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WHEN SPEED | 15 NOT ENOUGH...

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ANDY McNAMARA EDTOR-N CHEF andy@gameinfonmercom

Lace Lah сортта ganeintamerconimag or кон GL And

\/ideo Gaming Is On The Move

Hike to think that im right ай he time, but 1 remember the times | was wrong a lot more, 1 could bore you with my poor predictions ‘over the years, but you have better things to do with your time (Ке read about all the great games in this issue). do want to mention, however, the name that is most commonly associated with my mistakes - Nintendo.

Vitra laughed out loud at the Wi when | fest heard what Nintendo had planned for its next console, The name, the design, the lack of HO - everything about the idea screamed that Nintendo had lost ts marbles. | couldn't have been more wrong. The Nintendo Wi ended up. changing video games forever, and, to some degree, dominating the market this genera- tion. Its made such an impact that Sony and Microsoft are releasing their own answers to the motion contro-based innovator this year, almost four years after Ihe Wi's release,

I've played many games on the Wi, and while it does a fantastic job of making games more immersive through movement, | don't believe its the future. Wi MotionPlus or not, the cur- rent technology faiis to deliver the precision I'm looking for in my games. | can interact quickly by pointing or using other gestures, but the motion controller stil lacks intuitiveness when navigating 3D game space. You move Ike а Frankenstein monster, not Ihe master ninja gamers want to become,

‘This is why it feels to me more Ike a stopgap ‘between the traditional analog controler and the controler of tomorrow. К makes me wonder "why Microsoft and Sony are focusing со much ‘energy trying to capture Ihe magic and market that Nintendo is already dominating.

in fact, would wager that Nintendo's next interface wil be less M. les in design. | don't believe a wand and nunchuk are our future, nor

is the controller less Natal platform Microsof is developing. I have a sneaking suspicion that Nintendo doesn't believe that ether, and is working on a new controler innovation for its next system. (This is when you need to refer back to the opening paragraphs about ho wrong about Nintendo.. a lot.)

‘One thing is certain: the industry is convinced the connection between the gamer and the game is paramount, and wil travel down any road to push games to the next level of interac- tion. I believe we are in the learning phases of bridging this gap in a more sophisticated way, and wil look back on touchscreen interfaces, 30) ‘lasses, and Wi remotes in the future and laugh at how sily we were. Unti then, I'l take a goad standard issue controler any day of the week

Enjoy the issue. Cheers.

Bulletstorm К

u can ime

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Gears of Wars creators at Epic so much that they buy your compa ny outright, you're о the right track. Se awesome oft ration between

by Bryan Vore

12 regulars

6 Feedback

12 Connect

by Andrew Reiner

100 Game Over

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дателот: 6 feedback

FMV is a Four-Letter Word

| was reading your article about LA, Noire when | realized something disturbing: Team Bond's

facial capture tech is just ike ful moton vide (ЕМА. Instead of artists painstakingly Characters, you just have actors in pre

mined places - Ike you're watching a video. FMV was the big thing in games in the 905 unti it was dona to death, and then look n

«бодап by gamers. Although LA. М locks powerful, | can see the same thing hap- pening that happened with FMV: you'l ha of quickly produced and gimmicky tite, Mike Lelinski Milwaukee, WI

Both techniques help translate a real per- son's movements into a game, but that's where the similarities end. The concept

and intent behind the techniques used in LA. Noire are completely different from

the maligned FMV games of the ‘90s. In

the case of FMV, games were contorted around the technology, existing for no other reason than to show off grainy video. With LA. Noire, you'll still be playing a real game, complete with 3D models and interactivo. environments - the only difference is that the process of creating and animating the characters has been streamlined, produc- ing realistic performance in less time. technology isn't the reason for LA. Noire's

existence; itis just one of many tools Team Bondi is using in the development process. Its also incredibly expensive, so don't ‘expect a rush of copycats.

