How professional are the professional voice actors in video games

[darkchrono]

How top notch are they or are they more amateurish than we might think. Where did they get the people who did the voices for games like FFX and Xenosaga from. My guess would be that they are individuals who act on stage (maybe not Broadway of course) but I am not real sure.

Anyways, does anybody know in general how good the resumes are of the people who voice act for video games?



I do know that one of the characters on 'Lost' (Ana Lucia I believe) voiced one of the characters for a Halo game.

[BatChao]

It depends on the production value and money spent on the voic talent of the game. Games that don't really rely too much on voice (fighting, racing, etc) usually hire VAs that don't have much experience outside of game work and some bit TV parts. Games that have higher production value usually use professional VAs that have a lot of experience in cartoon voice recording. For example, Tales of Symphonia uses Scott Menville (Teen Titans) and Tara Strong (pretty much every cartoon ever made). You'll also notice that a lot of game VAs do anime dubbing as well.

However, nowadays, many top quality productions that have thousands of lines to record are hiring Hollywood actors/actresses. Many of them have experience in TV, film, broadway, and music. For example, Kingdom Hearts (I & II) has a HUGE list of A-list talent. For many of the Disney characters, the actors that played the part in the respective movie/TV show also reprised the role in the game. For the Square characters, top Hollywood talent like Haley Joel Osment (6th Sense), Mena Suvari (American Beauty), David Boreanz (Angel), Christy Carlson Romano (Kim Possible), etc are used. This is typical of a game that has characters taken from other media. However, sometimes the asking price for AAA stars is too high, so sound-alikes are employed instead.

[Samuraid]

Check IMDB.com. Some of them are low class, some of them are amazing.

A number of the voice actors in Kingdom Hearts, for example, are very well known actors. Other large-scale games such as Elder Scrolls IV or Everquest have had great actors such as Patrick Stewart or Christopher Lee in them.

[darkchrono]

How highly qualified were the voice talents for FF10. Didn't that Tara Strong person that you mentioned above do the voice for Rikku (so she must be a hot commodity). But what about the folks who did the voices for the other characters in the game?

[black orb]

It depends on the production value and money spent on the voic talent of the game. Games that don't really rely too much on voice (fighting, racing, etc) usually hire VAs that don't have much experience outside of game work and some bit TV parts. Games that have higher production value usually use professional VAs that have a lot of experience in cartoon voice recording. For example, Tales of Symphonia uses Scott Menville (Teen Titans) and Tara Strong (pretty much every cartoon ever made). You'll also notice that a lot of game VAs do anime dubbing as well.

However, nowadays, many top quality productions that have thousands of lines to record are hiring Hollywood actors/actresses. Many of them have experience in TV, film, broadway, and music. For example, Kingdom Hearts (I & II) has a HUGE list of A-list talent. For many of the Disney characters, the actors that played the part in the respective movie/TV show also reprised the role in the game. For the Square characters, top Hollywood talent like Haley Joel Osment (6th Sense), Mena Suvari (American Beauty), David Boreanz (Angel), Christy Carlson Romano (Kim Possible), etc are used. This is typical of a game that has characters taken from other media. However, sometimes the asking price for AAA stars is too high, so sound-alikes are employed instead.

>>> wow, that must cost lots of money..
I guess I cant blame the lesser videogame companies for having crappy voices on their games..

[darkchrono]

I thought up this topic because while playing kingdom hearts I noticed quite a difference in how good the disney characters sounded (which I knew were voiced in most instances by the person in that characters particular movie) and how good the square characters sounded.


And I looked up that Tara Strong's profile on that website you mentioned and she must be good because she is in her 30's and she was having to voice a character who was only 15 years old I think.

[Strider]

I'm pretty sure voice actors have their own union, don't they?

[NeoCracker]

I thought the voice Actors in Wild Arms 4 were awsome.

[Markus. D]

The dot hack games have had the best voiceovers as I have heard.

Drakengard 2 voices arent to good in some aspects though >_>

[Dreddz]

Yea, cause talking in a Mic takes some serious skill.
I reckon its just staff that do the voices tbh...

[Markus. D]

it also really damages it if your recording your voice without other voice actors around, acting at the same time.

[Lindy]

One single name triumphs all.

Cam Clarke.

The end.

[amratis]

I always thought the voice acting in Shadow Hearts 2 was excellent. Not sure if any of them are anything but video game voice-over actors though.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

One single name triumphs all.

Cam Clarke.

The end.

You know a guy is good when the English themselves are going for his phony English accent.