Is it because most big console games of the time were made by Japanese studios who only had access to like z-tier Canadian anime dub actors or the first three gaijins that walked past their offices?
Fallout 2 had fucking :warf-wtf: in it, not to mention numerous other examples of sci fi and horror convention regulars you'd see pop up in PC games of the era
I didn't have a gaming PC until about 2001-ish so I missed out on a lot of titles that were using big name voice talent. But I will say I was blown away with MGS1 back when and still am, it set the bar for voice work in a console game pretty high.