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Lego Batman 2 welcomes some friendly faces, unfriendly voices
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes has more heroes than usual -- going beyond the Bat-family into the wider DC Universe. You can see Superman looking totally oblivious alongside the appropriately gruff Dynamic Duo in the gallery below.Lego Batman 2 also has real human voices speaking the English language, something you don't expect from a Lego game! In fact, the first human voice we hear is that of Clancy Brown, who provides the menacingly deep voice of Lex Luthor for Superman: The Animated Series and other DC Comics animation.%Gallery-150793%
Super Hero Squad Online gets vocal with new all-star cast of talent
Voice-acting in MMOs seems to be all the rage these days, and Gazillion Entertainment, publisher of the free-to-play Super Hero Squad Online, seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. In a press release today, the company announced that each and every hero and villain in the game will be receiving a full vocal makeover, and many characters will be voiced by the same actors who provide voice work for the Super Hero Squad television series. Jay Minn, vice president of The Amazing Society -- the development studio behind the games -- is obviously quite pleased with the decision to give voice to the game's dozens of characters, stating that "the heroes and villains in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online have always had their own unique personalities and attitudes... We're excited and very proud to let our heroes and villains speak their minds!" The statement adds that the game currently includes over 3000 lines of spoken dialogue (with over 100 attributed to everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth), so players can expect plenty of witty quips from their characters of choice. To get in the game and hear the new voiceovers for yourself, just click on through the link below to Super Hero Squad Online's official site. [Source: Gazillion Entertainment press release]
Andy Richter's super secret Skyrim voiceover work, revealed!
Skyrim's development had assistance from some major names in acting: Max Von Sydow, Joan Allen, and Lynda Carter to name a few. But did you know that legendary comedy partner Andy Richter also played a major role? It was revealed this week on Conan, which we've embedded above.
Get face to face with Mass Effect 3's star-studded cast
Ever wondered what it's like to watch She's All That star Freddie Prinze Jr. shadowbox in a voice acting studio? BioWare's latest Mass Effect 3 voice actor video diary is here to answer your bizarre requests, Freddie Prinze Jr. fans.
Levine gets dramatic when writing, directing for BioShock: Infinite
Irrational Games' Ken Levine writes video games through the lens of a playwright and stage director, having penned plays since the age of 14 and majoring in drama in college. This perspective on storytelling helped him write the audio logs in BioShock, and it's shaping the way he directs the voice actors -- in person for the first time -- in BioShock: Infinite, Levine told Gamasutra. Writing Elizabeth and Booker, Infinite's main characters, was a completely different process than writing BioShock's antagonist, Andrew Ryan, Levine said. "I always had Ayn Rand in my ear while I was writing him, and she is quite articulate in her viewpoints. So he was a pretty easy character to write, for me," Levine said. "Booker and Elizabeth, because there's a very different constraint set, because I haven't done this kind of writing for a game before, where you sort of have all this dynamism with a character you're walking around the world with, that you're speaking to, as Booker... just the mechanics of it!" Levine said he was inspired by the easy banter Naughty Dog placed in Uncharted, and he saw how it could transfer to a period piece. As he describes them, Levine's characters are unique to their time period and his own imagination: "Elizabeth is a person who sees nothing and wants to see everything, and Booker is somebody who's seen everything and wants to see nothing. They're at opposite ends of the spectrum." The full (and long) interview is here, if you're interested in details about how Levine makes women weep.
Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2011, part 2
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The development of lore in WoW has ramped up over the years. While vanilla saw a few lore developments, players could still wander the lands of Azeroth with nary a clue as to why they were there, skipping quest text altogether in favor of simply getting the job done. The Burning Crusade saw more of these lore-related quests introduced, and Wrath pushed the concept even further. But Cataclysm's taken lore and gameplay to a new level of interactivity. Last week, in segments #10 through #8, we talked about a few of those innovations in lore development, include the emphasis on focused, directed storytelling over the aimless wandering days of vanilla WoW and the trend of releasing free-to-read short stories on the official website. Both of these have their ups and downs, but the short stories weren't the only focus of Blizzard's writing department.
Star Wars: The Old Republic gets into the record books
It remains to be seen if Star Wars: The Old Republic will set a number of records in its lifetime, but it's already made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records for 2012. At over 200,000 lines of recorded dialogue, the game has scored a record for having the largest amount of voice acting not only for a video game but for any entertainment project. The record appears in the Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition, on the stands now in the US and on sale in the UK on the 19th. Of course, considering the amount of press the game has received for its voice cast, we suspect this won't come as a huge surprise, but it's interesting to see. The book also includes a list of the best Star Wars games in the franchise's history, which unsurprisingly includes Knights of the Old Republic, perhaps a harbinger of SWTOR's future.
