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To Gary Owens voice match, or not to Gary Owens voice match, that is the question..


ChrisPope

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Hey everyone, I wanted to put a feeler out there. We've been talking about who we wanted as our narrator for SpaceVenture since the unfortunate fact that the legendary Gary Owen's has passed away.

 

The question I have for you guys is this. How do you feel about us finding a Gary Owens voice match? In other words, this would be an actor that can match Gary Owens as closely as possible. I know no one can truly replace the man with the golden pipes, but there are people out there that can match him pretty closely.

 

So what are your thoughts? Would you guys like a voice match for SpaceVenture, or someone else with another unique voice? We've got some people in mind that could do that as well.

 

Anyway, please let me know your thoughts :)

 

Thanks everyone!

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It would be great to have someone capture the expression of a dramatic narrator in the style of those retro sci-fi shows. Gary Owens was beyond perfect for that. It wouldn't feel right having someone imitate his exact voice, but instead have someone who aims for a similar dramatic expression/delivery.

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How about a contest? I'm interested in providing some demo reads tailored specifically to this game's environment, and I imagine that many other folks watching the game's progression and hearing this news would also be interested in trying out.

 

Have narrators publish their demos, and have fans (backers?) vote on their favorite(s).

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To me, it seems like it would be one thing to have a great, unique voice actor and wish it was Gary for the iconic/nostalgic factor, and a completely different and much worse thing to wish it was Gary instead of "this guy that they got to sound like Gary".  I think it is pretty much the same thing as when an actor has to leave a series 6 seasons in, and instead of retiring or rotating the character, the producers just replace the guy playing him with someone who looks similar and hope everyone copes.  It requires a LOT MORE suspension of disbelief and working through discomfort to have a replacement than it does to transition into something new.  I honestly think Gary's voice was iconic enough to actually merit such a drastic analogy. He WAS the narrator character.  But that's just my own little dumb opinion. lol

George "Space Ghost" Lowe is the only close approximate I can think of that would be hilarious without seeming like "some guy mimicking Gary", and I agree with the dude who mentioned Patrick Warburton as well. I think either of them could pull off Two Guys dialogue quite awesomely...  Which is honestly the important thing.  That being said, I honestly wouldn't mind voices as different or varied as Jon St. John, to Alan Tudyk, to Seth MacFarlane etc (I know you guys aren't asking for voice actor recommendations as there are lots of other factors besides "who would be cool to have". lol. I'm just using their voices as examples).   I think anyone with good comedic timing would be fair game/favorable over just a Gary voice clone.   :)

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I think its important not to find someone who sounds like Gary, but who has a similar effect on the player. We all know Gary Owens was one of a kind. I find it wrong to search for a similar voice and try to talk exactly like him. It won't be the same anyway and probably would leave a bad taste while playing the game.

 

I've been playing quite a lot of games in my career, and there was one time a narrator had a similar funny effect on me. I'm talking about Bruce Campbell, who was the narrator of the Spider-Man 2 videogame back in the days. As many of you may know, Bruce was an actor in every Spider-Man movie and had a guest role in each one of them, always playing a different guy who was making fun of Peter Parker. Well, in the video game, he was the narrator, and he was picking at the player all the time. 

 

I found a clip on youtube, in which he's guiding the player through the tutorial, take a look, it's hilarious:

 

https://youtu.be/ae9rwSKxAxY?t=138

 

What do you think guys? I think he'd be perfect for either the narrator OR even Ace Hardway. I don't know if he'd be up for it or in the payment range; since he's a B-movie actor it could be a possibility. Broken Age could effort Elijah Wood, too. But first and foremost, it'd be a question of "Would it feel right?". I just want to put this out there (or in here). Maybe its a possibilty! :)  

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Personally I'd choose someone with their own persnality in the voice rather than "sound a like". The problem with people why kinda like sound or try to imitate some one is, that more often than not you'll soon notice that the person isn't doing something that he can naturally do for hours. There's always some ques, words or pharses where the vocie snaps off for a moment.

 

I really liked the guy who did narration for Larry Reloaded. It was at the same time in line with LSL7, but it also was its own thing.

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