voice-overs
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Voice acting in Warlords of Draenor
There was a moment in the Warlords of Draenor beta when I realized that I was getting a quest from Frank Welker. Aka Megatron. Aka Nibbler from Futurama. Aka a million other voices. The man has 728 credits as an actor on IMDB, and here he is, doing a voice in the Warlords beta. Specifically, Reshad the storekeeper. See, they recently added a ton of voice acting to the beta - pretty much every character you interact with has significant voice work put into it, and for the most part it's frankly stunning. I'm not trying to exaggerate here, but the difference between this expansion and, as an example, Lady Sindragosa's Betraaaaaaaaays you dialogue is night and day. Heck, just pop over to Frostfire Ridge at level 90, or run through the Tanaan Jungle opening, and you'll hear a variety of voice actors, more so than World of Warcraft has ever boasted.
Lightning Returns with Japanese voice overs and Moogle costume DLC
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 received a few new pieces of downloadable content today, one of which is the previously-revealed Japanese voice pack. Announced in November 2013, the voice pack costs $3.99 (£3.19/3.99 euros) and adds lip-syncing adjustments to match the game's Japanese voice overs. Additionally, players can pick up three new sets of costumes and equipment, each set available for $3.99 (£3.19/3.99 euros). The three pieces of DLC – dubbed Ultimate Savior, Moogle Lover and Divine Wear – include a weapon, shield, adornment and garb. Players can buy all three in the premium collection pack for $9.99 (£7.99/9.99 euros), and can also pick up five new Lightning Returns themes on PS3 for $1.99 (£1.19/1.49 euros) and avatar items on Xbox 360 for $3.99 (£3.19/3.99 euros). [Image: Square Enix]
Meet the voice cast for The Elder Scrolls Online
Voice-overs can really bring MMOs to life, and Bethesda has just unveiled the star-studded cast that will bring depth to and immerse players in The Elder Scrolls Online. Game director Matt Firor stated, "This extraordinary group of actors helps bring the distinctive characters in The Elder Scrolls Online to life." John Cleese, known for his work in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, plays a cheerful and endearingly mad lost soul named Cadwell who is not afraid of anyone. Bill Nighy, who was in Pirates of the Caribbean, is the merchant prince High King Emeric. Kate Beckinsale, of The Aviator and Pearl Harbor fame, is leader of the Aldmeri Dominion and Queen of the High Elves, Queen Ayrenn. And Linda Carter, best known as Wonder Woman, returns to the Elder Scrolls series to reprise her role from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Other cast members include Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter), Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange), Peter Stormare (Fargo), Jim Ward (WALL·E, Despicable Me 2), Jennifer Hale, and Kevin Michael Richardson. Learn more about each actor's part in the official announcement. [Source: Bethesda press release]
Adventure Time creator contributing his voice to Broken Age
Oh, my, glob. Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward will contribute his voice to Double Fine's adventure game Broken Age, Polygon reports. The partnership was shared during the studio's Day of the Devs event, a free-of-charge gathering that has allowed fans to play indie projects from Gaijin Games, Supergiant Games and more. The announcement concerning Ward's involvement was initially made on Broken Age's backer forums, a restricted-access space meant to host discussion between the game's development team and those who donated $15 or more to the project on Kickstarter. The reveal of Ward's involvement follows the September announcement that Jack Black and Jennifer Hale are contributing to the project. The first half of Broken Age is planned to launch on Steam Early Access in January, which is hoped to generate enough revenue to fund the rest of the project's completion. Backers will get access to the first half before those on Steam Early Access and will also get the full game once it's released.
