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[Speedymanic]

Came across this on the Hitman forum...

Hi there Mathew,

Thanks to you I now know more! I didn't even know the E3 thing had voice work on it at all.

Yeah, I won't lie. I am totally gutted. You know, IO called me in in Sept 09 and said I had to now audition for the part thanks to them hiring some LA casting director. Well, I ate my slice of humble pie and auditioned and then heard back shortly afterwards: congratulations - you got the part. I have been waiting ever since for the call to go in and record...

You know, I can even understand IOI not letting me know what's going on so as to avoid any loss of shine in the build up to the trailer premiere and then E3.

But now, after repeated mails and sms to the producer and still no reply I am lost for words.

Thanks for your support though.

Kind regards

David

Jesus, what a horrible way to treat someone. :/

 

[derFeef]

Came across this on the Hitman forum...

Jesus, what a horrible way to treat someone. :/

I hope this is a big misunderstanding.

 

[Nirolak]

IOI sounds real classy.

 

[WickedLaharl]

if true, they won't be getting my money. that's assuming it'll be good

 

[Krev]

This confirms the suspicion that IOI are a bunch of assholes that I developed after hearing about what they did to Hitman.

 

[giant_frying_pan]

It is a shame they aren't bringing him back, but Kyd is the bigger loss in my opinion.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Wow. What a bunch of fuckwits. They've been a favourite dev of mine for a while too.

 

[Phonomezer]

What a shame

This is what happens when (big) money gets involved.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Done in such poor taste too, At least inform the guy before hand that you would like to take the character in a different direction or some such.

 

[Speedymanic]

Subject: Hitman
Date: 19 june 2011 15:46:52 GMT+02:00

"Dear ####,
Thank you! I am so pleased that you wrote this. David and I are feeling pretty disappointed about being dropped from Hitman 5. There are rumours that Keith Carradine will be the voice for Agent 47 ! And I have no idea who will play Diana... probably some American Hollywood actress with an American accent. I guess that is what they want for the next one - to make it feel and sound American. Personally I still don't understand why David did not play the role in the movie. He looks like Hitman and he is an incredibly good actor.

Anyway thanks again and please keep let IO know your feelings.. The Hitman fanbase is not to be ignored !

best regards,

Vivienne McKee

We know Marsha Thomason is taking over her role thanks to her tweeting about it, but the treatment of both Vivienne and David by IOI is simply disgusting. They should have at least let them know before hand and not left it until they found out via emails from fans. :/

 

[DarkSoul520]

This whole thing just really saddens me. Treating people like this should have consequences.

 

[dogmaan]

I'm not touching this game with a barge pole, sadly I think io, as the studio we knew, died some years ago.

Nevermind, there will be other titles to spend my money on.

 

[Splatt]

Assholes

.

 

[MMaRsu]

Fuck these scumbags, they will NEVER see my money.

 

[Munin]

I would really like to know how IOI are going to weasel themselves out of that one...

 

[subversus]

According to veracious shit twitter IO is almost the same as Starbreeze now. The core team left a long time ago.

 

[ezekielpacman]

What an absolute shambles. I was playing AC: Brotherhood the other day thinking "this music is glorious, can't wait to hear what's in store for hitman5".

 

[subversus]

Also not to sound assholish but I think that the actor sounds too butthurt. Yeah, IO are assholes, but he should not show that he is bitter about this situation. It looks lke he's desperate for a job. Not answering my emails? Fuck off, I have other contracts to do.

 

[MMaRsu]

Also not to sound assholish but I think that the actor sounds too butthurt. Yeah, IO are assholes, but he should not show that he is bitter about this situation. It looks lke he's desperate for a job. Not answering my emails? Fuck off, I have other contracts to do.

Fuck that, he's a fan of the series and he's played the characters for 4 games now, he has the right to be concerned and feel "butthurt" as you so eloquently put it.

 

[Speedymanic]

Also not to sound assholish but I think that the actor sounds too butthurt. Yeah, IO are assholes, but he should not show that he is bitter about this situation. It looks lke he's desperate for a job. Not answering my emails? Fuck off, I have other contracts to do.

They offered him the job and then cut off all correspondence. How would you react if that was you? Wouldn't you try to contact them to find out what's happening?

He's absolutely within his rights to be pissed off, you don't offer someone a job, not contact them again and then let them find out they've been 'sacked' by a third party.

 

[IoCaster]

There's a natural inclination to give people the benefit of the doubt. I think that it's simple human nature to extend that courtesy. The problem arises when you have a dev that talks out of both sides of their mouth and uses buzz words that have a negative connotation attached. Every time I hear 'streamlining', 'accessibility', 'cinematic' and/or 'attract a new audience', I reflexively cringe. The devs/pr folks quickly claim that nothing substantial has changed or that core gameplay features are essentially unaltered. Yeah, right.

Why should I take their words at face value when they can't even be counted upon to be straight up with the voice talent that has been associated with the franchise from day one? /rhetorical

 

[KHarvey16]

Also not to sound assholish but I think that the actor sounds too butthurt. Yeah, IO are assholes, but he should not show that he is bitter about this situation. It looks lke he's desperate for a job. Not answering my emails? Fuck off, I have other contracts to do.

