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Silent Hill HD Collection's new SH2 voices revealed

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Flayer said:
The original VO is pretty bad. No point getting your panties in a twist over something that surely will at least match the original in quality. Personally I've always been a big fan of the SH series and I think the new voice work is something to be appreciated, it is a new release after all.

Not really getting my panties in a twist, but if Konami ain't sellin' what I want, I ain't buyin'.
 
I just don't see how it's a big deal. It's not like the voice acting in the original game made the story or the depth or the atmosphere or the music great. There's a slew of reasons why the SH games are good and the voice acting isn't exactly one of them. If the games were known for their impeccable voice work, that would be another thing entirely. Maybe.
 

Erigu

Member
brandonh83 said:
I just don't see how it's a big deal.
Same here in the sense that I never was impressed by the voice acting in those game, but I imagine the lip movements and overall body language won't fit quite as well now.

Not that it matters much to me, really: there's a bunch of HD ports I know I'll be getting, and this isn't on the list. The first game is still my favorite, and I wouldn't trust the current team with a remake, or even a port of it anyway.


Ostinatto said:
wooww she sound like a bitch talking about old SH2 voices
She sure does. I don't know what's been going on exactly, but that sort of stuff doesn't exactly make me go "god, I'd like to reward those people! take my money!".
 
Seriously, after boasting about how deep, dark, and atmospheric sh2 is to my wife, I get to the cemetary scene with Angela and an awkwardness crept over me and she sort of had a cringe face at how bad that scene was. I'm all for new voices despite my love for the original package.
 

sublimit

Banned
Typographenia said:

I don't care even if she is the Pope of Rome.Personally i never liked her voice.

She's rude and with an overblown ego.Just like the other new guy who's voicing James.And please don't bother listing his work,i know what he had done and i don't care.
These people think that just because they have more experience than other actors before them it automatically gives them the right to talk shit about them.

It's the typical western phenomenon of people thinking they are "stars" or something just because they got a few more gigs than others.lolz really.
 

Ostinatto

Member
BatmanBatmanBatman said:
Not to forget with anti aliasing. *brofists*


xQVfQ.png


------------

take a look of maria's real pics

http://www.facebook.com/marymariaoriginal?sk=photos


so she is the face model and the voice of maria and mary ? impressive
 

Chuck

Still without luck
I think the problem here is how voice actors are paid working games compared to animated movies or television shows. I'm sure Sam Worthington will be paid for his performance in Avatar for the rest of his life.

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn explained if very well at the beginning of that video in that video game voice actors almost never get paid royalties for their work, mostly because the job itself can be done by just about anyone. They get paid once, usually a set amount, and any attempts at getting any benefits are shot down.

Anyone remember a few years ago when the voice actor for Nico in GTA IV spoke out against Rockstar only paying him $100,000 for his 15 months of work. It was his breakthrough performance and his first major role and he did a truly amazing job, but he probably realized too late that he should have tried to get paid little bit more out of it. And while you may think he's just the only one speaking up about the issue here, some other voice actor that seems to be pretty popular, is pretty ok with not receiving any royalties for his work.

Now I'm no Silent Hill fan (haven't play any of the games) but this Cihi guy is the one at fault for exactly what you guys are bummed about with this re-release. And then to go post something on his Facebook page way too late for it to matter was just a shitty attempt at trying to stay in the good graces of the fans.

This is a problem in the game industry that will hopefully work itself out sooner rather than later, but games are still in their infancy compared to movies, so we still have some time. I have no idea what the industry can do to work this out this issue and get it more in-line with movies, but I hope they can figure it out.
 

UrbanRats

Member
legacyzero said:
Update:
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn weighs in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl7rAQuf10Eb

Wow. I hate this woman. And I hate Tomm Hulett too. :(
Ofcourse she's taking Konami's side, but she does have more than a point there.
Also wow, the original Mary/Maria was damn good, to be a non-actress.
And beyond this, the new HD realese seem to be a crappy job from a technical standpoint, far worst than the PC version, so.. the voices are not the main problem.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
legacyzero said:
For wanting to get paid for the work he did, and Konami's blatant mistreatment?