Superfan {havo о зау issue 203 probably th best опо you ave made so artt rtl ought you were Song to s review 12bu теп BAMI Fal Fantasy Xl, BioShock 2, Bate: Bad

Company 2, Heavy Rain, and No More Heroes 2! Props on the amazing med юе Doctor Who and Boneshaker) plus the cover сп LA. Моге. Issues ike this help mo through the summer video game drought to come, so. thanks!

Alex Centeno Chicago, IL

Last year, when publishers announced that many holiday 2009 titles were getting pushed into early 2010, we were a little disappointed. Now, we couldn't be hap- pier; this year's onslaught of awesome games has kept us glued to our controllers, week after week. As you mentioned, things always slow down a bitin the summer, but that's a small price to pay ifit means that Publishers aren't just cramming all of their best games into a tiny three-month window.

! his month in

casm that went

plain about Big Daddies,

:edback

we prep for the summer gaming

undetected, com-

, and cringe

at old FMV games

* LA. Nore ing In Act | ur Favorite Franchise

one отап? |

* Zombie Flow Chart

* Alterwords: Bayonetta

vith. Imagine you'r

Still Getting Th You mentioned how the Clash of the Titans is now hat to remake, but not de

our ignoranca regarding Clash ofthe Titansin Cash of the Titans movie, I had to: assumption that you don't check your facts. = Game Informer’ | have a the Timeline section of issue 203 is downright ing: Yes, the new movie is a remake, but ts Bryan DeJaynes very juicy bit of nerd rale sopa Your job is to be nerds, and with that Predecessor came Pekin, IL mal for you. But what is the comes the oblgafion of actualy researching Kratos ever ripped the | ‘cause of my ate youask? mam lan on puting into your magazine, Would think God of War fans wouk Never has a single blurb about a movie simple: {you had done your research (wich you obvi- he Тала, both then asanodto caused such an outpouring of com- 5 dd nol you would have found Kratos beginnings -and not a blatant rp-o. ments. We received hundreds of emails

Christina Stitt — from readers informing us - with varying Wilmington, DE degrees of tact - that Clash of the Titans.

predates God of War. The saddest part of

advice: If you use sarcasm, make the whole situation? A staggering number

Ins is actualy а remake of the c move, not a God of War rip-off, Itt Байес me that you can hold your write

a low standard of journalistic responsibilty, and

in the magiznges

hear that TOOL is making ther latest album,

Alte fe

im super stoked. Һоме the audacity to print a blatant le. The faet Se it isn't your Tmeine section, el the responses thought that we actually that you can alow this is ~ as you so elegant tioned that Clash of the Titans move ` believed a video game from 2005 invented phrased it~ shameless, Just shameless. Sarp-offol God of War Now as we all know, the ancient city of Athens. Seriously? God

Dan Mitchell Cash of the Titans sa remake of the 1981 fm of War was a great game and everything, Via email ofthe same name. Iknow this, and you know but even we know there are limits to what

this, but not everyone wil get the joke. Someone Kratos can accomplish,

WEE EEEEREREREREEEREEEEEEEREREREEFEEEREREEEEREEFEEREVEREEEREEERFEFEEREEEEEEEREEEEREREEEREREFEEEREELEEEFEEREREEEEEEEEFEFEI

(Right) Dan, Adar look dose h

8 feedback

CCC

Hunt onl

ipto 4 players p и ys fierce battles underwater or on land. where hunter and monster interactions are

as varied as the gameplay itself, CAPCOM.COM/MONSTERHUNTER YOUTUBE.COM/MONSTERHUNTER

M ° Wii с.с сизе me: A nev wey neon on wi CAPCOM

zombie apocalyp

Kids Today Ima player of al curent systems, but have endured ай hat has taken for them to get them where they are staring with the

чап. My daughter, оп the other hand, i starting the Wi. We recently bought Barbie as the Island Princess, and | just want to know how Activision can make such a disaster and sel it pecting Kids. | know the leadership of the company understands completely that the

in the gaming industry; once the crappy game is bought, their money is in the bank. The next time my daughter wants to buy a game with her. painfuly eamed tooth fairy money, | am going to encourage her to reconsider. | am going to be her voice и Ihe gaming community and | ho other parents folow sut; 't stupid, and companies ike Activision should stop treating them Ike idiots.

