Civilization Series Dream Narrators

[SJSerio]

I love the fact that they have Sean Bean narrating Civilization VI. And Leonard Nimoy as the narrator for Civ IV was epic. (Sorry, While William Morgan Sheppard was still a good choice for Civ V, I'm otherwise not familiar with him.)

So, I've been "binge" watching a classic sitcom on Hulu for a while now, "Boy Meets World". It got me thinking, how awesome would it be to have William Daniels do the narration for a Civ game? I mean, Mr. Feeny's (and the voice of K.I.T.T.,for that matter) voice would be a perfect narrator for Civilization. Mr. Fehehehenay! Alas, that may never get to be a reality as he is 90 years old and there is no guarantee that he will be around long enough for the life cycle of Civ VII.

So, any dream voice actors (or actresses) for Civilization? Mark Hamill, maybe? Let's discuss...

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I'm kind of over "celebrity" narrators TBH. Hire a pro . . .

 

[MaryKB]

So far the narrators have all been men. How about a woman for the next game?

 

[unpossible251]

So far the narrators have all been men. How about a woman for the next game?

Sigourney Weaver would be a strong candidate. SCi fi credentials plays well in gaming, and she was the highlight of Avatar back in the day. I think she can do a philosophical, strong, educated, dignified voice for Civ.

My other two picks - not women - would be Sir David Attenborough, or James Earl Jones.

And one final reach around for The Bean. The best so far. Sorry spock fans.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Sigourney Weaver would be a strong candidate. SCi fi credentials plays well in gaming, and she was the highlight of Avatar back in the day. I think she can do a philosophical, strong, educated, dignified voice for Civ.

My other two picks - not women - would be Sir David Attenborough, or James Earl Jones.

And one final reach around for The Bean. The best so far. Sorry spock fans.

Haha, if they did happen to hire Sigourney Weaver for Sci Fi credentials, I'd sincerely hope that it's not because she was in Avatar.

But I still question why everyone thinks it has to be someone famous--or even more specifically, "that person from that sci-fi/fantasy show I like." I'd like to think that the game developers would be a little more broad-thinking than that.

 

[nzcamel]

So, any dream voice actors (or actresses) for Civilization? Mark Hamill, maybe? Let's discuss...

Mark Hamill would do a great job methinks

Sigourney Weaver would be a strong candidate. SCi fi credentials plays well in gaming, and she was the highlight of Avatar back in the day. I think she can do a philosophical, strong, educated, dignified voice for Civ.

My other two picks - not women - would be Sir David Attenborough, or James Earl Jones.

I think Weaver -with those strong Sci-Fi credentials- fits better in the Alpha Centuri or B.E. franchise James Earl Jones would be a dream!

One of my obvious picks died recentlyish - Alan Rickman I guess Morgan Freeman is the other "big ticket" voice yet to be mentioned.
My choices would be Jeff Bridges, Jermaine Clement, or Keith David (the last could sound a bit too much like Sheppard I suspect).

 

[Datian]

The amazing voice of french actor Jean Topart, known by my generation for his voice acting in 80's cartoons (Ulysses 31, the mysterious cities of gold) - we were all shivering !

There are only two obstacles :
- I'm not sure about his english
- he died in 2012
But still !

 

[SJSerio]

I'm kind of over "celebrity" narrators TBH. Hire a pro . . .

I think that just because they are a "celebrity" shouldn't exclude them. It is not about their status, so much as their relation to the material.

My example, William Daniels may have played some iconic roles, but I wouldn't call him a celebrity. And, to my mind, he is perhaps one of the most "professionals" in the business.

So far the narrators have all been men. How about a woman for the next game?

I'm certainly not against a female narrator. I think that the tendency to go with men is the voice. Leonard Nimoy and Sean Bean have iconic, stand-out voices that fit the material. For women, it can be harder to pin down a "stand-out" voice that would fit the game. I couldn't see them using Fran Drescher as a narrator. Her voice is certainly memorable, but does not fit. The suggestion of Sigourney Weaver would certainly qualify, though.

 

[Breadsmith]

Morgan Freeman. Though it might cost more for him than the rest of the game on it's own.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Well if they're going to go that way I'd have to vote for David McCullough for one--anyone's who's seen Ken Burns Civil War wouldn't doubt that he would have been perfect for something's that's always been more based on History than Sci Fi. He's probably a bit to old to want to do it now but if you're looking for "related to the material" + iconic voice he's it.