The Road to Mordor: Wish lists, past and future
Hobbits love making lists, don't they? In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo had a lengthy list of friends and relatives to invite to his eleventy-first birthday party, and he didn't have the luxury of Facebook to help him out. I love lists as well, although I try to save most of that for my Perfect Ten column. At the beginning of the year, I sat down and drafted up a "wish list" for Lord of the Rings Online's 2011 year, populating it with 11 changes and additions I was hoping to see by now. To my surprise, Turbine actually pulled off quite a few items on the list, and I thought it'd be a good idea to go back and examine which of my goals the team met and which remain elusive. Also, since 2012 kicks off tomorrow, I'll look forward as well and draft up a dozen -- yes, one more over the year before -- wish list items that I'd love to see come true in the new year. It's my column; I can cry if I want to, after all. Let's get this party started!
The MMO Report: GW2 field trip edition
This week on The MMO Report, Casey treks to Burbank, California, to check out Guild Wars 2's voice-acting studio and interview ArenaNet lead writer Bobby Stein. Stein tells the crew that his team has been working on GW2's voice-overs for three years, resulting in approximately 70 or 80 times the amount of voice work for Guild Wars 1's final installment, Eye of the North. Casey also interviews a trio of women portraying female Charr characters, but it just wouldn't be an MMO Report field trip if Casey hadn't given the voice acting a try himself. Rising to such stage directions as "he's a cat" and "now try it drunk," Casey receives a hard-earned standing ovation from the sound booth. All this and more in the MMO Report video tucked behind the break!
Flameseeker Chronicles: Sylvari week wrap-up
Guild Wars 2 Sylvari week is over, much to the relief of abused F5 keys everywhere. We've finally seen the redesign, we've read the lore, we've gotten more details about the culture, we've watched new videos, and best of all, we've talked the subject to death. Now that it's all over and we've had a chance to process the infodump, it's time for my standard post-race-week Flameseeker Chronicles analysis. Follow along after the jump, where I'll recap a few of the high points of Sylvari week.
ArenaNet lead writer Bobby Stein interviewed on script-writing, voice-overs
Today, Tap Repeatedly has an exclusive interview with ArenaNet's lead writer Bobby Stein. The interview covers a variety of script-related details, such as the difference in approach between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, what led to the decision to implement full voice-overs, and some of the difficulties the studio faces in doing so. He also offers some juicy tidbits on just how voice-acting will affect the atmosphere of the game, one exciting example being: "Say you're travelling a road between two towns, when a guard approaches you in a frenzy. He emphatically tells you that the estate he's guarding is under attack, and that the family–including a small child–is in danger. You storm the property and cut through waves of pirates. Meanwhile, you hear the owners down below cowering in fear. But you've arrived a few moments too late. You overhear the kidnapping take place, and the pirates whisk the little girl to their hideout for ransom. If you're quick about it you can even watch them make the journey." It's an absolute gold mine for anyone anticipating GW2, and doubly so for any of you who are particularly interested in the writing end of game development. Click on over to Tap Repeatedly for the full interview.
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.
STO's Dan Stahl fields 30 questions about the Enterprise, Tholians and more
As Star Trek Online grows ever-closer to its one-year anniversary in February 2011, fans of Cryptic's space saga have burning questions about the future of the game. In swoops Executive Producer Dan Stahl to keep the flames under control with a whopping 30 answers in the latest STO Q&A session. As usual, there is no overriding theme to these questions, which range from whether we'll be seeing the 2009 Star Trek movie's Enterprise in the game (only if Paramount gives permission), whether Cryptic is working on more voice-overs for missions (yes), and when we'll be seeing the Tholians (probably not until after Season 4 releases). Stahl emphasizes that the STO team's prime directive is, simply, "More Like Trek," and the devs are working hard to infuse more of a Star Trek feel into every aspect of the game. Meanwhile, the Foundry -- the player-created mission system -- briefly went into beta on the Tribble test server yesterday, but was quickly taken down due to issues with the infrastructure. Stahl has great hopes for it, however: "In all -- the Foundry will open up the ability for the community to create some great (and let's be honest -- not so great) missions that you'll be able to play just like any other mission in the game."
