Tom Bissell (Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter) has an article in the Aug 15/22 New Yorker that profiles Jennifer Hale who is, evidently, a major voice talent in the video gaming industry. It is facinating.
She has never played a video game. She records with very little background on what the story is. Bissell went with her to a recording session for Mass Effect 3 in which she is the main character (if the player chooses to be a female) as she was for Mass Effect 1 and 2. His description of how one of these session works is facinating. I think you would all enjoy reading it.
As a coda, Bissell describes playing a bit of Mass Effect 2 with her. She was interested to find out just who her character was and listen to her different responses to players different dialogue choices. After an hour, she had enough. She obviously is not going to become a video game players. In her spare time what she does is hiking, rock climbing, and riding horses. Just like us. [Image Can Not Be Found]
What I find most interesting about this article is that it appeared in The New Yorker. That says a lot about the growing awareness of the significance of video games in our society.
Kay
Imagine life with no hypothetical situations.
Every interview I've seen or heard with Jennifer Hale, the interviewer can't help but bring up the point that she doesn't play video games. It always makes for an awkward discussion. It's irrelevant: Mark Meer could be the top Starcraft/Counter-Strike player in Asia and it wouldn't make him an iota better than Hale.
I'm sure I sound like a broken record at this point, ceaselessly yammering about Mass Effect, but it's honestly a different game if you play female, and according to BioWare's little studies, 80% of created Mass Effect games go with a male Shepard. Hale's voice talent is so much more believable, so much more interested in the material. I get the criticisms of the "blah-ness" of the game's story, etc., but I think that is all exacerbated by Mr. Meer's very average performance. I enjoy playing Mass Effect 1/2 chiefly because listening to Ms. Hale's performance as Shepard entertains and interests me in the epic space drama, even with all the cliches and eye-rolling moments flying in my face.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
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