Why do Men fail at acting?

[Woodsey]

I don't think ManShep's that bad; he could do with a little less all-American hero, but there was a definite step up from ME to ME2.

 

[Harrowdown]

The same reason women fail at acting. Because they're bad actors.

This.

I thought the guy who voiced Niko Bellic was pretty sweet.

 

[omega 616]

Having just one example isn't enough to prove your point. There are many games with male voice actors that totally make your statement stupid and worthy of almost troll status.

Ever heard of David Hayter or Nolan North?

David Hayter in number 4 wasn't great, just watch the first briefing. All those silly moans and groans he does.

Maybe it's more the script but it is still silly.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Having just one example isn't enough to prove your point. There are many games with male voice actors that totally make your statement stupid and worthy of almost troll status.

Ever heard of David Hayter or Nolan North?

David Hayter in number 4 wasn't great, just watch the first briefing. All those silly moans and groans he does.

Maybe it's more the script but it is still silly.

You can never truly blame the actor (unless it's someone like Tommy Wiseau). Most of the time a good actor is brought down by horrible writing (a case in point would be Jackie Earle Hayley in Nightmare on Elm Street).

 

[Hiken no Ace]

Hmm yes...your generalized thinking is wrong. Fail at voice acting? Look up Stephen Blum, Crispin Freeman, Chris Sabat, Mark Hamil, or even better, Jim Cummings! THOSE are some great actors who are only known for their great voice talents. Other's you may have heard do great jobs are Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson. I'm not even mentioning my favorite Japanese Voice Overs here. There are AMAZING male voice overs out there, its just that not every game has the connections or the time to contract them.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Men suck at voice acting?

TAKE THIS!

You know, this is the first time I see the new Samus. My God, have they ruined her. Isn't Samus supposed to be a brave lone warrior who doesn't let fear or emotions get in the way of the objective? Here she just seems like a whiny child who is doing her mission only to get the approval from her father figure. I know that this is early on in the time-line, but come on! This is not badass!

 

[Ampersand]

I doubt that actors suckage had anything to do with being male.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Let me clarify - ME2 carries on the reputation of all Bioware games by having voice actors who sound like theyre reading a book, therefore all Men fail at acting... lol

Almost every character in the game would like to have a word with you...

Your problem is Mass Effect.
it's writing just sucks in my opinion.

I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever heard Mass Effect being accused of terrible writing.


OT: As everyone has said, it's unfair to judge all male voice actors by what one voice actor did. As for MaleShep...he wasn't great, but neither was FemShep. Each have their strengths and weaknesses and the problem with a game like Mass Effect is that the lead has to be careful how much emotion they put in, lest it take the player out of the experience.

Comparatively, the voice actors for Garrus, Tali, Mordin, Thane and Illusive Man give performances that are damn near Oscar-worthy.

 

[Battenbergcake]

I suggest you stop playing JRPGs you see their notorious for terrible dubs. Besides playing the game in German is far funner.

 

[Cheesus333]

Whenever I play Mass Effect there are always certain lines said by Male Shepard that make me roll my eyes and shake my head, and whenever I hear Female Shepard say anything I feel like the game just got more badass, and it's the same in most video games. The men play the part but it's never anything more than that, women bring it on home EVERY TIME.

Being a man, I tend to prefer playing the man. But why can't we have the same degree of acting as the ladies?

I'm confused, you reference Mass Effect... but did you not hear Seth Green's Joker?!

Laugh-out-loud dialogue, delivered by an amazing voice actor.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I'm confused, you reference Mass Effect... but did you not hear Seth Green's Joker?!

Laugh-out-loud dialogue, delivered by an amazing voice actor.

Same goes for...well, most of the characters in the game, actually. Mass Effect is widely known to have some of the best voice acting in the business (Tali, Mordin, Joker and Illusive Man did extraordinarily well in ME2)

 

[Yuno Gasai]

The men play the part but it's never anything more than that, women bring it on home EVERY TIME.

Being a man, I tend to prefer playing the man. But why can't we have the same degree of acting as the ladies?

Go play Saint's Row 2, or at least listen to the male voice with the English accent.

His acting kicked ass. Or was it just his accent..?

I'm guilty of not really bothering to toy around with making male characters, although judging by some of the NPC's voice acting, the male parts can seem a little lackluster.

 

[Kiefer13]

I don't see how you can make a generalisation like that based on one example. Besides, it's not like Mark Meer is actually bad as MaleShep. It just seems that way in comparison because his competition is Jennifer fucking Hale. Besides, most of the main supporting cast in both Mass Effect games is excellent. Keith David as Captain Anderson, Seth Green as Joker, Brandon Keener as Garrus and Martin Sheen as The Illusive Man to name just a handful of great performances by male voice actors.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

I don't how many of you will read this but allow me to rephrase what I said. As I don't think I really got what I meant across.

I have heard Martin Sheen, Nolan North, Christopher Lee etc and they are amazing. I'm not bashing them in any way shape or form.

What I meant is that I don't think Mark Meer is up to par with Jennifer Hale as Shepard, and being someone who prefers to play a male character, I felt somewhat cheated that the male Shepard didn't seem quite as believable.

I felt the same thing in Fable 3 with the protagonist. (Not dissing John Cleese, Simon Pegg etc.) So, I made the error in generalizing male protagonists and declaring that they seem incapable in comparison to the female actors.

 

[Estocavio]

Let me clarify - ME2 carries on the reputation of all Bioware games by having voice actors who sound like theyre reading a book, therefore all Men fail at acting... lol

Almost every character in the game would like to have a word with you...

Ok, ill go speak to them right away *End Monotone*.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Ignorant generalization is ignorant.

 

[Eumersian]

That's just one example.

The majority of TF2's cast is male and they're all excellent.

Absolutely agree. See here:

http://www.teamfortress.com/movies.htm

OT: In relation to Mass Effect: They just picked the wrong guy I guess. I always thought that the actor (I used to know his name) needed a little more emotion. I think he's good and can convey emotions reasonably, but it's almost like he has a limit. When there's a situation that requires more than moderate emotion, he just comes off as lame.

I have plenty of friends in theater, and most of them are pretty good actors.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Whenever I play Mass Effect there are always certain lines said by Male Shepard that make me roll my eyes and shake my head, and whenever I hear Female Shepard say anything I feel like the game just got more badass, and it's the same in most video games. The men play the part but it's never anything more than that, women bring it on home EVERY TIME.

Being a man, I tend to prefer playing the man. But why can't we have the same degree of acting as the ladies?

I don't understand why people have this notion that the female Shepard voice is doing a wonderfully fantastic job. Adequate would be the word I'd use. Pretty much the same way I'd describe the talent of the male voice actor.

In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that the female Shepard does a worse job in my view as any of her attempts to be "A renegade" just remind me of women I knew in the Army who often presented a similar face as a front. I hear some of those lines and I can't help but feel like it's just a little girl playing at being a tough guy because it's expected.

 

[Krantos]

I don't really see why people say that male-Shepard has a bad voice actor.

Maybe it's because the fem-Shepard voice acting is better and on the Internet being even slightly worse than something related automatically makes you a terrible abomination that reduces faith in humanity.

Not everyone hates him, some actually prefer him. Personally, while it's true that he does alright on most lines, there are some that he just sucks so bad it's painful. And when comparing that to an industry veteran like Hale, it's kind of hard to cut him much slack.

 

[aschere van she]

Mass effect represents acting as a whole.