TS3 Creator's Camp: Day 2, 20:00
This afternoon we had a quick trip over to the audio studios at EA for a Simlish session with vocal actor Nikki and Audio Guru Robi Kauker. I've been lucky enough to have several sessions in here in the past, recording some of my own Simlish which was recorded and rendered to Sim video, so I took a back seat to let the others have a try!
I couldn't resist grabbing some video of Nikki and her unmistakable laugh! Nikki does many of the kids voices in Sims 3 and the laugh she throws in to some animations is so childish and hilarious. Then you realise after chatting for a while that she actually talks and laughs just like that all the time! Raving mad!
We learned a few things about the music in the game which, by the way, is incredible. Some of the creators here this week have confessed to loading up the game and then quitting out and reloading just to hear the intro music again! Some of the build mode music is beautiful, and the new kids soundtracks had me giggling too loudly according to some!
Oh yea, what did we learn? Well, one claim to.. er.. 'fame'(?), from the audio team was turning down Mariah Carey for a Simlish track. The reason? She just didn't fit the University EP style! Paul McCartney was invited to perform in Sims 3. They're still awaiting his acceptance! It turns out that many artists actually approach EA to be in the game and are, contrary to popular belief, not actually paid that much for their performance. No… Really! (So we were told).
Here's my video of Nikki. See if you can tell the difference between her Simlish performance and her real voice/laugh.
More tomorrow!
/Steve