Resident Evil 6 includes Chinese setting, voice actress resume suggests
Voice actress Wendy Mok listed a role as a "Chinese Villager/Zombie" in Resident Evil 6 on her East West Players profile, according to The Silent Chief. The listing has since been removed, but TSC captured an image before its removal, which you can see above. Perhaps she and Joe Cappelletti updated their resumes at the same time. This suggests two interesting things: first, that there is a Resident Evil 6, which actually still hasn't been announced. Second, it implies that at least part of the game takes place in China ... or, we suppose, takes place somewhere else, but includes immigrant zombies. Of course, it's possible that Mok worked on some other RE-related item, and just mistakenly identified it as Resident Evil 6.
Going even deeper into BioShock Infinite's voice acting
Last week we brought you the first half of a two part feature with Irrational Games head Ken Levine coaching BioShock Infinite's two main voice actors. This week, we've got Booker (Troy Baker) yelling at Elizabeth (Courtnee Draper) to elicit emotion-filled lines. Next week? Tigers.
BioShock Infinite's main voice actors explore the creative process
What's it like expressing a total lack of remorse for a dying virtual horse in a fantastical city in the clouds? BioShock Infinite voice actor Troy Baker explains just that in this behind-the-scenes look at the voice actors playing Elizabeth and Booker in next year's big Irrational game.
Batman: Arkham City's Penguin voiced by Nolan North (seriously)
Clearly flexing his vocal chops, voice actor Nolan North is the man behind Batman: Arkham City's most aquatic villain: The Penguin. Rocksteady marketing game manager Dax Ginn revealed as much in an interview with CVG, breaking down the various villains you'll be pummeling as Bats come October. As seen in the trailer above, North's voice acting clearly stretches beyond his most well-known role as pretty-boy adventurer Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. It could be argued that he's already proven that, given his voice acting contributions to, like, every game ever, but we're pretty impressed with the whole Penguin gig.
Bleach: Soul Resurreccion comes with free episodes of Bleach anime
We can't explain why NIS America's new Bleach game is called Soul Resurrección without getting into some impenetrable lore, but we can tell you about the stuff you'll get when you buy it. The first printing of the PS3 game (out August 2) will include vouchers for downloads of episodes 190-192 of the Bleach anime. The offer is available in both the US and Canada. In addition, for discerning Bleach fans, NIS America has announced that the North American release of the game will include both Japanese and English audio tracks. Both, judging by the title, will include a little Spanish.
Catherine trailer screams for about an hour and a half
We know some people are of a mixed opinion regarding the English version of Catherine's voice acting. However, after watching the trailer below, you kind of have to give it up for whoever's providing the pipes for Vincent -- that dude can scream for a super long time.
EVE Spotlight: An interview with Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm
EVE Spotlight is a biweekly feature in which we interview prominent members of EVE Online's player community or development team. Every two weeks, we'll be shining the spotlight on a player or developer who has a significant impact on EVE to highlight the efforts of EVE's most influential people. EVE Online is well-known for its community's awesome cinematic productions, and no film is more renowned than the incredible machinima Clear Skies. Directed by Ian Chisholm, Clear Skies seamlessly merges in-game EVE footage with scenes composed using Valve's Source development kit. The films follow the adventures of captain John Rourke and his crew aboard the Minmatar Tempest class battleship Clear Skies. With more luck than sense, the Clear Skies crew continually finds itself in sticky situations but manages to come out on top. The first Clear Skies film won the award for best long-format film at the 2008 annual Machinima Filmfest, and a second film solidified the series' huge cult following. Clear Skies has even inspired other players like Kyoko Sakoda to produce their own cinematic masterpieces set in the EVE Online universe. The third and probably final film in the Clear Skies series was released earlier this week, absolutely shattering all expectations. In this massive edition of EVE Spotlight, I interview Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm to find out all about the production of Clear Skies III.
Another round of face acting to awful game voice acting
Apparently not satisfied with his already stellar lineup of hilarious face acting set to hilariously bad video game voice acting, Dean has returned with "Dean's Face Acting: Episode 2." Like many sequels, it may not be as good, but it'll make you remember why you fell in love in the first place.