HOW DARE HIM.
But he did get paid. I don't understand. This is, as McGlynn puts it, a non-union buyout situation.

Do you think Konami should just go back and pay him out of respect/generosity? What should they pay him? What should they pay everyone else?

If she is portraying things accurately--and I don't know that she is entirely (I doubt Konami went back to each actor and asked, but it does make sense that they at least went back to Guy Cihi)-- then this is cut and dry.

The SH2/3 cast have no recourse or right to anything. Konami is changing the voices to avoid a lawsuit. And that is the real shame.

Silent Hill 2, to me, is a top 5 game of all time. It is a brilliant masterwork in the horror genre. I am a huge fan of the series. And I do not understand the way the fanbase is behaving at all.

Guy Cihi: ohh nooo, ex-bankers run Konami. Not ex-bankers. What a douche.
 
sublimit said:
These people think that just because they have more experience than other actors before them it automatically gives them the right to talk shit about them.

It's the typical western phenomenon of people thinking they are "stars" or something just because they got a few more gigs than others.lolz really.
Maybe it has something more to do with getting death threats, the old voice actors stirring up the fan base, or just wanting to do their jobs in the midst of all this stuff they didn't have any part in the first place? I don't think it's great to be making light of the previous actors' work like that, but it's fairly understandable why they can seem so frustrated with all of this and taking it out like that.
Plus the being in front of her crowd and putting on a show for them.

UrbanRats said:
Also wow, the original Mary/Maria was damn good, to be a non-actress.
I'm fairly certain I remember reading that she did have stage experience (and maybe more?), recently.
 

PSYGN

Member
The pacing of conversation/movement seems to be the real root problem from what I've seen in the video. You can't really fix that even with a great voice.
 

Kikujiro

Member
Y2Kev said:
<cut>

And I do not understand the way the fanbase is behaving at all.

Guy Cihi: ohh nooo, ex-bankers run Konami. Not ex-bankers. What a douche.

Nerd rage is the worst rage. This is like Tales fans boycotting Tales games for stupid reasons.
Guy Cihi is a douchebag and he showed it in more than one occasion, I'm more amazed by the people siding with him.

I wasn't interested in buying the collection since I'm fine with the original versions, but this rage against the game is so fucking stupid I'm gonna buy it day 1 just to support Konami.
 

Erigu

Member
Kikujiro said:
Guy Cihi is a douchebag and he showed it in more than one occasion, I'm more amazed by the people siding with him.
I don't know about him being a douchebag, but I'm certainly not convinced by his argument at all... Still, the way McGlynn handled the issue was terrible (if you guys are in the right, that should be enough! just explain what happened, no need to act like that). Sure, it's not like that's in her job description, but still...
 

UrbanRats

Member
^^^Man those Twin Perfect guys sound like douchebags.

Kikujiro said:
Nerd rage is the worst rage. This is like Tales fans boycotting Tales games for stupid reasons.
Guy Cihi is a douchebag and he showed it in more than one occasion, I'm more amazed by the people siding with him.

I wasn't interested in buying the collection since I'm fine with the original versions, but this rage against the game is so fucking stupid I'm gonna buy it day 1 just to support Konami.
Konami is not doing a masterful work on the collection anyway, from what we've seen so far.
That said, i agree that the outrage is not justified.
 
Ellis Kim said:
Just make the original voices a free DLC pack, you know, in good faith.
I doubt that will ever happen, as much as I would love for it to.

Would it really make things better, at this point? I mean, it would make someone like me happy, but what about the really offended fans?
 

Bit-Bit

Member
I recently replayed Silent Hill 2 on PC. I remember liking the voice acting fine back when I played it on PS2 all those years ago. But nowadays....they're pretty bad. A bunch of deliveries are just so terrible. About the only good voice acting was James. And even he sounded bored the whole game.

It makes me sad when I see people defending the voice acting of Silent Hill 2. Just give it up. The game is good yes, but the voice acting is nothing to write home about. From the snippets of Silent Hill 2 HD, I like the new voice acting way better.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
Y2Kev said:
But he did get paid. I don't understand. This is, as McGlynn puts it, a non-union buyout situation.

