Max's Voice Actor?

[Hunam]

Sorry if its been asked, (had a quick scan incase it cropped up from the gametap release) but has the VA of Max changed for Situation: Comedy? Seems a little odd to me if it is the case.

Preferred the one from Culture Shock really. Thats kinda strange though, its odd having to get used to new VA's all the time, drove me mad in Xenosaga!!

[Bas]

I just ALT+TABbed out of S:C to check this board for the same thing. I know there was lots of whining and complaining when the first teaser and videos appeared, but I preferred that voice actor too.

Edit: I have to say that his delivery on the answering machine messages is hilarious, and spot on. Maybe he could just use a bit more of a New Yorkish accent.

[numble]

Just to help you guys out:

Originally Posted by Jake

Here's the story...

Andrew Chaikin won't be playing Max in episodes 2 or 3. This isn't because we weren't pleased with his performance (we loved it), nor was it for any financial or scheduling reason. Andrew had to pull out of his recording for Max, and all of his other acting gigs at the time, for personal, medical reasons.

We don't know a whole lot about the situation, and what we do know is personal so I won't be writing about it here, but Andrew was unable to record for said health reasons, so we waited, and pushed the voice recording deadline out as far as possible in hopes that he'd be better. Unfortunately that didn't happen. It got close enough to our internal release date for the game that we eventually had to arrive at the difficult decision to re-cast Max for the time-being, if not permanently. It sucks, and we wish Andrew the best in his recovery! He was great as Max in Culture Shock, and he's also of course the voice of Phoney Bone. Sadly, reality meant that we couldn't wait on the games forever; we had to move on with production.

Fortunately, the guy we got is awesome! His deliveries are spot on - his performances make the jokes come off as, you know, funny, instead of mundanely stomping them into the ground as is the case with so many "funny" video game voice performances. He even sounds quite a lot like Andrew, and as an extension, a lot like Max! The only people who noticed the new voice in our Episode 2 focus tests were people we actually told about the change. These are good signs. We miss Andrew, because he's excellent, but we're really really happy with where the voices are at right now.


Basically, it's my hope at this point that you guys trust our judgement on voice casting. There were huge waves of online hate about the voices sloshing back and forth in these forums before Culture Shock was released, but the overwhelming majority of players had nothing but praise for our choice of actors once they actually got their hands on the game. The consensus here at Telltale is that the voice performances in Situation Comedy and in Episode 3 are well above the high water mark set by Culture Shock, and we're sure players will agree once they get a chance to play it for themselves.

[Bas]

Oh hey, thanks for the info. That's sad to hear for Andrew Chaikin. I hope he'll recover soon.

And yeah, I'm already getting used to the voice. I guess it was just that the 'repeated' lines from culture shock were re-recorded, which gave away that it was a different guy, because they're delivered a bit differently.

That's going to be tough to get used to, if Andrew comes back for episode 4.

[Hunam]

The performance was good, but there were a few occasions where max got a little strange, some weird accenting in there and vocally doesn't seem as high pitched.

Heh, Telltale never seem to get a break from us guys about voices :P

/doesn't help that i'm an audio tech student and obsessed with language and accents

EDIT: Final note to any TTG staff, pass my best wishes to Andrew Chaikin in wish a speedy recovery.

[Behonkiss]

I agree that Max's new voice is fine, but I hope Mr. Chaikin gets well. He really nailed Phoney.

[Mack Daddy]

He did Phoney Bone? I didn't know that. Great job! -sniff- Who will be Phoney in part '3' ???

[Evil Penguin]

I noticed this too. Gotta say I loved the "first Max"... But this'll be fine too, I guess.

[yamman]

That's terrible news. Hope he gets better.

The new guy is good, but Andrew's just had that extra special something.

My favorite line of his was this:

Sam: "What happened to the rest of the noose collection, Max?"
MAX: "IT'S A SURPRISE!"



Also, have I noticed a slight change in Sam as well, or am I going crazy? Sounds like it's either:
a) It's another actor (don't think so), or
b) It's different takes of the same lines of dialogue, to better match up with the new Max

?

[tabacco]

Nope, Sam is still David Nowlin

[xendria]

Heck, I didn't even notice that Max's voice changed! I'd say Telltale did a good job with the replacement actor.

[Codmate]

I noticed a difference - but got used to the new actor quickly. Best wishes to Andrew to get better soon though!

[Bruno83]

I also didn't notice that at all.
Did the guy also do the lines of dialoges that styed the same in the office?

[elsenator]

Originally Posted by yamman

Sam: "What happened to the rest of the noose collection, Max?"
MAX: "IT'S A SURPRISE!"

When i clicked the noose collection for my favorite Max comment, i was a bit let down by how the new voice actor delivers it by saying "It's a surprise...". Max should be energetic ALL the time, just as Andrew did it. That said, i think the new voice actor for Max does an overall superb job. It's only the noose collection bit i found a bit un-maxed.

Get well Andrew...

[Astro Gnocci]

yeah, the new actor does a good job, but i found max sounded soùmetimes too... Serious...
I was kinda shocked during the dialogue with hugh bliss, for instance, where max seems interested and more or less gives up the jokes... but that's also due to the writing, and that's not much of a problem though ^^

[Bas]

"Sam? It's me. Open the window, I'm trapped on the ledge again!"

[elsenator]

Originally Posted by Bas

"Sam? It's me. Open the window, I'm trapped on the ledge again!"

Haha, yeah, i love that one!

[tabacco]

Did you keep trying the answering machine after that line?

[dunkpork]

I didn't even notice. I noticed some changes in the voice, but I didn't figure it was a new actor.

[Galbrush Sheepgood]

I prefer Max's new VA. He has a similar energy, while putting a slight fitting HtR spin on the character. Max's lisp is back, and he sounds more sly and subtle with an endearing "nyah" tone to his voice. I agree it would be great if the New York accent made a solid comeback, but I'm satisfied now as is.

Sam's VA has also become more well-rounded and emotive in ep 2. I find myself enjoying the re-recorded (and arguably improved) lines from Culture Shock. Both VA's are nailing the sort of inflections I had in my mind when hearing certain conversations the first time.

Of course, big props to Andrew Chaikin for setting the energetic standard for the new Max VA to follow. All the best for a speedy recovery.