No one will ever replace ah-you!
If you haven't already seen... the man, the myth, the legend, Charles Martinet, the voice of Super Mario himself... has... retired.
Thank you Mr. Martinet for blowing my mind when I started playing Super Mario 64 Christmas morning! hahaha. Up until then, Super Mario was nothing but a pixelated plumber.
It's not a dark day yet! Based on the the press release above it seems like Martinet will still be traveling around and possibly appearing in Comicons or other events? "sharing the joy!"
Going forward the thing I really care about when it comes to Nintendo voices is that they treat them with as much respect as Martinet did. It's not just about imitating that familiar voice... it's about bringing the same level of originality to the table and not trying to re-create a classic.
I guess the Mario Wonder trailer featured a NEW Mario voice actor. We will see how the franchise goes moving forward. I'm sure it will be fine. Voice actors in no way make video game play BUT it certainly makes a memorable character!
(PS: if you're wondering what Martinet is holding in that picture with me... it is the signed copy of the 2nd and 3rd game he ever voiced as Mario... the first being the Super Mario pinball machine! You can check out the post here)
