John-ShepardAs most of you know by now, the voice of Snake in the legendary Metal Gear Solid franchise won't be returning for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , a fact many long-time followers have found difficult to swallow.
Series creator Hideo Kojima was quoted as saying they wanted to make "a new type of Metal Gear game," but that didn't appease the fans. Now, the actor himself, David Hayter, has elaborated on the unfortunate situation at his Twitter page .
In the summary, Hayter explains that when he heard Konami was putting together recording sessions for the new MGS entry, he hadn't heard from the publisher. So he contacted them, "got together for lunch," and he was informed that they wouldn't need him on this game. They didn't provide an explanation as to why. Hayter has been playing the role of Snake for nearly 15 years and if he had his way, he'd "do this role forever." And to hear another actor voice Snake actually makes him "a little ill."
Hayter does understand that Konami and Kojima have the final call and he admits that this is fair. He also adds that he isn't "lacking for employment on any level." Still, his final words are kinda heartbreaking for ardent MGS followers, as they bring back a rush of memories:
"But I didn’t want anybody to think that I was intentionally abandoning them. And know that I will miss this job, and this character, very much."
Just too bad, really.
There's nothing else to say after that I guess. I still don't know if this is just a huge ploy by all of them to get more people to look at their game, not that they need it. But either way, Konami/Kojima chose what they chose and they're the ones who will be subject to fan disapproval when it all comes down to the fact that they made the wrong decision.
I seriously disapprove of a Hayter-less MG, but as long as it is a good game , we'll all be ok with it.
However…. what else is going to be changed?
Last edited by maxpontiac on 4/2/2013 9:23:32 AM
(sigh!)…god am I hoping this is some sort of sick long APRIL FOOLS JOKE.
And why would Hayter not be in it…but the Japanese voice actor still in it. SOME "RECREATION" Kojima's holding.
I don't why they ditched him but they shouldn't have.
However, as a fan of the series, not gonna abandon MGS just because Hayter ain't in it.
I think this sucks for fans, I don't think devs know how attached we get to the voice actors. I can't imagine someone else as Nathan Drake. I had a hard time accepting the new Cole after just 1 game with the old Cole!
I think it would have been worth it to spend the extra money on Hayter, he's part of the MGS family and I hope fans make a big stink about it.
This is crap, I didn't think Kojima would try the whole "New MGS" thing.
Didn't he learn from the Final Fantasy changes?!?! FF crashed because of the changes they made.
Snake IS Hayter, Hayter IS Snake. You can't change that.
You know, I always expected a different voice actor for Big Boss, but Solid Snake should always be one guy. Look how crap it is when movies change actors between sequels.
The girl replacement in The Dark Knight was fugly.
You mean Maggie G?
Ya, Kat Holmes was definitely better.
I`m still sad about this news…
But your "Snake is Hayter, Hayter is Snake" comment reminded me of the first time I saw Hayter`s picture (It in PSM) and I immediately thought, "WHAT THE?? HE LOOKS LIKE SNAKE!"
Changing voice acting and changing gameplay is 2 different things. So calm down.
The point I was making is that they are changing the essence of Metal Gear.
Even if the voice actor for the main character is only a small part of what Metal Gear is.
I love Metal Gear for the story, the characters, AND the gameplay. Solid Snake is one of my favorite all time game protagonists, right up there with Cloud Strife, so changing his voice is going to take some getting used to.
I dont know what this will do to sales, but its a terrible thing for fans and thats apparent right now.
Big Boss getting his own voice is okay, but Solid Snake has to be Hayter.
Kinda looks like The Governor from The Walking Dead.
I think we are all being trolled. We'll wait until the game releases.
I have a theory. Remember Metal Gear Solid V is about Big Boss, so maybe Kojima wants to test the fans reactions about not getting David Hayter and Hideo deliberately leave David clueless on why he is not involved. Then after Hideo have seen the reactions, he will then get David to do a voice over of Solid Snake that will be revealed in the ending of Metal Gear Solid V, maybe just a few sentences to entice us for the upcoming original Metal Gear 1 and 2 reboot for the PS4, because MGS V is set before the original Metal Gear, maybe that's what Hideo meant when he said that he will recreate Metal Gear Solid with this game.
