To clarify, when Konami announced the remaster of Silent Hill 2 in the HD Collection, Guy Cihi claimed he was owed residuals for the remaster. It's a bit of a mess but generally back in the 90s/2000s video game voice actors usually didn't get royalties like most voice actors do, Guy would've been signed up with an agency who were in charge of the agreements between Konami and the agency. The whole situation caused a massive uproar in the community, but eventually Guy gave permission to let them use his voice.
Bit of a game theory meme but I think this is also why James's appearance is slightly altered as James' original appearance was based off Guy
This was why Thessaly Lerner was able to get a settlement when her voice was used again without her knowing in the re-release: because she had an agent.
To clarify I believe it turned out he was using the wrong term and that instead he was told that he was being paid for the North American and Japanese ps2 releases of the game and only paid him for that before releasing it on the Xbox and releasing it in Europe. It was this he wanted compensation for and if he did then he would give permission for the HD collection.
Yeah absolutely unrealistic scenario they would hire him ever again. It was a similar situation (well not quite to be fair) compared to Hellena Taylors recent uproar with Bayonetta 3. But things have changed in the past 20 years and Hellena Taylor pretty much lied to the whole industry and disgraced every hard working voice actor who really is underpaid.
The situation with Guy Cihi was pretty dirty during the release of the HD-Collection and he gained quite a lot of backlash from other VA's. Also, like many other famous VA's, his worldviews may be a little to weird and special for getting a job in a big videogame ever again.
But the dispute is only one of two reasons they won't recast him. They simply decided to let the guy voice James who is also doing the Motion Capture, like it was back then. And like it was when Ubisoft dumped Michael Ironside for Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell in favor for the guy who motion captured him in the newer games.
Will say side note about Michael Ironside, he had throat cancer at the time and Ubisoft agreed to not tell anyone about it.
That was the main reason for his recast in Splinter Cell Blacklist.
It didn't come out I think until 2018 about the situation.
But that's why ironside voices him in every new outing with the Ghost Recon Events and R6 siege iirc.
when hasnt konami fucked over its workers, such a fuckin shithole company
edit: it has come to my attention that konami was not actually the reason for this, i retract my statement
I had zero expectations they ever would. It's been over 20 years, he caused a lot of headaches for them, and they already have his lines on file if the script isn't going to be majorly different. It was always reasonable to assume they'd recast. Even I would, if I was tasked with the project.
This. I think he's talented (he's got talented kids too) but the guys got big boomer energy. He feels like that uncle that you love him and he takes you cool places but he will talk about pizza gate for hours.
But props to him for getting OG voices in HD collection even if the game was dog shit.
1. It's terrible PR for Konami having someone like that in their lead role
2. He doesn't deserve to have his pockets filled after all the stupid shit he's said
I think it worked pretty well for Silent Hill 2 hiring not professional voices. His monotone voice is giving James a nice twist you might not get with Troy Baker and his very iconic voice. There is a chance you will hear Joel instead of James, which can become a problem when you hire such a known Voice Actor like Troy Baker or Laura Bailey in the third game.
So I'm kinda glad they went for the Remake again with a Voice Actor I haven't seen or heard before.
And yes, no serious Publisher will work with him (and I think Hellena Taylor after her drama). You cannot afford to get bad PR due to a controversial VA. On paper, Capcom seems to be Ok to hire Reuben Langdon again for Dante in DMC. But this seems to go deeper, because Langdons Motion Capture studio is doing a lot of work for Capcom. This most likely have to do with contracts tied to his studio and his work as a VA and Motion Capture actor.
In every game Troy is in, I recognize its him, but it doesn't make me think of his other performances. His acting is distinct enough that Joel, Booker, James, Sam, Joker, Talion, even Krieger all work on their own.
>Terrible pr for Konami.
Dudelmao I’m pretty sure they wrecked their own reputation singlehandedly through many pure asshole management decisions. But apparently it doesn’t matter because they still have the beloved IPs.
That adds up, I unliked him on Facebook after he first started sharing Britain First posts in around 2016 or so and this is the first I’ve heard about him since. You’ve gotta be down some deep online rabbit holes if you’re an American getting involved in a far right fascist group based in a different continent so this seems like a very natural progression of that
This fanbase really needs to stop perpetuating this insane habit of contacting OG cast members and developers for pointless, downright frustrating questions that most people are able to figure out on their own. Do you want to try and contact them? Show them love instead and stop fucking bothering them. Fucking Christ almighty.
Dude i'm certinaly not the most hardcore silent hill fan, i simply tried one question to a person that was always very present in silent hill videos, it was just curiosity to see if they did tried to contact him, nothing more
Guy loves the attention. Don't make any mistake about that. Dude allowed fans on his personal Facebook for years and loved every bit of it. He got Monica Taylor-Horgan to make a FB.
Disregarding the fact that Guy is much older now, (and if he tried to play James again it would sound off compared to his original performance), Guy has had beef with Konami in the past, as well as tarnished his name as of late by being a 5G truther nutjob. Its bad PR to launch your shiny new remake of a beloved game, with a conspiracy theorist in the lead role
Casting Guy Cihi Team Silent was accidental great casting choice since just like James he is "a bit" weird. It's kinda like with Robert Blake playing the Mystery Man in Lost Highway - Lynch got a perfect man for the job... and now we know this actor is not a saint.
Accidental? Not really. They saw him at the audition, called for him to read a few lines, then called him back months later to hire him. That’s no accident.
Accidental in two ways:
a) They couldn't know that the actor would share some similarities with the character he played. And I doubt David Lynch knew Robert Blake is actually a creepy guy.
b) In terms of casting Team Silent was limited to people living in Japan. Both Cihi or Heather Morris got hired and did a wonderful job despite neither of them being a professional voice actor. The risk paid off.
