David Hayter: "Not My Choice" To Give Up Solid Snake

[Azex]

I feel a big mistake made in the reporting and response to this is saying he is no longer voicing solid snake. The character in MGV and Ground Zeroes is Big Boss or Naked Snake. NOT Solid Snake. So him or anyone else saying "im not doing solid snake in mgv" is fine as for all we know that guy isnt in it.

I know its a matter of symanitcs but it is kinda important. I'm pretty bummed at the news he wont be involved anymore, and can only continue to hope. Which sucks cause there few things worse than false hope.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

This actually makes sense when you think about it. There will be two new MGS games. Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. In Ground Zeroes we play as Big Boss. And GZ is the prequel to TPP. The game is set in the time period when Big Boss was already cloned. So it wouldn't be surprising to see Solid Snake at some point. If not in GZ then definitely in TPP. So if we have both characters at the same time, one of them would have to be voiced by someone other than David.

I don't believe for a second that Kojima will leave David out completely. I think they will have Richard Doyle doing the voice of Big Boss and David doing the voice of Solid Snake.

But if I'm wrong and if they truly decided to leave him out of MGS, then MGS is dead to me.

 

[Azex]

I don't want to play an MGS game without David voicing Snake. If they don't bring him back they can say goodbye to at least one fan.

More than one fan.

 

[JokerboyJordan]

This actually makes sense when you think about it. There will be two new MGS games. Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. In Ground Zeroes we play as Big Boss. And GZ is the prequel to TPP. The game is set in the time period when Big Boss was already cloned. So it wouldn't be surprising to see Solid Snake at some point. If not in GZ then definitely in TPP. So if we have both characters at the same time, one of them would have to be voiced by someone other than David.

I don't believe for a second that Kojima will leave David out completely. I think they will have Richard Doyle doing the voice of Big Boss and David doing the voice of Solid Snake.

I was of the impression that The Phantom Pain segment was merely the tutorial part of Ground Zeroes, the whole thing just being called MGS5.

If the change in VA is for the reason to have Big Boss sound different to Solid Snake, why the sudden change? Hayster was Big Boss in MGS3, which is regarded as the best of the series. Unless there's going to be Big Boss- Solid Snake interaction, this change is unnecessary, and serves only to anger a large amount of the fanbase.

If it's just down to wanting a "new direction" by Kojima, then he has to realise that even if he was never satisfied with the VAs previously, he's built up the character of Snake/Big Boss with Hayter's voice, and the removal of that is a blow to people's immersion and love of the character.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Wait didn't he ask his fans before this news if they were okay if he didn't do the voice for snake in Ground Zeroes?

 

[The Hero Killer]

I dont get it Kojima just wants a different VA for Big Boss right? It makes sense since they seem to be going full circle to Metal Gear 1 & 2 and they cant have Big Boss and Solid Snake with the same VA if they are talking to each other.

 

[Scrustle]

I read a blog where someone theorised that this is in fact just more misdirection from Kojima, and Hayter is in on it too. It points out that the possibility of Hayter returning hasn't been completely ruled out, and that there have been possible hints that he may in fact be coming back. I'm far from the most well versed on the series, but I think it makes for a compelling argument:

http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/kmax/are-kojima-and-hayter-trolling--250049.phtml

 

[Darth_Payn]

So it's true, then. Hayter won't play Big Boss, and it makes story sense why. What's he gonna work on now? I just hope he's now able to get his Black Widow solo movie off the ground.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

This is still because we don't like Raiden isn't it...

The whole Big Boss thing makes no sense as Snake voiced him in all the other damn Big Boss games... so why not this one? What the hell Kojima?

 

[DarklordKyo]

Read Hayter's quotes in Snake's voice. Also; I may be a little behind the times, there's going to be a fifth Metal Gear Solid? I was kindof under the impression there wasn't much left to do at the end of MGS4, give or take some fighting going on with the financial thing Drebin was monologueing about at the end.

It's as much a sequel as Metal Gear Solid 3 is, being set after Peace Walker.

 

[dragongit]

And to the people who say, "he shouldn't voice because it's big boss" , David Voiced big boss in Metal Gear Solid 3. David voiced old Snake who by all means should have been in his 70s due to his accelerated aging. By Phantom Pain/Ground Zeroes/5 Big Boss should only be in his late 40s. Unless you want him to already be voiced by Richard Doyle, he is still young enough to use David's voice. Giving him a third voice actor between the transition would be kinda off setting.

 

[sethisjimmy]

For people claiming David will return as Solid Snake, and that it's only Big Boss who's getting a voice change, we've been given evidence to suggest otherwise.

Akio Otsuka, the Japanese voice actor for both Big Boss and Solid Snake, has been confirmed to be reprising his roles in the next game, where Haytor will not be.

