On September 6, 2023, Bethesda Softworks’ new game “Starfield” was finally released.

This game has already excited the gamer community, and on September 7th, a release event for the media and invited guests was held at the amusement facility in Tokyo Tower. In this article, we will report on the event where dubbing voice actors also took the stage.

The voice actor for Bullet, Hiroshi Iwasaki, will be on stage!
The event featured an impressive trailer and a video message from the film’s director, Todd Howard, on three panoramic screens.

A talk session was held with MC Misuzu Araki, who loves games, and voice actor Hiroshi Iwasaki, who is the dubbing voice actor for the role of Barret, one of the main characters in this work.

Mr. Iwasaki is a veteran dubbing voice actor known for his roles as C-3PO in Star Wars Episodes 1-3, Bean in Mr. Bean, and Hank in Detroit: Become Human. He is also deeply involved with Bethesda, voicing various famous characters such as Cicero in Skyrim and Codsworth in Fallout 4. At the venue, there was also a special act where C-3PO’s voice was performed due to the “star” connection.

Dubbed recording of this work was apparently done intermittently for over a year starting in April 2022. As the recording process lasted for a long time, he heard that there were times when he received a job offer and thought, “This is a new job, thank you!” But then it turned out he was recording something related to “Starfield.”

When recording voices, for movies you can record your voice while watching the footage, but for games you have to apply your voice based on a predetermined waveform, and sometimes you are asked to perform on set. . Of course, it is not necessary to follow the instructions perfectly, but the time schedule must be adjusted properly.

Regarding the difficulty he faced, he cited “getting confused about the accent of proper nouns”. Since this work is set in the future of space, there are many proper nouns that appear, so he often checks with the director. There were also cases where he recorded for up to five hours a day, which was quite a struggle.

Mr. Iwasaki has the cool appearance of a skinhead, but he says that he sometimes gets voice work for characters and actors with similar visuals. It is said that if the body shape and bone structure are similar, the voice will be the same as the image, and there seems to be something in common with Mr. Iwasaki himself in the cheerful Barrett.

My favorite line from Barrett is from the beginning: “Without us, this galaxy is just a dark room.” He says it’s his favorite because he probably wouldn’t have anything to say about it in real life.

Mr. Iwasaki has played many comical roles, including C-3PO, but this time the Bullet is an adult man. As a result, he took acting more seriously. Barrett also has a love scene and seems to have some “sweet lines.” At the venue, she also showed off her sexy and mature voice.

Live dubbing during the play session!
After the talk session, Reyna Bolanos, communications manager for ZeniMax Asia, took to the stage to provide an explanation of the game and a gameplay session.

From Mr. Reina’s mouth, a secret story about the development. It seems that Todd Howard loves Indiana Jones, and you can feel the essence of that in this work. The best example is Constellation, a group of explorers who study mysterious substances called “artifacts,” and when Mr. Todd briefly explains this group, he describes it as “NASA + Indiana Jones.”

In the play session, we played the early mission where the player was attacked by the Crimson Fleet. The idea was to introduce the game with a focus on Bullet, but there was a surprise that Mr. Iwasaki himself would dub the lines live.

Even in the live dubbing, the voice is just like Barrett’s dandy and funny voice. It was a very exciting event for fans as they were able to hear Mr. Iwasaki’s favorite quote, “Without us, this galaxy is just a big dark room.”

At the end, a photo session for the media will be held. Iwasaki-san seems to be serious about his poses, but there are also scenes where he becomes playful. Although he is 70 years old, Mr. Iwasaki is still humorous and fun, and we got a glimpse of his mischievous side.

Special food and souvenirs were also served at the venue.

The soybean meat in the sandwich has a taste and texture similar to wheat gluten, and is very juicy. The volume is perfect and you feel satisfied. It went perfectly with the sweet tomatoes and the mellow coleslaw cabbage, and I was able to experience life in a manned star system with my taste buds.

Souvenirs include a cap, a can badge, and a can of soft bread. If we were to have to escape Earth like the humans in Starfield, this would probably help us survive. I hope that doesn’t happen if possible…!