457 replies to this topic

[TwoFacedGodJanus]

People say Bateson really liked doing 47. In that case I have a glorious conspiracy theory to explain why they sacked him.

One day Bateson appeared at work dressed like 47. IO was like "wow, that's some strange commitment" but let it slide. A few days later he stood by one of the developers. The dev looked at Bateson's hand and noticed a fibre wire. "Man that's weird" he said to himself. A day later the same thing happened, and when another dev left his nearby cubicle Bateson moved closer. And closer. Then the dev had to leave his cubicle out of fear.

Then the day after that Bateson shouted "I NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM!" at the entire staff. It was then decided he had to be retired for his own good before he killed everyone and/or started bringing Chinese prostitutes into the building in order to subsequently save them.

Also they had to sack Jesper Kyd because whenever he'd compose a song Bateson would go into a weird crouching position and start sneaking across the hallways and make everyone feel uncomfortable.

As of now, this seems the most hilarious logical explanation I've heard. I still, pathetically, hope for some chance Bateson could return. Does anyone remember the Prince of Persia debacle?

[Johnny Drama]

No, but tell me?

[Choronzon]

Does anyone remember the Prince of Persia debacle?

No, but tell me?

It's been a while since I've posted on the forum but I thought I'd stop by the site and see what developments have been made in the Hitmsn franchise. Admittedly I was hoping to find out that IO reinstated David Bateson as the voice of 47. Instead, I found forum posters writing, "stop complaining about Bateson...IO doesn't care about the fans....they just worry about how many units they can sell." When I first heard Jesper wasn't going to be involved I understood the problem and was of course disappointed but when Bateson was unceremoniously dropped I was furious. Very few icons can sustain without the origins and formula that constitutes their original success. After a decade of defining 47, Bateson brought life to a CGI world along with the rest of the tireless work by the games developers. While I'm sure another actor can get the job done, it won't ensure that the job is being done right. Not that long ago Prince of Persia's series made the same decisions: they took the sequel to Sands of Time and made Warrior Within. Escaping the defined elegance of Sands of Time they chose to make the game darker, "edgier," change voice actors, and dismissed the unique storyline and gameplay that made the original a standalone masterpiece. In doing so they were faulted by the industry and the game, despite selling units, alienated their core fan base. The sales never recovered and the franchise was eventually expanded with a third title returning to the series roots and reconciling the changes. The problem was the damage was done to the fan base and it's incredibly hard to recover from that sort of loss. I can't see the future. I don't know if Hitman:Absolution will be a hit or a miss, but what I can tell you from the reactions on the forum as well as Htiman's official Facebook profile is there is a legitimate dissatisfaction with David's dismissal I believe will affect sales (as many of the fan base aren't going to buy Absolution). When someone tells me the fans mean nothing to the company, that is a huge sign the company will fail. Even the most heartless industry leaders know basic principles of business is give the public what they want. While someone at IO might believe that's a whole new game, dismissing the original fan base in the process, I think history has proven that's ultimately a mistake. The other issue here is complacency. Telling people to stop complaining, to simply accept what is, is the biggest disappointment I have to say I've seen here. Why should you accept anything but what you truly desire? It's not outlandish to be upset and it's certainly not a stretch to vocalise that. I'd rather have someone scream into the void with the slimmest hope they may be heard than accept something they feel in their heart is unacceptable. So to the forum posters, new and old, I'd say never stop expressing how you feel because dismissing your opinion in the face of the odds only furthers the odds against your favor. And to IO, I can only say I hope you do decide to fix this mistake even this late in the game (no pun intended). If not, there's always the HD collection release.

Edited by Choronzon, 20 May 2012 - 02:06 AM.

[Cold Shadow]

Just because IO did not keep Bateson, it does not mean that IO do not care about the fans. Seriously, give the new guy a chance, but we cannot compare him to Bateson. We need to see how well the new guy goes with 47's character.

I know it's hard to forget Bateson, but at this stage, we have to accept reality. There's no need to say that IO do not care about the fans, because as far as I know (and I do know alot about games), IO are one of the most interactive companies when it comes to what the fans want vs what's right for the game. IO do care about the fans and just because they dropped Bateson, it doesn't mean otherwise.

I just wanted to make this clear and also, I am not saying it was a wise decision to remove Bateson either.

Edit: Who ever thumped down just proved his worthlessness at being a fan of a game because clearly, he doesn't have a clue of what's going on and how to handle things. If you think that IO do not respect the fans because of Bateson (when there are many things that the fans wanted from Absolution that are there and even enhanced), then go and play another game. But keep this in mind. Many other companies don't give a f*ck about their fans and never bother to read what the fans have to say. IO do that regularly at least and I am sure that when you play Absolution you'll be the one here saying how good it was because it was something that you wanted. So yeah, you would be a hypocrite once again. Bravo.

Edited by Cold Shadow, 20 May 2012 - 07:48 AM.

[badass mofo]

Are you an Ignorant ass or a troll?

no your a ass troll

i geuss you think taht every bold white guy is hitman

whats funny

[Habit]

no your a ass troll

i geuss you think taht every bold white guy is hitman


whats funny

Damn, what a Bad ass post.

[Wolf89]

If they can't bring back Bateson they should hire this guy. His voice reminds me very much of Bateson. This is like Agent 47 playing his own game.

[Black glasses]

That's actually Cerb from Hitmanforum. Hopefully IO are already negotiating about payment with him.

It's pretty funny when the voice actor of the game (or someone sounding very similiar) plays the game. Like when Elias Toufexis played Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Beware, they spoil some parts (possibly the ending) of DX:HR and even the ending of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Toufexis told him that he actually played thorugh the game after it was finished (voice actors don't do it too often) and used to play with his voice, adding new dialogue to the game in his living room. Must be cool to play like that.

[Wolf89]

^

So here's here? Awesome.

I watched the whole thing and his other videos and it was really funny. He sounds very much like old 47, it would be great to have him there.

What i found strange about the trailer where 47 speaks is that his voice sounds much more like a young guy. So when he was young he sounds like an older guy, and when he's old he sounds young... Well, let's see, all i know is, Cerb is the right man to do it now. hahaha

Playing imitating the character must be really interesting, indeed.

Edited by Wolf89, 30 May 2012 - 12:59 PM.

[The professional47]

You definitely got my signature dude!!!!!!!!!!! David Bateson is Agent 47 dammit!!!!!!!!!!

[TwoFacedGodJanus]

To all those who doubted...there is only ONE Hitman and he's back!

[Giraffehat]

Holy crap it worked! He's back

[Eraser]

Yea, for people who say petitions and the like don't work, you have to say it's been +2 for the Hitman forum, etc.

Not that it was a total win with how it panned out, but I can't help but think we also got Vin Diesel kicked off the Hitman movie and possibly having his likeness carried over into the games,

47 was looking pretty swarthy in pre-release, early Blood Money pics.

[Shaffy]

[Dudeus]

Yeah, you really should get him back, the new voice actor sounds like he's 17

[Silentguy]

Yeah, you really should get him back, the new voice actor sounds like he's 17

David bateson is back in absolution.

[Lewisnic1]

Yeah, you really should get him back, the new voice actor sounds like he's 17

Where have you been? David Bateson is back as the voice of 47.

[Watson]

DAVID BATESON IS BACK.