James Sunderland’s new voice actor, Troy Baker, has spoken out against Guy Cihi, the character’s original voice actor from Silent Hill 2.
Troy recounts the circumstance and the initial reasons for his casting as James in an interview with The Gaming Liberty. Guy reportedly received an offer for the part in the HD Collection but ultimately declined it because he wanted residuals that did not exist.
“You never criticise your bosses. No matter what they’ve done or what you think they’ve done, you never criticise the individuals who provided you with a significant advantage. However, the fact that he is referring to residuals in video games demonstrates just how ignorant he is as residuals don’t exist.
He continues by describing how Guy received an offer to work on the HD Collection, but his continual criticism of Konami cost him the position and ultimately resulted in the recasting.
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Therefore, it is not that Konami was unwilling to pay them; rather, Guy demanded residuals and fictitious money that he believed he was due. Konami is not at all to blame for this. And they desired to employ him once more.
The guy was the one who spoke up about it and declared that he wouldn’t do it until this occurred, so he pressed Konami’s hand. Therefore, if anyone wants to place the responsibility for the decision to use new voices, they should point the finger at the original James.
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This is a shocking development for the Silent Hill community. Because Konami recast the Silent Hill HD Collection and sided with Guy Cihi, many fans criticised and demonised them.
I predict that many fans will be upset now that it has been exposed that Guy’s own inexperience and critical words cost him the job. Guy, with whom I’ve chatted on several occasions, adores the James persona.
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To the delight of the fans, I hope Koanmi and Guy can reconcile. It would be a fairy tale resolution to a bitter conflict if the original voiceovers could be made available in the Silent Hill HD Collection.
The issue with Konami is that no agreements were ever made for the usage of my performance. There aren’t any written agreements at all, in actuality. It was a mistake made by Konami.
I believe Konami reasoned that once Sony acquired the theatrical rights for the SH2 game, it would generate interest for yet another re-release. Konami then asks me to sign a back-dated release after we haven’t spoken for a long time. I remarked that I was willing to talk about having my performance redone. They never replied to me. Konami made the decision to make fresh voice recordings rather than speak with me.
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Guy’s Reaction Has Provided Us With A New Insight Into The Situation.
Guy’s remarks suggest that a long overdue release was not signed, which ultimately resulted in a recast. I’ll have to research the precise language of contracts with a different voice performer.
Fans must wait it out while they await the outcome of this dispute. As I’ve previously stated, I’m hoping that things can be resolved so that both new and seasoned fans can appreciate the best of both worlds in one package: the timeless voices. We can only hope for the best.