Uncharted Voice Actor Doesn't Want Royalties
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
Jen Hale... *dreamy sigh*Onyx Oblivion said:
Back on the topic, I say good on him. He didn't have to reject the royalties and no one would think less of him for doing so, but I think it's nice to see a voice actor say the developers deserve it more. In terms of the actual input to the game, his contribution will be minor, but it's the output where his contribution counts the most. And of course, with titles like Uncharted and Dragon Age on his resumé, I doubt he'd have to look far for work.
I noticed someone say royalties are unfair and used the VA of Niko Bellic from GTA IV as an example. I know little of GTA IV's development and Rockstar's practices, but the VA would have signed a contract which would have stated no royalties. For all I know (or anyone else, for that matter), he may not have even asked for them or denied them on the spot.
Anyhoo, back to dreamy thoughts of Jen Hale's voice in Mass Effect...
Yea, as someone who wishes to work as a voice actor one day this is kind of a slap in the face. That is to say, I want to slap this guy across the face. Sure the developers are important and work in unfair conditions, but moves like this set the stage for future generations of voice talent to be treated as dirt. Come on, Nolan! Take pride in your work!Lord_Panzer said:
I don't really think too much about voice actors, unless I know them from previous work: e.g., Billy Murray appearing voicing Price in MW1 and MW2 seems funny to me as he used to be a wideboy copper in The Bill.
What he didn't say is that instead of royalties he prefers to be paid with a giant oversized cardboard cheque that has plenty of zeroes on the end.
Look at the number of games he's done VO work for. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636046/
Yeah, he's worked on every game ever made. It's likely he knows how hard these guys work, (he's probably good friends with a lot of them) and has seen their greasy visages reflecting monitors full of meaningless code. Their families? Forgotten. Health? Gone. Social-life? Didn't exist to begin with, but it'd be gone too. All in the attempt to get a game made in time so some EA or Activision suit can say "We have a solid lineup this holiday season."
So I think this is a genuine comment from him. Voice actors can break a game, but it takes a ton of geeks to make one.
Yeah, he's worked on every game ever made. It's likely he knows how hard these guys work, (he's probably good friends with a lot of them) and has seen their greasy visages reflecting monitors full of meaningless code. Their families? Forgotten. Health? Gone. Social-life? Didn't exist to begin with, but it'd be gone too. All in the attempt to get a game made in time so some EA or Activision suit can say "We have a solid lineup this holiday season."
So I think this is a genuine comment from him. Voice actors can break a game, but it takes a ton of geeks to make one.
*nods* You've got good taste. My favorite's Grey DeLisle, though she doesn't really do videogame work much. She was the voice of Azula in 'Avatar'. (the kickass series, not the kickass film)Onyx Oblivion said:
EDIT- Oh! And before I forget, she was also Jeanne in Bayonetta, Nassanna Dantius in Mass Effect, Harley Quinn in Lego Batman, and Brianna the Handmaiden in KOTOR 2.
You know what? I think that's damn decent of him, to at least consider the work of others before his own. I don't think I've actually played any of his games but I respect him for that at least.
Bingo. It sure beats the hell out of sending out resumes. "Oh no, I don't need royalties, I'm just happy to be working..."factualsquirrel said:
Yeah and OJ didn't do it, Michael Jackson wasn't into little kids and George W. Bush was the greatest leader in the history of mankind.
Undercover said:
And Oh God, I just realized that that means he's going to be in evven more games.
I'm saying he should have enough confidence in his trade to stand up for its integrity. The work he does is no less valuable than the work the developers do even if the demands are much less.Enigmers said:
If every voice actor went around "being a nice guy" and proclaiming that the work we do is invaluable, then there will be no demand for it and we'll all go broke. And we'd all get to go back to that wonderful period of game development when the voice work was left up to amateurs [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulbotKa5LnM].