Retronauts Volume III Episode 11: The History of Video Game Voice Acting

Retronauts 11 cover

Hey, cats and kittens: It's Bob again with another brand-new episode. Just so you know, this one was the first we recorded with Jeremy Skyping in from his new East Coast digs, so things might not go as smoothly as you'd expect from the well-oiled machine known as Retronauts. On the bright side -- if you could call it that -- most of the difficulties came in the editing process, since I had to paste in Jeremy's locally recorded audio every time he spoke, while simultaneously cutting out the rest of our dumb voices. Because of this issue, I stumbled into a little SNAFU that would take too much time to correct, so you may notice that one of our musical breaks lasts just a little too long -- but it probably won't kill you.

To close the book on this extremely inside baseball, just know that we've since come up with a much more efficient process, so the episodes following next week's should be back to normal. Then again, no one complained about the audio quality on previously posted Jeremy Skype-ins, so this paragraph could only serve to waste your valuable time. (Sorry.)

Anyhow, this episode covers an extremely broad topic we've touched upon plenty of times on Retronauts, but never fully delved into. That said, as I explained in the intro to this episode, we couldn't possibly cover everything, so I did my best to track the evolution of voice acting using some very notable (and at times, infamous) examples. Special thanks go out to backer Chris Doucette, who donated to make this episode happen, and volunteered his time to help us talk about a very fruitful subject. Enjoy, and please leave us comments about anything we might have missed!

Libsyn (1:30:55 | MP3 | 65.7 MB) | SoundCloud

This episode's description:

"From Berzerk's creepy robot barks to Metal Gear Solid's overwrought death monologues, voice acting has been a major element of video games -- but just how did we get to where we are today? Join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Ray Barnholt and special backer guest Chris Doucette as they dine on Jill sandwiches, sit in rocket lawn chairs, and explore the mysteries of video game voice acting."

This episode's musical breakdown:

  • 17:38 | Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions “Main Menu”
  • 28:24 | Metal Gear Solid "Rex's Lair"
  • 50:16 | Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions "Ninja"
  • 1:16:41 | Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions "Weapon Mode"
  • 1:27:14 | Metal Gear Solid "Metal Gear Solid Control Mix" (From the Metal Gear Solid OST)

Relevant Links:

Audio Atrocities

Metal Gear localization interview on Hardcore Gaming 101

I Know that Voice

NEXT TIME: We head to the Silicon Valley of the Midwest -- yes, that's a real thing. And maybe before Christmas, a little something extra in your stocking? Only if you're good. And the best way to do this might involve leaving us a review on the iTunes Music Store...