By the way, eventually in the original Metal Gear, Solid Snake and Big Boss will face each other in battle so David voicing Solid and Big Boss in fight with each other will be awkward. So Big Boss should have a different VA because Solid Snake is David Hayter. That's maybe what Hideo in mind.
ahhh so you're on the same page as me. good to hear.
I mean it's the same with MGS 4. Remember when Big Boss showed up at the end? He wasn't voiced by David Hayter but by Richard Doyle.
Right,
Maybe this is an ellaborate set up by Kojima. Maybe he has a plan to remake the original Metal Gear 1 and 2, and to have a great emotional battle between Solid and Big Boss, he needs to use the voice of Big Boss from MGS4 to seal the authenticity leading up to the cemetery scene in MGS4.
And how about the Diamond Dogs in the trailer of Phantom Pain, maybe it's the pre FOXHOUND, Hound is a kind of dog, right?.
And would it be great if one of the end scene in Phantom Pain is the opening of the original Metal Gear game in MSX2, done in black screen like the very end of MGS4 where you can only hear the voice, and the scene is about Big Boss giving orders to the young Solid Snake in rescuing Grey Fox and Solid Snake will reply with the voice of David Hayter.
And about the original Japanese VA. Maybe Hideo doesn't really care that much about the Japanese Version of Metal Gear, so it doesn't matter if he uses the same actor to do Big Boss and Solid in a dramatic great battle between them if my theory of a reboot of the Metal Gear is right.
Damn you Hideo! you made my head hurts.
It's an interesting theory.
I definitely agree that he would eventually need to change Big Bosses voice actor, but when Kojima was talking about creating a 'new' MGS, he said Snake. Do we still call Big Boss, Snake? Or was he referring to Solid Snake?
The most interesting thing that I never even thought of, was the original Japanese voice over. IF he really is creating a 'new' MGS, then you would need to change the original voice too, wouldn't you think?
It's a trap! It has to be, right?
Snake? Snake?? SNAKE?? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE
This could lead to another fans vote with their wallet backlash. I want to definitely play the game, but without Hayter it almost feels like I'm cheating on it. The guys is Snake.
You all remember when Kojima told that this game will break some taboos and I think that one of this taboos – do not change the voice of the Snake. I think this voice thing is somehow connected with a MGS movie. Maybe the new voiceactor will also play in the movie as Snake?
Would explain why he is keeping the identity of the new actor such a secret.
Would also explain why the Japanese voice actor is still the same.
This is all very odd… given that David never received a proper explanation.
I think Konami has to be careful. While I didn't care that much at first seeing that quote made me change my mind a bit. I think the new voice actor might be fine but I'm really upset that Kojima would treat Hayter like this.
Konami might get screwed over like DmC did when they changed how dante looked and sounded. While that was a reboot and warranted to some degree I think that they really pissed off their fans.
Kojima has to realize that MGS games sell well because of the FANS not the lowest common denominator. He might be surprised when this game doesn't sell as well without Hayter as snake.
Now of course this could all be an elaborate troll by Kojima he definitely likes to do that. But why he would do it with Hayters voice I do not know.
I'm sure we will see a protest signed by thousands of people to get Hayter as snake. Much like we saw with ME3s ending, although I hope the fans handle it in a more civilized manner this time.
Last edited by xenris on 4/2/2013 9:51:24 AM
Well, it is really unclear as to which character he is changing the voice for.
At this point, he has only ever mentioned 'Snake'. Now we know Big Boss as Snake, and we know Solid Snake as Snake. So which one? or is it both?
MGS 5 is a Big Boss story, so why would he even need to worry about Solid Snakes voice at this point, and as someone pointed out above, the Japanese voice actor is still the same.
We all knew Big Bosses voice would change eventually, just like it did in MSG4.
There's really too many questions right now to get angry about what is being planned. I trust Hideo for now. Big Boss has already had a different voice actor.
I honestly don't know if I will be able to play a Metal Gear Solid game that has a different voice actor for Snake. There's too much of a strong correlation for me between the character and the voice, and too much of an emotional association. I'm afraid that it might ruin my memories of the previous games. This is a very sad turn of events…
NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ugh, I think I broke my spleen.
Last edited by pillz81 on 4/6/2013 12:59:10 PM