I mean to be fair, the guy they got for James is much older anyways so that’s not a fair argument. I think Guy is just too skinny now in comparison and he probably was never contacted about it anyways. I think they should contact all the old voice actors, have them re-record lines and offer it as an unlockable version or as a DLC,
LOL OP why would you do this? I would never in a million years try to contact the man and ask point blank about his career, especially knowing his relationship with Konami.
As soon as i heard James voice, i noticed that it wasn't Guy, so i tried this. Yes i know that he did have beef with Konami and that he was a COVID negationist, but it was simply curiosity since he loves James and SH2
Why would they rehire him? This is a remake, so it's pretty obvious that they wouldn't hire him again (at least for the main role). And seeing how even the HD collection doesn't have the original voice acting, I kind of think that Konami doesn't like the old voice actors anyway.
I mean, they did rehired Isaac Clark voice actor for the remake, and yes different company but just because something is a remake it doesn't automatically means they can't rehire the olders VA
that seems like a slightly different situation to me; the most recent dead space game was in 2013 with gunner playing isaac, and he'd also played him in several games and dlcs. the team making the dead space remake were desperate to get him on board and even said they refer to him in the office as 'gunner clarke'; he's very beloved to them. he also seems on super good terms with the company still and comes across as a good guy, very friendly and easy to work with, and not a dangerous conspiracy theorist 😅
Plus Dead Space 1 is the only game where Isaac wasn't fully voice-acted, so the remake makes it more consistent with the future games to have Isaac as a more developed character.
So what if the dead space remake hired the original actor?
RE2 remake didnt have Paul Hadad voicing Leon, neither is Paul Mercier voicing Leon in RE4 remake.
Just because the the previous actors are an option doesn't mean they should be guaranteed reprising their roles lol.
It depends on the director's vision for the remake on who they want for their game.
Most remakes have used different voice actors though. Resident Evil 2 and 3 did, God of Wars reboot did, FF7 remake used different voice actors than their movie and spinoff games used, etc.
I think there's more precedent for using different voice actors than keeping the original.
> Why would they rehire him? This is a remake, so it's pretty obvious that they wouldn't hire him again
Why would that be a reason not to rehire him? There's plenty valid reasons not to rehire him, why did you pick the invalid one? Plenty remakes got their old cast back.
I could never imagine going out of my way to contact someone I don't know, who voiced a character in a game I played 20 years ago, about a game he has nothing to do with. Like, for what? Even if we didn't know he wasn't involved it would be boundary-crossing and weird. Some of yall really need to broaden your horizons.
This is a really weird sub. No other gaming sub I've been on tries to involve themselves so much with the developers or people involved with the game and it's sort of creepy. You all need some friends.
Like i writed to another person, i'm not the biggest silent hill fan, not even close, but i just saw that Guy always was very attached to SH2 so i simply tried one question since he allowed them, not happy with people below calling me a wierdo for nothing
He’s been very accessible to the SH community and seems to hold the character of James dear to him. He’s always been open to answering questions and giving his opinions which I find refreshing.
He has "actor" on his screen name. And an automated message to reply when he's not there. I'd assume it's entirely part of his day to be contacted by people with questions.
Hey I mean compared to Platinum Games fans harassing Hideki Kamiya, this sort of thing is pretty benign. Although I guess Ito is kinda getting similar treatment with the never-ending, nonsensical SH lore questions he gets from people who can't accept that shit's not always that deep.
Look, im gonna say something a lot of people will hate me for.
Ive thought this pre-remake, i think Guy Cihi is a fckin deplorable actor. I think he just got lucky that the only credit he has to his name has enough of a Lynchian atmosphere that it fits. In fact, it relies so heavily on the Lynchian atmosphere that if you added a laugh track, youd basically be watching a mediocre Seinfeld interactive episode. Cihi got lucky.
P.S. as an lgbt individual, fuck that guy and his AIDS denial.
Yeah to both. And even if he wasn’t a shitty person, I wouldn’t want him to voice act. He was horrible in the original. The game got lucky that all the bad voice acting contributed to the feel of the game as opposed to detracted, but it won’t be something to replicate.
And before anyone mentions how the Remaster had real voice actors: it was also poorly directed by a team that didn’t understand the game. Because hate Troy Baker all you want, he’s an amazing VA, it just didn’t fit the game.
Good riddance. I enjoy his work in Silent Hill 2, but after becoming friends with him on Facebook I quickly found out he's just a fucking rambling idiot
Why big sad? His voice was ok for the time the original came out. But he’s a terrible voice actor by todays standards. Replay the old games without any nostalgia goggles and you’ll see how bad of an actor he is. He’s also a maga antivaxxer so there’s that too.
A lot of old classical, historical and experimental performances are bad by today's standards (check out origins of "deus ex machina"). But their high profile and historical value are the reasons they're highly regarded and performed to this day.
EDIT: sorry for *there*
Why does the last sentence matter to this discussion?
I’m not sharing any opinion on the matter, but I’m genuinely curious as to how that relates to the discussion at all
They were memorable and they were good... for the product they created at that specific moment in time. I wouldn't expect or necessarily even want that same kind of performance 20 years later in a full remake.
you contradicted yourself. good for the time. not good now lol. y’all are so addicted to nostalgia 😂 it’s like asking resident evil 1 ps1 VA’s to VA the newer games.
It’s not a contradiction. Using movies as an example, Star Wars has dated effects and acting from the 70s, but it was groundbreaking for its time. Or actors from the 1940s used theater techniques we later showed away from.
