Mihos
Gold Member
The 2009 Ghostbusters Game did for me... and it was glorious.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Why wasn't Destiny's voice talent advertised?
- Thread starter Overboost
- Start date
The 2009 Ghostbusters Game did for me... and it was glorious.
Anton Sugar
Member
Eh, I actually that everyone aside from Dinklage does a good job. I think Fillion and Stormare have the most fun with it, but it's not like the others have much to work with.
Dinklage, though. Man, he's awful. Almost enough to make me reconsider his talent, as an actor, overall.
The characterization of your Ghost is more evidence that there were a lot of conflicting design choices, or no unified vision.
Sometimes his lines are read in a humdrum "robotic operator" tone and delivery. Other times, he attempts to express emotion, personality, independent thought. It can be very jarring.
Maybe it's just Dinklage. I really can't stand him in this game.
Some solid ideas so far. Let's remember not to kid ourselves that pre-release marketing will focus only on parts of the game that "really matter" to players. Most of Activision's marketing for Destiny focused on story (heh) and the idea that you will "become legend," rather than just another dude in a sea of millions with the same gear bought from Xur last weekend.
See the sudden burst of excitement/pre-orders after the Alien: Isolation Nostromo voice cast was unveiled. Not enough hype to put the game in the black, but the game would've sold fewer copies without that video. Certainly far fewer pre-orders, which are crucial. Just one example.
Memorabilia
Member
Because the script is awful, the entire SP campaign was removed with the surgical precision of a rusty pocket-knife, and the producers realized the voice talent phoned it in as a result?
The Dinkle-Bot in particular deserves a Razzie.
The Dinkle-Bot in particular deserves a Razzie.
He's been good (occasionally truly great) in enough things that I don't think you can blame him. It's like the Lucas syndrome. You have some Oscar caliber actors in the prequels turning in the worst performances of their careers. Some actors can overcome poor direction/scripts to still give a decent performance on their own (Ewan McGregor), but other actors need the help of the director and the material.
You sit Dinklage down with this script full of Proper Noun bullshit and sentences/phrases devoid of any kind of context, and don't adequately work with him, and it's very easy to see how it could come out poorly.
Agent Gibbs
Member
High five fellow ghosthead! that game was/is awesome!
jesus bungie thats an all star cast right there! how could you not utillise them more? half of them should have had bigger roles in the almost nonexistent story! jez even if it was just more comes through the missions so Dinklage didn't need to sound so bored
Unknown Soldier
Member
Anybody remember how they hyped Patrick Stewart in Oblivion, and what actually happened is he appears right at the beginning and then promptly dies and is not heard from ever again?
Yeah.
I'm not surprised they don't hype big name voices in games honestly.
Yeah.
I'm not surprised they don't hype big name voices in games honestly.
Maybe it's a lesson to the industry. Not sure why they would want to spend money on the bigger stars that don't give two shits about VA or video games and end up "calling it in" like Dinklage did.
Also, it's not like you can tell who they are unless they mo-cap and animate like LA Noire.
Although, Alien Isolation did it rights since it was the actors from the movie...
Also, it's not like you can tell who they are unless they mo-cap and animate like LA Noire.
Although, Alien Isolation did it rights since it was the actors from the movie...
lololol
Remember when the Godzilla trailers came out unveiling Bryan Cranston hot on the heels of Breaking Bad's final season? Suddenly, hype +200,000% for a ton of people who were previously on the fence.
Cranston's in the movie for 15 minutes, but your ticket has been purchased by the time you find this out.
SJRB
Gold Member
Elder Scrolls Online spent truckloads on Hollywood celebrity voice actors and they've been shouting it from the rooftops.
Might wanna spoiler tag that.
Randolph Freelander
Member
Don't recognize many of those names, but that's beside the point. Why would anyone even care? It seems such a waste to hire named talent for animation voice overs. Get some cheap, up-and-coming, and cheap talent from the theater or something.
Anton Sugar
Member
That's fair.
Sometimes, during mission or bounty briefings, I like to imagine how some of the VO sessions went with Gina Torres, or Peter Stormare, or Lance Reddick (or any of them, really).
"Okay, so it's 'The Vex.'"
"Right."
"And who are they? What's their angle?"
"They're kinda like hivemind robot demons. They want to take over the galaxy."
"I thought The Fallen are already taking over humanity's planets."
"Right, but these guys are, too."
"So they're bad guys?"
"Right."
"But The Fallen are the bad guys. Why are they fighting?"
"They don't like each other."
"Okay, whatever. What's next? What's this--The Cabal? What do they want?"
"They want to take over the galaxy."
I have to assume that's the case.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain.
Neuromancer
Member
Maybe they think that sometimes it's fun to figure things out on your own.
EmeraldSwords
Banned
I was hoping Giancarlo Esposito would have some voicework other than being in a rather pointless trailer.
