Fallout: New Vegas made headlines a few weeks ago with the announcement of an incredible vocal cast working behind the scenes on the game. The talented group includes former Friends star Matthew Perry, Chuck himself Zachary Levi, geek icon Felicia Day, and Vegas staple Wayne Newton. That's a pretty impressive crew for the post-apocalyptic adventure, due in stores in late October.

The new Fallout title is a reminder of how far video games have come when it comes to performances. Games used to feature a quality of bad acting that only enhanced the poorly translated scripts from other countries. It didn't matter, because we were all interested in the gameplay, but over time the focus has changed. Now it's not just the gameplay, but the talent behind the game that matters. A big name behind a character can be just as much of a draw as the concept of the game itself.

Bringing talented actors to video games isn't a new practice, although casts on par with Fallout: New Vegas are rare. With that in mind, we've assembled a list of some of our favorite vocal performances in games. From B-list action stars to Academy nominated actors, here are some of the better big name appearances in video games:

Bruce Campbell - Spider-Man 2

The campy B-movie actor and co-star of USA Network's hit series Burn Notice has recreated his famous Evil Dead character in video games, as well as offered an appropriate voice for Pitfall Harry. So why does Campbell's work as the narrator of Spider-Man 2 make this list when those other movies don't? Even more importantly, why does Campbell's Spider-Man 2 work make the list when actors like Toby Maguire and Alfred Molina reprise their movie characters? Because Campbell's humor is a guiding force through the game - a welcome voice that fades after helping the player learn the game's controls, and then reappears as the player makes their way through the free-roam city's many scavenger hunts. When the game's open-ended content felt monotonous or boring, often Campbell's voice work would help spice things up with hilarious punches of humor.

Marina Sirtis - Mass Effect

Best known for playing the overly-kind and understanding Counselor Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Sirtis has continued working in recent years as an animation vocal performance. A lot of the roles Sirtis voices are the opposite of Counselor Troi, nefariously motivated antagonists. That's a good description of the first look players get at Sirtis's Mass Effect character, Matriarch Benezia, although before the character is finished Sirtis gets a chance to give the antagonist a bit more depth and range, providing motivation for other characters long after Benezia has exited the story.

Malcolm McDowell - Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

The Wing Commander series is one of the first gaming franchises I can remember incorporating big budget actors into the gameplay. While the game boasted some awesome names (Mark Hamill and Tom Wilson just to name a few), it doesn't get much better than Malcolm McDowell as Admiral Tolwyn. The typically-villainous actor doesn't completely change his stripes as the Fleet's admiral, but it is a more heroic role than many people are used to from the Clockwork Orange actor. Reminiscing about McDowell's Wing Commander role makes me wonder why the franchise didn't last longer. Maybe that Freddie Prince Jr. movie adaptation did more damage then we originally thought.

The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (minus Sarah Michelle Gellar) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I think it says something about the team that Joss Whedon assembled when everyone but the actor behind the title character made the transition to the Buffy video games and the result was just as entertaining as any episode of the series. Replacement Buffy Giselle Loren does a fantastic job capturing the spunk and style of the lead character, while the rest of the players remind faithful fans that the show was always more of an ensemble project anyway. The biggest disappointment about Gellar not jumping into the video game cast is that it cleared the way for Alyson Hannigan's departure for the second game, Chaos Bleeds - an absence that was far more regrettable.

David Cross - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

There are a lot of supporting performances in San Andreas to like, but the most quotable in my household is the model-obsessed electronics wizard, Zero. Admittedly, this is probably because one of the Zero missions, which involve maneuvering radio controlled models with awkward controls, was repeated at least half a dozen times the first time I played the game, causing Cross's character to howl out signature lines of dialog repeatedly. Cross brings his usual level of dedication to creating as big of a loser character as possible, and the vigor with which he attacks his opponent, Berkley, over some silly models kept me entertained regardless of how many times I had to retry the missions. Just remember: "They're not toys! They're just smaller!"

Jack Black - Brutal Legend

Long-time fans of Black know just how much of his roots are steeped in rock music. Before there was School of Rock there was Tenacious D, and while we're not likely to get a video game following the exploits of the D, Brutal Legend is a satisfactory substitute. Through the game, Jack gets to do what he does best: act silly with over the top antics, and rock as hard as he can. It doesn't matter that Black's character, Eddie Riggs, is animated. With Black's voice powering him, it's as if Jack Black himself is going through Eddie's trials and tribulations.

Jennifer Hale - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Technically, Hale isn't a fair addition to this list, as her fame is really only in the realm of video game voice performances. I'm making an exception for her for two reasons. One, the list was incredibly light on female performers. Two, Hale's skill as a voice artist is unrivaled. While I love her performance as the female version of Shepard in Mass Effect, it was Knights of the Old Republic that made me fall in love with Hale's voice, as the game's protagonist slowly falls for Hale's judgmental Jedi Master, Bastila Shan.

Haley Joel Osment - Kingdom Hearts

Square Enix's combination of the Final Fantasy and Disney universes brings a lot of actors into the spotlight, either recreating roles that made them famous, or stepping into already popular characters. At the center of it all is the barely-recognizable Osment - a voice much older than his "I see dead people," Sixth Sense performance, but not quite past the teenage years the part of Sora demands. With Osment's voice unrecognizable, the actor creates a solid character that meshes well with both Final Fantasy and Disney without pulling the player out of the game by realizing just who the voice belongs to.

Ray Liotta - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

In contrast to Osment's Kingdom Hearts performance, Liotta's voice in Vice City works well specifically because we know who the voice is coming from. There's nobody better to lead the way through the Scarface parallel of Grand Theft Auto's iconic '80s era than the voice of one of the Goodfellas himself. Between the story and Liotta's vocal performance, GTA: Vice City is one of those games that's fun to return to, regardless of advances in technology or previous in-game achievements.

Mark Hamill - Batman: Arkham Asylum

While Batman: Arkham Asylum had a lot of people won over with its gritty concept and imagery, I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that Hamill would be reprising his role from the animated series as The Joker. Hamill's version of the character has quickly become the definitive edition of the character, capturing the mind and hearts of Batman fans everywhere. Following the success of The Dark Knight, it would have been very easy for a game developer to insist on taking The Joker in a Heath Ledger style direction. Instead we get one more awesome performance from Mark Hamill, who has unfortunately announced the game's sequel, Arkham City will be the actor's final time bringing The Joker to life.