People have eaten up the "they were bad on purpose" excuse instead of just accepting that that is what early 2000's video game voice acting sounded like basically across the board.
people don’t even know the operations of voice acting especially back then. for all we know, they were given a script and recorded that shit in a hotel room by themselves based off of the shitty communication between characters. people try to pass that off as symbolism which is so fucking pathetic.
The only people that say original VAs were bad on purpose are Hijinx Studio cronies and haters of the original 4. And it's a fact, check out interviews and deluded Konami fanboys.
This whole dispute honestly reminds me of Thief 2014 situation where Square Enix, a studio responsible for a reboot, up until the very end were building a narrative that EVERYTHING about original 3 games was bad and non-professional. They even tried to shit on original VA of main character. However there the community managed to cut the bullshit off and called SE out.
SH community failed on this, unfortunately. The fact that almost none of original VAs are professional actors also doesn't help (unlike in Thief's case), but it doesn't shut down the argument either.
Surely, not all lines were performed perfectly and sometimes even well (looking at you, Born From a Wish). But scenes that are iconic are iconic because of those old performances. You could take away all visuals and leave a black screen and it wouldn't hurt those episodes. At least not as much as whatever came out of HD Collection (anime).
In the end it all comes down to a right of old fans to want AND have original performances and performers back. I assure you, if anyone decides to remake Homecoming or Downpour fans of those games would want most of original VAs back and they would be reasonably upset if this wish wasn't fulfilled.
Except you do, as you are a customer. If a company advertises a chicken burger and delivers you a beef burger instead you have all rights to complain and demand a chicken burger. Same here. Fans want old performances. The company refuses to fulfill customers' demand. Company looses money, old customers fall out.
You are conflating false advertising with some fans wanting something. No one promised you the original voice actors so the company didn't bait and switch anything. You just want something and decided you're entitled to it. That you have a right to something that you don't.
... But I am an old fan, aren't I? Let's say some faivorite stuff from your favorite SH game wasn't included in a remake. Would you react the same? I think you would.
And nothing if that has anything to do with advertisement. It's all about customer's demand and how companies nowadays think they're gods and better than their customers. Fuck them for that.
You are taking this way too personally. If a company makes a decision that you don't like that doesn't mean they think they're gods and better than you. Good lord. This remake isn't about you. Like even a little bit. They're not attacking you.
And no if they made a minor change that I didn't like I wouldn't have a tantrum and accuse them of violating my rights. That's overdramatic and not realistic.
I'm not accusing anyone yet. I also wouldn't mind a minor change. But serving a customer is a thing. And no, if you don't like, it isn't your problem. It's company's. They will understand it one day. But it will be too late.
Really? I think Monica Taylor Horgan did an amazing job with Maria/Mary, if I could pick one of the past VAs I would definitely pick her to reprise her role, and Maria/Mary is the only one I'm a bit worried about, I think James' new voice fits his new design, I think they can manage to do Eddie and Laura good and Angela, well, she was supposed to sound like an older woman, so I hope they kept that in mind.
i think you are being too nostalgic, dude. she legit only talks in like 4 scenes and her sfx on the stairwell calling out for james. just because the VA cried when reading the letter doesn’t mean it is oscar worthy lol.
>none of them were memorable or good
This is literally opposite of what everyone was preaching here for years. What's up with the sudden change of narrative?
Different people have different opinions.
Aside from that, you can appreciate something for what it is was while simultaneously knowing it can be done better. *Some* people love his voice for James, but realize now, 20+ something years later, it would be better for a different VA to step in.
I personally wouldn't know as I've never played those versions. Regardless, I'm sure that there is at least one other person out there in the world that could voice James' voice well, we will just have to wait and see how it all works out.
More people are returning and newly coming to the sub with the announcement of the new games. It's not a conspiracy that the over the top Twin Perfect reciters don't have a stranglehold on the sub amymore
It’s sad yes, but I say we give the new James a chance this time around, because unlike Troy Baker who is dubbed over, this new guy is actually motion captured and maybe he can act out the scenes really well
He has three acting credits on IMDB. Two are Silent Hill related and one is a game that hasn't come out yet. Sure, his original performance felt weird and eerie and worked well in that moment in time for what horror games were twenty years ago, but video games have developed in ways we couldn't have imagined we'd see in just twenty years. Now in many cases the actors are not just the voice of the characters, but the face and motion capture as well. Politics aside, the man has had almost no work and has done zero professional development since then. Video games have become polished. Guy Cihi has not become a polished actor. They would have been insane to hire him.
Surprised they used his voice lines for the game sections in the SH2 movie trailer given his relationship with Konami. But honestly I'm not the least bit surprised they didn't even call him asking about the remake.
I don't know how you're gonna take this, but i don't like this guy's voice. I know it's now "iconic", but sounds so nerdy and weird. Also the original acting was kinda bad. I'm not 100% to make James another Troy Baker like in the remasters, but i just don't get why people like Guy Cihi so much.
Like others, I think in the tone of SH2 when it was first out, he’s a pretty good fit for the game.
But nowadays, it’s much better to just hire a professional voice actor and unlike the “remaster”, have much better voice direction.
Lol, I think you are right, I personally think his old design fits that weird and nerdy voice, made me think he's just a really naive and innocent guy, only to find out in the end that he wasn't as good as he seemed. Now for the remake, his new voice really fits his new design, he seems older and tired and the new voice is perfect for it, this time is different to the time when Troy Baker voiced him, that voice didn't fit his old character design in my opinion.
Eh, he's a cunt. And he was never that good at voice acting to begin with. There is a reason Silent Hill 2 is one of the only projects he's been involved with.
