Why are all future human heroes American?

[Yossarian90]

Why is it unnecessary?

Gaming supposed to be moving forward, it used to be that developers thought difficulty settings were unnecessary and that it would just take up more time AI programming. Then someone stuck it in there game and attracted a more casual player.

Games are getting bigger and bigger budgets if the setting demands it, why can't we have different accents. Obviously its a creative choice and part of the character but it would be a step forward.

Also if you don't see the point in the discussion then DON'T write in the forum, its simple really.

 

[iain62a]

Because our lack of accent means that the main character can be understood by EVERYONE and the game won't have to be localized 20 different times.

American lack of accent.

Are you being serious?

Do you really think you don't have an accent?

To me it doesn't sound like I have an accent, although I know that I do.

And I assure you, Americans have one as well.

 

[delet]

i never thought about that but one thing i have seen is, why are most anime heroes white? i wouda thought that mostly being made in japan they would look like japanese people?

Maybe because white is an easier colour to throw on rather than the very slightly different colour of Asian skin? No? Eyes are easier to draw when they're american-y? Still nothing? How about who gives a shit, it's either actiony, or funny, or just fucked up. Maybe something else, but I don't care to list a ton of genres...

 

[Peanut Butter]

im gunna bring up team fortress 2 here, thts a multi national/ethnic game.

lets see you've got an australian sniper, a russian heavy, a german medic and a french spy

not too mention the black scottish cyclops! could they be more diverse!?

 

[Zephirius]

Because our lack of accent means that the main character can be understood by EVERYONE and the game won't have to be localized 20 different times.

Oh, and America is the largest single market for the games.

There are things called subtitles and also one thing, was it so hard to understand Niko Bellic in GTA 4. When he wasn't speaking Russian

No, but the Jamaican dude was impossible to understand. I didn't find the subtitles until halfway into the game and all I really understood up to that point was "me bredda".

OT: American games have American voice actors for convenience.

 

[Yossarian90]

im gunna bring up team fortress 2 here, thts a multi national/ethnic game.

lets see you've got an australian sniper, a russian heavy, a german medic and a french spy

not too mention the black scottish cyclops! could they be more diverse!?

True, and its a great game

 

[murphy7801]

um who ever says that most games are made in America have actually looked were game studios actually are like for example gran theft auto is made in the uk its more of case that americans are less likely to buy a game if isnt about america some how and rest world are more likely to put up with it

 

[Yossarian90]

Because our lack of accent means that the main character can be understood by EVERYONE and the game won't have to be localized 20 different times.

Oh, and America is the largest single market for the games.

There are things called subtitles and also one thing, was it so hard to understand Niko Bellic in GTA 4. When he wasn't speaking Russian

No, but the Jamaican dude was impossible to understand. I didn't find the subtitles until halfway into the game and all I really understood up to that point was "me bredda".

OT: American games have American voice actors for convenience.

Jacob was awesome, I didn't put on subtitles I had fun just trying to decipher what he said.

and I think I said it a couple of posts ago but I KNOW IT'S FOR CONVENIENCE, got a different point to offer?

 

[Andy_Panthro]

It would not be a step forward. It would be completley unnecessary.

It would require hiring a different set of voice actors. It takes enough time to have one voice actor give a quality performance. Doing that for several voice actors would be a huge waste of time and money, as they would all be doing the voice for the main character.

All this for a useless feature that only matters to people who actually care about the main characters accent.

They already have two different voice actors for male/female, or would you rather you had no choice whatsoever? Just an average looking male white american-accented space marine? Some games are also translated into different languages for certain regions, The Witcher springs to mind here, which requires different voice actors.

All I'm suggesting is a step up in customization, allowing the player to make a choice. In Mass Effect you have to sit through a lot of your own characters dialogue, so why not have a voice that you like?

 

[asinann]

Because our lack of accent means that the main character can be understood by EVERYONE and the game won't have to be localized 20 different times.

American lack of accent.

Are you being serious?

Do you really think you don't have an accent?

To me it doesn't sound like I have an accent, although I know that I do.

And I assure you, Americans have one as well.

Good work not reading my next post.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Because Americans MAKE the games. Oddly enough it means that it's easier to get American voice actors.

By this arguement Cmdr. Shepard is ACTUALLY Canadian...

