SAG still wants residuals from games.

Scrubking

Scrubking

CAGiversary!
 
[quote name='Scrubking']

The video game market has grown to be enormously profitable, and our members have played a tremendous role in generating those profits," said SAG National Executive Director/CEO Greg Hessinger.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:[/QUOTE]

Maybe he meant to say "...and our members have played a very, very, very, VERY tiny role in generating those profits" but got mixed up.
 
SAG has zero leverage since AFTRA already agreed to the deal. Game companies can just hire either AFTRA members or non-union voice actors, and many are members of both anyway, and I'm sure a lot of SAG's voice actors that aren't already, will be signing up pretty soon.
 
What a joke. I've never bought a game because of the voice acting. If anyone should get residuals, it should be the developers.
 
Are you kidding? I bought Halo 2 because that one guys voice is in it. If his voice was not in it I wouldn't have bought it! . Maybe they should join that F.A.G. organization from Team America World Police.
 
Honestly though, Voice Acting has been one of the leading factors of why I still play games...

I was on my way out around the PS1 days and good voice acting brought me to Metal Gear Solid.

I dont think that they should be awarded more money or praised from the high heavens, but I think you guys sell them too short.

Good VO adds to the character in so many ways giving the character real depth. I've heard some shitty VO in my time - and that really bothers the hell out of me.

Good VO is getting much better, and I'm glad I dont have to hear "You, Jill the master of lockpicking" anymore.

I dunno, but bad VO is part of the presentation, and if the presentation isnt there...I'll immediatly hate the game no matter the quality of the game. The polish brings it all together for a real, believible world...

Think about Sonic Heroes for a sec.... that is some shitty music and shitty VO. But that game would benefit so much from some real VO.

VO is harder than you think, and just getting a popular actor isnt always enough.

That Sinbad animated movie was horrible to me because Brad Pitt's delivery was fucking rediculous....

Or the Spiderman 2 game where Tobey snoozes through the delivery....

Trust me, its something you would miss if it were gone.
 
QUESTION:

Actors get paid residuals in other mediums... network, cable, video sales. Why shouldn't they get residuals for their work in videogames?



BTW, I bought "Primal" because it had the voice-acting of "G'kar" from Babylon 5. I love that guy's work.

troy
 
I guess I have always liked hearing people like Burt Reynolds or whoever's voice in a game, and I think in the case of a game like GTA it adds a reasonable amount of artistic credibility to a game that needs to do a lot of other things with exceptionally high production value to skirt around the obvious violence... but I'm sure I could live without 'highly trained' actor voices.. I mean some of the stuff (e.g., game like SSX Tricky) seems like overkill just to get 'name' people to do voices...
 
I'd go as far as to say I don't like it when major celebs do voice acting in video games. I couldn't image Doom 3 or Half-Life if everytime I encounterd a character I hear Ashton Kucher, or Samuel L. Jackson or whatever. Most scrren actors are not voice actors, there is a HUGE difference. It's the same thing as watching Disney add A list actors to anime. It just doesn't work for me.
 
[quote name='electrictroy']QUESTION:

Actors get paid residuals in other mediums... network, cable, video sales. Why shouldn't they get residuals for their work in videogames?



BTW, I bought "Primal" because it had the voice-acting of "G'kar" from Babylon 5. I love that guy's work.

troy[/QUOTE]


Thats very different. In something like a movie, the actor does everything to bring the character to life...from facial features, to body movements, to voice accents. With a video game, it is mostly the developer bringing the character to life. To me the voice acting is just the "icing on the cake" of the character in game.
 
In something like a movie, the actor does everything to bring the character to life...from facial features, to body movements, to voice accents. With a video game, it is mostly the developer bringing the character to life
Click to expand...

Yeah, but don't voice actors get paid residuals for their cartoon/CGI work? i.e. Everytime Beauty and the Beast airs/sells, Angela Lansbury & Jerry Orbach get paid. Right?

troy
 
[quote name='electrictroy']Yeah, but don't voice actors get paid residuals for their cartoon/CGI work? i.e. Everytime Beauty and the Beast airs/sells, Angela Lansbury & Jerry Orbach get paid. Right?

troy[/QUOTE]

Interactive medium versus non-ninteractive medium. When you watch a cartoon or a movie all you are doing is "watching". When you play a game, 95% of your time is spent manipulating your character, and playing the game, not listening to them speak. The majority of voice work is done for cut scenes. You are not "PLAYING" the game during a cutscene, you're "WATCHING" it. People buy games to play them, not to watch them.

You can make a compelling multi-million selling game with no voice work (Grand Turismo IV, Legend of Zelda, etc), but you can't make movies or television in this day and age without actors. Actors = important in movies, Actors = not nearly as important in games. Why pay people residuals if you don't have to? Just business, plain and simple.

For more info, please see the various rants on the subject in this thread:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53069&highlight=voice+actors
 
[quote name='electrictroy']QUESTION:

Actors get paid residuals in other mediums... network, cable, video sales. Why shouldn't they get residuals for their work in videogames?



BTW, I bought "Primal" because it had the voice-acting of "G'kar" from Babylon 5. I love that guy's work.

troy[/QUOTE]
In other mediums (stuff you watch) actors are the entire show. Even if its just voicework, you can not make the show without the actor, period. You don't absolutely need voice actors in a videogame, they're a relatively small part of it. I think the $759 an hour they're getting is more than fair.

If they agreed to residuals, they would either use non-union voice actors exclusively, computer generated voices, or not use voice acting at all. The cost would outweigh the benefit.
 
[quote name='Professor Oreo']When you watch a cartoon or a movie all you are doing is "watching". When you play a game..... The majority of voice work is done for cut scenes. You are not "PLAYING" the game during a cutscene, you're "WATCHING" it.[/quote]


Yeah I know, but even if an actor's voice only shows up for 60 minutes (like the man playing goofy in Kingdom Hearts), he still deserves to get paid for his work.

He would get paid playing Goofy in a cartoon (and residuals).

Likewise, he deserves to get paid, including residuals, for playing Goofy in Kingdom Hearts. The amount will be less, but he should still get paid.

troy
 
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