Michael and Emilee Масреек:

‘Auburn, ME

We com- pletely agree, Michael. Years ago, parents. would just. blindly buy

hat does

whatever games their kids begged

ember that

of his hot

EEE EEE

‘event We in for some уре ene (Center) ron Man

Tomoatan

Making Copies think that Game informer has gone a bit too far vith how you compare games о others. as a good game wih an orignal story, Sure, t was not without faws, but forthe most part, this was а good game. hated how Reiner and Joe just labeled t a God of War/Zekla el you look at any game nowadays they aro al Copyeats somewhere down the ine. куен. Geneva, ОН

You're correct to point out that most of the titles we're enjoying today are built on the

the е flos

innovations of their forebears, We admit that there's nothing is wrong with drawing inspiration from the greats; Darksiders does an excellent job synthesizing familiar ele- ments into an entertaining adventure. On the other hand, it's also fair to draw atten- tion to those similarities, especially when the parallels are as pervasive as they are in Darksiders. A good game can stand on tho. shoulders of the ones that came before, but a great game should contribute something new and move forward.

for. Now, as ‘more gamers are becoming parents them- selves, titles geared toward | children are ‘coming under more scrutiny by adults who are able to di tinguish a good one from a bad one. Though kids may not always be the most reliable judges of quality themselves, they don't deserve to play terrible games any more than seasoned gamers do. It isn't impossi- ble for a studio to make a legitimately good game for a younger audience, but the pro- ‘cess needs to involve more than exploiting

а popular franchise for a blatant cash-grab. You can see how one developer, Avalanche Software, hopes to address this problem by reading our Toy Story 3 feature on page 52.

AWINNER 1 Melissa

after yet another long-winded Snake monologue

d

feedback 11

sony showcases The PlayStation

з Game Develope motion controller а п

ference, niliar territory, filli

ing famil

in the living room. Thou, ames on dis Wii gam:

more traditional game

connect 13

14

'ove's fall launch won't be ‘short on games, with Sony Claiming that 20 launch window tities are in develop- ment by SCE Worldwide. Studios alone. In an effort to distance its game library from the shovelware- plagued Wii lineup, Sony told бате Informer that creating a standard of quality for the piat- form is of the utmost Importance. "We're going to have some quality control. We don't want а bunch of older games ported at launch," assured Scott Rohde, vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios. "But we don't worry about it because there's been so much great engage- ment from the third parties when We bring this technology to them." ‘Sony proudly touted the support af over 30 companies including Activision, Capcom,

Many other games are presumably in development, but as of press time tha.

only games third-party publishers have ‘announced with Move support are EA Sports’ Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Warner Bros. Interactive's Lord of the Rings; Aragorn's Quest, and Disney's Toy Story 3.

‘Sony has yet to announce the exact pricing or launch date for the Move, but it did confirm. that three diferent packages will be available for consumers: a standalone motion control- ler; a package deal that includes the Move, PlayStation Eye, and a game for under $100; and a full bundle that includes a PlayStation Nove, PlayStation Eye, and a PlayStation 3,

Staying under the three-digit mark is an aggressive move by Sony, but the dollars will add up when larger familles want to purchase multiple controllers, games, and accesso- ries, With the Wil strong grip on the family market, it will Бе interesting to see if people Will jump ship for the promise of НО gaming ‘or just stick with Nintendo.