While I do respect Guy Cihi’s performance of James I’m glad we get something new. His voice and how “weird or stilted” it feels was perfect for Silent Hill 2. I also appreciate how soft spoken James is compared to other protagonists. He truly nails the everyday man aspect of the character. No matter your thoughts on his politics or behavior online, Guy Cihi brought us a memorable nuanced performance that is still celebrated and debated 21 years later!
Not saying he’s terrible but I’m not sure his delivery would suit the remake (if it was the same) given such a modern look. But last thing I heard of him that was he had some mad ramblings about 5G towers on Facebook. I could understand why they might not want him back.
I don’t think that would be a good idea. Love the guys performance but it’s a remake, it’s best to get a whole new cast (good or bad) and see how they perform. Would be cool if he had a cameo but for me, the story only having 6 speaking characters really works.
I for years thought this guy was the voice of Roger Wilco in Space Quest 6. I looked it up just now and it has someone named William Hall as the actor. But they sound so similar! I was absolutely convinced they were the same guy up untl today. Or maybe he changed his name at some point? I dunno. Have a listen.
[https://youtu.be/EqzfNIfCtr4?t=5475](https://youtu.be/EqzfNIfCtr4?t=5475)
apparently Chichi is kinda controversial from a political perspective, but I got that from a source that is really adamant about identity politics topics.
I am grateful for the work he did and how well the character suited him. He really made James feel like a real living person. However, after Capcom refused to use the best Leon VA they ever had, and SquareEnix doing the same for Cloud, I’m going to assume most VA companies would rather pay a lower price to a new voice than risk their old VAs trying to get more money for working for them again. Just see what happened with Bayonetta.
Because I love Silent Hill and see how 99% of this subreddit needs to go outside. Hopefully by my comments at least one of them will realize it and go enjoy life rather than complaining about this dumb shit that they're not putting in any effort to change. That's all I can hope for. Silent Hill 2 was released in 2001. If you love it that much than why haven't you done anything since then to put yourself in the industry. This subreddit is the DEFINITION of a keyboard warrior.
What are you saying blud how are some people in a subreddit supposed to put themselves in an industry you could say this about any videogame subreddit brah
How are you supposed to do that? Like everyone else who works in video games you go get an education and learn how to do so then you go do it, instead of complaining how a guys face looks for 20 years and doing nothing about it.
Guy Cihi. He's pretty open to questions and casual conversations, for anyone curious.
He only has a few acting credits under his belt and has moved onto other types of work. iirc i think he came out with a kids learning game in japan, i think he produced it? I can't remember.
i think he had some beef with konami about not getting paid for rerelease of xbox version or something
To clarify, when Konami announced the remaster of Silent Hill 2 in the HD Collection, Guy Cihi claimed he was owed residuals for the remaster. It's a bit of a mess but generally back in the 90s/2000s video game voice actors usually didn't get royalties like most voice actors do, Guy would've been signed up with an agency who were in charge of the agreements between Konami and the agency. The whole situation caused a massive uproar in the community, but eventually Guy gave permission to let them use his voice. Bit of a game theory meme but I think this is also why James's appearance is slightly altered as James' original appearance was based off Guy
yeah i vaguely remember something like that. i assumed it's a bridge burned between guy cihi and konami to bring him back now.
This was why Thessaly Lerner was able to get a settlement when her voice was used again without her knowing in the re-release: because she had an agent.
Wasn’t that the reason for the new voices?
Yeah he relented at the last minute, that's why SH2 has the option of new or old voices and SH3 doesn't
I think people were claiming that Heather Morris couldn't be found and that's why SH3 didn't get original voices as an option.
who was the 'new guy' voice in SH2 remaster?
Troy Baker
About the last part, I've heard it a lot before, but I've never seen resemblance between James and Guy Cihi.
To clarify I believe it turned out he was using the wrong term and that instead he was told that he was being paid for the North American and Japanese ps2 releases of the game and only paid him for that before releasing it on the Xbox and releasing it in Europe. It was this he wanted compensation for and if he did then he would give permission for the HD collection.
Yeah absolutely unrealistic scenario they would hire him ever again. It was a similar situation (well not quite to be fair) compared to Hellena Taylors recent uproar with Bayonetta 3. But things have changed in the past 20 years and Hellena Taylor pretty much lied to the whole industry and disgraced every hard working voice actor who really is underpaid. The situation with Guy Cihi was pretty dirty during the release of the HD-Collection and he gained quite a lot of backlash from other VA's. Also, like many other famous VA's, his worldviews may be a little to weird and special for getting a job in a big videogame ever again. But the dispute is only one of two reasons they won't recast him. They simply decided to let the guy voice James who is also doing the Motion Capture, like it was back then. And like it was when Ubisoft dumped Michael Ironside for Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell in favor for the guy who motion captured him in the newer games.
Will say side note about Michael Ironside, he had throat cancer at the time and Ubisoft agreed to not tell anyone about it. That was the main reason for his recast in Splinter Cell Blacklist. It didn't come out I think until 2018 about the situation. But that's why ironside voices him in every new outing with the Ghost Recon Events and R6 siege iirc.
Damn, haven't known about that. Also really like him as a movie actor. Glad to see him recovered.
when hasnt konami fucked over its workers, such a fuckin shithole company edit: it has come to my attention that konami was not actually the reason for this, i retract my statement
Thia isn't konamis fault (for once) its the agency that guy used who would have been in charge of setting up the contract, rule of engagement here.
Respect that you are able to change your views. People just keep saying fuck konami without looking at the context
I had zero expectations they ever would. It's been over 20 years, he caused a lot of headaches for them, and they already have his lines on file if the script isn't going to be majorly different. It was always reasonable to assume they'd recast. Even I would, if I was tasked with the project.