According to Maria's VA, when they were signing "contracts" (Cihi said it was all only verbal agreements, they've received no written contracts) Konami said that the game "was ONLY to be released in the US and ONLY for one game…". So whether or not it's normal to not pay VA for various rereleases, Konami didn't play fair play back then too.

Not picking sides though, both McGlynn and the new James' VA handle the situation terribly; mocking and trash talking are very immature.

I love McGlynn's take on Angela's original voice though :lol. They will have a really hard time redoing her voice while trying to keep the original pace.
 
Bit-Bit said:
I recently replayed Silent Hill 2 on PC. I remember liking the voice acting fine back when I played it on PS2 all those years ago. But nowadays....they're pretty bad. A bunch of deliveries are just so terrible. About the only good voice acting was James. And even he sounded bored the whole game.

It makes me sad when I see people defending the voice acting of Silent Hill 2. Just give it up. The game is good yes, but the voice acting is nothing to write home about. From the snippets of Silent Hill 2 HD, I like the new voice acting way better.

Well, Maria's new voice is certainly worse than the original at least. I can't see how people are defending her new voice (although arguably she had the best / only good VA in the original).
 

Erigu

Member
Mr_Zombie said:
Konami said that the game "was ONLY to be released in the US and ONLY for one game…".
Why do I find this so hard to believe?

Not picking sides though, both McGlynn and the new James' VA handle the situation terribly; mocking and trash talking are very immature.
Exactly. As if the franchise needed that, at this point...
 
It would be cool of Troy Baker and Mary McGlynn just shut the fuck up about the whole thing. Talking shit publicly about Guy Cihi is only going to rile up the hardcore fans even more.

It looks even worse considering how interactive and appreciative Cihi is to all of the SH2 fans on Facebook. He seems like a geniunely good dude. The guy is rolling in money due to his business in Japan and does tons of charity work. It's not like he's doing this to keep his name out there.
 

legacyzero

Banned
Y2Kev said:
But he did get paid. I don't understand. This is, as McGlynn puts it, a non-union buyout situation.

Do you think Konami should just go back and pay him out of respect/generosity? What should they pay him? What should they pay everyone else?

If she is portraying things accurately--and I don't know that she is entirely (I doubt Konami went back to each actor and asked, but it does make sense that they at least went back to Guy Cihi)-- then this is cut and dry.

The SH2/3 cast have no recourse or right to anything. Konami is changing the voices to avoid a lawsuit. And that is the real shame.

Silent Hill 2, to me, is a top 5 game of all time. It is a brilliant masterwork in the horror genre. I am a huge fan of the series. And I do not understand the way the fanbase is behaving at all.

Guy Cihi: ohh nooo, ex-bankers run Konami. Not ex-bankers. What a douche.

Here's my trouble with the whole thing, though... Why spend the money for the new VO when they could have just gave that to the original cast. I'm sure Guy isn't that big a douche that he wouldn't accept it. I mean, he DID just give up his rights to Konami in order to Keep the game right/save face. Whichever it is, it doesn't seem that money is that big an issue.

My opinion is that Konami is going to way too much trouble for this, when they could have cut the same check to the original cast and avoided all this.
 

Erigu

Member
legacyzero said:
Why spend the money for the new VO when they could have just gave that to the original cast. I'm sure Guy isn't that big a douche that he wouldn't accept it. I mean, he DID just give up his rights to Konami
... when it was too late anyway.
 
Mr_Zombie said:
According to Maria's VA, when they were signing "contracts" (Cihi said it was all only verbal agreements, they've received no written contracts) Konami said that the game "was ONLY to be released in the US and ONLY for one game…". So whether or not it's normal to not pay VA for various rereleases, Konami didn't play fair play back then too.

It's stuff like this that makes the claims from the original voice actors so hard to believe. It's a Japanese developed game, but they aren't going to release it in Japan? Come on!
 

legacyzero

Banned
SolidSnakex said:
Why would Konami ever want to deal with Cihi again?

To me, it's not about their retarded feud. It's about the game and preserving it. And it's about the gamer, and those who love it. No matter who wins, we lose.