But by that same arguement he/she/it is from somewhere in Alberta, hence the American Inflection. We Western Canadian's sound remarkably similar to Americans and don't have the "canadian" accents of our eastern cousins.

 

[FrankDux]

Because our lack of accent means that the main character can be understood by EVERYONE and the game won't have to be localized 20 different times.

Oh, and America is the largest single market for the games.

There are things called subtitles and also one thing, was it so hard to understand Niko Bellic in GTA 4. When he wasn't speaking Russian

No, but the Jamaican dude was impossible to understand. I didn't find the subtitles until halfway into the game and all I really understood up to that point was "me bredda".

OT: American games have American voice actors for convenience.

It took a lot of practice, but I could understand some stuff.

Niko wasn't Russian by the way, but yeah he rarely spoke his native language, even to Roman.

 

[Are.Oh.Why]

Do you really think it matters?

I mean seriously, who gives a damn?

seconded

thirded, or "I concur"

 

[Lexodus]

And the films! They're ALWAYS in America!
As an aside, this was mentioned in Monsters VS. Aliens: "Once again, a UFO has landed in America, the only country UFOs ever seem to land in."
Great film.

 

[Yossarian90]

Do you really think it matters?

I mean seriously, who gives a damn?

seconded

thirded, or "I concur"

Like I said if you don't see the point why are you posting on the forum, your welcome to waste your time here, but your posts on this forum seem alot more pointless than this threads topic

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

A couple reasons.

- Most of these games you're complaining about are made in America. Where's the first place the developers are going to look for voice actors? You guessed it- America! Is 2K Boston supposed to fly someone out to Glasgow or Nice or Cape Town for voice auditions? That costs money, and in case you haven't noticed, the industry as a whole is having a bit of trouble with cash these days. Besides, has anyone here played Far Cry 2? I've yet to see a character who speaks in American English, and half the enemies speak Afrikkans. And what about Onimusha 3? It has Jean Reno! How much more French can you get?!

- Putting characters with "foreign" accents in games is almost always complained about by citizens who live where the character supposedly hails from. For example, I remember several Australians griping that the accent of TF2's Sniper was "generic" and somehow insulting. And of course, there's people who'll whine if a character comes with a regional accent that they don't like. (Really, we Americans are guilty of that with our own, too- New York accents seem to be just peachy, but Southern or New England accents? Almost never heard, except as parody.)

Should I start complaining about the lack of Americans in Doctor Who or Red Dwarf?

 

[scotth266]

Because Americans MAKE the games. Oddly enough it means that it's easier to get American voice actors.

This. I mean really, this isn't much of a question... It's just common sense.

 

[Yossarian90]

Because our lack of accent means that the main character can be understood by EVERYONE and the game won't have to be localized 20 different times.

Oh, and America is the largest single market for the games.

There are things called subtitles and also one thing, was it so hard to understand Niko Bellic in GTA 4. When he wasn't speaking Russian

No, but the Jamaican dude was impossible to understand. I didn't find the subtitles until halfway into the game and all I really understood up to that point was "me bredda".

OT: American games have American voice actors for convenience.

It took a lot of practice, but I could understand some stuff.

Niko wasn't Russian by the way, but yeah he rarely spoke his native language, even to Roman.

I know niko wasn't Russian, he's supposed to be Serbian which I think derives from Russian

 

[Spirultima]

He has a very valid point, i get so frustrated when its "a single american fighting the impossible but still wins" also in films "an american is the smartest man "an american is the most awesome man" "an american..." GAHH, the list doesn't stop. America you are not worth of such things, i don't see you inventing any REALLY important inventions, i don't remember YOU having important war heros or any war heros at all.
Real life scenario - america trying to take over world. Hero's - English, Russians, Japanese, French...(bahahahah, sorry i can't keep a straight face on that).

That is reality.

(Then again, English would probably join the americans, and so i would have to team kill...meh)

 

[oliveira8]

One thing that I find interesting about the TV show Firefly is that just about every character speaks at least some Chinese, since that's apparently one of the galaxy's most predominant languages in that universe.

!! Bring back FIREFLY!!! *Insert nerdrage here*

Because Americans MAKE the games. Oddly enough it means that it's easier to get American voice actors.

This. I mean really, this isn't much of a question... It's just common sense.

But theres plenty of Japanese game companies that hire Americans to do the voice acting...