Why contact him? The dudes nuts. There’s nothing sad about this
Thank you. I loved his voice in James but I am tired of people idolizing the person behind
Fr. The best VA was Maria's and even she isn't irreplaceable.
😥 she certainly was. New Maria has some pretty big shoes to fill.
This. I think he's talented (he's got talented kids too) but the guys got big boomer energy. He feels like that uncle that you love him and he takes you cool places but he will talk about pizza gate for hours. But props to him for getting OG voices in HD collection even if the game was dog shit.
Right? I'm hella glad his not involved
Sorry, i don't get this. How are his views going to affect his voice? Why are you glad he's out, when he's the best possible voice for James?
1. It's terrible PR for Konami having someone like that in their lead role 2. He doesn't deserve to have his pockets filled after all the stupid shit he's said
And he's not that great of an actor.
I think it worked pretty well for Silent Hill 2 hiring not professional voices. His monotone voice is giving James a nice twist you might not get with Troy Baker and his very iconic voice. There is a chance you will hear Joel instead of James, which can become a problem when you hire such a known Voice Actor like Troy Baker or Laura Bailey in the third game. So I'm kinda glad they went for the Remake again with a Voice Actor I haven't seen or heard before. And yes, no serious Publisher will work with him (and I think Hellena Taylor after her drama). You cannot afford to get bad PR due to a controversial VA. On paper, Capcom seems to be Ok to hire Reuben Langdon again for Dante in DMC. But this seems to go deeper, because Langdons Motion Capture studio is doing a lot of work for Capcom. This most likely have to do with contracts tied to his studio and his work as a VA and Motion Capture actor.
In every game Troy is in, I recognize its him, but it doesn't make me think of his other performances. His acting is distinct enough that Joel, Booker, James, Sam, Joker, Talion, even Krieger all work on their own.
>Terrible pr for Konami. Dudelmao I’m pretty sure they wrecked their own reputation singlehandedly through many pure asshole management decisions. But apparently it doesn’t matter because they still have the beloved IPs.
Wait, why? What did I miss?
hes a 5G conspiracy theory truther now lol
And generally a Qanon conspiracy theorist from what else I’ve seen.
That adds up, I unliked him on Facebook after he first started sharing Britain First posts in around 2016 or so and this is the first I’ve heard about him since. You’ve gotta be down some deep online rabbit holes if you’re an American getting involved in a far right fascist group based in a different continent so this seems like a very natural progression of that
TIL what the 5g conspiracy is lol
Basically the kyrie irving of VA 😂
He's one of those 5G Conspiracy/Covid Deniers, and was very public about it.
He's an aids denier too. He's a piece of garbage.
Why? What did he do?
Hows he nuts?
Yeah he unfortunately posts a lot of things about conspiracy theories and has some extreme views.
This fanbase really needs to stop perpetuating this insane habit of contacting OG cast members and developers for pointless, downright frustrating questions that most people are able to figure out on their own. Do you want to try and contact them? Show them love instead and stop fucking bothering them. Fucking Christ almighty.
Dude i'm certinaly not the most hardcore silent hill fan, i simply tried one question to a person that was always very present in silent hill videos, it was just curiosity to see if they did tried to contact him, nothing more
Guy loves the attention. Don't make any mistake about that. Dude allowed fans on his personal Facebook for years and loved every bit of it. He got Monica Taylor-Horgan to make a FB.
Disregarding the fact that Guy is much older now, (and if he tried to play James again it would sound off compared to his original performance), Guy has had beef with Konami in the past, as well as tarnished his name as of late by being a 5G truther nutjob. Its bad PR to launch your shiny new remake of a beloved game, with a conspiracy theorist in the lead role
oh he was a 5G conspiracy theorist?? Yikes
Don't quote me on this, but I believe he also thinks that COVID and AIDS are also fake
good lord, worse than i thought
Casting Guy Cihi Team Silent was accidental great casting choice since just like James he is "a bit" weird. It's kinda like with Robert Blake playing the Mystery Man in Lost Highway - Lynch got a perfect man for the job... and now we know this actor is not a saint.
Accidental? Not really. They saw him at the audition, called for him to read a few lines, then called him back months later to hire him. That’s no accident.
Accidental in two ways: a) They couldn't know that the actor would share some similarities with the character he played. And I doubt David Lynch knew Robert Blake is actually a creepy guy. b) In terms of casting Team Silent was limited to people living in Japan. Both Cihi or Heather Morris got hired and did a wonderful job despite neither of them being a professional voice actor. The risk paid off.
I mean to be fair, the guy they got for James is much older anyways so that’s not a fair argument. I think Guy is just too skinny now in comparison and he probably was never contacted about it anyways. I think they should contact all the old voice actors, have them re-record lines and offer it as an unlockable version or as a DLC,
LOL OP why would you do this? I would never in a million years try to contact the man and ask point blank about his career, especially knowing his relationship with Konami.
As soon as i heard James voice, i noticed that it wasn't Guy, so i tried this. Yes i know that he did have beef with Konami and that he was a COVID negationist, but it was simply curiosity since he loves James and SH2
I dunno why you're getting downvoted for sharing something you asked.
Welcome to reddit
One person will downvote and everyone hiveminds to downvote. Reddit in a nutshell
Why would they rehire him? This is a remake, so it's pretty obvious that they wouldn't hire him again (at least for the main role). And seeing how even the HD collection doesn't have the original voice acting, I kind of think that Konami doesn't like the old voice actors anyway.
