http://thegamingliberty.com/index.php/2012/09/02/sonic-the-hedgehog-speaks-an-interview-with-ryan-drummond/
Wow, that was harsh. They took the opportunity of having 3 voice actors for Sonic to make low offers.
Someone's not been keeping up with Sega financials I mean, it's not cool to low ball him and expect all that, but they're pretty broke.
I wonder if Charles Martinet's contract with Nintendo is any different to what was described in the quote. Probably not.
It's shitty the way SEGA treated them and all, but I'm actually kind of glad he didn't return. I don't know what it was, but I didn't really like his work in Heroes. Something about the way he started sounding just bothered me. Regardless, there's no reason to jerk people around like that, it's really unprofessional.
Even Mike Pollock had to audition for the recast. There was never any guarantee ANY voice actor, whether it was Drummond, Griffith or anyone else trying out could have gotten the role as Modern Sonic.
I understand what you're saying. And I think it's because between SA2 and Heroes, Sonic was beginning to be depicted less as a cool character and more like a caricature of a cool character. Heroes was the beginning of the derpy modern Sonic, whereas before that, I think Sonic was still being depicted as a natural progression of the character we had seen from the classics, awkward writing aside.
So uh...I know Generations was in the works basically directly after Unleashed, but why would they have only asked him for Generations when SEGA knew they had Free Riders and Colors in the works as well? Anyway, as much as I would have loved for Ryan to return I like the current voice cast as is.
I'm not happy that SEGA yanked his dick about the union thing, but I'm glad he never came back. He sounded like shit in Heroes. Roger Craig Smith is better anyway.
For me, Ryan sort of soured after enough time went by, mostly because... 1. I never really felt the original cast hit the mark for most of the characters, Sonic included. 2. As much as it is true they are paid horribly, in light of all that the wants for him to return were doomed from the start. 3. He isn't as good at voice acting as Roger Craig Smith, they may not sound the same but the current voice actor is the first to really sound like a pro instead of "FILL THIS SPACE, GET SOMEBODY TO DO IT." 4. Even if he did come back, he might have been rusty and that wouldn't have been terribly good.
Yeah, I'm in agreement here. I can pinpoint Sonic Heroes as being the point at which I stopped liking Sonic's personality until recently. I think Ryan Drummond nailed it in SA2 and went downhill from there. On that basis I'm glad SEGA didn't rehire him for Generations but I don't agree with how they treated him. As for why they only wanted to hire him for Generations - maybe the game was originally gonna feature three different Sonics
So, going by the replies in this topic, it looks like almost nobody wants him back in the role anyway...
I wish he had the role...I don't like Craig Smith voice at all, not I like the personality they are giving Sonic since Colors. Too stupid for my tastes. Ryan sonic is the one I like the best ( excluding Classic Sonic)
I wouldn't mind hearing how he sounds now in comparison to how he sounded when he did Heroes, but I think I would rather see Griffith return, despite criticism. Drummond isn't a bad voice actor at all, but he wasn't that great neither at the time. He started to get better at Heroes, but it's still a mixed bag for me. While Griffith did pretty poorly at the beginning of his voice acting for Sonic, he did start to get better, especially when he voiced both Sonic and his Werehog form in Sonic Unleashed. Even his voice as Cilan in Pokemon is pretty good too. Smith does a good job at it as well but it does take a bit of time getting used to it. He does sound quite different than Sonic's previous voices. Although I guess you have to consider who was the voice directors for these guys at the time. Said it once, and I'll say it again, but I'm curious how would Sean Schemmel do if got the role instead...
In Ryan's defense, Sonic Heroes didn't exactly provide a whole lot for they guy to work with. Not just because the script had a lot of shitty lines like "REAL SUPER POWER OF TEAMWORK" either: both Adventure games had moments where Sonic took a break from being his normal cocky self to be concerned, angry, solemn, or confused. Heroes Sonic seemed written to be near-constantly snarky. Roger's fine and a competent voice actor with a lot of roles, but if they gave him the same terms they did Ryan I have to wonder why he accepted. Maybe if he doesn't belong to a union; I'd assume Pollock doesn't as 4Kids used him constantly and they avoided union actors like the plague.
I really like Roger but, it's interesting to hear Drummond's re-audition blew SEGA out of the water, and that the voice direction was absolutely terrible in the "Dreamcast era". It's pretty ridiculous how little SEGA is paying these people right now. Roger must be doing it just because he loves the character because, he certainly doesn't have a hard time finding work.
Video game stuff treats people like dirt, 'nuff said. He knew how SEGA was before. Going to the auditions with the idea of "I'll MAKE them accept me despite wanting to do things I know they wouldn't allow" is just silly.
People are surprised that corporations treat Voice Actors like total shit? I guarantee that Sega isn't the only company that does it, though it's sad to hear what happened to him, but this certainly isn't uncommon, especially in this economy. Though I personally prefer Roger Craig Smith right now, but it'd be cool to see how Ryan sounds with the modern voice direction we have with Colors/Generations.