“think that Move is what Wil HD should have been,” said Wedbush Morgan analyst. Michael Pachter. "Nintendo can either respond with Wii HD, or watch Sony capture share when people upgrade to PS3 plus Move, | think that they should take this more seriously than they appear to be taking i.”

Whether or not Nintendo will respond with ап upgrade of its own remains to be seen, but one thing Is for sure - Sony appears to be in the motion control arms race forthe long haul

Tracking Light Tre lowing bub on the top of the conta je tho key dferntalor between the Wi remote and the Move. It racks players postion and regters depth, teling the Console whether th controler s moving closer further away from ino camera. Tris alows games о account tor forward movements like stabbing a sword or . ing backward. Tho RGB LED that glows inside he Dub эво assures ne controler works whether you're па Му or th black room. Developers can turn the bub any coor hey weh 10 accommodate ther gameplay For instance, lo ue players

a sus cue to thor heath status while playing а game, tha bulb coud move om res to yelow to ed as ther Һ points are араа Fantasy games coud tum the bulb bive for casting ico spes and red for Casing не spats,

Action Button

This al-purpose button serves as the pri- mary input for many games. From menu сопбтпабопв to puling off special moves in-game, expect to push it a lot

Bluetooth

Unike the Wis nunchuk, the Move ‘and the sub-controter connect wirelessly to the PlayStation 3 via Bluetooth, just Ike the Sixaxis and DualShock controles.

Move Controller

The Technology Behind Move

зок nice, but how does it work? In our hands-on time motion controll шау build quality. The Move weighs slightly Wi , but it's still

1 to feel great in your s do

lightweight Ü

nce behind Sony's new technol

Analog Stick Triggers

The Move's pressure-sensitive trigger is ideal for shooters, as it can diferentiate between short-controled bursts and full automatic fire based on how hard you press it

PlayStation Button

D-pad Sensors Both the Move andthe High Quality

ssub-controller use acceler. : and

terestrial magnetic sensors.

What does that mean in

Like other Sony electronics, ће Move and sub-controler are buit with solid plastic and have a good weight while

plain English? These devices in hand.

accurately measure the

Speed of your movements

and the ange at which you're Rechargeable Battery

holding the controller. Both controllers feature rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Third-party com. panies will surely be in a frenzy to offer а charging solution for a ful set of four Moves and four sub-controlers,

Rumble

Like ће DualShock, "+++ the Move and sub:

controler feature force feedback vibration,

Sub-Controller WU. AM

connect 15

PlayStation Move: The Games

fter the GDC onferenc y gave th е: С to several ove game demos. Мо feature play, but the varie me light on the different opers to pursue. Th titles with a LittleB

SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs

Zipper Interactiv sunning shooter seres is taking Ihe helm re title announced for the Move. Much Ike a Wii players use the Move ler to aim and fre, handing ovement, cover, and ymmands with the sub. le. While the build show al the event was more of а tech did get a feel for ho hooters feel differently i games. The aiming felt ‘smoother than expected, and

confirmed that the motion sensi tivity wil be adjustable in the final ‘game. The most interesting infor- mation to coma out of the den

confirmation that players using the Move can jump into online mult

head-to-head matches.

Sports Champions can't tak about Spor

Champions without mentioning Wi Sports Resor

‘als aren't the ony thi “borrowing”:

пон; minigames p

the Move in a unique way, but as Wi Sports, none ofthe modes appear to offer much depth. The standout

mode in the ©

e-on-one melee fighter that turns your controle yd and ча. t won't bo surprising if Sony offers this as a pack-n or possibly а cheap download for consumers who Purchase Move.

Motion Fighter

This gritty brawler uses two Move con- rollers, one in each hand, to simulate fist fighting: By holding your hands up. tive stance.

