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Re: Going Graphical
Subtitles only convey some of what's going on on-screen, and both books and movies are non-interactive forms of entertainment. They do not require you to react (often quickly) to visual cues.
Imagine trying to walk through a 3d forest without bumping into trees with subtitles. The position of everything in the scene that isn't your avatar changes relative to your avatar, constantly. Subtitles, or a gaming equivalent thereof, are not suitable for describing rapidly changing 3d environments (what you see changes constantly as you move around) with any efficiency. Try shutting your eyes and playing WoW or Gears of War. Have a friend narrate for you. Good luck. 
Of course it's a cost issue. Any feature is a cost issue, in time and, if you're paying people, money.
If you wanted to be truly egalitarian you'd translate your game into every language on earth, so has not to discriminate against those who don't speak the language your game is written in and thus can't play it, or ensure that your game could be played with a joystick for those who, say, have horrible arthritis in their fingers. You're not going to do those things though because the cost in time and money is too high.
--matt |