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

[ChrisPope]

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!

[pcj]

Speaking for myself I'd certainly want the sarcastic narrator approach we saw throughout the SQ series, which Gary Owens did so well. I wouldn't particularly want someone trying to imitate Gary Owens, but a similar voice could work as long as they were doing their own thing and it didn't sound forced.

[Collector]

Agreed.

[MusicallyInspired]

Indeed. There definitely needs to be sarcasm. Something like Owens' but unique. It probably wouldn't be great to try to carbon copy Owens unless he was really really really really close.

[bogmad]

As much as I REALLY want to hear Gary's voice again, I'm not sure I could ever truly get over the fact that it's not actually his.

I say get a Gary soundalike and then pull the rug out from under me with another voice before you spend to much money on the first guy!

[ern2150]

First time / long time.

Anywho, Gilbert Gottfried please.

[gangbuster]

I nominate Ted Williams. He was the homeless man who was found on the street by a reporter. Ted was an announcer and had lost his job. He is now once again an announcer with a beautiful baritone voice that would be perfect for the game. 

 

Thanks!

[MusicallyInspired]

Actually, I heard he blew it, got messed up in drugs again, and lost everything all over again. That was a while ago too now.

[pcj]

That was 2011. He made another comeback in 2012 and is apparently doing better now.

[MusicallyInspired]

Ah! Third time's a charm I guess?

[zaxxon4]

George Lowe has often been a follow-up to Gary Owens. In interviews he appears to be pretty naturally funny as well.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lowe

[trevbot]

Patrick Warburton would be amazing.

[Transient]

My vote is for someone else with a unique voice, but keep the sarcasm that we all love. Gary Owens was great, but we'll all know it's not him and there are others that could do really well given the chance.

[jfrisby]

Did Neil Ross retire?

I'd be okay with a sound alike, or someone different :P

[Martronix]

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.

[Magiske]

Kevan Brighting. The Narrator from The Stanley Parable, very British:) 

 

http://kevanbrighting.com/

[Rambutaan]

I would like someone with a similar voice to Gary Owens, but as many have already mentioned here, what's more important is if whoever does it can mimic the same tone. There's no point hiring someone with a similar voice but it doesn't sound passionate or convincing enough.

[VxJasonxV]

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).

[needlewiz]

I did like Gary Owens but, unless you get a GREAT match, go with someone who gives it their own, unique touch.

[TheChadgod]

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.   :)

[Christian Giegerich]

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! :)  

[tomimt]

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.

[Frede]

The attitude is what's important to me. I'd prefer a narrator who just "gets" it - which Gary Owens appeared to do - rather than one who sounds the part to a tee.

[MusicallyInspired]

Heh. Seth MacFarlane would be fantastic. He has that similar classic announcer voice and his sarcasm knows no bounds. Getting him would probably be quite difficult, though.

[tomimt]

You know, Cary Elwes sprung just into my mind. He did fantastic job in Bard's Tale as a sarcastic, snarky bard. His voice work managed to rise a mediocre action RPG into an enjoyable experience.