Do games need overpaid Hollywood actors to voice their characters?
After reading an article on Edge Online where they interviewed Lev Chapelsky, general manager at Blindlght, a company that acquires Hollywood talent for games, it got me thinking. Do games really need Hollywood actors to be great?
The answer is no. There is a great voice talent pool out there available to game developers that don’t charge a large percentage of the studio budget for a couple of hours work and who at the same time, do an excellent job. David Hayter, who voiced Solid Snake from the hugely successful Metal Gear Solid franchise and Nolan North who voices the outré Nathan Drake in Uncharted are both testament to the fact. David Hayter is so dedicated to the franchise that he gave up half his pay check in order to bring back the original cast of Metal Gear Solid for the making of Metal Gear Solid 4. This would never have happened if a Hollywood celebrity actor were involved and I’d bet my DS3 controller on that.
The majority of Hollywood actors view working on games as lower form of their art. When asked to reprise her role as Dana Barret in Terminal Reality’s up and coming Ghostbusters game, Sigourney Weaver declined. Even when a celebrity actor signs-up for a game, they do it for the easy cash, often paid in excess of $100 000 an hour, according to Lev Chapelsky.
“Generally, the price you pay is inversely proportional to the creative quality that you get in return” says; Lev Chapelsky. He goes on to say – “Typically game producers make the assumption – and it’s a wrong assumption but you can understand where they get it from – the more money they pay for an actor, the better the results are going to be.“
Actors who specifically work as voice actors are best for games, not only because they are professional at what they do and don’t need a softened lens and some smudged Vix under the eyes to portray emotion but because they bring with them a passion and excitement for the genre. I don’t think that any celebrity actor could have done a better job voicing Solid Snake or Nathan Drake than the actors who made them some of our favorite game characters of all time.
Leave us comments letting us know what you think on the subject.
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I can honestly say Riddick would not be the same without Vin Diesel doing the voice over. Also would the forthcomming Ghostbusters be the same without the vocal talents of the original cast? …i think not!
However the production companies don`t need to, and shouldn`t bow to successful actors demands, just to guarantee they come on board.
To sum up i think the games which tie in to successful movies need authentic voice overs, but not at any cost.
….original games however don`t need moviestars, as i agree there is plenty of talent out there to provide, for a games vocal needs.