DC Universe flexes more voiceover muscles
SOE is getting a lot of marketing mileage out of DC Universe Online's voice-acting, and with such a star-studded cast behind the microphone, you can hardly blame them. In a press release earlier today, the MMORPG maker outlined four new additions to DCUO's roster including two Star Trek veterans, a memorable Batman villainess, and one of radio's leading voice talents. First up is Arleen Sorkin, instantly recognizable to Batman fans as the voice and personality behind Harley Quinn. Next is Wil Wheaton, Star Trek: The Next Generation veteran and responsible for bringing DCUO's Robin to life. Dwight Schultz, also of Star Trek (and the A-Team) fame, signs on to portray the Flash, while Corey Burton, a veteran voice actor with hundreds of productions under his belt, will be powering the notorious Brainiac. Read more about DCUO on the official site, as well as our previous coverage of voice actor James Marsters.
Hyperspace Beacon: Testing the SWTOR waters
If you didn't know already, just over a week ago three writers from Massively, including me, traveled to Seattle, Washington for PAX Prime. During that time, besides catching the flu, we were able to catch a glimpse of some of the games that have yet to be released. We were able to play games like TERA, The Force Unleashed II, Guild Wars 2, RIFT, End of Nations, and many, many others. Some were pretty good; others, not-so-much -- but most seemed very polished and perfect for presentation. Of course, you all know I was there to see Star Wars: The Old Republic. I caught a lot of it. There were six of the eight classes available for demo at the gorgeous LucasArts booth. (BioWare did have a booth there, too, but the team was displaying some small game it was trying to get off the ground called Dragon Age 2.) Visitors had a chance to try out the smuggler, trooper, agent, bounty hunter, and both Sith classes. Because of the enormous lines that constantly encircled the booth, I was only able to play three of the classes: smuggler, trooper, and Sith inquisitor. For this edition of the Hyperspace Beacon, I will give you my impressions of the gameplay for those classes. However, I want to take a slightly different look at them. At E3, Massively's editor Seraphina Brennan was able to give her impressions of the smuggler class -- she covered the mechanics and so on. Although I will touch on the combat mechanics, I have decided to focus on some of the features BioWare is famous for: cinematics, character development, and overall storytelling. Follow after the break, and I will give you an honest breakdown of how SWTOR measures up to its predecessors.
Valkyria Chronicles DLC lacks English voice track
Folks who are currently working their way through Valkyria Chronicles' recently released DLC pack, Challenge of the Edy Detachment, have noticed something strange about the content's English-language voice overs: They don't exist. The add-on pack only includes two audio settings: Japanese and silent. Of course, you can still follow the DLC's plot through English subtitles, but hey -- we came here to blow up tanks with other tanks, not to read. Siliconera suggests that the absence of words we can understand could be attributed to the fact that this DLC is going live six months after the game was released in the U.S., so it's possible the English voice cast couldn't be brought back together for an encore recording. We've contacted Sega for an official explanation and to find out why the English-language omission in the DLC wasn't announced before people, you know, bought it.
Andy Richter upset at his Assassin's Creed 2 voiceover VGA snub
Much like the comical co-host of The Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien, we were infuriated by Hugh Jackman's victory in the "Best Male Voice Actor" category during last week's Video Game Awards ceremony. That Vector Monkey was destined to land in the hands of Andy Richter, who, you may or may not know, provided the voice of Assassin's Creed 2's titular killer, Ezio Auditore de Firenze a Lamborghini et Manicotti Formaggio. You can view Richter's outburst, as well as a bit of his work in the game, in the Tonight Show clip posted on the show's official site.