Motioning your body back and forth with your hands in this position, your character wil bob and weave to dodge ‘Once you spot an opening, you

сап go in for the kill with jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and even a few dirty moves like head butts and headlocks. Though the Move controllers handled basic. ing with no problem, it had a hard time keeping up when we strung together combos. Future fighters can

look forward to a career mode, s

screen bouts, and online head to head,

Move Party

pan

can expecta lot of sh, tanti,

waggle action, there are a few ө gems, in this mix. к

m fling out of a tree by using a small fan to 1 back into nests. on that cals: mind, Move Party looks appealing solut

amor, and players dge incoming attacks b

LittleBlgPla:

— "

2395

х

+

| news | he dramatic fring of president Jason West and CEO Vince Zampeta кот Сай of Duty:

Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward happened fast, but trouble had been brew-

ing between tho studio and parent company

Action for some time. Stil, on March 1

from when САТУ frst reported that a "bunch. Hof bouncer types” showed up from Activision Qe етос at he infty Ward fees to when

West and Zarnpela's Facebook and Linkedin

profles were updated to state that thoy were

Activision & Infinity Se eee

against Activision, and the document paints a picture of an uneasy aliance between the two

Ward In Legal Battle

Will the firings of the president and CEO of Infinity Acts of Insubordination? — Nest and Zampela's lawsuit seeks over $36 mi Ward by Activision spell irrevocable doom for the hn I eek es. dene ы idem š „ бабу dismissed, and charges that Activision infamous Call of Duty and Modern Warfare developer? breached te "mpled covenant of good faith 7 and tar dealing." The lawsuit aleges that the pair How did it all go so wrong? by 1 was unfairly painted as insubordinate employees 5o hat Activision coud lawluly fre tnem before a royalty payment was due on March 31, Part of this setup was a six-hour Kalkaesque interview. ing of West and Zarnpeta over the President's Day weekend in a windowless conference тоот, Activision officials wouldnt tel West and Zampela what speci acts they were шу of instead they were told they “already have a clear Understanding of what they have or have not done.” Despite this vague threat, thay were told that anything less than ful cooperation would be an act at insubordination, which in and of sat

Ап Infinity Ward/Activision Timeline

2002

"s int Van wer 22 сре dep ү Sin ште Dien et (er 2015 Бедик: At Fi Wo nat on nd са Tre yen erat кёл Аан apart ио ret Ira Der 2008

b.

iso for termination хе actualy fred, West and. Zampela say it was for ich were not in the legal fing) that were already proved or weren't decussed in the February investigation interviews. Furthermore, they repre sented a double standard against conduct that had exhibited in the past punishment, Also, despite Activison's soncem for their actions, at the time they occurred - during the development of

Modem Warfare 2 - there was no investigation ос dscipine Activision was quick to respond to the lawsuit

with a statement, While caling the claims "meri less," sad, ".. Activision agitmately expected them to honor their obligations to Activision, j Ike any other executives who hold positons of "rust in the company" According to a тето obtained by САТУ from a source at Activision am) is curently compling document pcoming legal fight, including “docu ments regarding West and Zampella's comm nications with Activsion’s competitors, inducing but not limited to Electronic Arts.” The company is also gathering documents regarding al of infty Ward's projects and the possibilty of the duo forming a new studio, If Activision thought West and Zampela were going to spit нот infty Ward before their contracts were up in 2011, perhaps the company was trying to beat them io the punch and catch them in the act.

“Complete Control Over the Infinity Ward Studio”

We don't know what exactly happened, and Activision hasn't fuly told ts side of the story. at this imo, However, roading юаней, A

appears that one central point of contention is Infinity Ward's desire to move away from the Call о! Duty/Modern Warfare universes and create a brand-new game. According to the lawsuit and attached court documents, on March 31, 2008 Activision and West/Zampela renewed ther contract and drew up a new Memorandum of Understanding (VOU) which tasked them wi completing Modern Warfare 2 by November 15, 2009 in exchange for

ване authority over the Modern Warfare brand or "any Call of Duty game set in the post-Vietnam era, the near future, or the distant future."

