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This Week in Games - Nintendo Switch


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MajorZero



Joined: 29 Jul 2010
Posts: 359
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 12:41 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists—SAG-AFTRA—has declared a strike against 11 companies, including Electronic Arts, Activision, Insomniac, Disney, Take 2, and WB Games.

Games can be made without voice acting. But medium can't exist without programmers, artists and designers. Better working conditions? I'm all for it. Residuals? I have to ask, for what?
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 1:21 pm Reply with quote
I'm ecstatic that SAG-AFTRA launched their strike. Gaming companies like Electronic Arts (EA) have been deserving of it after forcing voice actors to perform thousands of deaths screams every 8 hours without a break in sight and underpaying them for years. It really is about time that they started our VA's fairer compensation; gaming wouldn't be as thrilling as it is now without them.

Last edited by Mr. Oshawott on Thu Oct 27, 2016 5:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 1:27 pm Reply with quote
Dustin wrote:
Okay, let's talk about Switch.

But not yet! We are still relishing in what may be the second-best article of Pokemon-related rap music ever arranged! Ever does it enthral me how effective visual designs can endear a video game despite hardware limitations.
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Spike Terra
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Joined: 21 Mar 2016
Posts: 358
Location: Maryland
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 1:35 pm Reply with quote
MajorZero wrote:
Games can be made without voice acting. But medium can't exist without programmers, artists and designers. Better working conditions? I'm all for it. Residuals? I have to ask, for what?


Yes games can be made without voice acting but now a days, most Triple A titles (that aren't Nintendo games) have voice acting in it. Many game fans are also fans several VAs (to the point, where they will buy a game based off it's cast). I think voice actors in America have been shafted for decades when it comes to pay and work environment.
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MajorZero



Joined: 29 Jul 2010
Posts: 359
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:02 pm Reply with quote
Spike Terra wrote:
Yes games can be made without voice acting but now a days, most Triple A titles (that aren't Nintendo games) have voice acting in it.

They also usually have several hundreds of other people working on them, and every last one of these people, from creative director to QA tester, deserve residuals more than voice actors ever will.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:47 pm Reply with quote
WOFF has a very boring story, the gameplay is great and has more complexity than Pokemon but I wouldn't buy it unless you are into Dragon Quest Monsters or Pokemon.

The Switch better have third party support and it needs to also be marketed to existing 3DS owners, if it has any chance of getting third party support, it needs sales from the 3DS crowd because from what I hear it's going to be too underpowered to do most open world games.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 3:06 pm Reply with quote
I honestly had no idea about this VA strike going on until just recently, but fighting for better working conditions is always a good thing, especially when the current conditions put tremendous strain on the VAs and they're not receiving fair pay for the work they put in. Interesting coincidence that this came up after the recent discussion we had about the karoshi topic.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 3:43 pm Reply with quote
It's so annoying that the striker are asking for royalty, everything seems perfectly good or somewhat reasonable. Stressful work without pause, hell yeah that shouldn't be allowed. Knowing what you work on can also be reasonable (but at the same time company want to keep there game secret until release) but there's room to discuss.

Royalty, no, just no. By sticking to that point so much there just burning there support from the public. Oh and again, the union cover a shockingly small number of VA, so company can easily found way around, so the union don't have the men power to actually effectively fight the company. So no leverage on the companies and low support, well...

Plus by asking for high pay to arise only after X number of sales, it just seems like the big name VA (the one who will get hired for big AAA titles) are trying to rope the smaller VA (the one who won't be hired for 2+ mils game) into there strike for there own benefit. Once again, union disappoint and feel like its just the senior member fighting for themselves and leaving junior members in the cold.

Plus for how long would the royalty period cover? Like in 6 years when the game are selling on steam sales for 2$, should the VA still get royalty?
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Stuart Smith



Joined: 13 Jan 2013
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 4:17 pm Reply with quote
MajorZero wrote:
They also usually have several hundreds of other people working on them, and every last one of these people, from creative director to QA tester, deserve residuals more than voice actors ever will.


The main difference is voice actors are more known to the public than the people who actually make the games. They are usually the kind of people who are active on Twitter and social media, so they have a more likely chance of gaining sympathy and public support than a bunch of measly programmers and artists do. It's even worse if we're talking about YouTubers, streamers, or b-tier internet celebrities like Felicia Day, Jessica Chobot, Ashley Burch, and Wil Wheaton who ride on their internet fame as they get more and more gigs in voice acting. The sad fact of the matter is public image people are more important to the average nerd on the internet than the people who actually make the games. Don't underestimate blind loyalty from Twitter fanboys and fangirls.