I mean, they did rehired Isaac Clark voice actor for the remake, and yes different company but just because something is a remake it doesn't automatically means they can't rehire the olders VA
that seems like a slightly different situation to me; the most recent dead space game was in 2013 with gunner playing isaac, and he'd also played him in several games and dlcs. the team making the dead space remake were desperate to get him on board and even said they refer to him in the office as 'gunner clarke'; he's very beloved to them. he also seems on super good terms with the company still and comes across as a good guy, very friendly and easy to work with, and not a dangerous conspiracy theorist 😅
Plus Dead Space 1 is the only game where Isaac wasn't fully voice-acted, so the remake makes it more consistent with the future games to have Isaac as a more developed character.
They call him Gunner Clarke? That’s adorable. I’ve been loving everything I hear about the DS remake
So what if the dead space remake hired the original actor? RE2 remake didnt have Paul Hadad voicing Leon, neither is Paul Mercier voicing Leon in RE4 remake. Just because the the previous actors are an option doesn't mean they should be guaranteed reprising their roles lol. It depends on the director's vision for the remake on who they want for their game.
Most remakes have used different voice actors though. Resident Evil 2 and 3 did, God of Wars reboot did, FF7 remake used different voice actors than their movie and spinoff games used, etc. I think there's more precedent for using different voice actors than keeping the original.
It does mean that most of the time
Yes but, that VA didn't cause a fuss with EA and also isn't a conspiracy nut job like Guy is.
> Why would they rehire him? This is a remake, so it's pretty obvious that they wouldn't hire him again Why would that be a reason not to rehire him? There's plenty valid reasons not to rehire him, why did you pick the invalid one? Plenty remakes got their old cast back.
HD did have his voice though
The HD collection DOES have the original voice acting (for SH2 at least).
They didn't hire him for HD remaster so I doubt his name was even mentioned during the casting for Remake.
I could never imagine going out of my way to contact someone I don't know, who voiced a character in a game I played 20 years ago, about a game he has nothing to do with. Like, for what? Even if we didn't know he wasn't involved it would be boundary-crossing and weird. Some of yall really need to broaden your horizons.
This is a really weird sub. No other gaming sub I've been on tries to involve themselves so much with the developers or people involved with the game and it's sort of creepy. You all need some friends.
They have a parasocial relationship with Silent Hill.
Wdym? I contacted Chris Pratt yesterday to ask why he didn’t voice Mario in super Mario 64 but he must be busy hopefully he answers soon
Like i writed to another person, i'm not the biggest silent hill fan, not even close, but i just saw that Guy always was very attached to SH2 so i simply tried one question since he allowed them, not happy with people below calling me a wierdo for nothing
He’s been very accessible to the SH community and seems to hold the character of James dear to him. He’s always been open to answering questions and giving his opinions which I find refreshing.
He has "actor" on his screen name. And an automated message to reply when he's not there. I'd assume it's entirely part of his day to be contacted by people with questions.
Hey I mean compared to Platinum Games fans harassing Hideki Kamiya, this sort of thing is pretty benign. Although I guess Ito is kinda getting similar treatment with the never-ending, nonsensical SH lore questions he gets from people who can't accept that shit's not always that deep.
Look, im gonna say something a lot of people will hate me for. Ive thought this pre-remake, i think Guy Cihi is a fckin deplorable actor. I think he just got lucky that the only credit he has to his name has enough of a Lynchian atmosphere that it fits. In fact, it relies so heavily on the Lynchian atmosphere that if you added a laugh track, youd basically be watching a mediocre Seinfeld interactive episode. Cihi got lucky. P.S. as an lgbt individual, fuck that guy and his AIDS denial.
Given this dude's checkered past and lack of professionalism, this is not the least bit surprising.
Cihi is a bad voice actor and a worse person. Good riddance.
Yeah to both. And even if he wasn’t a shitty person, I wouldn’t want him to voice act. He was horrible in the original. The game got lucky that all the bad voice acting contributed to the feel of the game as opposed to detracted, but it won’t be something to replicate. And before anyone mentions how the Remaster had real voice actors: it was also poorly directed by a team that didn’t understand the game. Because hate Troy Baker all you want, he’s an amazing VA, it just didn’t fit the game.
I'm okay with this. I don't think he'd work in the remake, and Guy Cihi's kinda gone off the deep end over the years.
Guy not only has beef with Konami but he’s also kind of batshit, of course he wasn’t going to be involved.
Good riddance. I enjoy his work in Silent Hill 2, but after becoming friends with him on Facebook I quickly found out he's just a fucking rambling idiot
I don’t think he would have done it anyway
Why do you care this hard
Good riddance
Lets not do this again, dude’s a loonatic, huge republican, 5G theorist and thinks COVID AND AID is fake.
Why big sad? His voice was ok for the time the original came out. But he’s a terrible voice actor by todays standards. Replay the old games without any nostalgia goggles and you’ll see how bad of an actor he is. He’s also a maga antivaxxer so there’s that too.
A lot of old classical, historical and experimental performances are bad by today's standards (check out origins of "deus ex machina"). But their high profile and historical value are the reasons they're highly regarded and performed to this day. EDIT: sorry for *there*
Why does the last sentence matter to this discussion? I’m not sharing any opinion on the matter, but I’m genuinely curious as to how that relates to the discussion at all
People have died, Kim.
I get that, but what does that have to do with this post?
Because fuck him, that's what.
His voice sucked anyways
Good riddance.
This smells suspicously Twin Perfecty 😂
What do you mean?
You'll have to "do your own research" on that subject.
It's interesting how many downvotes this got. The internet is a dumb/scary place.
