Voice Acting (Destiny)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Friday, July 25, 2014, 09:26 (3778 days ago) @ car15
edited by Cody Miller, Friday, July 25, 2014, 09:30

I feel like Bungie, and indeed a lot of industry is falling into the trap of relying on name recognition for voice actors instead of actual vocal ability.

There are a few supremely talented voice actors out there who have name power, like Mark Hamil, Hank Azaria, Billy West, etc, but for the most part the really good voice actors are not the stars. I mean, look at the Simpsons, and realize that about 7 people do the voices for the entire cast of characters, yet each character is so unique and recognizable, with their own personality. Back in the day you had guys like Mel Blanc, who was dubbed the man of a thousand voices. Would Futurama be as fun if "Good News Everyone!" were exclaimed in the voice of Joseph Gordon Levit playing himself, instead of Billy West actually doing a voice?

Listen to Deej in that tower walkthrough video, as he emphasizes the voice casting for all the various venders. (Worst of all, he expects fans to be able to guess the actor). What ends up happening when you rely on star power, is that the voice actors tend to play themselves, so it's recognizable to the audience. What's funnier is that these are barely peripheral characters in the game world! That's not true in every case, but it is for most. As a result, you tend not to do your characters and you work justice by finding and crafting the perfect voice that makes the character.

It was a huge problem in Hollywood a while back, so much so that the 3D characters would actually end up looking like their actors somewhat. I understand it a bit more in Hollywood, since star power sells movies, but in the world of Video Games the Studio name sells the games. Once you have 'Bungie', it doesn't matter whom they cast. Perhaps just one more case of film envy from the games industry, without thinking about the consequences.