Doctoglethorpe
Member
Because they all only have one paragraph of lines in the entire game, and they are all performed with mediocrity. Their characters all have the same issue Dinklebot had, they sound bored. You can literally hear the recording booth around them.
Idk why people think just because a person is a good film actor that they will be a good voice actor. Or why companies think having those famous faces behind voices makes people appreciate them more. I'll take a good dedicated voice actor over some hollywood cameo role any day.
Idk why people think just because a person is a good film actor that they will be a good voice actor. Or why companies think having those famous faces behind voices makes people appreciate them more. I'll take a good dedicated voice actor over some hollywood cameo role any day.
Anton Sugar
Member
By figuring things out, you mean going to bungie.net and reading card after card of the Grimoire?
I don't think you can pin it on differences of film/video acting vs voice acting, though.
Like griffy said, direction (or lack thereof) is a huge part of it. Even in the film world, just because someone is a director (let alone a good director), doesn't mean s/he's good at directing actors.
Given that we know very little of Destiny's "story", how good do you think the direction was for the actors? What can you tell me about the character of Zavala? "He's an Awoken Titan Vanguard with a smooth-as-fuck voice" is the closest we'll get.
Cayde-6? The Speaker? Characters without character, and that starts with what's on the page.
Waylon Drums
Member
Yes. They stole from voice actors to do that. You figured it out.
Anyways, is the gun dealer not one of the friends from the Drew Carey Show?
Edit: It's not. I thought it was this entire time.
Edit edit: Oh my gawd my titan vanguard is the undercover cop from Oz who got hooked on drugs! Crazy.
RealityPales
Member
My theory is that most of them have signed on for the long haul. I think their contracts stipulate multiple games.
I think the Guardians will figure out everyone at the Tower is actually evil. As antagonists, they'll be fully voiced out, and subsequently promoted by Acti.
But they're not there yet.
I think the Guardians will figure out everyone at the Tower is actually evil. As antagonists, they'll be fully voiced out, and subsequently promoted by Acti.
But they're not there yet.
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
Because all the dialog with those characters was scrapped during The Collapse
of the original story
CouchMaster
Member
For some reason I knew Erick Avari would play Cryptarch Rahool even before I heard his voice.
HiredN00bs
Member
Wow, I didn't know who Lennie James was, having only remembered ever seeing him on The Walking Dead where he performed a more than convincing American accent, so finding out he's Lord Shaxx just blew my fucking mind.
Also, most of the voice work is fine. Some of Ghost's lines are a bit weird, but I defy the detractors to post examples of the "shit" voice acting from the other players.
Also, most of the voice work is fine. Some of Ghost's lines are a bit weird, but I defy the detractors to post examples of the "shit" voice acting from the other players.
We have to believe there's a mountain of dialogue yet to be used in their 10-year plan for Destiny, certainly in all the the story DLC yet to be rolled out. All the more reason to push the fact that these people are in the game, especially if any semblance of story is your main marketing focus.
LUFTRAUSER
Banned
I don't know about you, but I saw stuff about Destiny's vocal talent everywhere. Specifically, its lack of it.
"THAT WIZARD CAME FROM THE MOON!"
"THAT WIZARD CAME FROM THE MOON!"
Anton Sugar
Member
I agree. Everyone is believable, if not dull. Ghost/Dinklage is just bad sometimes, though.
Seriously, I thought the acting was shit. I didn't even realize any of these people were in it other than dinklidge and it's a little upsetting now knowing they were all in there.
Side note: I watched the first footage of tMCC today and the announcer's voice for multiplayer is like music to my ears compared to the boring monotone one in Destiny.
How did bungie go wrong on so many levels to me...? I love the gunplay... And that's it. Atmosphere would be cool if i didn't see the same thing so often.
Happy some people are enjoying the game but it's just not what I hoped it would be.
Side note: I watched the first footage of tMCC today and the announcer's voice for multiplayer is like music to my ears compared to the boring monotone one in Destiny.
How did bungie go wrong on so many levels to me...? I love the gunplay... And that's it. Atmosphere would be cool if i didn't see the same thing so often.
Happy some people are enjoying the game but it's just not what I hoped it would be.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Because it was shit?
Only Dinklage has a major role and he's total crap in Destiny.
Only Dinklage has a major role and he's total crap in Destiny.
HiredN00bs
Member
There really isn't a lot of context for the story in the game itself, which is why it consfuses me when people say the lines are poorly read. How do you poorly read "Greetings, Guardian."? If most of it is poorly read, perhaps you could give an example besides Dinklage.
speculawyer
Member
Because that would just draw attention to the lack of a coherent story and how their voice talents were completely wasted.
giancarlo123x
Banned
I didn't know Maggie, Morgan, and Raiden(version 2) voiced people in this and never would have guessed.