Foreign Player Characters?

[Meemaimoh]

I was thinking recently about Assassin's Creed (note: I haven't played AC2, so what I have to say may not apply). I noticed while playing, as many did, that while all the NPCs in the game had immersive accents, Altair himself had an American one. I made excuses for it while I was playing, guessing that Desmond's brain made the accent American because brains would probably do that kind of thing, but it was jarring.

I'm Australian. I've noticed that no games - not even ones developed here - have Australian protagonists. Not without making a Crocodile Dundee-style charicature out of him, at least. And I get it. I understand that American (or English) protagonists are the most likely to be understood by the widest audience (though that doesn't really hold up, as it's my sad understanding that most people can't tell the difference between Australian and English accents... but I digress).

My question is this: what are some games that have protagonists with accents that aren't American or English? Even better: ones in which they aren't charicatures? In which protagonists are "foreign", not as a character trait, but because it simply makes sense, or even better, because they just are?

 

[tkioz]

You'd really trust the majority of game designers with our accent and slang mate? we'd come out sounding like a cross between Steve Irwin and Kath from Kath and Kim.

 

[Georgie_Leech]

Wasn't the protagonist from Saboteur Irish? Not an english accent.

 

[Meemaimoh]

You'd really trust the majority of game designers with our accent and slang mate? we'd come out sounding like a cross between Steve Irwin and Kath from Kath and Kim.

Well, I'm not necessarily suggesting it would be a good idea. And I'm definitely not suggesting the PC should be a bogan.

 

[ethaninja]

You would find a shitload in those japanese games. But come to think of it, I remember hearing our accent in one game once. Can't remember what. I'll let you know if I come across it again.

 

[tkioz]

You'd really trust the majority of game designers with our accent and slang mate? we'd come out sounding like a cross between Steve Irwin and Kath from Kath and Kim.

Well, I'm not necessarily suggesting it would be a good idea. And I'm definitely not suggesting the PC should be a bogan.

Actually that could be interesting, make it a 3rd person shooter about fighting off aliens ala Duke Nukem, only with beer hat, mullet, thongs, shorts, and VB singlet

 

[Space Spoons]

I'm not sure if this counts as a caricature or not, but Niko Bellic of GTA IV is supposedly from Serbia. Or, at least, a country where Serbian is spoken as the primary language. Somewhere in eastern Europe, I guess.

 

[kawaiiamethist]

Final Fantasy XIII - fang has a heavy Australian accent and Vanille has this mix of British-Australian

Final Fantasy XII - the Viera have an accent I can't place

Final Fantasy X - Wakka

 

[Therumancer]

I think a lot of it is that you need to understand what people are saying, and I think it's that English and American accents are the "purest" form of the words and thus easiest to understand universally. If you take some of the other accents that you can put on english it can cause problems, especially if dealing with someone who doesn't speak english as their primary language. Such are my thoughts.

That said, there are plenty of non-english/american protaganists out there in video games. It's just that they tend to be outnumbered because in general most other civilizations don't produce much in the way of video games, or live in an enviroment very condusive to them (which I won't get into at the moment, since it's been covered before and leads to lengthy discussions).

For example your seeing more and more Russian made games hitting the market, and as a result more slavic characters. Localization oftentimes featuring voice actors who indeed include a Russian/Slavic type accent.

Which of course brings up the issue OF localization, which basically means that when looking at accents and how characters turn out you really need to talk to who was responsible for that aspect of the game as well. I mean if your looking for professional, native english voice actors chances are most of them are going to be from England or the US. To be honest I don't think there are many Aussies who do that kind of work to begin with. Yes there are Aussie Actors and Actresses, but how many go looking to do that kind of thing specifically?

Ironically the only aussie voice actress I can think of off the top of my head is Claudia Black. She does mostly regular acting, but has been doing quite a bit of fairly high profile video game voice work it seems. Her biggest role being "Dragon Age: Origins" of course (Morrigan), but she also had a bit in "Mass Effect 2", and in "Uncharted: Among Thieves".

Maybe we'll see more, but it is a start.

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

Wasn't the protagonist from Saboteur Irish? Not an english accent.

If I remember correct, most Americans have Irish roots, so that might be pandering for the common sense of heritage. I could be wrong though.

OT: Grim Fandango's cast consisted entirely from characters speaking with alot of Spenglish and Hispanic accents; all in tune with the Dia de los Muerto imagery and symbolism used of course.

 

[azncutthroat]

My question is this: what are some games that have protagonists with accents that aren't American or English? Even better: ones in which they aren't charicatures? In which protagonists are "foreign", not as a character trait, but because it simply makes sense, or even better, because they just are?

You know, you could just tweak all the Japanese games so they're in their original language format... until the high-pitched, exaggerated voices make you almost thankful for gritty american accents.

 

[Layz92]

Wouldn't it be funny if Gordon Freeman had a thick Scottish accent? I can't think of any off the top of my head with non American accents. Maybe if you count playing as Gimli or a different dwarf as using a Scottish accent. Also I can't remember correctly cos it's been ages since I played but isn't the protagonist from GTA IV a bosnian/russian/czeck/slovakian accented guy?

 

[Meemaimoh]

To be honest I don't think there are many Aussies who do that kind of work to begin with. Yes there are Aussie Actors and Actresses, but how many go looking to do that kind of thing specifically?

You're right on the money, there. Even among the more geeky Australians, I'd say that the idea of any games development happening anywhere but Silicon Valley, let alone in our backyard, is a pretty new thing. Maybe in time a culture will develop, but I'd say we're in the early stages.

Ironically the only aussie voice actress I can think of off the top of my head is Claudia Black. She does mostly regular acting, but has been doing quite a bit of fairly high profile video game voice work it seems. Her biggest role being "Dragon Age: Origins" of course (Morrigan), but she also had a bit in "Mass Effect 2", and in "Uncharted: Among Thieves".

I had no idea she was Australian! That's very cool. And your mentioning Mass Effect 2 reminded me of Yvonne Strahovski, who was also in ME2 and is also Australian. So that's something!

Final Fantasy XIII - fang has a heavy Australian accent and Vanille has this mix of British-Australian

Final Fantasy XII - the Viera have an accent I can't place

Final Fantasy X - Wakka

I have to admit that I'm not that familiar with Final Fantasy, but I'm pretty sure Wakka's a secondary kind of character - that doesn't count. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

Wouldn't it be funny if Gordon Freeman had a thick Scottish accent? I can't think of any off the top of my head with non American accents. Maybe if you count playing as Gimli or a different dwarf as using a Scottish accent. Also I can't remember correctly cos it's been ages since I played but isn't the protagonist from GTA IV a bosnian/russian/czeck/slovakian accented guy?

Oh, god. Imagine having to sit through an entire game playing Gordon Freeman with a thick Scottish accent. I can't imagine anything more painful. Nightmare difficulty?

 

[ShotgunSmoke]

Sean Devlin (The Saboteur) - Irish.

Mattias Nilsson (Mercenaries) - Swedish.

Niko Bellic (GTA IV) - Serbian.