+ "Complete control over the Infinity Ward studio” and the right to operate it independently

* The chance to develop a new intelectual property (P) after MW 2

* Royalties and other compensation to West Zampella, and W employees

The lawsuit alleges that Action fred West. and Zampella to regain control of the developer despite tha promises of creative control and independence agreed to in the MOU. Before the release of Modem Warfare 2 and the signing ‘of the MOU in 2008, Activision was pressur ing Infinity Ward to keep creating Сай of Duty instead of starting work on their new IP. Despite. being "not eager" to jump into Modern Warfare 2, West and Zampela signed the MOU and iowever, tha developers don't of the bargain.

release of MW 2, Activision continued to

want Infinity Ward to ms ог Modem Warfare ев instead of a new franchise. in this case, ils not hard to ques Activision's motivations for fring West and ampela. In doing О, the company can keep the successu brands roling by eliminating the two men to whom it gave final authority over those brands, and thus who could throw potential roadblocks.

Call of Duty in Danger? Activision stil owns infrity Ward d departure of he studio heads. a says that ıt intends to continue making Cal of Duty es regardless of the power these мо important fures may hold. Action says а пен Treyarch developed Cal of Очу game due this fal, and Sledgehammer Games - Ihe пен studio h ad Space ceator What's Next For Glen Schofeld в handing another CoO le n West and Zampella? 2011. However, given that the lawsuit assets r

that "the defendant ctvsion] may not com: merca release another Modem Warfare game (or Ca of Duty game cet in the post Vietnam а, near future, or distant future) wihout the Утеп consent of West and Zampala. it wil be tereti 10 so it Activision's pans are hated Unt тайыз are resolved. WI Activision's tiles take place in Vietnam or caer ав rumored, and аР therefore not fal under West andZampelas cient jursdction? Or wil Actvison present documents m that show that the pair was out of ine? The frst incu shots have been fred 1

8 2

and the pair has just on with Holi

re that happens. CAA i

2001 2008 November 10, 2009 February 2010 g dl wie О March 1, 2010 чиш An

connect 19

Male Hero (rabie 1)

He may not have had many lines, but North produced the grunts and growls for your farting, peasant-kiling, finge-lipping hero in Fable I

Jason Fleming (shadow Complex) You might remember Shadow Complex as the. game starring that guy who looks and sounds.

like a poor man's Nathan Drake, but Chair Entertainment's Metroid-inspired 20 platformer was so entertaining we didn't care what he sound- ед like. North could act like a despondent 6-year- old for all we care, we Just want a sequel

War Machine (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 & Marvel Super Hero Squad)

North voiced Ghost Rider and Hawkeye in the fist Marvel Ultimate Aliance, but he. must have done a better job with War Machine in MUA 2, because THO had North voice Rhodey again in last year's Marvel Super Hero Squad.

The many faces of Nolan North

Will Grey рак void) North assumed the role of yet another everyman in Airtight Games’ airbome shooter. Video | game casting directors must have a cheat sheet that reads, “if your hero has a square jaw and acts a bike Han Solo, Nolan North is your man."

Sergeant John Forge (ao Wars) No stranger to the Haloverse, North recorded sev- eral Ines of dialogue for miscellaneous marines in Halo 3, and then voiced the sniper Romeo in last year's Halo 3: ODST. However, North's biggest Halo role came in Halo Wars, where he sucker punched а Covenant Elite as Sergeant John Forge.

Nathan Drake (uncharted: Drake's Fortune & Uncharted 2: Among Thieves] This is easily North's most recognizable role. North might get alot of crap for playing the same role over and over again, but he's part of the reason the ladies have a crush on Nathan Drake,

/ Elliot Salem (amy of two: Te 40th Day) / Earlier this year North lent his voice to EA to take over the role of the short knucklehead with a stupid mask. Or was he the tall knuck- lehead with a stupid mask? We can't even tell those two idiots арап.

