September 18, 2007

What do Bender from Futurama, Marcus Fenix from Gears of War and Wakka from Final Fantasy X all have in common? Amazingly, they're all voiced by the same guy - John DiMaggio. In fact, once you get looking around, it's amazing how many stars do games voiceovers for a bit of extra cash. Of course, in some circumstances, getting professional actors in is essential - just look at Heavenly Sword's excellent cutscenes for proof of that. We decided to find out who's done what - and the results are quite surprising. Check out this little lot, starting with John...

Game: Gears of War (Xbox 360, PC)
Star: John DiMaggio as Marcus Fenix
Best known for: The voice of Futurama's Bender

John is probably best known for being the voice Bender the robot in Futurama. But a quick look at his credited appearances reveals a very impressive scope of roles. As well as Wakka in Final Fantasy X and X-2, he also voiced Kimahri Ronso. Then there's Tiny Tiger in Crash: Nitro Kart. Bizzaro in Superman Returns. Juggernaut in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. It's amazing how varied the work can be for a voice actor - and not just in videogames.

The list goes on - Jackie Chan Adventures, Kim Possible (not as Kim - that really would be versatility), Ultimate Spider-Man... we're impressed. If we were giving out awards, John would win. But we're not, it's just for fun. Yeah, "Bite my shiny metal ass", we know...

Above: John DiMaggio (bottom-left) who plays Wakka, Marcus Fenix and Bender. And that's just for starters...