Richard Waugh not voicing Wesker in RE5

[Borman]

It seems Capcom has changed their stance on hiring voice talent. They will now only hire non-union actors for their games. Unfortunately, this means we will no longer have Richard Waugh's voice for Wesker, but rather his replacement who was the actor for Wesker in Umbrella Chronicles.

"It's weird because I did the voice recordings for Wesker in Umbrella Chronicles. However Capcom has decided that they want to hire non-union actors in California instead, so my voice was replaced," explained Waugh in an interview. "Which became sort of funny when I heard that the replacement tried sounding like me."
...
If you feel more strongly than I do, however, Waugh apparently encourages fans to let Capcom know.

Fans can voice their opinion on this at the Capcom BBS topic here
Source: Destructoid

[rewak]

Dear god no, the guy who did the UC voice was annoying!

[LeonsBuddyDave]

So what you're saying is...we don't have Wesker anymore.

Instead, we have "Zombaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzz. Z."

[TheOrganization]

oh great, they should leave the voice actors as they are, starts to spoil things when voices change, especially someone like wesker

[TheSelfishGene]

What I don't understand is that Waugh still would have been paid to do those voices for UC. But they went and got someone else to re-record them, and had to pay them too?

[RE-Hiro]

i liked Wesker's Voice in UC!!!

[LeonsBuddyDave]

I say this again. "Zombaaaayyyzzzz."

His UC voice was horrible.

[Umon Daisuke]

What I don't understand is that Waugh still would have been paid to do those voices for UC. But they went and got someone else to re-record them, and had to pay them too?

Idiocy. Of course, there is a cost factor too. Back in the 90's, the CAD dollar was considerably lower than the US one so Canadian actors were cheaper to hire. Nowadays, the values are comparable so the cost advantage is nonexistent in addition to the union factor.

[revil5]

In the end it all sounds the same to me. I don't care as long as the game rocks!

[Umon Daisuke]

In the end it all sounds the same to me. I don't care as long as the game rocks!

Let's bring back the original RE cast then. In reality, good VA does add to the experience and the constant changes in the cast are quite annoying. Especially if an actor does a good job like Waugh, Haddad, Disher etc.

[TheOrganization]

Wesker is a voice you really shouldnt change, his voice is what makes him

[Byzz]

Wesker is a voice you really shouldnt change, his voice is what makes him

True, that’s why the other guy tried to sound like him.

[A-J]

In the end it all sounds the same to me. I don't care as long as the game rocks!

are you kidding ? listen to wesker in Code Veronica, then listen to him in the REmake, the difference is night and day.

[James]

Let's bring back the original RE cast then. In reality, good VA does add to the experience and the constant changes in the cast are quite annoying. Especially if an actor does a good job like Waugh, Haddad, Disher etc.

This is what I like about the Metal Gear series, especially after playing Guns of the Patriots. All the characters who were in the original have their original respective voice actors returning - it's quite comforting since nothing seems weird. To be honest, the only thing I ever remember noticing was that Ada used the same voice actress for both her appearances - but can anyone confirm that is the case?

Umbrella Chronicles was a disaster in terms of voice acting. I am shamed to hear Wesker will be voiced by the other twat compared to Waugh.

Oh well.

[The Dude]

I think his point was he doesn't care about the voices so long as the game content is good.
Im in the same boat, I always found Richard Waugh's pseudo evil English accent extremely irritating.

Its pretty bad that Capcom's only hiring non union voices for their games if what he said is true, but then again, they could just be prepping themselves for the actors strike later on this year.

HOWEVER, could also be Richard Waugh talking bull, sour grapes to an extent, or either;
a) He wasn't paid enough by the recording studio/capcom or wanted more due to being union based so they hired a cheaper alternative buuuuuut
b) Usually *especially in the UK as I have family who act on TV and theatre* non Union actors and actresses are usually avoided like the plague as it enrages union members and generally causes alot of hassle.

Or, could be C)

His recording track like most of his other stuff was pretty dire, so they scrapped it.
Then again, voice actors change all the time, some just can't hold the voice they once used.

_

Then again, Capcom wrapped up Voice work on Bionic Commando's remake a few months back and they used union actors and a union director for that if memory serves.