Why do sports franchises use pro commentators instead of voice actors?

[leburn98]

With the recent NHL 20 beta available now and it's first introduction to a new commentating team, it had me wondering: why do these franchises (including 2K) feel the need to use real sports commentators instead of voice actors? Is this strictly a marketing thing? Is it because it's cheaper or easier?

The interesting thing with NHL 20 is that the new play-by-play guy is not a professional play-by-play guy but rather a sports host. Despite this, I think he does a great job with Ray Ferraro. In previous iterations, Doc (Mike Emrick) did the play-by-play. The main complaint towards Doc was his lack of enthusiasm, which is at odds with his real life broadcasting style. I can't imagine how hard it must be to get a veteran commentator to "fake it" in a recording studio. Surely hiring a voice actor to do the same work would be better for all involved and it would likely give you the access to the actor that you wouldn't get with a pro like Doc.

Also a question for you sports gaming fans, if a big sports franchise were to hire voice actors over professional sports commentators, would it bother you or would you welcome it (assuming of course that it sounds great)?

EDIT: I should add that I am not necessarily saying that a voice actor should voice a 100% fictional person. If a voice actor had a spot on Doc Emrick and could provide the same enthusiasm in the line reads that Doc himself does in a live game, wouldn't that be preferable to having a real Doc sounding bored in the booth?

 

[Gots]

The real commentators add authenticity, would be weird if they hired voice actors.

Edit: On second thought, if they hired an actor to replace Doc Emrick I'd be all for this.

 

[WestEgg]

It's probably easier for real commentators to ad lib realistic banter than it is for a writer to make a script and have VAs follow it. Also, the commentators can be as much a face of the game as the athletes.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Dunno if it's cheaper or not, but it's more realistic.
It's the voices you hear during a real game and if they are good, they know what they are saying

 

[Toumari]

Cannot speak for other sports besides football (soccer), but as they are familiar voices that people recognise it feels more authentic.

 

[Mory Dunz]

Marketing first of all. they're selling the game.

and selling the match experience to the fan base.
Famous names who do the job make the most sense.


for what's worth, FIFAs have always been to me, and probably better than what a voice actor would pull of.

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

Why use real athletes instead of fictional people? Cause the fantasy is in the presentation.

 

[EvilChameleon]

Framing the question as for or against is an odd one. I am absolutely for them using voice actors for the parts. Do I want them to do so? Not really, no.

 

[VariantX]

Its the same reason why sports games use real games and real teams and tv presentation. To mimic the real thing as much as possible. None of these things are required to actually make a GOOD sports game, but a game lacking these things is percieved as a bad one anyway.

 

[jesu]

I'd rather hear the proper commentators.

 

[darkside]

It's to add realism to the game because most licensed games are trying to be simulations to varying degrees. I don't think it's realistic either way to have enough line diversity for commentary to not get stale so I'd rather have the real deal even with that drawback

 

[skeezx]

kinda not my place to say, as i'm not into sports games. but watching a dorm mate playing madden on ps2 with real commentators was a holy shit moment for me

don't know how i feel about it in 2019 but i'd take the "authenticity" over 1:1 emotive VA i'd imagine

 

[linkboy]

That's what NFL 2k5 did and the commentary was so much better then Madden 05's

Dan Stevens and Peter O'keffe were voiced by Terry McGovern and Jay Styne.

Granted, they used the ESPN anchors for the ESPN parts, but those two voice actors did the commentary/play by play for all the games in the series.

 

[leburn98]

It's to add realism to the game because most licensed games are trying to be simulations to varying degrees. I don't think it's realistic either way to have enough line diversity for commentary to not get stale so I'd rather have the real deal even with that drawback

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Regarding commentary becoming stale, I feel the way around this would be to have more than one commentary team. If they had Doc and Eddie, plus James and Ray and possibly a third, it could help freshen things up. The NBA 2K series does a great job with this with regards to it's color commentary. While Kevin Harlan is the PBP guy, there are like 7 color commentators depending on the game. You will never fully remove repetitive dialogue, but you can alleviate it some what by having multiples.

That's what NFL 2k5 did and the commentary was so much better then Madden 05's

Dan Stevens and Peter O'keffe were voiced by Terry McGovern and Jay Styne.

Granted, they used the ESPN anchors for the ESPN parts, but those two voice actors did the commentary/play by play for all the games in the series.

Click to shrink...

Holy crap! I didn't know that.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

With the recent NHL 20 beta available now and it's first introduction to a new commentating team, it had me wondering: why do these franchises (including 2K) feel the need to use real sports commentators instead of voice actors?

Click to shrink...

Because the people into these sports, a.k.a buying these games, are familiar with them. It adds to the atmosphere and to the feel of being there when you have commentators that would talk over the game if it was happening in real life. That's pretty much all I think.

