Terrible Omissions - Dan Arey and Roger Slifer
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 05:51AM This is both an apology and an acknowledgment to two guy who should have been mentioned prominently in the Acknowledgments section of 'The Ultimate Guide...'
These guys are Roger Slifer and Dan Arey. They both should have been in there.
Roger slipped through because he has been involved involved in so many projects with me over the years that I probably thought I had him in there with Sunbow (he was a Transformers producer) and TSR Comics, one of those failures that I still blot out of my mind and most recently Enigma. Roger has an amazing array of talents and conversations with him inspired all sorts of sections of the book.
Dan Arey is one of the best theorists in the game world. We met on a panel at DICE. The cool thing was that we got to sit on stage with Lorne Lanning and Syd Meier. I was mostly intimidated into speechlessness and was forgettable on the panel. Dan was articulate, but we were both overshadowed by 'the gaffe.' His 'first 5 minutes' is one of the most seminal and influential talks anybody has ever given in game world.
Anyway, sorry guys. Now you're acknowledged.
Flint
Reader Comments (3)
Hey Flint,
I appreciate your acknowledgement. I've always found our friendship very fruitful--both personally and professionally. I'm glad you feel the same. I told someone in the TSR days that we'd be working together for years to come. I think we've got at least two decades left!
Best,
Roger
Thanks for the kind words, Flint. But the most influential talk ever given in games would probaby go to Lorne's brief yet very intertaining "girly games" diatribe we both witnessed at DICE. Here's to talking about histories wonders and blunders over Brady and cigars in the Venetian lounge ;-)
-dAn
I can tell you all (from having had the good fortune to work with Dan as a voice talent on JAK II, JAK 3 and JAK X) that Flint's compliments are no white washing.
Dan Arey not only knows the importance of game play but also the importance of STORY. The guy's a genius. Any time a question was asked in regard to a performance query, the guy had the answers. And those notes ALWAYS showed up in the final product.
For those not familiar with the process, the VO stuff is always recorded alone in a booth (some times many MONTHS before final game) with no idea as to what the "world" is around you. But Dan Arey, as a director and a creator is a VO actor's dream. He gives simple descriptions that make you "see" the room and the stuff around you.
The guy's a gem and worth every bit of praise (and more so) mentioned here.
Cutter