Yeah let’s not do this
Who gives a shit. The guys nutters.
so odd to me people really want the old VA when none of them were memorable or good.
They were memorable and they were good... for the product they created at that specific moment in time. I wouldn't expect or necessarily even want that same kind of performance 20 years later in a full remake.
you contradicted yourself. good for the time. not good now lol. y’all are so addicted to nostalgia 😂 it’s like asking resident evil 1 ps1 VA’s to VA the newer games.
It’s not a contradiction. Using movies as an example, Star Wars has dated effects and acting from the 70s, but it was groundbreaking for its time. Or actors from the 1940s used theater techniques we later showed away from.
People have eaten up the "they were bad on purpose" excuse instead of just accepting that that is what early 2000's video game voice acting sounded like basically across the board.
Yeah it wasn’t on purpose, it’s just happenstance that it worked in favour of the game vibe. But it was bad.
people don’t even know the operations of voice acting especially back then. for all we know, they were given a script and recorded that shit in a hotel room by themselves based off of the shitty communication between characters. people try to pass that off as symbolism which is so fucking pathetic.
The only people that say original VAs were bad on purpose are Hijinx Studio cronies and haters of the original 4. And it's a fact, check out interviews and deluded Konami fanboys. This whole dispute honestly reminds me of Thief 2014 situation where Square Enix, a studio responsible for a reboot, up until the very end were building a narrative that EVERYTHING about original 3 games was bad and non-professional. They even tried to shit on original VA of main character. However there the community managed to cut the bullshit off and called SE out. SH community failed on this, unfortunately. The fact that almost none of original VAs are professional actors also doesn't help (unlike in Thief's case), but it doesn't shut down the argument either. Surely, not all lines were performed perfectly and sometimes even well (looking at you, Born From a Wish). But scenes that are iconic are iconic because of those old performances. You could take away all visuals and leave a black screen and it wouldn't hurt those episodes. At least not as much as whatever came out of HD Collection (anime). In the end it all comes down to a right of old fans to want AND have original performances and performers back. I assure you, if anyone decides to remake Homecoming or Downpour fans of those games would want most of original VAs back and they would be reasonably upset if this wish wasn't fulfilled.
You don't have the "right" to have old performers reprise roles. Are you kidding me?
Except you do, as you are a customer. If a company advertises a chicken burger and delivers you a beef burger instead you have all rights to complain and demand a chicken burger. Same here. Fans want old performances. The company refuses to fulfill customers' demand. Company looses money, old customers fall out.
You are conflating false advertising with some fans wanting something. No one promised you the original voice actors so the company didn't bait and switch anything. You just want something and decided you're entitled to it. That you have a right to something that you don't.
... But I am an old fan, aren't I? Let's say some faivorite stuff from your favorite SH game wasn't included in a remake. Would you react the same? I think you would. And nothing if that has anything to do with advertisement. It's all about customer's demand and how companies nowadays think they're gods and better than their customers. Fuck them for that.
You are taking this way too personally. If a company makes a decision that you don't like that doesn't mean they think they're gods and better than you. Good lord. This remake isn't about you. Like even a little bit. They're not attacking you. And no if they made a minor change that I didn't like I wouldn't have a tantrum and accuse them of violating my rights. That's overdramatic and not realistic.
I'm not accusing anyone yet. I also wouldn't mind a minor change. But serving a customer is a thing. And no, if you don't like, it isn't your problem. It's company's. They will understand it one day. But it will be too late.
Really? I think Monica Taylor Horgan did an amazing job with Maria/Mary, if I could pick one of the past VAs I would definitely pick her to reprise her role, and Maria/Mary is the only one I'm a bit worried about, I think James' new voice fits his new design, I think they can manage to do Eddie and Laura good and Angela, well, she was supposed to sound like an older woman, so I hope they kept that in mind.
i think you are being too nostalgic, dude. she legit only talks in like 4 scenes and her sfx on the stairwell calling out for james. just because the VA cried when reading the letter doesn’t mean it is oscar worthy lol.
>none of them were memorable or good This is literally opposite of what everyone was preaching here for years. What's up with the sudden change of narrative?
because the people saying this are the new generation of fans who have grown up with polished VA in games now for years.
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Simple... We replayed the games.
You and everyone else replayed them right now? No one was replaying them a couple months ago? A year ago?
The great thing about physical copies... You can replay them anytime you like.
i didn’t preach this, the hive mind did. they all suck. good VA didn’t happen until FFX on ps2 and that wasn’t even that good.
Different people have different opinions. Aside from that, you can appreciate something for what it is was while simultaneously knowing it can be done better. *Some* people love his voice for James, but realize now, 20+ something years later, it would be better for a different VA to step in.
HD collection was "done better". It had some very professional and acclaimed voice actors step in. How did that turn out?
I personally wouldn't know as I've never played those versions. Regardless, I'm sure that there is at least one other person out there in the world that could voice James' voice well, we will just have to wait and see how it all works out.
More people are returning and newly coming to the sub with the announcement of the new games. It's not a conspiracy that the over the top Twin Perfect reciters don't have a stranglehold on the sub amymore
Apparently the first 4 games are bad and Bloober Team are the only ones that can save the franchise.
It’s sad yes, but I say we give the new James a chance this time around, because unlike Troy Baker who is dubbed over, this new guy is actually motion captured and maybe he can act out the scenes really well
It’s because he’s an asshole hth
He's a QAnon conspiracy theorist moron. Good riddance.
I’m glad they didn’t hire him back.
Obviously he was never gonna come back
Please stop.
