Accents and languages in game VO

[Aristes]

Unfortunately, while positive, that position can be hard to justify when the original can't really be improved upon. As with, say, the original of The Ladykillers. And if you know you can't improve the story with your retelling, frankly, why do it?

 

Because whether or not something can be improved upon is entirely a matter of opinion. Also, one can want to retell a story without thinking the original needed improving.

 

Further, let's talk about Lysistrata. I've read it in the original Greek. I've read it in translation. I've read it as retold as anti-war in general and specific to certain wars, Viet Nam for example. I understand it from a historical perspective. I understand it from changing perspectives throughout history. If you think The Ladykillers has greater enduring literary value, then I guess the discussion is pretty much over. However, cultures throughout history have borrowed and changed works in an almost endless procession. Sometimes someone will want to adapt something to their culture. Other times, the original has some value but the most recent rendition is literally too archaic for the general population to understand or enjoy. Often, the lessons a work teaches to the readers or viewers changes over time. The work might contain many messages that want for further exploration or the people retelling or reinventing the work might simply misunderstand the original intent.

 

This is rediculous To argue against retellings on any basis is absolutely nuts. After all, unless you want crash courses in the specific languages (and good luck with that Attic Greek crash course) stories must be retold if for no other reason than the necessary translation. Yes, do some individuals go overboard in editing or rearranging borrowed stories? Of course they do! I've even read some. Some of those egregious offenders were on the stage well before English.

 

My point is, we've got two ways of looking at things. One way is to say that diversity is good and we should celebrate different cultures by crafting a game that draws the player in to the best that different civilizations provide... brings cultures and languages to life in a way that encourages the player to immerse himself in what the world has to offer. The other way of looking at the issue is to say that some people are so closed minded and unwilling to leave their comfort area, either because they're lazy or arrogant or even ignorant in the worst sense of the word.

 

Which do you think is the better basis for making a good game?

[Maria Caliban]

Its annoying when spell checks think I spell colour, armour, centre, theatre, etc. wrong.

 

The English language has evolved. It's sleeker, more efficient. If only you Europeans could keep up with the times!

 

I'm Canadian

 

Layout of the world: America, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Africa. Canada is half Europe and half American.

[Monte Carlo]

Maybe I'm just an old-fashioned curmudgeon, but my basic requirement is that the game I pay my hard-earned cash for is in a language I understand.

 

If that means that the chainmail-clad vikings talk like Bill & Ted then, hey, that's life. I'm sure if I were Latvian and I bought a game designed for English-speaking markets then I'd accept that the Latvian version might not be as polished from a VO perspective. I certainly accept that when I play CDV titles (for example) which have some pretty dodgy English (both written and spoken). Their games are good though, on the whole, and I can understand them. Voila!

 

I do, however, echo the sentiments regarding American VO talent trying to sound English, and in fact Irish, Welsh and Scottish. This is an important issue because like it or not, a lot of vanilla fantasy has UK and Irish-written stuff as source material. And, like it or not (again), the most culturally important market in the world also speaks English, albeit obviously the new-fangled Merriam-Webster version.

 

This led to the worst ever piece of American - English VO in the history of gaming, that is the person who did Saemon Havarian in BG2. Honestly, I wretch just thinking about it. Perhaps it explains why Americans often mistake London accents as Australian.

 

Curiously, lots of British actors do really good American accents (think about it - most of the cast of Band of Brothers was actually British, for example, or what about Dominic West as McNulty in The Wire? My favourite bit was West playing an Irish American cop trying to do an English accent - the bordello scene from Season 2. Hilarious, as West actually went to a top English private school and has a cut-glass upper class accent in R/L).

 

American actors who can do a convincing English accent? Hmmm. I'm struggling. The one that immediately springs to mind is Gwyneth Paltrow, who has clearly worked very hard and almost pulls it off. So does Renee Zelwegger (Bridget Jones), again I suspect a lot of hard work went into that given that she's Texan.

 

So, for me, is this issue worth the cost? No. I sympathise that getting a Portguese VO artist might be tough, but that's why we pay VO artists - to mimic and imitate. Hey, Obsidian is in LA - I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll find someone from every corner of the planet who wants to act!

 

Cheers

MC

[J.E. Sawyer]

Elizabeth McGovern did a great job in the Scarlet Pimpernel mini-series with Richard E. Grant. She was born and raised in Illinois and Los Angeles.

 

e: Also, Richard E. Grant has a really entertaining accent. I guess it's the result of being raised in Swaziland.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd0PDs4e178

[Monte Carlo]

^ Actually, I was just thinking about Angelina Jolie in a wetsuit and will concede that her posh Lara Croft accent is really quite good. I agree with Clint Eastwood, who argues that her looks kind of detract from the fact that she's clearly a talented actress.

[Morgoth]

I agree with Clint Eastwood, who argues that her looks kind of detract from the fact that she's clearly a talented actress.

Isn't that the same with the game heroine as well? I mean she's supposed to be an archeologist, yet she runs around like a ****. Everytime I play a Tomb Raider, I'm distracted by her looks. That's probably why I can't take Lara or the Tomb Raider series any serious. But then again, the TR games suck generally from a gameplay perspective as well.

[Pop]

what about Dominic West as McNulty in The Wire?

Bad example (at the 2:25 mark). Better example - Idris Elba, who played Stringer Bell.

Edited December 6, 2008 by Pop

[J.E. Sawyer]

Idris Elba owned in Ultraviolet. Just FYI.

[Aram]

I'm going to bring up the Last Express again. One of the best things about that game was that all of the voice actors, who came from an almost hard to believe variety of nationalities, used real accents and anytime they weren't talking to the player, who is American, they used their own languages thinking he couldn't understand them. Subtitles filled in what they were saying and it worked perfectly.

 

Apparently someone put the whole game on youtube:

Edited December 7, 2008 by Aram

[Aristes]

That's exactly what I mean, Aram. I think it would be great to have a non-adventure game try that sort of approach.

 

Think of Star Trek. Hey, J.E., do you think you could hire out a Klingon to do an authentic voiceover?

 

Seriously, though, it has potential. There are some fabricated languages, such as Klingon and Elvish that could serve for some of the voice over work for these games. I think it would be sweet.

[Pop]

Idris Elba owned in Ultraviolet. Just FYI.

Was he as garishly colored as everything else in that movie?

[Maria Caliban]

My point is, we've got two ways of looking at things.

 

There are 10 types of people in the world, those who think in binary and those who don't.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Idris Elba owned in Ultraviolet. Just FYI.

Was he as garishly colored as everything else in that movie?

I mean Ultraviolet the short-lived UK TV series.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_AAdFmm84A

[Pop]

Oh thank god.

[Pop]

Also you guys should totally poach some talent from the HBO shows. From the looks of it they can't catch a ****ing break in Hollywood (see: The stars of The Wire and Rome appearing in Punisher: Warzone) so who knows, they might bite.

[Monte Carlo]

Idris Elba owned in Ultraviolet. Just FYI.

Was he as garishly colored as everything else in that movie?

I mean Ultraviolet the short-lived UK TV series.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_AAdFmm84A

 

Wow, someone else saw it too? To call it niche is an over statement.

 

Being repeated on satellite TV here in the UK at the moment, it was genuinely a bit hammy and a bit creepy at the same time. Recommended.