Strike Looms Against Game Makers

Strike Looms Against Game Makers : "I filed this report for Wired News today on labor conflict between the game industry and two Hollywood unions representing voiceover talent. The most contentious issue at hand: whether actors should be entitled to a share of the profits from video games that feature their voices. 'Nine of the top 10 selling games in 2004 were produced with union contracts, using union voice talent -- and because of that, the quality of those games becomes exponentially higher,' said Seth Ostrom, a representative of SAG and AFTRA. Under one of several models proposed by the two unions, actors would receive additional compensation when a game in which their voice is used sells 400,000 units. When sales reach additional 100,000-unit thresholds, the actors would receive additional payments. 'Every other sector of the entertainment industry provides some residual profit-sharing model to performers whose talents make the product come alive,' Ostrom told Wired News. 'The video-game business is the only exception, and that's unfair.'
Bob Finlayson, of the game industry's Publishers Interactive Bargaining Group, disagrees.'People buy games for gameplay, not to hear voices,' counters Finlayson. 'And technology creates gameplay, not actors. People who play these games understand that, and in fact, some gamers turn the volume down because (they) find those voices distracting. In film or television, the actor's performance makes the experience. In video games, it does not.'"