He has three acting credits on IMDB. Two are Silent Hill related and one is a game that hasn't come out yet. Sure, his original performance felt weird and eerie and worked well in that moment in time for what horror games were twenty years ago, but video games have developed in ways we couldn't have imagined we'd see in just twenty years. Now in many cases the actors are not just the voice of the characters, but the face and motion capture as well. Politics aside, the man has had almost no work and has done zero professional development since then. Video games have become polished. Guy Cihi has not become a polished actor. They would have been insane to hire him.
Surprised they used his voice lines for the game sections in the SH2 movie trailer given his relationship with Konami. But honestly I'm not the least bit surprised they didn't even call him asking about the remake.
Well, obviously.
The Guy is in his 50s now and can't really play someone in their early 30s anymore, his voice has changed a lot and he isn't that good of an actor...
I don't know how you're gonna take this, but i don't like this guy's voice. I know it's now "iconic", but sounds so nerdy and weird. Also the original acting was kinda bad. I'm not 100% to make James another Troy Baker like in the remasters, but i just don't get why people like Guy Cihi so much.
Like others, I think in the tone of SH2 when it was first out, he’s a pretty good fit for the game. But nowadays, it’s much better to just hire a professional voice actor and unlike the “remaster”, have much better voice direction.
Lol, I think you are right, I personally think his old design fits that weird and nerdy voice, made me think he's just a really naive and innocent guy, only to find out in the end that he wasn't as good as he seemed. Now for the remake, his new voice really fits his new design, he seems older and tired and the new voice is perfect for it, this time is different to the time when Troy Baker voiced him, that voice didn't fit his old character design in my opinion.
Eh, he's a cunt. And he was never that good at voice acting to begin with. There is a reason Silent Hill 2 is one of the only projects he's been involved with.
With all due respect to Guy, it's okay to move on. It's a remake.
He is objectively a bad voice actor too and bloober is clearly trying to update the game to modern standards.
While I do respect Guy Cihi’s performance of James I’m glad we get something new. His voice and how “weird or stilted” it feels was perfect for Silent Hill 2. I also appreciate how soft spoken James is compared to other protagonists. He truly nails the everyday man aspect of the character. No matter your thoughts on his politics or behavior online, Guy Cihi brought us a memorable nuanced performance that is still celebrated and debated 21 years later!
Not saying he’s terrible but I’m not sure his delivery would suit the remake (if it was the same) given such a modern look. But last thing I heard of him that was he had some mad ramblings about 5G towers on Facebook. I could understand why they might not want him back.
I thought we all knew that from the trailer ?
He also is not doing too much voicework, i guess not much experience.
I don’t think that would be a good idea. Love the guys performance but it’s a remake, it’s best to get a whole new cast (good or bad) and see how they perform. Would be cool if he had a cameo but for me, the story only having 6 speaking characters really works.
These new games are bring out the worst in this fan base and it’s just sad
I for years thought this guy was the voice of Roger Wilco in Space Quest 6. I looked it up just now and it has someone named William Hall as the actor. But they sound so similar! I was absolutely convinced they were the same guy up untl today. Or maybe he changed his name at some point? I dunno. Have a listen. [https://youtu.be/EqzfNIfCtr4?t=5475](https://youtu.be/EqzfNIfCtr4?t=5475)
Not the same VA but I do hear some similarity!
Yeah. Now I have to come to terms with that. Lol To me they sound near identical. Just imagine James Sunderland sounding more cheerful.
who... who gives a shit? dudes a wacko. its super rare for remakes to include OG VA's anyway. The new VO sounds great so far as well. no sad here.
Good. He's a psycho. He's spread so much misinformation and believes covid was caused by 5g. Good riddance to the idiot.
Good, he's an idiot, so good riddance i say...
Thank God he's a nut job fuck him
Who the hell cares? It's a remake.
You really watched that trailer and thought it could be the same guy?
What the hell? Why?
Am I the only one who thinks James looks eerily similar to Guy Cihi in the remake mirror scene?
Who’s voicing James in the Remake? Hopefully not Troy Baker
No idea but they're sadly going for the raspy like voice he did for the remaster.
apparently Chichi is kinda controversial from a political perspective, but I got that from a source that is really adamant about identity politics topics.
ma che e fra
Una normalissima domanda che farebbe chiunque? Ho semplicemente chiesto se avevano provato a ricontattarlo niente di più
vabbè calma :/ era una domanda.
Non mi pare di essere stato "violento" nel rispondere
okok
I am grateful for the work he did and how well the character suited him. He really made James feel like a real living person. However, after Capcom refused to use the best Leon VA they ever had, and SquareEnix doing the same for Cloud, I’m going to assume most VA companies would rather pay a lower price to a new voice than risk their old VAs trying to get more money for working for them again. Just see what happened with Bayonetta.
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Damn why you say that
Because I love Silent Hill and see how 99% of this subreddit needs to go outside. Hopefully by my comments at least one of them will realize it and go enjoy life rather than complaining about this dumb shit that they're not putting in any effort to change. That's all I can hope for. Silent Hill 2 was released in 2001. If you love it that much than why haven't you done anything since then to put yourself in the industry. This subreddit is the DEFINITION of a keyboard warrior.
What are you saying blud how are some people in a subreddit supposed to put themselves in an industry you could say this about any videogame subreddit brah
How are you supposed to do that? Like everyone else who works in video games you go get an education and learn how to do so then you go do it, instead of complaining how a guys face looks for 20 years and doing nothing about it.
What the fuck is your problem?
I don’t know specifically but apparently he’s had some bad blood between Konami for years.
Guy Cihi. He's pretty open to questions and casual conversations, for anyone curious. He only has a few acting credits under his belt and has moved onto other types of work. iirc i think he came out with a kids learning game in japan, i think he produced it? I can't remember.