The first game also debuted Nikki Rapp as the child sim. She continued with the gaming series from the Sims 1 to the Sims 3, when the Sims 4 was announced she then announced that she would no longer be a part of the franchise. To be honest, she is ICONIC, because when I was younger and I first heard her voice, I thought she was a real child, until 2005 and I thought to myself... why hasn't the child doing the voiced aged?
Then I later found out it was a woman. According to information, she has a high-pitched range, and you'll hear a lot of her in commercials, and gaming. Apparently everyone who did voices from the Sims 1 never returned, now it's all well known people. Although Nikki Rapp does not return she can be heard on the Kids TV Channel station in the Sims 4, as you can hear her iconic laugh. And you might ask? Why blog about Nikki Rapp? Well she was the iconic voice who lasted from 2000-2013, most of the original voices were long replaced, so that's basically 13 years.
Then I later found out it was a woman. According to information, she has a high-pitched range, and you'll hear a lot of her in commercials, and gaming. Apparently everyone who did voices from the Sims 1 never returned, now it's all well known people. Although Nikki Rapp does not return she can be heard on the Kids TV Channel station in the Sims 4, as you can hear her iconic laugh. And you might ask? Why blog about Nikki Rapp? Well she was the iconic voice who lasted from 2000-2013, most of the original voices were long replaced, so that's basically 13 years.
Nikki Rapp on The Sims:
12 years ago I had an audition for a video game – all I knew about it was that it was “a really good job for a voice actor to get.”
I had been working professionally for a only a few years – so I was really excited for this opportunity- turns out that game was The Sims.
I was driving a blue and white bouncy (those shocks were real bad) El Camino with flames on the back window in those days, and the drive down to Maxis was long and hot. I arrived not really knowing what the heck I was going to do- and when I was told, I was pretty blown away… and a little nervous.
Claire Curtin guided me that day, and her direction– watch the animation and improvise the scene like a kid– make up words!– was music to my ears.
“No script??!?”
“Nope.”
“Oh! Like in drama school?”
“Yep!”
This moment inspired my love for Simlish.
I left that tiny booth feeling excited and electrified, and really thrilled about the possibility of this challenge.
Unfortunately I didn’t hear a thing for months- and I thought I had lost my chance. All those jerky monologues started playing in my head, so I just kinda thought it was done.
But then….
Almost 3 months later I got the call that I had, in fact, booked this crazy job!
I was over the moon- but I still had no idea of the magnitude of this game, and how much it would be a part of my life; all the wonderful people I would come to know.
I was the only child voice in Sims 2, and that alone was a huge challenge in patience with myself and resilience – most Voice Over sessions I’ve had are 4 hours, tops. The Sims- we do 6 hours now- but I used to work for 8 hours! While I enjoyed the language, my brain would start to go cuckoo like clockwork at around 4:30 pm. I would start saying really bad words that I didn’t even realize I was saying, or have to think about certain sounds I was repeating too much. The exhaustion from a Sims session is like none other; I always slept very well those nights.
I was also very lucky and thankful to be a part of MySims, a super cute game with really adorable characters. On a technical note, I had to work on keeping my pitch low, but my energy high so I didn’t sound outta control with the voice pitcher ingame… this was a pretty big challenge for me, because it seems (in general) that the more excited I get about things, the higher my voice loves to go… but I learned a lot with great direction from Marielle Jakobsons and really precious animations to play with. Julie Nathanson was my MySims partner, and we poured the giggle sauce on real heavy! So much fun!!
So Who Are The Voices In The Sims 4?
Hynden Walch who is probably best known for voicing Starfire in Teen Titans, does a female voice in the Sims 4, most likely the teen girls or young women as that is what she specializes in. I don't really think she can do much more because I've only ever heard her as teenage girls. And just to make sure I did a quick check and yup, voicing girls is what she does best.
Jessica DiCicco who had done a lot of voice work in the past is the new voice of the child Sim. Replacing Nikki Rapp, funny enough both Jessica and Nikki did voice-over work on Psychonauts. Jessica's voice sounds quite boyish, but in The Sims 4 you can change the pitch of the voices, so they sound completely different.
When Simmers were wondering who did what? Some of the people who did the voices gave out a little hint. Like Jessica for example.... saying Sims be like... Now Jessica's voice is known to me from that Disney show entitled The Emperer's New Groove as Malina? And if you used to watch the Bratz back in the early 2000's or was forced to, you would have heard her voice as some of the less featured Bratz, the voice she usually uses is cute, so she gets away with it. Jessica DiCicco is a old woman now, but can still do those voices.
Don't Compare?
Now most people complain that she replaced Nikki... but sometimes things happen and you have to move on. Now I can't be too sure, either Nikki was replaced by force, or she left on her own. Cannot be too sure, but as a voice-over artist she knows that sometimes things don't last forever and you move on, and she's bound to get loads more voice-over work.
Patrick Seitz a well known Anime VA, as one of the create a Sim voice characters, and most likely the male Sim voice. And here are the rest of the VA that are also featured in the game, meaning many people provided vocals for the Sims 4, which is why the Sims have so many voice types.
Sims 4 Voice Actors:
Krizia Bajos
Cia Court
Taylor Parks
Arianna Ratner
Patrick Seitz
Fred Tatasciore
Scott Whyte
Additional Voice Actors:
Zoe Galvez
Roger L. Jackson
Owen Thomas
And well that's the end of that chapter, makes the franchise more interesting to know that they hire people who are well known. They need voices for elders, babies, etc.
So basically the whole new cast for the Sims are all new, and some are well known, and would be honored to be a part of the game, because voice acting is not the same as it once was, the people doing voices now get more recognition, people want to know who is doing what and where.
If the Sims wanted even more all they'd have to do is hire Tara Strong, and all her fans would swarm like bees to honey. So to conclude this post, YES, it does matter who is doing the voice for the Sims, as we don't want to hear somebody with a crusty voice, now that's be a total put off, and trust me when it comes to voices people are FUSSY as hell, I myself have auditioned for things, and you wouldn't believe how some people who hire people want their characters to sound, to get the role you either need the right voice type, or you need to be well known in what you do.
Oh, and in the end it all comes down to acting ability, but with the Sims, that does not matter because the Sims talk a whole lot of bull shit. So people stating they should make it an official language... sorry I don't agree with you, it's all words that don't make sense.
Like Dag Dag means bye... in the Sims 1 but means hello in another... WTF? Get it right EA Games!!!!
So basically the whole new cast for the Sims are all new, and some are well known, and would be honored to be a part of the game, because voice acting is not the same as it once was, the people doing voices now get more recognition, people want to know who is doing what and where.
If the Sims wanted even more all they'd have to do is hire Tara Strong, and all her fans would swarm like bees to honey. So to conclude this post, YES, it does matter who is doing the voice for the Sims, as we don't want to hear somebody with a crusty voice, now that's be a total put off, and trust me when it comes to voices people are FUSSY as hell, I myself have auditioned for things, and you wouldn't believe how some people who hire people want their characters to sound, to get the role you either need the right voice type, or you need to be well known in what you do.
Oh, and in the end it all comes down to acting ability, but with the Sims, that does not matter because the Sims talk a whole lot of bull shit. So people stating they should make it an official language... sorry I don't agree with you, it's all words that don't make sense.
Like Dag Dag means bye... in the Sims 1 but means hello in another... WTF? Get it right EA Games!!!!
