I always use subtitles in games if I can. For movies I usually only use subtitles if it's in a language other than English (although I've seen a couple of English language movies I needed subtitles for :P) I will watch French films with French subtitles though, as I find it easy to miss things, and the subtitles tend not have dumb translation oddities.

The thing with Christine in FNV's Dead Money DLC is that the subs did all the work that the character couldn't (whether from lazy development or the engine not being up to subtle movements), the subs say she points to the door or gestures to her throat or makes a circle motion with her hands all whilst the character is standing there with her arms crossed.

Bloody, bloody annoying that. Thats the exact same reason I have subs on myself. When you turn the music down or even off they can still be drowned by local sound effects. Its particularly bad in things like Fallout 3/NV because the engine has that annoying habit of making tiny bits of battle debris bounce endlessly when inside another object making much of the dialogue drowned out by an incessant clunking noise

Yes, subtitles are always on for games, and also for movies if possible.

1. English is not my native language.

2. My gaming laptop is old enough, the sound speaker quality is not too good.

3. I also have relatives that are hearing impaired, and so having no subtitles is an insult to them. As a relative I definitely feel for them.

4. It is better to have subtitles to ensure I get what the characters say correctly.

And so I hate games that have no subtitles.

Also, turning the music down often only works in-game, but has no effect whatsoever on the cutscenes.

For some reason, I'm expecting Virama to post here at some point...

Anyways, I usually keep subtitles on. I tend to regret turning it off when I can't understand what somebody just said, how certain words and names are spelled, or if somebody goes out of their way to distract me, or I simply lose focus, and then I miss something. Sometimes the subtitles distract me and I can't keep from focusing on them instead of the characters, but generally I'd much rather have them on.

I'm just trying to wean myself off using subtitles for movies, in an effort to increase my understanding of spoken English. I still need them to "hear" everything, especially when there's irritating background noises or the characters are mumbling quietly.

If you can stand to watch the same movie several times, try only using the subtitles the first time when you're getting used to the story. Then turn them off and just rely on what you can hear. You know what's going on, but you're training your ear to catch more of the nuances.

In general, I always have the subtitles on in games. There are usually at least subtle differences between the written and spoken texts, and I like to catch everything.