New voice for Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City
Arleen Sorkin pretty much owns the role of Harley Quinn -- well, she did. Sorkin, who helped create the character in the early 90s on Batman: The Animated Series, won't be voicing Harley in this fall's Batman: Arkham City (despite carrying on the role in the first game). Instead, veteran voice actor Tara Strong will take her first stab at Harley. Strong has been doing cartoon and video game voice overs since the late 80s. Some of her roles include X-23 in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Rikku in Kingdom Hearts 2 and Sheegor in Psychonauts. She also voiced The Huntress in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series. A brief Q&A with Strong has been posted on the official Arkham City site, in which she says she wants to "honor" Harley's established voice -- but until we actually hear her rendition, we can't help but morn the loss of Sorkin.
Gaming's worst voice acting set to hilarious face acting
Dean is a man after our own heart. This video, in which he mimes the 50 worst video game voice acting lines with brilliant facial expressions, reveals a natural talent for acting. One day, this guy will be a star -- maybe just on YouTube and gaming blogs, but a star nonetheless! Are you watching, James Lipton?
TERA producer: Getting to endgame doesn't take a lot of time
Episode three of the official TERA podcast is a wrap, and community director Jason "BrotherMagneto" Mical sits down with En Masse producers Brian Knox and Chris Hager to talk voice acting, E3 2011, and the recently concluded community play event. There's also a few interesting blurbs related to TERA's endgame, both in terms of reaching it and what it entails. Hager discusses the challenges of recording "greet and goodbye" dialogue snippets for quest-givers as well as more involved cinematic presentations that will occur throughout the TERA progression experience. Knox jumps right to fan concerns about TERA's leveling curve, saying that it doesn't have much in common with your typical grindfest. "We're putting a lot of focus on adding more content to the endgame and making sure there's lots to do at max level. Getting to max level in TERA, it doesn't take a lot of time. We've made sure that progress is fast and efficient," Knox explains. So what is there to do at endgame? Knox says that dungeons and boss fights will play a significant role, and En Masse will be tweaking the difficulty levels to continually challenge players.
Grand Theft Auto character listed in voice actor casting call
You don't have to look like this creepy guy -- you just have to sound like him. James Pedeaston (pictured), a recurring side character in the Grand Theft Auto universe, is listed among several other roles in a voice-over casting call posted on Actors Pages, which could be further evidence that production of Grand Theft Auto 5 is underway. Take-Two was initially named (as the production company) in the posting, according to Eurogamer, but reference to the GTA publisher has since been removed. Pedeaston was the host of "The Wild Traveler" radio show in GTA: San Andreas -- in which he openly recounted acts of pedophilia -- and, in GTA IV, he was "arrested by the Indonesian police after being suspected of child molesting in Bali, Indonesia," according to the GTA Wiki. The casting call describes Pedeaston as a "man-boy love activist who just got released from an Indonesian prison," suggesting that the role would be set in a time period following the events of GTA IV -- in other words, a role featured in the next GTA game. Additional first-name-only characters are listed in the job posting and sound generally befitting of a GTA game -- take "Samantha," for instance: "A young female obsessed with sex parties, always dreaming of being a Hollywood celebrity." The Actors Pages casting call follows a similar job posting on The Agency, for a project named "Rush" (assumed to be a codename and linked to Take-Two), which introduces more puzzle pieces that might fit together into a new GTA game set in Los Angeles -- or "Los Santos," as it's known in San Andreas. [Image source: GTA Wiki; credit: C-d-rom]
Video shows off voicework in Black Prophecy
As every day passes, more and more people are joining the Black Prophecy beta testing. Slowly, the localizations are being smoothed out, and even more goodies are being added into this hotly anticipated sci-fi space dogfighter MMO. For those of you who haven't quite made it in as yet, as well as those who have but are curious about the nuts-and-bolts, Gamigo and Reakktor Media have released a video today that offers an interesting look at ongoing behind-the-scenes production. In this video, we take a trip to Periscope Studios and T-Recs Studios to watch just a little bit of how the voicework is done. Along with that, we're treated to a look at just how they get the voice to match the mouth animations of the NPCs without it looking completely silly or taking obnoxious amounts of time. Whether this upcoming free-to-play game is on your personal radar or you're more the type who is fascinated with the overall industry, it's a video worth spending a few minutes of your life to check out. We've embedded this new behind-the-scenes video after the break for your viewing pleasure.
