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‘Death Stranding’ adds Troy Baker to its star-studded cast
Death Stranding's latest trailer sans gameplay footage has debuted at the Tokyo Games Show. Again, the talking point is the game's star power, with one Troy Baker (of Uncharted and Telltale's Batman fame) the latest addition to its stacked cast. He joins protagonist Norman Reedus, Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, and (newly announced) Tommie Earl Jenkins. We've seen a-listers headline games in the past -- Mark Hamill in the Batman Arkham series and Willem Defoe in Beyond: Two Souls spring to mind -- but nothing on this scale.
How Troy Baker's Naughty Dog work influenced 'Shadow of War'
Troy Baker has lent his voice and performances to some of the biggest games of the past decade. From six roles across Darksiders 2 to playing Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite or stepping into The Joker's shoes in Batman: Arkham Origins, you might not realize it's actually him delivering the lines until you see the credits. That's because he approaches each performance incredibly differently. With Middle-earth: Shadow of War his job was particularly complex: In addition to reprising his role as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor who's more or less possessed by an undead prince, Baker served as the director for all of the game's performance-capture story sequences. For that task, Baker relied on his experience with director Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog and his roles in the studio's The Last of Us (TLoU) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Naughty Dog is widely regarded as having some of the best performances and shot composition in video game story sequences -- there are definitely worse places to look to for inspiration.
Video game voice actors vote a resounding 'yes' to strike
Last month the Screen Actor's Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists started the process to strike in an effort to be better compensated. Now, the union members have voted and over 96 percent feel that a strike is in order to protect themselves. As a refresher, the organized voice actors are asking for royalties on games they performed in that sell over two million copies, stunt pay for particularly stressful roles (those sustained screams and yells can do damage) and stunt coordinators for certain situations, among other things. Where do the actors like the cast of The Last of Us up above go from here? Back to the collective bargaining table. This vote doesn't mean that the union will strike, but it gives them the option to do so if negotiations fall apart. [Image credit: Imeh Akpanudosen via Getty Images]