Raphael mum North has also done a fair share of voice work for animation, He's played both Cyclops and Deadpool in Marvel's animated videos, but in 2007 North stared as the angry turtle in the TMNT feature fim and its associated video game. Few video game voice actors are as prolific as Nolan North. Over the course of the last decade, North has voiced protein-fueled war grunts, ancient Greek gods, and clean-cut every- man heroes alike. It’s getting to the point that you could almost play Seven Degrees of Nolan North (if you were familiar with any other video game actor, that is). Chances are that you don’t even realize how pervasive Mr. North has become. ‘Take a moment to look at the many faces of Nolan North. n Reev

The Prince (Prince ot Persia) Having voiced minor characters оп Final Fantasy ХІ and God of War, North was already familiar with fantasy settings, but in 2008 Ubisoft upgraded him to royalty when North became the Prince of Impossible Parkour

Мами а en pti нај and Terrible Fashion.

Altair and Ezio steal much of the spotlight, but present-day Desmond ties the series together We expect the North-voiced Desmond to have ап even bigger role in the trlogy’s closing arc

We're Not Done

Think youve heard

Nolan Nort si vocals in another game? Thats probably tre, since the actor performs in more than a dozen games a year He's ‘ot aways the main hero, howeiet Sometimes hes

just a shopkeeper or a ran- (dom solder Here's a select ist ot other games in which North has appeared.

50 Cent: Bulletproof

Ape Escape 3

Aral

‘Armored Cove 4 Banp-Tooke

Call of Duty 2

Call of Duy. World at War Cars

The Cat in the Hat

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

Destroy Al Humans! Big ity Unleashed Destroy Al Humans! Patho the ug Dragon де: Origins Endwar

EverQuest

Final Fantasy XI. Goars of War 2

God of War

an

атов

Lost Odyssey

Lost Planet: Extreme. Condition

MadWorid

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns ofthe Patriots

Prototype Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Red Faction Guerra Saints Row

The Saboteur

Spec Ops: The Une. ‘Spongebob’ Alanis Squarepants,

SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! Supreme Commander 2 Watchmen: The End в Nigh White Knight Chronicles X-Men Origins: Wolverine

connect 21

that’s the great thing about voiceover, I get to play hundreds of

characters.”

22 connect

‘This Conne

How did you get into this business in the first placo?

Acting in general was Kind of a process of om ration. [ve done so many things, and | realy found my passion in acting. Ive done televi

sion and so mary other things, but I've aways messed around with voices and impersonations of celebrities. I've always had an ear for diferent olects and languages, and some of my fends were Ike, “Hey, you should do voiceover” One ofthe frst games | did through my agency was Maximo vs. The Army of Zin. | remember going in there and having a bel

Were you trying to pursue a different career before voice acting?

No, acting is acting to me. I was in New York doing theater and stand-up comedy, beleve it or nat, and I decided to come out to Сайотіа, My fist job was in the soap opera Port Charles, which was a spin-off of Genera! Hospital, It was опе of those things, you know, you're painting houses during the day and bartending at night, and "bang," | got lucky ear

How many video games do you think. you've been in so far?

T don't even know. I know that on IMDB. com some of them are missing. Honestly, I can't

even estimate. Probably over a hundred games. But thats the great thing about voiceover, |

get to play hundreds of characters. Hundreds! Sometimes its zombies, sometimes i's mon sters, sometimes its ал animal, and sometimes its the good guy. Im the kind of quy who doesn't want to play the same character my whole Career. | don't think any actor would realy Ike to. I'm basicaly a professional schizophrenic

What has been your favorite role? | would have to say Nathan Drake, because it's so involved. l'm in produc-

tion with Naughty Dog for

more than a year. Most of

the time you go in and record

something for fve or six ses-

sions, but that's just in the studio

doing voice, Uncharted is a

whole performance capture, We

become Ike a famiy, and Drake

is the most me of any charac-

ter Ive played. They told me,

“You're not playing Nathan Drake. You're playing Nolan, in his person- айу, as though his name were Nathan Drake.” Its the closest thing to me. He even walks and runs Ike me,

