"We want more!"

I was thinking the other day that you get more enjoyment out of a video game than a movie, yet the people that make movies are loaded, and game developers are not.

I heard a story from a former EA employee who was working on James Bond and they got Pierce Brosnan in to do voice acting on site (being paid around $2 million dollars for 2 hours of work) and he wouldn't even say "hi" but simply say "lets get this over with already" when some dev members asked how he was doing... pretty sad.

As for the overtime stuff in the games industry-..its getting old. Most companies have good benefit and bonus packages to make up for no overtime pay.

I notice this sort of thing happening all the time now and it makes me sick.

I dont think gamers are as shallow as movie buffs when it comes to star attractions. Ofcourse I can see why they use actors for games based on movies... but... damnit.

Most ppl workin on movies arent loaded

There is a pattern, in movie/game/music industry if your name is a selling point of on show for other reasons you are in 99% of the cases loaded as fuck.

The normal employee in these industries whose names are mentioned in somewhere where everyones names are mentioned like the end credits in movies are propably paid like everyone else.

And I might say "why should the average coder be paid more? or why should the average voice actor be paid more? if you get a 'superstar' name to do your game like John Carmack then he would get a big fat paycheck since his name is with out a doubt in the game box and every piece of adverticement" but I don't since I want to get paid well from what I love to do

The programmers are replacable, if they dont want to work for the wage, someone else will do it. "YOU ARE REPLACABLE!" Pierce Brosnan isn't. I mean, c'mon, he is James Bond.

Salary might be around average but the differences are in the work they do.

Example, this list is from Firaxis employment page

Company Benefits

Fully-funded health plans

Contributions programs ($150 yearly to your favorite charities)

Birth and Adoption leave for mother, father, significant other

Generous vacation, holidays, personal days, and sick time

Release time for volunteering (3 hours per month)

Supportive, team-oriented work environment

Life insurance and Disability coverage

Family-friendly social gatherings

Competitive salaries

Spacious offices

Profit Sharing

Free lunch

401k

Pretty nice benefits don't you say? All that and add the salary = atleast I'm happy. Then that compared to the couple of million dollars made by only a handfull of movie stars/producers/writers/directors minus the benefits, and the case of "oh, you are sick, well that is so sad, pay for your own doctor bill" and "oh you are so sick you can't work? well maybe big name actor #2 will take your place" high salary means "bitch can pay everything him/herself".

I Gearbawx

Hmm... I think game design is an artistic thing and I don't know if a guy who works 24/7 like a slave as the-guy-who-makes-the-concrete-textures could be a good creative artist.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why most EA games are actually lame. On the other hand there are many companies that are different. To my knowledge Rareware has a very worker-friendly, homelike working atmosphere and hell look at the games they made! Donkey Kong for SNES, Goldeneye for N64 and many more

Even Valve seems to be very nice to work for, although the crunch time of HL2 must have been hell on earth.

What I want to say is that in my opinion a good working atmosphere is essential for ground-breaking games. Some managers and producers just don't get it.

oh the greed

http://pc.ign.com/articles/624/624147p1.html

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Voice Actors Settle Game DisputeTalent unions agree to higher pay in lieu of profit sharing.

by David Adams

June 9, 2005 - A dispute between Hollywood voice actors and game publishers reached tentative resolution this week, as actors unions announced Wednesday they had accepted higher pay instead of the profit sharing initially demanded.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have accepted a three-and-a-half year deal whereby union voice actors will receive a 36 percent increase in pay. The agreement still awaits final approval by the unions.

Negotiations for new contracts with game publishers began in February, but broke down last month when unions demanded that voice actors receive profit sharing, or residual payments, similar to what film actors receive for multiple showings of a feature.

A Reuters story quotes John Connolly, AFTRA's national president: "While we did not get all that we want ... and deserve ... this contract is another important step in building artists' power in this growing sector of the media industry."

The dispute and current resolution reflect the increasing scope of videogames, which now share equal space with Hollywood films as far-reaching, high-production (and high-profit) entertainment.

SAG and AFTRA together represent about 3,000 video game actors.

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this contract is another important step in building artists' power in this growing sector of the media industry

Did this contract get the modellers and level designers and programmers a 36% pay increase? Oh thats right... no. Without those artists, you wouldnt have this sector of the media industry. Leeches.