Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Hell Kitty]

There is nothing inherently wrong with a team* casting a celebrity in a role, and that someone else who isn't a celebrity could have done it isn't a very good criticism.

 

*whether they are making a game, film, tv show, or radio drama.

[Gizmo]

What baffles me, until I remember that most game studios aren't based in the UK, is why they don't emphasise radio actors. In the UK we have wadges of radio drama and comdey, coming from the BBC.

I would love for the audio performances to even approach the quality of something like the Hitchhiker's Guide BBC radio plays.

 

 

Oddball bit of trivia I discovered a few weeks ago ~for anyone that's listened to the HHGTG Radio Plays... Alan Ford, is the Actor that played the role of "Rooster"; he later played the role of Brick-Top in the movie Snatch.

 

Edited September 28, 2011 by Gizmo

[HoonDing]

People don't get how big Zenimax really is.

 

Practically all of Hollywood showed up for the Fallout 3 launch party

 

Bethesda is throwing a radiation-hot launch party for Fallout 3 next Saturday in Los Angeles, complete with even more Vault Boy retro graphics. The party features headline music by the Foo Fighters, and it's hosted by Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Odette Yustman, Ben Harper, and it's being co-hosted by the Bethesda / Zenimax board of directors, which includes bigwig producer Jerry Bruckheimer, bigwig CBS president Les Moonves, bigwig MGM president Harry Sloan and and bigwig baseballer Cal Ripken, Jr.

 

That's an odd mix of folks to kick off this post-apocalyptic video game, but given the current state of the economy, maybe everyone is embracing impending disaster and learning to love the bomb. Joystiq will be on-hand to take photos and collect thoughts about Fallout 3. Plus those frolic-inducing spirits sounds pretty damn goon.

Considering their board of directors, it's no wonder they can get the celebrities they get.

[Slowtrain]

There is nothing inherently wrong with a team* casting a celebrity in a role, and that someone else who isn't a celebrity could have done it isn't a very good criticism.

 

 

Totally agree.

 

My point is that given limited resources, it seems wasteful to spend money in areas that don't really help the game, especially when less expensive options were availiable that woudl be just as good.

 

If someone is making a licensed ST:TNG game then, yes, spending the neccessary money for Patrick Stewart is an important part of making the game, but casting a voice for an emperor in Oblivion, not so much.

 

If budgets were not an issue, than none of it would matter, of course. But they are.

[Walsingham]

Truth. It's like a using a F1 car to deliver pizza.

[Slowtrain]

It's the norm nowadays for celebrities or pseudo-celebrities to appear in video games.

 

Patrick Stewart doing voice-work in a game isn't all that special, really. He's been in Lands of Lore and almost every Star Trek game every made. At least he has an imposing and recognizable voice. In many cases, I do not even recognize celebrities in video games.

 

 

I love Patrick Stewart. But would having Wes Johson voice his role in Oblivion have detracted in any way from the quality of Oblivion?

 

Now if Patrick Stewart cost the same as Wes Johnson for the part, then fine, 6 one way, half a dozen the other, but my guess is Patrick Stewart was considerably more of an expense. However, I do not know that for a certainty, of course.

[Tale]

Patrick Stewart doesn't strike me as an expensive actor. He's well respected, but he'll do just about anything. He's a regular on American Dad.

[HoonDing]

They should've hired Sean Connery to voice the dragons.

[Slowtrain]

I would have liked to see Samuel B Jackson as the Emperor.

[Serrano]

Famous actors do in small part add to the prestige and pulling power for games though, maybe not with us who play a lot of games and read about them but for the larger market maybe? If you didn't know much about games beyond liking certain ones and disliking some others then having Liam Neason's name thrown around will at least get your attention over other competitors. Okay so it's not like the names are on the box but they can easily come up in conversation. I can picture it paying off, and since it's common practice then it's probably proven to as well, which while taking away from the quality of the game is unfortunatly probably importan enough in a lot of cases to warrent it too. But that said, voice actors can add an amazing amount to a game when they do their job well so if a famous actor manages that with their role then they quite possibly recoup their cost anyway.

 

By the way, are there vast armies of talented voice actors out there? I have no idea myself, but it does seem like a lot of familiar voices are often cropping up in the games I play even if the actor isn't a famous celeb like Patrick Stewart or Yvonne Strahovski.