What this means is that it is not just a character voice change to differentiate between Big Boss and Solid Snake, they are simply kicking Haytor out. The English actor has been changed but the Japanese actor remains the same, which clearly tells us they just don't want Haytor's voice in the next game.
This also means that what Kojima has said about this being representative of the change in game style is pretty much bullshit.


Anyway, on the other hand, I would love for this to just be an elaborate hoax between Kojima and Haytor, which I wouldn't put past them. I mean Haytor has not only voiced the entire Solid series but even physically acted in 4!

 

[Scars Unseen]

Maybe this another attempt by Kojima to end the franchise so he can make other stuff. He tried to end it with 4 by actually ending the story, now he's going to try to end it by alienating the fanbase.

 

[ninjaRiv]

It could still be a joke... However, Kojima has confirmed that Hayter wont be back. Kind of seems a little too mich to be a joke. Apparently he wanted to recreate the series, despite the fact that the Japanese Snake wont be changing. I don't know about the other versions of Snake, though.

 

[Something Amyss]

If you want to be technical about it, yes we have heard a different voice coming out of Naked Snake. MGS4 had Big Boss voiced by Richard Doyle. Although, I assume that was just because it would be odd to hear Hayter talking to Hayter.

Odd, but awesome. I'm not a huge fan of the franchise, but I'd love to see Hayter v Hayter.

 

[Something Amyss]

Maybe this another attempt by Kojima to end the franchise so he can make other stuff. He tried to end it with 4 by actually ending the story, now he's going to try to end it by alienating the fanbase.

A simpler solution is to not make it at all, as his attempts to "kill" the fanbase all fail.

Although, I suspect that's completely intentional.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

Hard to think of any non-Japanese voice actor as inextricably tied to a video game character as Hayter has been to Snake. Not only is it incredibly rare to see a non-Japanese actor last even half this long in a single role (you know, if you ignore the rest of the cast of Metal Gear Solid), but his portrayal of the character has been widely regarded as a facet of the character itself. You could shuffle the rest of the cast around without breaking many hearts - no offense whatsoever to the talents of those actors, as they've done some commendable work and are largely responsible for proving dubbed voice acting didn't have to be fucking shit - but that raspy growl is Solid Snake.

And sometimes Big Boss.

Hayter's abundance of work is likely no exaggeration, so I doubt money was an issue, but either way, this is a legitimate shame, and I don't even care for the series.

 

[Marik2]

As someone who is opposed to this change, based on the evidence presented to us, I would like to promote the petition to bring Hayter back!

As far as I can see, the only reason that Kojima got rid of him was because he, or someone else in Kojipro or Konami did not like him anymore. The new actor sounds like a pale comparison to Snake (As evidenced here) and doesn't even sound older, which would be logical.

The only thing I want is either Hayter back on the project or answers. Why doesn't Kojima want Hayter anymore?

And before anyone says "Kojima wants to reinvent the franchise and so wanted new actors, so respect his decisions" then take note Kojima is only changing Hayter, not the Japanese Snake or any of the cast revealed so far like Miller. Only Hayter. Besides, tossing out actors when you tire of them while people still love them strikes me as a very evil director.

I have never been upset at any decision Kojima has made before, not even at anything that happened in MGS4, but damn I don't want to see Hayter go. He IS Snake to us. It'd be like casting a new Indiana Jones for a new movie that is still set in the regular Indy canon. Like imagine a film set after the third one. Sean Connery is there all normal then on comes Clint Eastwood doing his best Harrison Ford impression. It's not right and it's pointless.

We are not ready for a world without the true Snake!

Calumon: He has such a nice beard... : (

I beleive that is Richard Doyle who is voicing Big Boss(which he did in MGS4) and it makes sense since he is suppose to be old and he woke up from a coma.

The Old Snake voice strained Hayters vocal chords a lot and it would be nice for him to save his voice.

Who knows maybe at the end of the game there will be a young solid snake getting recruited into FOXHOUND and hte other game will be a remake or Outer Heaven

 

[Scrythe]

Okay, this bothered me about the last article, but I thought that was just a slight error or typo, but this article is doing the same thing.

Why is The Escapist referring to this situation as if the main character of MGS5 is Solid Snake? Because last time I checked, Big Boss' code name was Naked Snake. This isn't a slight marginalization, those are two different people.

And if this game takes place "sometime in the 80's" as mentioned in a yet older article this would make Solid Snake (and Liquid Snake) between 8 and 17 years old (8 in 1980, 17 in 1989). That entire age range is far too young to have David Hayter's trademark growl, so there would be absolutely no reason for David Hayter to voice him, unless he can also do a child's voice (which I've only seen him do on Captain Planet, as the Russian' girls little brother).

So what gives?