Support NeoGAF

[foxbeldin]

My opinion is that asking ourselves if a young white female can voice a black character is the ground for discrimination. It shouldn't matter. EITHER WAY. The only question here is : "Is she good? Yes? Moving on."
I can't get behind the idea that because black people were/are discriminated we should discriminate white people to "even it out".

How about not fucking discriminating anyone?

 

[Acquiescence]

That's the head though. Opposite end of the body.

 

[Curufinwe]

Yea most if not all scenes will be real-time this time around. Which means that we may get Fat Drake in cutscenes. O.O


Something something right voice for the character. It's actually subtly racist to imply that only a black actress can portray a black character, as well as incredibly stupid. I mean ffs
This actress

is aveline

The fact that they're just now using uncharted as an example of this, is absolutely nonsensical.

Not surprising they got someone from Montreal who can speak French to do that accent.

http://www.imdb.com/video/user/vi2704191257

 

[SomTervo]

My opinion is that asking ourselves if a young white female can voice a black character is the ground for discrimination. It shouldn't matter. EITHER WAY. The only question here is : "Is she good? Yes? Moving on."
I can't get behind the idea that because black people were/are discriminated we should discriminate white people to "even it out".

How about not fucking discriminating anyone?

You're wrong that it's about discriminating against white people, but you're totally right otherwise. The reason it's brought up is due to the history of casting white people in black roles. Eg the culture that said "black people can't be on stage and should be played by white people".

Obviously this isn't the reason she's been chosen, and obviously voice acting and non-visual motion capture has no bearing on ethnicity. People are equating video-game acting with on-stage/film acting, basically importing the challenges of another medium into videogames, and obviously that doesn't work.

 

[Always-honest]

I'd like to see how they created that hair.
Amazing.

 

[DR2K]

The level of sensitivity in these types of threads is sometimes astounding. Luara Bailey does a great South African voice. Could barely recognize her.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I remember ND said in an interview the villains will have a more active role in the story and more screen time, which I think is great. Glad to see some evidence of that in this scene.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Late to this thread has this been happening the entire thread?

 

[Gurish]

Gamersyde:
http://www.gamersyde.com/download_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end_drake_meets_nadine_trailer-36291_en.html

 

[The Artisan]

I didn't realize that the whole thread became about this.

 

[Loudninja]

Gamersyde:
http://www.gamersyde.com/download_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end_drake_meets_nadine_trailer-36291_en.html

Thanks will add to the OP.

 

[Ricky_R]

Gamersyde:
http://www.gamersyde.com/download_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end_drake_meets_nadine_trailer-36291_en.html

Lord have mercy.

 

[SomTervo]

Yea most if not all scenes will be real-time this time around. Which means that we may get Fat Drake in cutscenes. O.O

I've got a recollection this is confirmed...

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

I didn't realize that the whole thread became about this.

O well heres my answer than lol. Wow! This forum man

 

[Lime]

1. The games industry is majorly white and is in dire need of diversifying
2. This character provides an ample opportunity to hire a Black actress
3. Motion-capture and performances are increasingly relying on the specific actors/actresses
4. Having diversity in your production improves your game
5. You lessen the racist status quo in video games

 

[Dead Prince]

this thread is embarrassing

but why does she look like rihanna 40 years from now..

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

this thread is embarrassing

but why does she look like rihanna 40 years from now..

Thr entirely of gaf has been embarrassing for awhile now.

Lol she does...i like it lol

 

[IvorB]

Even if that was the case no South African group (even Afrikaans speakers) sound like that. See this short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGHS-x0tsU0 or this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL1iVylvnCM . This isn't a case of a bad South African accent, that isn't a South African accent at all.

I know what an afrikaans accent sounds like . As I said, it sounded to me like that is what she was going for. If not that then I have no idea because it's not Australian either.

 

[Dragon]

I'm at a loss on how to explain myself aside from how angry I am that you get to get away with this. I hope you say the same thing one day to the right person, and they do what needs to be done. Whatever that is, I don't know, but I hope it involves dental insurance.

The mods had their hands full with The Game Awards last night. Be patient next time!

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

My opinion is that asking ourselves if a young white female can voice a black character is the ground for discrimination. It shouldn't matter. EITHER WAY. The only question here is : "Is she good? Yes? Moving on."
I can't get behind the idea that because black people were/are discriminated we should discriminate white people to "even it out".

How about not fucking discriminating anyone?

