God of War 2 by SCEA

Greg deBeer, the Dialog Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment of America Foster City, sat down with Gamasutra and gave a very candid interview on the state of dialog and voice over’s in the video game industry. In this six page interview deBeer’s speaks of finding that original voice for a game, casting actors for their range, and most interestingly his thoughts on celebrities doing voice over for video games.

… In general, my recommendation is to stay away from celebrity talent. My personal reasoning for that — which I’ve discussed with a lot of people, and a lot of people disagree with me — is for me, hearing an identifiable celebrity voice takes you away from the game. Instead of being immersed in this environment with these characters who are supposed to be a part of whatever world you’re playing, you say, “Oh, I recognize that voice,” and it brings you back into the real world. It’s a very disruptive experience for me personally.

Reading more on his thoughts, and with out him actually stating this, but the reasoning seems to be that the high-paid celebrities are just pains to work with.

I also find, in many cases, celebrities are used to a very specific way of being dealt with and dealing with production, and voice over is very different from that. And game voice over is different from just straight animation or ADR or something in a film setting. There are some actors that can handle it very well, but I’ve found that more often than not, the more exposure they’ve had in the film world, the less they are able to cope in these situations.

The rest of the interview gives a wonderful insight into the world of video game voice acting and what is required of you if you choose to pursue this career avenue. If you’ve got a few minutes to read the entire interview I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Giving Games A Voice: Sony’s Dialog Manager Greg deBeer Speaks [Gamasutra]