North Star:

An Interview with Nolan North

s a strange world we live in when a steamy soap star goes on to become one of the popular video game it native did voice work for games as obscure a

ingers: Super Legends before becoming Uncharted's Nathan Drake. N minutes out of hi h

ction heroe

busy recording s

Do you ever play the gamos you're in? 1 have, but not because Tm int. Uncharted is litle tough for me, because Nathan Drake ‘doesn't always make it through to the end, and it а tle disconcerting to throw yourself off

а сїй. Also I'm usualy looking at the scenery, When we record we're working off a script and ina mo-cap studo, so when | play the game Im locking to see how they put it all together, | do play games though. I wasn't п Modern Warfare, but | loved that game. Iam a fan of gaming, but with two young kids and a career | don't get to play as much.

you ever fear that the industry might. get Nolan North burnout?

You know 45 interesting, because before Uncharted 2 came out, no one noticed tat | was already doing dozens of games, but then they were Ike, "Nolan North is everywhere. I've heard some people say, "here's going to be a backlash, because he keeps doing the same thing” But | can't help how I'm directed. There have been a few roles where | talked fo them and have said, "his realy shouldn't sound tke this, Can we do something a tl diferent? Give him an accent or something?" But they sald, “No, don't worry about the voice" I'm not going to le to you, it concerned me for a whe, but those things were all recorded before Uncharted 2 came out and became such a huge hit. It was just a timing thing, because Uncharted 2, ‘Assassin's Creed 1, Dark Void, and Shadow. ‘Complex а! came out relatively around the same time, 1 dont think that wil happen again.

of all time, but such is the story of Nolan North.

The Cat and the Hi

le to talk with us about his ri

In the past, a lot of actors used fake names while recording video game dialogue. Was video game voice acting ever seen as inferior to other types of voice acting, cartoon or commerci

for example?

Wel honesty | don't think anyone ever used a pseudonym because video game acting wasnt соо, Video game acting was always non-union. andi an actor who was part of SAG or AFTRA, d a non-union job they could get fined or Kicked ол of the union, I never worked under the non-union stuff, s0 | don't realy know that word, but for the longest time developers didn't want to pay all the fees associated with union workers. But, you know, I worked on soap operas, and a lot of people feel that there Б a sigma associ- ated with those, and I always thought that was йу, because i you are working in this industry then God bless you, because it can be hard. I don’ think there is а stigma with video game acting, especialy now, because there are more big name people doing this than ever before. Some of them aren't even getting that big of a salary; they re just doing it because its а cool thing to do,

What is the weirdest thing you've been asked to do or say while recording? The frst time I was asked to sound Ike I was drowning | thought I'd ge a litle method with It, and | got some water and tied to gurgle, but Ii the gag reflex and almost threw up in the booth, It doesn't realy get too weird, but weird is relative. I might get asked to "make a sound Ike an undead zombie who's been chain-sawed from the top of his neck diagonally down to his hip.” Okay? Thats a Ite more information than 1 need, but ГЇ work with A. | can't repeat some ofthe ines | said n Saints Row, because It was some of the ев! stuf Рио ever read.”

What is the one role you'd like to do, but haven't? I'm always just looking for a compeling charac- ter, can’t realy think of any one thing | haven't done. Га ike to do some more cartoony stuf, In Ratchet and Clank, got to do Sigmund the itle robot, and he's a great character and | got 1o do a fun voice. A lot of my stuff, for whatever reason, has been the hero everyman who's in. trouble and going to work his way through it, but bes айе confused, People don't know that 1 Фо really cartoony things. Ive made the majority of ту money just doing my ‘wn voice, but ѓа Tke то do more of that Mel Blanc kind of outrageous cartoony work,