Rogue Keeper on 9/5/2007 at 13:50
Quote Posted by Jeshibu
Uh, Malf, you do realize Fallout 2 gave your character some background too, right? The main character being raised in the village and being a descendant of the Vault Dweller (I forgot if he/she's a direct descendant and if you get to meet your parents if not) seems like it'd disappoint you too.
Still, we have little bit more (but really just a little bit) information about the Chosen One than we had about the Vault Dweller's backround.
According to Fallout Bible, The Elder of Arroyo was a direct descendant of the Vault Dweller, actually his/her daughter. But IIRC Chosen One wasn't her child. Chosen One just "shared the blood" of the Vault Dweller, perhaps more than his other fellow tribals?
Imagine the level decadence of these primitive tribals, relatives having children with members of their own bloodline. The tribe must have spawned many idiotic Chosen Ones.
:cheeky:
Phatose on 10/5/2007 at 00:14
If the fallout bible says that CO isn't a descendant of VD, the fallout bible is wrong. When you meet Tandi, Chosen One says "The vault dweller is my ancestor. He lives on in me."
Pyrian on 10/5/2007 at 00:46
Quote Posted by Malygris
Star power is nice for marketing, but an experienced voice actor can be so much more versatile, and presumably so much less expensive, as to be far more effective in a game.
I've heard that good voice actors are quite startlingly expensive.
Malygris on 10/5/2007 at 01:20
At a rate comparable to Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart or Sean Bean? I've never looked into it, so I'm just working on the assumption that big name = big paycheque.
Also, a professional voice actor is going to be much more versatile than a celebrity brought in for a specific role, so even if you are paying a similar amount, you're getting much more for your money. Bill Farmer, Nick Jameson or Stephen Russell are going to give you a wide range of distinct voices to fill out your cast; Liam Neeson will provide one distinct voice for one particular character.
Jason Moyer on 10/5/2007 at 02:09
Quote Posted by Malygris
Also, a professional voice actor is going to be much more versatile than a celebrity brought in for a specific role, so even if you are paying a similar amount, you're getting much more for your money.
In a sense. What you're not getting is the ability to put "OMFG PATRICK STEWART IS IN THIS GAME - 5 STARS - COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AND BASKETWEAVING MONTHLY' on the box of your game.
Malygris on 10/5/2007 at 02:48
Which was kind of my original point - star power is a nice marketing tool, and presumably offers some intangible benefits as a result. But I also think there's a very good chance that gamers are becoming cynical about that sort of ploy, especially as it becomes more and more obvious that big-name actors do not necessarily make good voice actors, or are not necessarily effectively employed as voice actors by development studios.
Jason Moyer on 10/5/2007 at 03:23
Quote Posted by Malygris
But I also think there's a very good chance that gamers are becoming cynical about that sort of ploy, especially as it becomes more and more obvious that big-name actors do not necessarily make good voice actors, or are not necessarily effectively employed as voice actors by development studios.
"Gamers" might be cynical, but I wouldn't expect much from the other 98% of people who play video games. This sort of marketing works in other forms of mass media, so I'd be highly surprised if people didn't buy into it in games.
Pyrian on 10/5/2007 at 04:16
It's not like using celebrity voice acting in games is overused, or even widely used.
HybridVision on 10/5/2007 at 09:45
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
"Gamers" might be cynical, but I wouldn't expect much from the other 98% of people who play video games. This sort of marketing works in other forms of mass media, so I'd be highly surprised if people didn't buy into it in games.
I'm really against using big-name actors for in-game voices. Firstly, they don't always do a particularly great job. Because of their lack of familiarity with the subject matter, they sometimes read their lines
completely wrong. You can basically tell they're just reading it from the script, without any idea what they've just said, or the impact it should have.
Secondly, if I recognise the actor behind the voice then immediately I'm dragged out of the game and back into the real world. Patrick Stewart in Oblivion is a great example. Instead of thinking "ah, there's King Leopald" I instead thought "there's Patrick Stewart! I bet he cost them a fair bit."
I think voice actors/ non-celebrities have a distinct advantage here in that
we don't know what they look like. Because of this, if they voice some kind of weird alien, we don't immediately call to mind the last program we saw them in. Add to that that the studio will be able to work with the voice actors for a lot longer due to paying them less, and will likely have a lot more control. Would you be able to say to Patrick Stewart "I'm sorry, you said that
all wrong! Try it this way..." Possibly not :p
Incidentally, does anyone get the urge to shout "Boss!" when Quahog news comes on (Family Guy :P)?
Rogue Keeper on 10/5/2007 at 15:44
F3 should take place on East Coast, specifically in Washington D.C.
I like the new artwork (
http://fallout.bethsoft.com/)
In other news, they hired Liam Neeson to make voiceovers of hero's father.
No mention about Ron Perlman so far.