Same thing for the EA vs STEAM thing. I dont give two god damns about your stupid feud. They're not thinking about the customer. Only themselves.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
It's very easy to give up rights to something you don't have. I just gave up my right to the White House deed. Take that, Obama. I am the most generous of all.

And if the options are repay Guy Cihi (who didn't do that good a job anyway and is a douche) or get a new actor who isn't a douche, well.

I'm sorry the game got caught in the crossfire. I'm most sorry for the other actors and actresses. McGlynn is right-- she's no good for Maria/Mary.
 

legacyzero

Banned
Y2Kev said:
It's very easy to give up rights to something you don't have. I just gave up my right to the White House deed. Take that, Obama. I am the most generous of all.

And if the options are repay Guy Cihi (who didn't do that good a job anyway and is a douche) or get a new actor who isn't a douche, well.

I'm sorry the game got caught in the crossfire. I'm most sorry for the other actors and actresses. McGlynn is right-- she's no good for Maria/Mary.

This is really what burns me the most.
 
legacyzero said:
To me, it's not about their retarded feud. It's about the game and preserving it. And it's about the gamer, and those who love it. No matter who wins, we lose.

Same thing for the EA vs STEAM thing. I dont give two god damns about your stupid feud. They're not thinking about the customer. Only themselves.

Konami tried to do that, which is why they were in talks with him before this even happened. He apparently wanted royalties from them and then posted on Facebook that he was considering suing them over those royalties. He's now trying to make them look bad by saying "Oh, well i'm giving up my rights now...for the fans". Why didn't he do that when Konami approached him instead of demanding something that he's isn't owed?
 

legacyzero

Banned
ZombieSupaStar said:
shouldn't voice actors get royalties, isnt that normal for music/movies/tv shows?
That was my assumption too. There has to be some sort of copyright law that protect actors (union or not) that says that repeated usage of their likeness and and voice without contract/payment could warrant litigation.

I dunno. I've only gradiated high school :p
 

Erigu

Member
Y2Kev said:
It's very easy to give up rights to something you don't have. I just gave up my right to the White House deed. Take that, Obama. I am the most generous of all.
I believe it was more of a "go ahead and use the original voices, I won't sue". But at that point, really...


SolidSnakex said:
He's now trying to make them look bad by saying "Oh, well i'm giving up my rights now...for the fans".
Yeah, I kinda wonder about his motivations, there... But then again, what's in it for him? His good name?
 

Replicant

Member
Let's be honest, the original voices sound awful. Maria was the only exception to this. So I don't actually have problem with replacing them. I just wish they had chosen a better new VA for Maria or only replace the voices that need to be replacing.
 
ZombieSupaStar said:
shouldn't voice actors get royalties, isnt that normal for music/movies/tv shows?

His face still isn’t famous, but Mr. Hollick’s voice and gait have moved into the pop culture firmament recently as those of Niko Bellic, the sardonic, textured Balkan criminal at the heart of Grand Theft Auto IV, the acclaimed gangster fantasy that has become the fastest-selling game to date. Produced by Rockstar Games and its corporate parent, Take-Two Interactive Software, the game has generated at least $600 million in sales over the last three weeks.

Yet even as “Saturday Night Live” has spoofed the Niko character, even as Mr. Hollick’s voice has been heard in tens of millions of homes in advertisements broadcast during “American Idol” and the N.B.A. playoffs, even as fans have flocked to his MySpace page, his triumph has been bittersweet.

That’s because Mr. Hollick was paid only about $100,000 over roughly 15 months between late 2006 and early this year for all of his voice acting and motion-capture work on the game, with zero royalties or residuals in sight, he said.

Had this been a television program, a film, an album, a radio show or virtually any other sort of traditional recorded performance, Mr. Hollick and the other actors in the game would have made millions by now.
As it stands, they get nothing beyond the standard Screen Actors Guild day rate they were originally paid.

That is because the contracts between the actors’ union and the entertainment industry make little or no provision for electronic media like video games and the Internet. It is a discrepancy that is expected to dominate negotiations between Hollywood and the guild this summer, with many predicting an actors’ strike to parallel the writers’ strike last year, which revolved around similar issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/arts/television/21gta.html
 
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