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computer games - voice acting

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Yup, another rant is coming... but you've got to forgive me, I've got a high fever for some time now and I feel like sh....

For all the time I was buying LEC "STAR WARS"-themed games (which were always expensive here, even when compared with other titles) I couldn't stop wondering why I can't get the *real* Darth Vader's voice in cinematics. If we start checking from the earliest 1990s games such as "X-Wing" or "Dark Forces" (oh man, those were *THE* games...) we can see that Vader's voice was dubbed by Scott Lawrence. This lead me to guesstimate that maybe James Earl Jones may be too expensive or just doesn't want to work with such new medium like computer games (I hate the term "video games" - well maybe that'd be true for consoles) being rather a veteran actor...

I digged up today some old game, which featured a trailer/making of doc for Westwood's "Command & Conquer - Tiberian Sun". And suddenly who do I see? Familiar face of JEJ, in a fancy USARMY-style uniform. (I dumped the series after "Command & Conquer", so I'm not familiar with "Red Alert" or "Tiberian Sun"). It turned out that James Earl Jones appeared in a computer game. But that's not all - his voice was again used for making Vader real in... "Star Wars Monopoly"! Oh c'mon! Monopoly? It's a good game, but putting Star Wars characters in it is ridiculous! And to think that the *only* SW-themed LEC game featuring JEJ as the voice of DV is "Monopoly"...

Oh well, enough complaining for today. If anyone's interested, here's another actor who dubbed numerous characters in SW-themed LEC games: Nick Jameson. Gamers will easily recognize him as in-game Palpatine.
I saw the original theatrical release of the Old Trilogy on the big screen and I'm proud of it...
How did I accomplish that (considering my age) is my secret...
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I loved the fact that they got Billy Dee Williams to do the voice of Lando for Jedi Outcast. That was seriously cool.

Too bad they couldn't get Mark Hamill as well, seeing as he does a lot of voice acting. Ah well.
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You have to wonder if it's money or scheduling. The late Brock Peters did Vader in the radio trilogy, and did lot of voiceover work in the 90's but he wasn't used either.
Did JEJ do original dialog for the Monopoly game?
originaltrilogy.com Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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Heh, I always wondered why the never got James Earl Jones to do the voice acting in those old games as well. You KNOW they could have afforded it.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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Thanks hairy_hen, now that you reminded me I vividly remember how happy I was when I recognized the real Lando's voice in game. Such thing really adds to game experience, IMHO. And familiar names on the box would surely increase sales.

Good point about Mark, too. Not only he does a lot of voice acting, but he often does that for games. Even if we exclude the "Wing Commander" series from the list, the other titles would be such big selling hits such as "Call of Duty 2", "Soldier of Fortune 2" or "Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter".

Another actor who graced "Monopoly Star Wars" game was Anthony Daniels... speaking of which... the whole concept - weird as it may be - could be used better. Vader buying hotels? ...on Hoth? C'mon! I'd rather play Lando character instead, competing with other "shady businessmen" from Star Wars universe: smugglers, Hutts... Chance cards could include events such as "Imperial blockade" or "you have been caught with contraband onboard". "Go-to-jail" should be replaced by "Imperial Detention Center" etc. Oh nevermind...

After all, what am I talking about? If radio dramas had completely different cast... why treat the games seriously then... ehh...

And I'd still claim that the investment in those names would nicely pay off as promotional effect - more people would buy a game featuring a real SW-movie star, even be it only as a voice-over.

EDIT: Oh, should I mention that "Monopoly Star Wars" was released by... Hasbro?
I saw the original theatrical release of the Old Trilogy on the big screen and I'm proud of it...
How did I accomplish that (considering my age) is my secret...
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How could you ditch C&C before Red Alert? Red Alert 1 is a classic, one of the best RTS games. TS (the one with JEJ as an army officer) and on have sucked, although RA2 wasn't THAT bad.
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Red Alert was the best true C&C game in my mind. Tank rushes were way too powerful though. I'd kill all my friends with them if they used any other strategy.

I love C&C Generals too. It's a very fun-oriented game, though also on the unbalanced side like Red Alert.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005