Sure that's a nice gesture but not how the world works. White people aren't losing out on millions of roles because a few people of color are getting some.

The level of sensitivity in these types of threads is sometimes astounding. Luara Bailey does a great South African voice. Could barely recognize her.

What does that even mean?

Late to this thread has this been happening the entire thread?

I guess. It only continued because people seem upset that it was brought up at all.

 

[RipperGrim]

The level of sensitivity in these types of threads is sometimes astounding. Luara Bailey does a great South African voice. Could barely recognize her.

South African here, she sounds Australian to my ears which is a common error when it comes to acting and South African accents, just look at Leonardo in Blood Diamond.

It's weird though because they all try to replicate that one version of a South African accent when there others that I'm sure are easier to pull off.

 

[SomTervo]

1. The games industry is majorly white and is in dire need of diversifying
2. This character provides an ample opportunity to hire a Black actress
3. Motion-capture and performances are increasingly relying on the specific actors/actresses
4. Having diversity in your production improves your game
5. You lessen the racist status quo in video games

I don't disagree with you and don't want to devalue your argument/thought process, but there are two mitigating factors here imo:

A. Naughty Dog have a good track record on all your points (1-5), so they clearly don't have an agenda.

B. I think the bolded (number 3) is the reason for their decision - mo-cap and VA doesn't rely on ethnicity at all. #3 is the weakest argument on your list.

The nature of videogame motion capture means that the physical appearance of the actor has no bearing on the physical appearance of the character - for the first time in acting history (and this is not the case with acting in traditional mediums). Studies have shown that you cannot tell someone's race from voice or body type. So, if you remove skin colour from the equation, it's actually a prejudice to choose somebody for their 'black voice' or 'black body' because those are non-existent qualities.

 

[IvorB]

Late to this thread has this been happening the entire thread?

Yeah from the get-go.

 

[dave is ok]

5. You lessen the racist status quo in video games

But the character is still a POC?

 

[-griffy-]

Gamersyde:
http://www.gamersyde.com/download_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end_drake_meets_nadine_trailer-36291_en.html

Hmm. Everything looks great but there's some fugly dithering on shadows now. EDIT: Also seems like motion blur wasn't turned on.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

this thread is embarrassing

but why does she look like rihanna 40 years from now..

Because thats how she looks.

 

[Nirolak]

This tends to be pretty common in voice acting.

Here's the cast of people playing the Japanese teenagers in Persona 4:

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Yeah from the get-go.

Dear lord gaf

 

[Fancy Clown]

Even if that was the case no South African group (even Afrikaans speakers) sound like that. See this short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGHS-x0tsU0 or this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL1iVylvnCM . This isn't a case of a bad South African accent, that isn't a South African accent at all.

I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be South African though, considering she runs a South African PMC.

 

[IvorB]

South African here, she sounds Australian to my ears which is a common error when it comes to acting and South African accents, just look at Leonardo in Blood Diamond.

Yeah this. It sounded like a Leonardo Blood Diamond accent which was basically a badly done afrikaans accent.

 

[KooopaKid]

Shirt downgrade!

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Shirt downgrade!

Im not gonna lie when i saw a 18 page thread already i thought downgrade talk was happening in here lol not the voice actor

 

[whoszed]

Came to this thread expecting a discussion on the trailer, found meaningless bickering on the ethnicity of voice actors. One rule should apply in a situation like this, hire the best person you can get, and that's it.

 

[Audible Phonetics]

WTF?
What's the difference between a white voice actress and a black voice actress? Last time I heard, black girls speaks the exact same way as white girls...

Kratos voice actor is black. Who cares??

If your are serious (maybe you're joking), I'm the one at a loss for words...

I wasn't being serious. Showing how silly it sounds.

 

[Insane Metal]

Not impressed at all.

I'll wait for the final game before making assumptions though.

 

[RipperGrim]

Yeah this. It sounded like a Leonardo Blood Diamond accent which was basically a badly done afrikaans accent.

To be fair they both tried pretty hard and you can kinda hear it working for certain words.

Having had conversations with Australians and South Africans at the same time it can get pretty confusing and there are certainly similarities in some pronunciations.

 

[XxRampage07xX]

Damn some people just like to overreact to everything.

 

[Javin98]

Hmm. Everything looks great but there's some fugly dithering on shadows now. EDIT: Also seems like motion blur wasn't turned on.