Or along the same lines, Sam Waterston maybe?

 

[Chelloveck]

Brian Blessed.

 

[MaryKB]

I like the idea for Sigourney Weaver! She has excellent articulation and a good tone, plus she is very well known. I also like Emma Thompson.

What about Gates McFadden? She has done excellent work narrating audio books. She has a great voice and is pleasant to listen to. The only concern might be that we've already had a Star Trek celebrity?

For most iconic voices being from men, might that be an effect of giving most opportunities to men in the past?

 

[cinattra]

I like the idea for a female voice over...the suggestions above are great suggestions.

Do they have different voice over actors for the different languages?

 

[123joanna321]

For the next game, I'd love it if they had multiple narrators. Either different narrators for different eras or different tech/civic types. Maybe one focus on more serious academic quotes and one focused on pop culture quotes.

Hell, just bring back the cast from Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri for fun.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Boris Karloff

 

[Phrozen]

Female:
Carrie Ann Moss
Collen Clickenbeard

Male:
Michael Dorn
Charles Dance

 

[unpossible251]

Haha, if they did happen to hire Sigourney Weaver for Sci Fi credentials, I'd sincerely hope that it's not because she was in Avatar.
.

Lol. I walked into that one i was more thinking of Alien, and Aliens. That's where she got the sci fi cred. Avatar was - well, not quite as bad as everyone said it was, imo - but she proved herself well and truly in that one. Her performace was the dramatic highlight, and her voice would just, work.

She was also in Year Of LivinG Dangerously, which in a roundabout way brings me to candidate number two. Linda Hunt played a great character in that, and also did the voice for the tree in Pocahontas.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Lol. I walked into that one i was more thinking of Alien, and Aliens. That's where she got the sci fi cred. Avatar was - well, not quite as bad as everyone said it was, imo - but she proved herself well and truly in that one. Her performace was the dramatic highlight, and her voice would just, work.

She was also in Year Of LivinG Dangerously, which in a roundabout way brings me to candidate number two. Linda Hunt played a great character in that, and also did the voice for the tree in Pocahontas.

Haha, don't get me wrong she's a pro. She does a great job on the Planet Earth documentary.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Since we're dreaming here, how about Glenn Close?

 

[SJSerio]

I like the idea for Sigourney Weaver! She has excellent articulation and a good tone, plus she is very well known. I also like Emma Thompson.

What about Gates McFadden? She has done excellent work narrating audio books. She has a great voice and is pleasant to listen to. The only concern might be that we've already had a Star Trek celebrity?

For most iconic voices being from men, might that be an effect of giving most opportunities to men in the past?

I suppose you could say that. What I mean by "stand-out" voice is a voice that you hear and can instantly identify who it belongs to. Often, that may be spawned from an iconic character (i.e., Spock, Captain Kirk [Will Shatner... nobody thinks of T.J. Hooker when they hear Shatner's voice], The Nanny [Fran Drescher]), or a specific person with a distinct voice (William Daniels [Mr. Feeny/K.I.T.T.], James Earl Jones, Jack Nicholson, Sigourney Weaver, Maggie Smith, pretty much any President from Kennedy to Trump). A lot of people have generic voices that are not as instantly recognizable. You may recognize their face, but not their voice until you match the two. If you go with a generic voice, you could use just about anybody who would not cost a fortune. But having an "stand-out" voice that relates to the material (history) adds a certain dynamic to the game.

In any case, what I'm trying to get at through my rambling is that unfortunately, most "stand-out" female voices tend to steer away from the content of Civilization. There are a few, Sigourney Weaver, and maybe Maggie Smith would be excellent. If anybody can come up with a list of female, stand-out voices, I would be happy to be proved wrong. (And I very well may be, I just can't really think of too many that would fit the criteria that I mentioned.)

Note... just thought of another one... Oprah Winfrey. I don't know how much she would fit the game, precisely, but she does have an iconic voice that is instantly recognizable to many.

Also Note, the examples that I gave above when trying to define the iconic (stand-out) voices are not necessarily my recommendations, just examples of stand-out voices.