Who knows the saga of Monkey Ball will also know that one of the most iconic elements of the many games that make up the series is the voice of the announcer, Brian Matt Uhl. Apparently, however, in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, fans will have to do without it, as SEGA has confirmed that the original announcer will not be present in this new incarnation of the game.
Super Monkey Banana Mania changes announcer
The change of announcer appears to be due to a video posted by Brian Matt Uhl, entitled The Dark Side of SEGA, in which the voice actor explains how the company has a tendency to not want to pay non-Japanese voice actors enough. In the video, Uhl explains that over the years he has had to face several legal disputes regarding the royalties owed to him for the work on the Monkey Ball saga.
But the voice actor did not stop at a criticism of the way in which SEGA manages the payments of his collaborators, as he also disclosed, during a Q&A of the information protected by NDA. For these reasons, SEGA has decided to change the voice of the iconic announcer of the Monkey Ball series, specifying that Matt will no longer be involved in future projects of the company.
A decidedly tense situation, therefore, which however highlights one of the many problems that has plagued the videogame market for some time. The way in which voice actors are treated by some companies is in fact an issue that emerges cyclically over the years, to which it has not yet been possible to give a firm and decisive answer and SEGA has a decidedly not very noble reputation in this sense.
In short, an unpleasant situation therefore and that could lead to similar cases in the future, especially if Matt’s accusations prove to be well founded.