 

[Big-E]

Such an odd question. These games sell themselves as the authentic league experience. You need to have the commentators for that feel. It is why rosters and arenas are so important as well.

 

[Booki]

A basketball game without Doris Burke on commentary is a lesser product.

I'm waiting patiently for the day that we can get Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier in the booth.

"BANG!"
"Dishing and swishing, folks!"

 

[Waxyresidude]

I feel like Tim Kitzrow should say something here. I am all for authenticity. But, if you told me Tim was replacing the commentary for any sports game series, I'm more inclined to pay attention.

 

[AntiMacro]

Nobody wants to spend hours teaching voice actors how to pronounce names like Reijo Ruotsalainen, Sergei Krivokrasov, Gene Achtymichuk, Mathias Tjarnqvist or Jaroslav Svejkovsky.

That said...I think they need to do a better job directing the talent when they bring in real commentary teams. They're not used to doing lines over and over, and they need to find a way to make it make sense to them.

 

[TheRulingRing]

You wouldn't use actors for the players so why commentators?

Part of sports games is feeling like you're in the game, and using familiar commentators rather than some budget ripoff is part of that feeling.

 

[leburn98]

Nobody wants to spend hours teaching voice actors how to pronounce names like Reijo Ruotsalainen, Sergei Krivokrasov, Gene Achtymichuk, Mathias Tjarnqvist or Jaroslav Svejkovsky.

That said...I think they need to do a better job directing the talent when they bring in real commentary teams. They're not used to doing lines over and over, and they need to find a way to make it make sense to them.

Click to shrink...

Pronunciation is a good one. I never considered that.

As for directing the talent, I agree. I think that's why I brought up voice actors in the first place. Voice actors are used to repeating lines over and over, commentary teams are not. I also feel that most voice actors understand how their voices will be used in the context of a game, how multiple line reads can be stitched together, etc. Also, I find that certain PBP voices work better in this environment. Jim Hughson for example already has a slightly monotone, robotic voice. He only really emotes during a big save, goal or perhaps a big hit. Gary Thorne had a similar style. In my opinion Doc's style doesn't work in the context of video game hockey because the game is just too fast.

I think the sport has something to do with it too. Soccer (football) is a relatively slow sport, so a long line read has a better chance of completing in the context of a game. It's why FIFA's commentary sounds natural and realistic. NBA 2K is similar. Not every basket needs to have the same emotion behind it as a monster dunk. I would assume that the easiest sport to commentate over in video game form is baseball. There are plenty of stoppages in the game of baseball and at bats to stitch together commentary. Hockey in contrast is just too fast a game. You can literally go from middle of the ice to back of the net in under 10 seconds.

 

[SMD]

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[ThisIsBlitz21]

Wait, they actually replaced Doc Emrick? Thank god, it was really getting stale. Never really liked his commentary in the games. I even like the ones from last gen better.

 

[XaviConcept]

This is what "its in the game" really is all about. Real licenses, gameplay that feels real and commentary that can make you feel like you are really in an NFL game if a professional commentator you recognize is calling YOUR plays, YOUR actions.

Yes, having Nathan Drake call goals in FIFA would be fun, but thats not the product being sold.

 

[leburn98]

You wouldn't use actors for the players so why commentators?

Part of sports games is feeling like you're in the game, and using familiar commentators rather than some budget ripoff is part of that feeling.

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A player's likeness is a visual thing though with a few exceptions like NBA 2K that use real post-game audio from certain players and coaches. I am also not oppose to the idea of having voice actors voicing players if that's what it takes to add variety to the dialogue. I would also think that the majority playing NBA 2K for example, would gloss over the fact that a digital Lebron James was voiced by a voice actor doing a good Lebron impression.

Also, there are plenty of games (both good and bad) who had a actor's likeness but not their voice. There are also games like Kingdom Hearts III who have used voice actors to replace the originals. I thought whomever replaced John Goodman and Billy Crystal for the Monsters Inc. world did spot impressions of each actor.

 

[Malcolm9]

Because how do you improve on Peter Drury

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This is amazing but his commentary in PES gets a bit annoying as they've given him a limited script to work with.

FIFA is the same, it gets very sterile after a while even with the big name commentators.

 

[SMD]

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[Timppis]

One of the things sports games thrive for is authenticity. Not just the simulation of the game but the overall presentation. Most people who play sports games watch sports. They are most often fans of the sport. They know the commentators, visuals, etc. These are all things that are meant to achieve immersion. Players are part of the global sports broadcast, part of the community that they have been passive spectators of sometimes, then active players within.

It's more than just a marketing. It's important part of the franchise.