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The Soapbox: MMOs waste millions on voice-over
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. A-list voice actors are not new to the video game genre. Over the last 20 years, video games have pulled from the same pool of talent as cartoons and commercials. But it really wasn't until last year with DC Universe Online that we started to see MMOs advertise the voice talent they had in the games. DCUO filmed multiple documentary-style videos to impress us with the level of voice-over work the game had. Although DCUO was the first fully voiced MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic made a point to tell us that it had over 200 different voice actors (300 if you believe IMDB) with over a thousand recording sessions for over 200,000 lines of dialogue. In the end, what's the pay-off? Six months after launch, the majority of players will threaten to leave a SWTOR pick-up group if the other players don't skip over the dialogue. Although a large portion of players did watch all the dialogue shortly after the game launched, all the players I spoke to said that the cutscenes started to grate on them before they'd even reached level 50. And even though DCUO was the first MMO to be fully voiced, SWTOR got away with advertising that it was first mainly because voice-overs were considered so insignificant by the MMO community that almost no one noticed the fib. And dare we even talk about the expense of recording 200,000 lines of dialogue? Is fan excitement over, say, Mark Hamill's Joker worth the cost of bringing him in on the project in the first place?
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.
Tricia Helfer, Martin Sheen talk up their voice roles in Mass Effect 2
Okay, you've probably heard by now that Mass Effect 2 has a lot of big-name voice talent. But have you SEEN them? This video trailer for BioWare's upcoming space opera features the all-star cast talking about their roles, and what it is about sci-fi (and not SyFy) that gets them so excited.
Infinity Ward spells out Modern Warfare 2 voice cast
Another voice work announcement from Twitter now, as Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling (aka FourZeroTwo) has confirmed that the cast of veteran voice actors has completed recording its grunts and grumbles for what seems to be the only game coming out this holiday, Modern Warfare 2. Roll credits: Barry Pepper (Alex Mercer in Prototype and an amazing sniper back in WWII) Kevin McKidd (Dr. Hunt on Grey's Anatomy and not something on the McDonald's menu) Craig Fairbass (Gaz in COD4 -- recently thrown off a mountain in Cliffhanger) Keith David (Voice of Goliath in Gargoyles and host of sex parties in Requiem for a Dream) Glenn Morshower (Played an agent in 24 and moonlights as a Jim Gaffigan lookalike) Fairbass is almost definitely going to return as the voice of Gaz, but the others actors have yet to be matched to the game's characters. Best guesses?
Video games give B-list actors a second chance
While some of you might recognize the gap-toothed gentleman pictured above as actor Keith David, from such films as "The Thing" or "Requiem for a Dream", we'd wager that more of you know his voice -- David is arguably the most prolific celebrity-turned-video game voice actor on the planet, picking up roles in Fallout, Saints Row, Planescape: Torment, Mass Effect, and, of course, providing the guttural dialogue for the Arbiter in Halo 2 and Halo 3. Though his on-screen career isn't booming, David has found a comfortable niche in the video game voice acting market.According to a recent Reuters article, he's not the only celebrity to slip through the cracks of big screen Hollywood, only to find solace and celebrity in video games. Terrence 'T.C.' Carson, whose career dried up after his role in the moderately successful sitcom "Living Single", has voiced a number of video game characters -- including everyone's favorite brooding Spartan, Kratos. Michael Ironside of Top Gun and Starship Troopers fame provides the voice of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher.These kinds of jobs are quickly gaining popularity in Hollywood, says Reuters, as voice work provides a much steadier paycheck than that of on-screen roles. We see it as a win-win situation -- down on their luck actors with distinct voices can find a nice amount of celebrity in the gaming realm, and as a result, we don't have to suffer through another era of wretched, Tenchu-esque voice acting. God bless you, Keith David.
