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Video game voice actors may go on strike
Voice acting in video games is serious and often thankless work. You have to recite hours of dialog that doesn't always get heard, and only a handful of actors (like Nolan North, John DiMaggio and Troy Baker) have high-profile careers. However, they're now fighting to get a bigger piece of the pie. The actor union SAG-AFTRA is considering voting for a strike that would push for more payments and greater rights for game voice actors. It's proposing that these performers should get bonuses every time a game sells 2 million copies, and stunt pay when they have to strain their voices -- think about every game where your character screamed from taking damage. The guild also wants stunt coordinators for motion capture work, and it hopes to prevent companies from both hiring their own unionless staff as well as instituting fines over relatively arbitrary faults, such as failing to audition for small roles.
The voices of Azeroth
Last week we looked at who made the soundtrack of Azeroth (and I heard-- and saw-- those very people at the Video Games Live BlizzCon concert), and this week, olanthe on WoW Ladies wants to know who's behind the other, very memorable part of WoW's audio: the voices.Unfortunately, just like the music, Blizzard doesn't actually credit the talent part by part, so while it's easy to find a list of who's voiced something in game (the IMDB entry is probably the most comprehensive, as it contains all the names from the booklets to both shipping WoW and Burning Crusade), finding out who's done what is a little harder. Tony Jay did the intros for all the races, and Cam Clarke has been pegged as the male Blood Elf (among others, including Nexus-Prince Shaffar and Medivh). Voice actress Erin Fitzgerald has done quite a few voices in Burning Crusade, including Dorothy and the Wicked Witch, as well as Sarannis and the Essence of Desire in the Black Temple. Kath Soucie, another well known voice actress, has also done voices in BC, as has Michael Dorn (yes, Worf).But most surprising on the list is probably the sheer number of Blizzard employees-- some, like Samwise Didier, Chris Metzen and Mike Morhaime, are well known, but others, like Tracy Bush, Derek Duke, and Glen Stafford, are usually working on the music of Azeroth. And even others-- Michele Arko, and I'm sure a few other names that I just don't recognize, work in completely different departments of Blizzard, from QA to Administration. So it seems like they invite a lot of their local employees to come in and record voices for their games, and not until recently, with the Burning Crusade, have they turned more often to more high profile actors.Unfortunately, that doesn't exactly answer the question of who the female Night Elf is. But especially for the shipping game, odds are that it's someone who works at Blizzard, not a professional voice actor.Update: You guys are the best. A reader of ours is friends with the Night Elf voice, so here she is: Debi Mae West. And yes, her goods really are of the highest quality. Apparently, she was also Meryl in Metal Gear Solid.
RIP Voice Actor Tony Jay (1935 - 2006)
WorldofWar.net is reporting that actor Tony Jay has passed away. The name might not sound so familiar, but we're sure the voice does. Jay had his voice appear in a number of Disney movies, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and animated series-- he showed up in The Tick, TMNT, Savage Dragon, Gargoyles, and one of my favorite cartoon TV voices ever, Shere Khan in Disney's Talespin series.But Jay was also well known for his videogame work-- he started way back in Kings Quest VI, voiced the Soul Reaver series, Planescape Torment (one of the best RPGs of all time), the Icewind Dale series, Fallout, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, X-Men Legends, The Bard's Tale (which was voiced extremely well), and Jay even did a little game you might know of called World of Warcraft. Every time you start a new character, it's Tony's voice retelling the story of the race you'll be playing.Jay will be both missed and remembered. His voice was definitely a distinctive one, and there probably isn't one of us videogame fans that hasn't been pulled into a great story by it at one point or another. RIP.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children reports from Hollywood
For the Final Fantasy fans lucky enough to be near Hollywood yesterday night -- and in line for free tickets during the middle of a regular workday -- there was much rejoicing to be had as Advent Children celebrated its U.S. theatrical premiere in style.Siliconera has a write-up on the event with quotes from most of the American voice actors in attendance, who, along with the audience at hand, watched the film in English for the very first time. Lip synching may have been off due to the low-resolution print the actors had to work with, but even Rachel Leigh Cook -- pictured here with her character Tifa Lockheart -- declared herself a new fan of Final Fantasy after the show.Helpful Joystiq Contributor epobirs also had something to report from the screening yesterday, where he gives us an Ain't-It-Cool style rundown of the event. If you want the rest of his reflections on the requirements of the Academy in Oscar nominations, as well as what it takes to "assert your hetero nature ... after watching a movie packed with metrosexual men," simply continue reading below for more. Siliconera's report can be found by clicking on the image of Ms. Cook above or the Read link below. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will be out on DVD/UMD April 25th.[Thanks, epobirs; image of Tifa courtesy of Eyes on Final Fantasy]