"Not to sound assholish"? If that was your intent your post should have ended there. What's wrong with you?

 

[Wallach]

Abort this shit now.

Seriously. Fuck this, Kyd's soundtracks have been one of the highlights of this whole series. They can keep this shit.

 

[subversus]

They offered him the job and then cut off all correspondence. How would you react if that was you? Wouldn't you try to contact them to find out what's happening?

I'd send a couple of emails and call them but if I got no answer I'd stop caring. The job should be taken seriously when ink dries on the paper.

 

[mjc]

Seriously. Fuck this, Kyd's soundtracks have been one of the highlights of this whole series. They can keep this shit.

Well, now ge can focus on AC.

 

[firehawk12]

There's a comment about how the guy who voiced Nico in GTA4 was right all along somewhere here.

 

[Zenith]

Cunts, the lot of them.

 

[KHarvey16]

I'd send a couple of emails and call them but if I got no answer I'd stop caring. The job should be taken seriously when ink dries on the paper.

The world would be so awesome if only all performers had absolutely no emotional attachment to their work. Well, we can dream, can't we? Here we are, stuck in a world where some fools give a shit. Pfft.

 

[Papercuts]

It's even more fucked up considering 47 is designed off of Bateson, and still is. Makes zero sense to act like this towards him.

 

[Derrick01]

This has trainwreck written all over, and it's not the fun to watch kind either

I still want to see this behind the scenes e3 footage that made all the media cream their pants because the pieces that have been shown did not look good at all.

Then again the media does nothing but bitch about complex games so they probably loved how dumbed down it is now. I shouldn't get too intrigued.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Guys, let's just work together and make a Blood Money expansion pack. Dibs on director.

 

[Rekki-Maru]

blood money, was a fitting end to the series, like the og team knew they were finished with the series. absolution, from the start seemed like nothing more than a cash-in and this news only confirms it.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

It's even more fucked up considering 47 is designed off of Bateson, and still is. Makes zero sense to act like this towards him.

Yes but Bateson was designed off Timothy Olyphant, I thought that everyone knew this?

 

[Rubezh]

I hope this game ends up receiving the same reception as Kane and Lynch 2.

 

[Slime]

Douchenozzles, the lot of them.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Even if this game is a lot better than all we've heard so far suggests, IO have revealed the game in the absolute worst possible way.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Jesus, what a horrible way to treat someone. :/

Agreed... IO comes across just so... dickish in this. What the fuck is their problem?

 

[Ahoi-Brause]

Guys, let's just work together and make a Blood Money expansion pack. Dibs on director.

Dibs on art-director!

That and... FUCK IO.

 

[afternoon delight]

Abort this shit now.

Succinct, but perfect.

 

[Snuggles]

Wow. At least the game is probably gonna suck either way, I mean, didn't these guys make Kane and Lynch 2?

 

[reptilescorpio]

Whelp. I don't care about this game anymore. Was trying to hold some thread of enthusiasm but eh.

 

[James Woods]

Thief > Splinter Cell > Hitman > Assassins Creed > Metal Gear

Hitman Absolution will have to be really bad to drop it below AC as a series.

Your placement of Thief makes your improper placement of Splinter Cell and Hitman ignorable. Your jib is liked.

 

[Ellis Kim]

Jesus :/

I feel bad for Hitman fans I would think it inappropriate to just drop your regular voice unceremoniously like that.

 

[dc89]

Wow.

I wonder if IO will ever read this, they should.

So they've changed Diana's voice too? But I the cinematic trailer it sounded like Diana! How the hell are they going to explain that one?

 

[Sotha Sil]

Yeah, I wanted to stay optimistic and all, but fuck this.

 

[Valravn]

A Hitman game without Bateson and Kyd? Thats not a Hitman game at all.

Fuck this shit.

 

[Ahoi-Brause]

Good night sweet prince

 

[Jintor]

This is bullshit. I think Absolution still has a chance to be a good game but you don't treat longtime VAs like that. It's simply unprofessional.

 

[Foffy]

Also not to sound assholish but I think that the actor sounds too butthurt. Yeah, IO are assholes, but he should not show that he is bitter about this situation. It looks lke he's desperate for a job. Not answering my emails? Fuck off, I have other contracts to do.

How would you feel about working with a company so closely that the character model of the protagonist was modeled after your likeness, and to be treated like this years later? He's done a lot of work for other companies, such as Lego, so I doubt he's desperate.

Everything about this game seems like one horrible decision after another. The omission of Bateson and Kyd have confirmed that the style and atmosphere of the game will only ever fantasize of matching the previous games. The gameplay has been horribly dumbed down to give Agent 47 the abilities of Batman, even when they're not within reason.

 

[Speedymanic]

Bateson's replacement recorded...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y67ZcAVYtWM&feature=player_embedded

17mins, 40seconds in. You can also hear the new soundtrack throughout the video.