-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
David Hayter not reprising his role as Snake in Metal Gear Solid 5? Statement
- Thread starter Mr. RHC
- Start date
Dick Justice
Banned
I don't know how people can like Hayter in MGS1, it's so incredibly obvious that he's just reading something from a bookstand with a fixed type of voice when in the other games he is actually acting like every good VA should do. Was his performance good compared to other games in those times? Yes of course. Is it good by today's standards? Fuck no.
Nostalgia sometimes play some nasty tricks.
Nostalgia sometimes play some nasty tricks.
Live Free or Die
Banned
Thats the same way I feel. Big Boss and Solid Snake are two different people.
then i'm sure tons of studios will be beating down his door to sign him then.
j/k, not after his pity party on twitter.
You're assuming the 44 year old in question is a talented voice actor. Solid snake isn't cartoonish but hatter has made a caricature of snake. He was great in mgs1, he's a parody of himself now.
Dick Justice
Banned
Hayter played Big Boss in 3 and Peace Walker, yet you aren't saying that he's a caricature?
Which he doesn't have here
LoL I just noticed that after looking at him in the Diamond Dog jacket. End of an era.
Berserking Guts
Member
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I realize the transition to richard doyle makes sense from a consistency perspective. But the fanboy in me is going to take some persuading.
It's like two different people. His work in MGS3 was just fucking awful.
Dick Justice
Banned
There's also the fact that he sounds too young in the gameplay section. They should've gotten someone with a deeper voice. Hopefully the current one is just a placeholder.
Tell me where I said that.
Dick Justice
Banned
You were calling Solid Snake a caricature, but not Big Boss? Y'know, the 'suffering, tragic figure'.
Everyone in MGS3 sounds awful because it was a cheap dub with really poor production values. It's missing the environmental effects and such in the voice mix (which the JP track had) in a lot of places so everybody just has this booming clear voice like they're standing in a recording room rather than a jungle, helicopter, or plane. The voice acting really sucks but it sounds even worse because of how cheap it sounds.
I really think people are deluding themselves when they think KojiPro cares enough about the English dub to pull off a prank. #teamcg electric boogaloo
No I didnt. Where did I say anything about bb. I said hayter was good in mgs1 this implies his va quality denegrated since.
funkystudent
Member
If it was purely a "we want better VO" thing then maybe Koji-Pro should get a new English VO directer instead of randomly switching actors for the main character 5 games in.
No one in MGS4 or peace walker was winning any awards for there performance and I would put most of it down to direction and script.
Dat Crying Otacon.
No one in MGS4 or peace walker was winning any awards for there performance and I would put most of it down to direction and script.
Dat Crying Otacon.
Word
BIONIC-ARRRMMM!!
Member
You'd think that with the Hayter hate-brigade going on that he violated your mothers' or something. GAF is fucked up, I swear.
Criticizing a va's performance is fucked up? Wut.
Eh I don't get the hate. David IS Snake/Big Boss to me. It just won't be the same without hearing that old familiar voice that's been with me for all these years. And as pointless as it is I'll probably sign that petition just to show my support and thanks to the guy.
I don't think anyone is opposed to criticism. This discussion will be present next time I play MGS. But the amount of criticism has caught me off guard. I didn't know that many had a problem with it, and many angle it in a very personal way. That's not good. If anything, I've had problems with Otacon in 2 and 4. His crying was always pretty much just someone going "uhhhh-huhuhuh-uhuhuhuh". Raiden in 4 sounded like a Snake wanna-be, and come off like a dunce of a character because of it. Direction needs to change there. Snake has always been a sound and solid foundation to me, in these games. The problem with creating such an iconic voice is that it narrows down your repertoire and range. If Zoidberg was the main cast of these games, you'd be absolutely ignorant to call Billy West a poor voice actor because of Zoidberg's voice.
We need to separate the discussion of direction and voice actor before we bash either. I'm not of these media, and as such, I have no insight into the production, and I cannot judge if something is down to direction or the voice actor. I think Raiden's voice in MGS4 is atrocious. I don't hate Flynn because of it. I think it might as well just be the direction as much as him. Maybe it was 'be a Snake wanna-be'. But I think Raiden's voice is atrocious, I don't think the voice actor does a bad job because of it. It's not obvious enough to me that it's the voice actor. Maybe I lack a skill to make the distinction there. But I have no problem as long as I see it as a character-flaw, and not a voice actor flaw. Which I think is the case of MGS4. Firstly, we have the most iconic voice in any game, ever, and you have the actor make it super-frail and old? Cudos. I think the way his voice deteriorates through 4 underlines the plot and makes the experience all the more excruciating for me. I think credit is due here to Hayter, for being able to take that iconic style and go to this place with it. Try doing a fancy impersonation or a special voice. Now make it 40 years older. That's hard enough to do with your own voice, let alone an acted voice. Maybe this became a short-coming? From what I've heard of Japan's VA, it's not such an iconic voice. It's probably fantastic acting, but there's a distinction between that and sheer uniqueness.
