Troy Baker is one of the biggest voice actors in the video game industry. Some of his greatest performances include: Joel Miller in The Last of Us, Sam Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Booker DeWitt in Bioshock Infinite, and Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding among many more.
Mark Hamill is one of Baker’s biggest inspirations in the gaming industry, but his admiration doesn’t end there. He is a big fan of Nolan North’s work, one of the biggest names in the gaming industry alongside Baker.
Troy Baker and Nolan North were seen together in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, where they were portrayed as brothers; Sam and Nathan Drake.
Baker’s collaborations with Nolan North
Troy Baker’s biggest inspiration is industry legend Mark Hamill who was the first voice of the Joker. He further showers compliments on Nolan North who plays the role of Nathan Drake in Uncharted. Baker said –
I think what Nolan North did with Nathan Drake [in Uncharted]… I just fell in love with that character so much.
Troy Baker and Nolan North are both industry giants, with a total of 300 credits among the two. In 2018, the two legends decided to come together to make a YouTube show called Retro Replay, where they played old games and shared stories about their experiences.
The duo’s talents are not limited to voice acting, North went to college on a baseball scholarship and had a pretty strong arm. Although he couldn’t make it to the big leagues, he still garnered some attention from the pros. Like his co-host, Baker’s talents too are not restricted to voice acting. He was the lead singer for ‘Tripp Fontaine’.
The rift that led to Troy Baker’s fallout from Retro Replay
After making a successful season 1 of Retro Replay, Baker and North started having disagreements and creative differences concerning the show’s future. Baker wanted to do thoughtful and analytical content whereas North refused to be serious and wanted to crack jokes and have fun with it.
People looked forward to them playing Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End together. Baker’s fallout with North left the fans of the show utterly devastated. One user wrote –
Baker was constantly trying to get deeper and more thoughtful about the playthroughs they did on their show, he wanted to have deep conversations about games and how they affect each individual on a personal level. North was more inclined toward the fun aspect of gaming and wanted to highlight that.
In the rift between the two, one can not raise fingers on who was wrong or right. They both wanted different things from the same experience and were not able to find a middle ground, which eventually led to Baker’s fallout.
