How Tim Schafer ended up as a main voice in upcoming Kinect XBLA game Haunt
16
In Haunt, Parappa the Rapper developer Nana-OnSha's upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game, players will use Kinect to direct a main NPC voiced by Tim Schafer around a spooky, and somewhat goofy, haunted house -- that much we knew. And in a recent interview with Gamasutra, executive producer Masaya Matsuura and producer Dewi Tanner revealed how the main character came to be voiced by the Double Fine head and well-known goofy gentleman.
"He's very, very interesting for it," Masaya said when asked about Schafer's participation. Apparently the main character's voice had already been recorded, but after hearing Schafer's speech at a GDC "Choice Awards" ceremony, the Nana-OnSha folks reconsidered. "We talked about 'maybe something is missed,' still," Matsuura said. "And one day you told me about how Tim would be a good voiceover actor," he added to Tanner.
Tanner said that Tim's time was understandably constrained, being the head of another game studio and all, but the team "managed to squeeze him in nonetheless ... a couple of afternoons and we were pretty much done." Tanner also pointed out that Haunt isn't exactly a serious endeavor, and Schafer's "passé humor" was perfect for the role. The game is still absent a solid launch date, but it's probably safe to say it's gonna miss its previously scheduled 2011 release window. Tanner teased in the interview that, "We're just winding up the game right now; things are looking clean right now, so it should be a smooth submission." So, uh, soon-ish!
Update: This piece originally listed Tim Schafer as the main character in Haunt, rather than the main NPC. It also listed Masaya Matsuura as the creative lead, rather than executive producer. Our apologies!
[Image credit: 'skwathill']
"He's very, very interesting for it," Masaya said when asked about Schafer's participation. Apparently the main character's voice had already been recorded, but after hearing Schafer's speech at a GDC "Choice Awards" ceremony, the Nana-OnSha folks reconsidered. "We talked about 'maybe something is missed,' still," Matsuura said. "And one day you told me about how Tim would be a good voiceover actor," he added to Tanner.
Tanner said that Tim's time was understandably constrained, being the head of another game studio and all, but the team "managed to squeeze him in nonetheless ... a couple of afternoons and we were pretty much done." Tanner also pointed out that Haunt isn't exactly a serious endeavor, and Schafer's "passé humor" was perfect for the role. The game is still absent a solid launch date, but it's probably safe to say it's gonna miss its previously scheduled 2011 release window. Tanner teased in the interview that, "We're just winding up the game right now; things are looking clean right now, so it should be a smooth submission." So, uh, soon-ish!
Update: This piece originally listed Tim Schafer as the main character in Haunt, rather than the main NPC. It also listed Masaya Matsuura as the creative lead, rather than executive producer. Our apologies!
[Image credit: 'skwathill']
Reader Comments (16)
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 6:16PM ItsameMatt03 said
@That One Guy
Well you are an obvious fanboy. You are the type of person that makes video games somewhat of an un-fun hobby sometimes.
I enjoy the man's games no matter what platform I use to access them.
Reply
Well you are an obvious fanboy. You are the type of person that makes video games somewhat of an un-fun hobby sometimes.
I enjoy the man's games no matter what platform I use to access them.
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 6:20PM Aizei said
Why is Microsoft driving kinect so much? It's the so full of 'you can't play this if's
you need; a good bit of space in front of the tv/ camera, no tables in the field of play (which a lot of people have in front of their tv's - nice one guys), to have either almost accent or an american one, *the amount of lighting in the room recommended by Microsoft*, the list goes on
- according to my kinect whilst on the dashboard, i've had an amputation, it rarely picks up my left hand - only my shoulder to my elbow
Reply
you need; a good bit of space in front of the tv/ camera, no tables in the field of play (which a lot of people have in front of their tv's - nice one guys), to have either almost accent or an american one, *the amount of lighting in the room recommended by Microsoft*, the list goes on
- according to my kinect whilst on the dashboard, i've had an amputation, it rarely picks up my left hand - only my shoulder to my elbow
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 6:39PM darkinchworm said
"Why is Microsoft driving kinect so much?"
Because something about the following doesn't seem right:
"yeah we released some kind of motion peripheral thing a year ago, go buy it I guess"
Reply
Because something about the following doesn't seem right:
"yeah we released some kind of motion peripheral thing a year ago, go buy it I guess"
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 6:38PM darkinchworm said
@That One Guy
Though he once said he was opposed to doing sequels to his games, Tim's stated in several interviews since the release of Brutal Legend that he had every intent to do a sequel until EA gave him the shaft.
Reply
Though he once said he was opposed to doing sequels to his games, Tim's stated in several interviews since the release of Brutal Legend that he had every intent to do a sequel until EA gave him the shaft.
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 6:41PM darkinchworm said
He did a voiceover for a game, and assisted in creating one (1) Kinect game outside of that.
Come ON.
Ludwig, if you go gung ho on the bannings and post wipes around here, I might not complain.
Reply
Come ON.
Ludwig, if you go gung ho on the bannings and post wipes around here, I might not complain.
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 6:58PM (Unverified) said
Well this is the first I heard of this game. Needless to say-
Parappa the Rappa dev
Tim Schafer
Yeah I'm buying.
Reply
Parappa the Rappa dev
Tim Schafer
Yeah I'm buying.
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 7:09PM BPMOmega XBL PSN Steam said
@That One Guy
Uh, not his fault there isn't a sequel to Brütal Legend. The game didn't sell well, so EA would consider it to be too big of a financial risk to fund development for a sequel.
Creativity may be what keeps this industry going forward, but it's money that keeps it alive.
Reply
Uh, not his fault there isn't a sequel to Brütal Legend. The game didn't sell well, so EA would consider it to be too big of a financial risk to fund development for a sequel.
Creativity may be what keeps this industry going forward, but it's money that keeps it alive.
Posted: Dec 30th 2011 8:11PM (Unverified) said
"Schafer's 'passé humor' was perfect for the role."
Is there some new meaning to "passé" that I don't know about? Because that sounds kind of insulting.
Reply
Is there some new meaning to "passé" that I don't know about? Because that sounds kind of insulting.
Posted: Dec 31st 2011 2:47AM Tiradyn said
Great. A game from a crappy dev (parappa SUUUUUCCCKKKKEEEEDDDD) for a horrible device, voiced by what is very likely the most overrated person in gaming, who also just happens to have an extremely annoying voice. Yeah, I don't think that decision procress will be very long.
Reply
Posted: Dec 31st 2011 12:06PM KungFuChaosNinja said
The trolls are out today. How can you not like Psychonauts, Stacking, Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, etc.? Have you no soul?
Reply
Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.
Featured Stories
Persona 3, Tactics Ogre, and other PSP RPGs that will live on my Vita
Posted on Feb 22nd 2012 5:45PM
The most popular posts
in the last 7 days
- Rumor: Japanese Vita devs jumping ship, Sony responds 124 comments
- Buy 2 get 1 free on select Vita games at GameStop starting today 114 comments
- Sony's Rohde: proprietary Vita cards 'completely necessary' to combat piracy 112 comments
- Sony: Call of Duty blasting onto Vita this fall 89 comments
- Asura's Wrath review: Wrecking the curve 84 comments