Judging Hayter for Snake's voice arguable shortcomings seems premature in this discussion, however. Is it the voice, is it the actor, is it the direction, is there even a problem? Let's not presuppose things on behalf of others. Not letting the guy that IS the role audition for a different direction for the voice seems completely off, too. Thinking that Hayter can only do Snake's voice would be idiotic. If they redid the direction and changed up the entire voice, we'd still have continuity with a formant and harmonies we understand as Hayter, and the new direction could underline 'different character, same DNA'.
Synth_floyd
Banned
AKIO OTSUKA is the real snake!
Raonak
Banned
My 2cents. (even though i probably replied in this thread before)
Hayter is snake. Not having him as snake is a real dissapointment, and dampens my excitement a bit
I can understand if they changed him because he's meant to sound more older and more like richard doyle (MGS4 BB), but it still doesn't make much sense if the ground zeroes part doesn't have hayter, because it takes place directly after PW.
I hope it's just an elobrate ruse.
On the other hand, it might be because MGS5 leads onto the eventual MG1/2 remake. So they're using a different voice so both snake and BB won't be voiced by the same person.
If the MG remake doesn't have hayter then rage will be had.
Hayter is snake. Not having him as snake is a real dissapointment, and dampens my excitement a bit
I can understand if they changed him because he's meant to sound more older and more like richard doyle (MGS4 BB), but it still doesn't make much sense if the ground zeroes part doesn't have hayter, because it takes place directly after PW.
I hope it's just an elobrate ruse.
On the other hand, it might be because MGS5 leads onto the eventual MG1/2 remake. So they're using a different voice so both snake and BB won't be voiced by the same person.
If the MG remake doesn't have hayter then rage will be had.
Escape Goat
Member
If they dont use Hayter I'm sure they'll just use Steve Blum. He does everything these days.
As much as I think Snake's voice has been on the decline since MGS1, that Jeremy Blaustein interview way back when really makes me think that it is more a combination of poor script and voice direction than Hayter himself.
At the very least, if KojiPro is suddenly considered about capturing high quality voice actors, someone should have stopped Flynn's performance in Rising dead in its tracks. His Jack the Ripper delivery is laughable stuff even for the ridiculous atmosphere of a Platinum game, and the fact that he just goes in and out of "Normal Raiden Voice" and "Bale Jack the Ripper voice" in the same conversation a lot of the time is just shitty direction through and through.
At the very least, if KojiPro is suddenly considered about capturing high quality voice actors, someone should have stopped Flynn's performance in Rising dead in its tracks. His Jack the Ripper delivery is laughable stuff even for the ridiculous atmosphere of a Platinum game, and the fact that he just goes in and out of "Normal Raiden Voice" and "Bale Jack the Ripper voice" in the same conversation a lot of the time is just shitty direction through and through.
I definitely agree with that, with the proper direction I'm sure that they can reign in Hayter some.
Messofanego
Banned
And a follow up
Did the same damn thing with David Bateson and Hitman Absolution. But eventually he was brought on.
He seems to be so upset about this whole thing.
Well I mean
Wouldn't you be fucking bummed if you've played a character for over ten years and then they just replace you out of nowhere without even bothering to tell you?
I'm hoping for something like this. But even then it would still be weird that KojiPro never told him why he wasn't going to be involved in this game.
secretanchitman
Member
supposedly its the same japanese voice actor as the rest of the games so the whole thing seems very odd. then again, kojima can do whatever he wants since it is his game, but something just doesnt add up (imo).
regardless, im still getting mgs5 but it still stinks not to see/gear david hayter in the game.
Well yeah, it can't be just Kojima who made the decision. This is pretty terrible.
MeBecomingI
Member
Yep. That is pretty silly to me.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
Well they clearly are trying to take the series in a new direction in the West.
The game is going to be open world(A very popular style of game in Western markets) and they opened a studio in LA seemingly just to develop this game's multiplayer to be something that would appeal to Western players.(Vs MGO which they acknowledge was more japan focused)
and also the japanese voice actor, Akio Ohtsuka, is a very popular and successful voice actor in his own right in japan outside of his Solid Snake role. They probably want an actor with that kind of reputation in the West playing Snake in that region as well.
God damnit he IS Sold Snake!
Solid Snake's real name is David too.
Hayter may have pissed somebody off.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
On that note, didn't Scott Dolph start some beef with Blaustein around MGS1/2 (mostly in terms of fighting Kojima/Dolph on certain line choices), which essentially led to him not really dealing with Kojima anymore?