Celebrity Voice Actors

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kageyukai

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Jul 3, 2009
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Christopher Lee as Diz (Ansem the Wise) in Kingdom Hearts 2 was a good one. Mark Hammil As Gojo Majima in Yakuza and The Joker in Arkham Asylum.
 

scnj

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Nov 10, 2008
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quack35 said:
scnj said:
While she's not a celebrity I'd also like to mention Jennifer Hale while I'm here. She's lent her voice to dozens of games (Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, Metroid Prime, Syphon Filter, Killer7, KOTOR etc) and I've yet to hear a bad performance from her.
She voiced Shepard in Mass Effect, right? She was awesome.
Yeah. And she was Bastila in KOTOR and Naomi Hunter in MGS.
 

Jamash

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Jun 25, 2008
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Dwight Schultz is a funny example of a celebrity voice actor.

He's been in quite a few games, but in the roles I've heard him in, he sounds nothing like Murdoch (The A-Team) or Barclay (Star Trek TNG).

He is a good example of a voice actor who is a celebrity, but is hired more for his good voice acting skills rather than for reprising his famous roles (unlike Michael Dorn who sounds like Worf in every role he does).

Celebrity voice actors aren't necessary, but can certainly enhance a game.

My favourite example of this is Warhammer 40K: Fire Warrior. I found the game quite boring, but I played through it to hear all the lines from Brian Blessed, Tom Baker, Sean Pertwee and Burt Kwouk.

I also like it when I recognise minor celebrities in films or TV shows because of their roles in games.

I noticed this when watching an episode of Stargate: SG-1. In one episode (S8E8 Convenant) there's a character (Alec Colson) played by Charles Shaughnessy who also did the voice work for the English male voice in Saint's Row 2.

Apparently he is quite a well known TV star in America, he's been is Days of Our Lives and Saint's and Sinners to name but a few, but I've never seen him in anything and solely recognised his voice from Saint's Row 2 (I kept half expecting him to say something really dark and obnoxious).
 

IntoxicatedKnight

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It encourages sales, but doesn't always increase them. I don't mind having a couple on board yet it doesn't make me immediately want to buy a game. However Liam Neeson made me buy Fallout 3.

lava_lamp said:
morgan freeman needs to narrate a game
He really, really does.
 

madcap2112

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Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk are all soldiers in Halo 3. Yay, 'Firefly' reunion.
 

Random Argument Man

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lava_lamp said:
morgan freeman needs to narrate a game
I can imagine the following.

Narration: When I saw Mario Bros for the first time, I wasn't sure about him. All he did was getting high with mushrooms, flowers and something that takes the pain away. Yep, Mario was a drug addict.

I never thought that he would suprise me by saving the number one hooker in the mushroom kingdom.
 

Fireproof217

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D_987 said:
Fireproof217 said:
First of all, if a game company is going to cast a big name in their game, it should be for a rather substantial role. All three of the parts that you referenced in your post were relatively small (Jackson was a little larger). I do believe that it does boost sales of a game when some gamers find out that Captain Jean-Luc Picard is in Oblivion, however its not needed. If you can find a voice actor who will do a credible job, than who needs a big name? The problem with that is that there are so many examples of no-name voice actors who have done particularly bad jobs.

So I think game companies should go after talent before fame, however fame might still sell more.
Yet there are a large number of actors that are famous due to their talent. I realize there are some Megan Foxes out there - those that have no talent but will earn millions because she's what people claim is "attractive". Yet the majority of big names are there for a reason; so I feel the two, "fame" and "talent" generally go hand in hand.
Valid point. Although fame usually is accompanied by talent, talent isn't necessarily accompanied by fame. To get good voice acting a gaming company doesn't have to pay an arm and a leg, although if they are paying good money for a big name they should get one who is talented. I believe Bethesda has done that so far with Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson.
 

Gotham Soul

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Aug 12, 2008
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The only actual celebrity I remember hearing is Samuel L. Jackson in GTA and Liam Neeson in Fallout.
 

Zombie Badger

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The Riddick games have had good voice acting, with Ron Perlman in Butcher Bay and of course Vin Diesel. To be honest, though, I don't care who voices the characters, as long as they're good - Assault on Dark Athena had the best voice acting I've ever heard (Beating HL2E2), although it would have been good to have had Malcolm McDowell voicing Morgan Everett in Deus Ex.
 

Low Key

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I don't care about celebrity voice acting. In games like GTA, it's more comical and I do enjoy it, but take out all of the famous names, and it would still be a game I would play. I think some companies tend to put too much stock into the names they can attatch to the box rather than the gameplay.

D_987 said:
I realize there are some Megan Foxes out there - those that have no talent but will earn millions because she's what people claim is "attractive".
Making a claim has to do with something subjective. Megan Fox IS attractive, therefore there is nothing subjective about it. You are right about her acting ability though.
 

D_987

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paypuh said:
Making a claim has to do with something subjective. Megan Fox IS attractive, therefore there is nothing subjective about it. You are right about her acting ability though.
Its entirely subjective - we see certain attributes as attractive due to a media image. This is obvious due to the things humans in different countries or in what previous centuries have looked for and claimed to be attractive.
 

SimuLord

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Aug 20, 2008
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paypuh said:
Making a claim has to do with something subjective. Megan Fox IS attractive, therefore there is nothing subjective about it. You are right about her acting ability though.
Megan Fox's attractiveness is VERY subjective. I find her features too harsh and angular and her tattoos absolutely vile. I prefer very soft-featured sandy blondes, preferably from Slavic or Baltic countries---hard to figure a way that Megan Fox could be less of my type.
 

BolognaBaloney

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Mar 17, 2009
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If Sir Ian Mckellen ever voice acted in a game I'd be all over it. He or Christopher Lee, powerful brooding voices.
 

BolognaBaloney

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kageyukai said:
Christopher Lee as Diz (Ansem the Wise) in Kingdom Hearts 2 was a good one. Mark Hammil As Gojo Majima in Yakuza and The Joker in Arkham Asylum.
Wait christopher lee was in kingdom hearts 2? I will go buy this game now.
 

Broady Brio

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Celebrities are Celebrities for a reason, beacause either they are good at their job or in some cases, they nicked from their parents who were good at their job. (A certain Disney singer comes to mind.)
 

BolognaBaloney

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Broady Brio said:
Celebrities are Celebrities for a reason, beacause either they are good at their job or in some cases, they nicked from their parents who were good at their job. (A certain Disney singer comes to mind.)
Celebrity children are truly my pet peeve.