Urgh, if there's one thing I hate, it's dithered shadows. But can you please post a screen of this? When I watched it on Youtube, the shadows seem nice and even have a soft look to it. Youtube compression is horrible, so a screen of the Gamersyde footage would be nice.

 

[Afrocious]

To actually contribute to the thread, the graphics look gorgeous and I gotta kick on the beta today.

As far as what I think about Laura Bailey being the VA, I can see how folks are upset. I'm more happy with a PoC being in the game, which is what's most important to me. Now if this was shit like with movies white-washing, then I'd be grossed out.

I do see this as a slippery slope though.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

Im not gonna lie when i saw a 18 page thread already i thought downgrade talk was happening in here lol not the voice actor

If I could choose only 2 of those, I would take downgrade talk

 

[-griffy-]

Urgh, if there's one thing I hate, it's dithered shadows. But can you please post a screen of this? When I watched it on Youtube, the shadows seem nice and even have a soft look to it. Youtube compression is horrible, so a screen of the Gamersyde footage would be nice.

I'm not sure it's anything to be too concerned about at this stage. The Uncharted collection had some nasty shadow artifacts that were fixed with the day 1 patch, and they still got a lot of time on U4. Who knows what kind of crunch they were under to even get this video out the door. No motion blur despite it being fully present in the beta. Probably had to rush this footage out, may be an older build, etc. Hell, they had a patch for the beta up within hours responding to feedback and tweaking aiming.

 

[foxbeldin]

If I could choose only 2 of those, I would take downgrade talk

I tried a decoy with the mass murderer thing but it didn't work.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

If I could choose only 2 of those, I would take downgrade talk

Ditto. I mean im really getting a bit jaded on here lately. Especially last week. From the doax3 stuff,people shitting on iwatas tribute in the game awards thread,rumors and leaks having people up in arms, and now we cant discuss a simple trailer without some wild debate. I was really excited when i first got accepted because the game talk on here was phenomenal when i was spectating

 

[Javin98]

I'm not sure it's anything to be too concerned about at this stage. The Uncharted collection had some nasty shadow artifacts that were fixed with the day 1 patch, and they still got a lot of time on U4. Who knows what kind of crunch they were under to even get this video out the door. No motion blur despite it being fully present in the beta. Probably had to rush this footage out, may be an older build, etc. Hell, they had a patch for the beta up within hours responding to feedback and tweaking aiming.

Huh, this is strange. None of the trailers we saw prior to this had dithered shadows. I'm glad it's not too noticeable, though. On the plus side, the shadows do indeed look soft and I like them. Just wish ND will fix the dithering. Also, weird how motion blur isn't implemented. It was in the E3 demo.

 

[Baroquemantic]

Gamersyde:
http://www.gamersyde.com/download_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end_drake_meets_nadine_trailer-36291_en.html

Not enough lawds in the world to convey how amazing this looks, but this'll do:

https://youtu.be/zr-eaxR1wYc?t=1m36s

 

[ViewtifulJC]

His shirt had some very off effects on it, could be part of the compression tho

also in motion there's very weird effects going on with Drake's shirt when he's talking about being "spoken for". Just look at the shoulders in the Gamersyde video.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

Ditto. I mean im really getting a bit jaded on here lately. Especially last week. From the doax3 stuff,people shitting on iwatas tribute in the game awards thread,rumors and leaks having people up in arms, and now we cant discuss a simple trailer without some wild debate. I was really excited when i first got accepted because the game talk on here was phenomenal when i was spectating

What "debate"?
I said my opinion on the actress they choose and responded to other who disagreed or didn't understand why people would be not like ND's choice. This is a discussion fourm is it not?

 

[Always-honest]

I'm not sure it's anything to be too concerned about at this stage. The Uncharted collection had some nasty shadow artifacts that were fixed with the day 1 patch, and they still got a lot of time on U4. Who knows what kind of crunch they were under to even get this video out the door. No motion blur despite it being fully present in the beta. Probably had to rush this footage out, may be an older build, etc. Hell, they had a patch for the beta up within hours responding to feedback and tweaking aiming.

You barely notice this in motion though. If at all. You can see it right away in stills though

 

[The Artisan]

O well heres my answer than lol. Wow! This forum man

I hope it doesn't mean the thread will be locked soon.

 

[Kenshin001]

I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be South African though, considering she runs a South African PMC.

Given no-one seems to know what nationality the character is supposed to be it's becoming more apparent maybe they should have given the role to a black South African actress.