Edited September 28, 2011 by Serrano

[entrerix]

honestly it seems like companies hire celebrity voice actors to add bullet points to their packaging, and so they can issue a press release yet again to get more advertising. it probably also makes the shareholders happy. i think it has almost nothing to do with making a better game.

[Hurlshort]

Actually I thought Liam Neeson's voice in FO3 was a moderately decent use of a celebrity. Patrick Stewart in Oblivion was super short-lived.

[Starwars]

I like Liam Neeson but I thought it was just distracting in F3. First, I don't think the performance (or character) was particularly inspired, plus it's just so... I don't know, it's just instantly recognizable that it's Liam Neeson. Same with Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart in Oblivion.

 

The whole celebrity actor thingie was a lot more succesful in New Vegas for me personally but I think a lot of it has to do that I wasn't really deeply familiar with them. I knew some of their work, like Danny Trejo for example but just not to the point where images of the actor instantly exploded into my mind when I heard their voice. Matthew Perry was probably the worst and I felt his performance was pretty bad as well (tough character to sell though).

 

But yeah, I'm not sure how VA auditions and all that works... But I would've gladly traded the money for some of the big names in NV, if it meant even more talented voiceactors in the game. It was an improvement on F3 and Oblivion but some of the voices still get really repetetive after a while.

 

The DLCs come across as really well acted though I think.

[Walsingham]

Actually I thought Liam Neeson's voice in FO3 was a moderately decent use of a celebrity. Patrick Stewart in Oblivion was super short-lived.

 

True. I could kind of see him playing the role. He likes playing good guys, IMO.

[WDeranged]

I thought Liam Neeson was well chosen in FO3, it's just a shame the WHARES MY DADDAY!? plot got old so quickly, Sean Bean was surprisingly good in Oblivion too.

[Walsingham]

True. The central plot in Fallout 3 was paper thin and stuffed with 'a wizard says so'. I've been replaying it as an evilton and it makes me laugh to have this group of science people sticking fixedly to their doomed roles like music box ballerinas, as I rock covered in nuclear grenades and shreds of human skin.

[Humanoid]

An early use was Bill 'Leatherface' Johnson as The Guardian in U7.

[Maria Caliban]

The (non-secret) achievement list came out today. Skyrim Achievements Revealed: Hints at In Game Marriage and Menial Tasks.

 

There are a few in-game organizations/factions listed as well as some plot points.

[HoonDing]

Sounds spoiler-ish, so I will refrain.

[Maria Caliban]

PC Gamer has a new article on Skyrim here.

 

Some non-spoilery highlights from the article.

• Unlike Oblivion, you can create 'positively gorgeous' men and women. You can also create ugly PCs with scars and facial tattoos.
  
• On a GeForce GTX 470 running 1680*1050, the writer found the graphics photorealistic with little to no aliasing, while dungeons and caves only took seconds to load.
  
• You can create your own 'Favorite' menu with items you use often so there's no need to search through your entire inventory for them.
  
• The ability to meld together two spells while duel-wielding them is a perk.
  
• Doggie companion. Companions can be issued commands such as 'steal [object]' or 'attack the guard' or 'open the door.'
  

 

I believe you have to be a digital subscriber to read more than the first page of the article.

If you press the 'open article' button on the top left of the page, you can read the entire thing in text form.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Maria Caliban

[mkreku]

• ...while dungeons and caves only took seconds to load.
  

This is something that's so important for me, yet Bethesda never seems to get credit for it.

 

Loading times (and saving times) in Oblivion/Fallout 3/Fallout: New Vegas are phenomenal! I am always amazed at how quickly I can load up the game and quickload/quicksave anywhwere within a second! That gigantic world feels like it should take longer to place in memory. Compare this speed to UE3 games. They feel so sluggish and top-heavy in comparison. I remember Gothic 3 (unpatched) took 30 seconds to a minute to load a save. In a game where you die very often, that's not so good..

 

Very happy to hear Bethesda has managed to continue this tradition. Big plus for Skyrim in my book!

[HoonDing]

 

ITZ BACK

[Undecaf]

Bethesda just loves their crabs. What was their last game that did not have some form of crabs in it?

Edited October 6, 2011 by Undecaf

[HoonDing]

Anyway, awesome new screenshots here: http://elderscrolls.net/

[WDeranged]