AFTRA, SAG negotiate new contracts for video game voice actors
It's fairly unlikely that you, dear reader, have done voice acting in video games, or are a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. While this news might not directly apply to you, we thought we'd take a moment to celebrate the contracts these two unions recently negotiated with video game publishers to get better wages for their respective voice-acting members. The contracts will bump SAG members' wages up 3 percent upon ratification, bringing SAG wage hikes into parity of those offered by the AFTRA. On April 1, both groups will receive another 2.5 percent wage increase. Publishers are also now required to inform voice actors as to when they'll be doing "vocally stressful work." We're not exactly sure what that means, but we think it applies to any gravel-throated protagonist ever featured in a first-person shooter. All that gruffness is rough on the ol' pipes, dontchaknow? [Via Big Download]
Kristen Bell returns as Lucy in Assassin's Creed 2
Okay, fine -- Assassin's Creed's Lucy, the mousey assistant who helped operate the DNA-reading Animus device, was pretty boring. That blame can't really be placed upon the adorable shoulders of Kristen Bell, who voiced the character. She did the best she could with the ... it's not like she had a ... she's Veronica Mars! We can't speak ill of Veronica Mars! A recent batch of promotional photos have confirmed Bell's involvement in Assassin's Creed 2. She'll perform the role of Lucy again, and she'll perform it flawlessly, like everything else she's ever done in her entire life. Ever. %Gallery-74543%
Astro Boy voice acting gets real with Kristen Bell
You'll remember Kristen Bell from her less-than-endearing performance as Lucy in Assassin's Creed a couple years ago (and you should remember her from TV's Veronica Mars). Bell's back in the sound booth to record another game voice, playing Cora in Astro Boy, the upcoming movie-based adaptation. According to the video interview above, her character is a "17-year-old, edgy girl," immediately demonstrated by her declaration, "Sorry, we don't need any newbies." Good to know! (We were worried.)
Xbox 360 version of FFXIII may be monolingual
As far as we can tell, there are two types of people who care about whether the North American version of Final Fantasy XIII has a Japanese voice track (in addition to an English one) -- RPG-loving hipsters who strive for complete, unwavering authenticity in everything they say and do, and ... well, people who speak Japanese and live in America, we suppose. Unfortunately for both these groups, it seems the Japanese voice track might only appear in the PS3 version of the highly anticipated Squeenidos title.In a recent Q&A with IGN, FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase explained that without the kind of memory available on Blu-ray, there's simply not enough room on the 360 to implement two vocal tracks. He added, "Are there many people who would like to play with Japanese voices?" Well, gang? Are there?[Via Kotaku]
Aika to be first free-to-play fantasy RvR MMORPG
Move over Dark Age of Camelot. Step aside Warhammer Online. There's a new realm vs. realm MMORPG on the block, and it's free-to-play! Gala-Net, Inc., a leading free-to-play online game publisher, recently announced their partnership with HanbitSoft to publish Aika Online in the North American market.Having watched some videos and read some reviews, the game appears to share several similarities with both of Mythic's aforementioned RvR innovators. Aika will feature quests, item crafting, gender-locked classes, and yes, large scale RvR including keep sieges. The publishers claim they can handle battles up to 1000 vs. 1000. That will be quite a feat considering the detailed graphics and animations.That's about where the similarities seem to end though. Aika is an MMO of South Korean descent and definitely has the look and sound effects. The MMO will also be free to play (just how free, we don't know yet), boast sophisticated voice-overs, and come packaged in a tiny 300MB download. And then there's the interesting (some might say creepy) "Pran system." Prans are kind of like pets from traditional MMOs, except that they are young girls. According to one review, you can interact with your Pran, dress it up, give it dolls, help it grow, and boost its intimacy/relationship rank.
Wizard 101 to include voice overs, shared bank feature
The team over at Kingsisle Entertainment isn't sitting on their hands while Wizard 101 racks up over 1 million accounts. The most recent update to the game will be bringing a voice to the many characters of the Ravenwood School, as well as a new utility for those who play multiple characters.Voice overs for all of the characters in Wizard City and Krokotopia have been added as of March 16th, and the other areas of Marleybone, Moo Shu, and Dragonspyre will be soon to follow. These voice overs will be added to all of the quests, NPCs, cinematics, and boss encounters in the game, making everything a little bit more colorful.Players who play multiple characters will also love the new shared bank feature, which allows you to share one dorm room space amongst all of your characters. So, if you find something that would benefit one of your other five characters, worry no longer!
