition into a new vocation – which is not removed fro Nintendo in the sligthtest. Now an ambassador of sorts, Martinet will travel the world and interact with fans on behalf of the gaming company.

So what does this mean for future games featuring our beloved Italian plumber? That’s anyone’s guess, though with what surely is a vault of recording and technology that can generate just about anything (despite the moral and legal implications of AI at the moment), we think Nintendo is covered granted permissions are acquired. As for our beloved catchphrases like  “Mamma mia”, “Wahoo!” and “Let’s-a go!”, I don’t think we’ll be losing those anytime soon.

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