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Andrew Chaikin vs. William Kasten: FIGHT!

SHODANFreemanSHODANFreeman
edited August 2009 in Sam & Max
I made a video to compare each of their takes on voicing Max :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shLNdcJbMWs

Comments

  • PariahKingPariahKing
    edited August 2009
    Most of these lines sound exceptionally alike.
  • SHODANFreemanSHODANFreeman
    edited August 2009
    PariahKing wrote: »
    Most of these lines sound exceptionally alike.

    I agree, and it's also hard for me to determine which Max I liked better, but I think Kasten did improve a lot after first season, which is what these clips are from.
  • Hero1Hero1
    edited August 2009
    William Kasten was unbelievable in season 2.. He has this great ability to sell a joke by throwing his voice around..
  • bobdevisbobdevis
    edited August 2009
    Kasten wins! Not that Chaikin is bad in any way, Kasten is just a bit better.
  • UdvarnokyUdvarnoky
    edited August 2009
    Chaikin's brilliant, and I enjoyed his work in all of Telltale's games, but Kasten is simply better suited to Max's personality. Chaikin's Max almost feels like somebody doing an impression of the Max that Kasten performs effortlessly. That said, Chaikin's highly distinctive voice made his characters the best parts (in terms of voice acting) of Bone and CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder for me, and now that he's presumably recovered I hope Telltale uses him again in regular bit parts until the time comes that Phoncible P. Bone is brought out of retirement. (Hint hint)
  • thatdude98thatdude98
    edited August 2009
    Udvarnoky wrote: »
    Kasten is simply better suited to Max's personality. Chaikin's Max almost feels like somebody doing an impression of the Max that Kasten performs effortlessly.

    Agreed.
  • Pantagruel's FriendPantagruel's Friend
    edited August 2009
    It's really hard to tell - probably Kasten by a hair, but probably I would think otherwise in the afternoon ;)

    About Kasten getting better as the episodes progressed - yes, but I'm pretty sure it would have been the same with Chaikin. I'm not sure about his Jürgen, though :D

    Great job, Pale Man, thanks!
  • The CommissionerThe Commissioner
    edited August 2009
    I listened to the whole thing - and thought it was creepy and crazy how you managed to find the voice clips with them saying exactly the same lines... I didn't realise that everything Max said in episode 2 was the same as in episode 1...

    But I definitely heard a difference between the two voice actors - William Kasten was my preferred performance because the majority of the lines seemed much more expressive and "Max-esque" e.g. "as we found out after the incident with the garden hose".

    I've got nothing against Andrew Chaikin's performance in episode 1 though. I enjoyed that episode a lot. Plus it wasn't until I saw it on the forum that I realised there was a different voice actor in episode 1... the first episode I played was episode 4 because it was free - and that had William Kasten in it, so maybe I imprinted like a baby hearing it's mothers voice and can't accept anyone else...
  • TimothyTimothy
    edited August 2009
    I know I'm going to take flack for this...

    I've never heard Chaikin's other work, so he may be a magnificent voice actor, but his performance in 101 almost put me off from playing any of the other episodes. I found myself dreading every line he was about to speak, it was just so obnoxious. No "chemistry" between him and Sam, either--Chaikin, in my opinion, made the 101 Max sound like some incredibly annoying replacement for the real Max that Sam found at an orphanage. Every line was overdone, so it sounds like Max is (for some reason) trying to suck up to Sam, as his Freelance Police "deputy" or something. The line about the gorilla (1:53) is a pretty good example of this.

    Chaikin also has absolutely no grasp of Max's sarcastic nature. Listen to the "one hand" line at 2:20. Chaikin's Max sounds like an idiot, honestly. Kasten gets it, though, and delivers the line with more than a touch of the "bite" that plays so well between he and Sam.

    The fundamental difference between Chaikin's and Kasten's approach to voicing Max is that, apparently, the former is really trying (way too hard), and his goal is to voice "a cartoon character." Kasten simply approaches the work far more nonchalantly, and his goal is to voice Max, specifically.
  • City Of DelusionCity Of Delusion
    edited August 2009
    Timothy wrote: »
    I've never heard Chaikin's other work,

    You never played a Bone game, then.
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited August 2009
    Udvarnoky wrote: »
    That said, Chaikin's highly distinctive voice made his characters the best parts (in terms of voice acting) of Bone and CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder for me, and now that he's presumably recovered I hope Telltale uses him again in regular bit parts until the time comes that Phoncible P. Bone is brought out of retirement. (Hint hint)

    Andrew Chaikin goes by "Kid Beyond" now when he's credited. Just a heads up in case, you know, you might be watching a closing credits sequence sometime in the near future and wanted to see if he was there.
  • TimothyTimothy
    edited August 2009
    City Of Delusion wrote: »
    You never played a Bone game, then.
    Nope. Haven't.
  • UdvarnokyUdvarnoky
    edited August 2009
    Jake wrote: »
    Andrew Chaikin goes by "Kid Beyond" now when he's credited. Just a heads up in case, you know, you might be watching a closing credits sequence sometime in the near future and wanted to see if he was there.

    Heads are decidedly up!
  • MaxilyahMaxilyah
    edited August 2009
    I played all the episodes in order, and I immediately realized that they were different voice actors. I was definitely more impressed by Kasten's acting than Chaikin's. My friend wanted to play Sam & Max while she was at my house, and she turned on Culture Shock, and I said, "Really? Can't we skip this episode?" When she asked why, I told her about the different voices. She still wanted to play it, though, so I just had to deal with it, occasionally cringing at the change in voice.
    I just think Kasten is better at voicing Max, and I'm so used to it now, that when I hear Chaikin, I think "that's not Max".
  • The CommissionerThe Commissioner
    edited August 2009
    Maxilyah wrote: »
    when I hear Chaikin, I think "that's not Max".

    He does a good Phoney Bone, though! I just got Bone 1 yesterday and it was good.
  • TricaTrica
    edited August 2009
    In the beginning some of the phrases sound really similiar (scary!) but at the end of the video, you can really hear the difference.

    Yeah, I also think Kasten does much better job. Well, Chaikin did good too, but there's that little 'something' that didn't make him Max. It sounded somewhat.. shaky. Dunno, but that's how I felt.

    ..but of course, after hearing Kasten doing Max for the rest of the season 1, I really can't imagine anyone else taking his place anymore. :p But it still sounds more like Max's personality.
  • TheShadowOwlTheShadowOwl

    I preferred both over the Max voice in hit the road but I believe kasten is better ONLY by a whisker.

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