I do wonder if the strike might make dual audio more likely in future releases of Japanese games. Or perhaps sub only releases if they can't produce a dub, which would be perfectly fine by me.

-Stuart Smith
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 4:55 pm Reply with quote
Stuart Smith wrote:
Or perhaps sub only releases if they can't produce a dub, which would be perfectly fine by me.


Perfectly fine for you, but I imagine this wouldn't sit well with a lot of folks.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2201
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 6:45 pm Reply with quote
Switch: yeah, that's also what I've been saying for years when people scream "3rd parties!" about Nintendo. The fact of the matter is that Nintendo is a completely different animal to Sony and MS when it comes to that. Nintendo has essentially reached a point of self-sufficiency when it comes to software. From the GC onward their 1st party lineup has only gotten more robust whether it be spinoffs like Paper Mario and Hyrule Warriors or new IPs like Pikmin and Splatoon. And that's not even getting into their handhelds which admittedly are more robust when it comes to 1st party support, but big Western 3rd parties are weirdly absent on stuff like the DS and 3DS (which is a whole other aspect that deserves its own examination). Nintendo is essentially the equivalent of gravity in universal forces of gaming: it makes decisions that buck every "rule" in the industry and somehow they make out like bandits. Even if 3rd parties screw them over they'll survive and thrive

The Strike: This is something that was years in the making. Ever since gaming has decided to do this "cinematic" approach with loads of voice acting something was going to give. The thing is this strike is about more than just the voice actors, it's also about the gaming industry's terrible, exploitative labor practices. They exploit their employees just as badly as they do actors and it needs to stop. What this strike can do is encourage designers, programmers, etc to fight back and demand they be treated fairly. So I fully support this strike as it's about gaming as a whole and if people get treated better then it's nothing but good for the industry.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:54 pm Reply with quote
There's this one thing that has been baffling me concerning American gaming companies: their tendency to use voice actors for motion-capture in addition to voice-over. Why couldn't they just hire another person to do the motion-capturing instead of forcing the VA's to handle double-duty? Confused
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5887
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 10:56 pm Reply with quote
Mr. Oshawott wrote:
I'm ecstatic that SAG-AFTRA launched their strike. Gaming companies like Electronic Arts (EA) have been deserving of it after forcing voice actors to perform thousands of deaths screams every 8 hours without a break in sight and underpaying them for years.


This is interesting as I've not ever heard of EA ever doing this. People give them grief for various things but this oddly one of the least commonly mentioned gripes I've heard about regarding EA.

AiddonValentine wrote:
From the GC onward their 1st party lineup has only gotten more robust whether it be spinoffs like Paper Mario and Hyrule Warriors.


.....Paper Mario is a first party title, whereas Hyrule Warriors is essentially a third party title.

AiddonValentine wrote:
or new IPs like Pikmin


Pikmin was introduced way back on the Gamecube it's most decidedly not "new".


AiddonValentine wrote:
but big Western 3rd parties are weirdly absent on stuff like the DS and 3DS (which is a whole other aspect that deserves its own examination).


If there's any reason for why most western developers have refused to develop on the DS and 3DS it's pretty simple, the limitations of those systems doesn't justify making games on those systems. If Nintendo would stop being stubborn and opting to make systems that aren't sorely outdated and lacking by comparison to other devices on the market maybe more publishers and developers in the west would be more willing to make games for their systems.


AiddonValentine wrote:
Nintendo is essentially the equivalent of gravity in universal forces of gaming: it makes decisions that buck every "rule" in the industry and somehow they make out like bandits.


Except when it comes to the VirtualBoy, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, & Wii U they've dropped the ball a few times trying to buck rules in the industry.


AiddonValentine wrote:
Even if 3rd parties screw them over they'll survive and thrive


Not by making consoles if the Switch bombs that's it for Nintendo in the console market and even more reason for them to not kill off their 3DS line to tie their handheld division to the Switch itself.

AiddonValentine wrote:
The Strike: This is something that was years in the making. Ever since gaming has decided to do this "cinematic" approach with loads of voice acting something was going to give. The thing is this strike is about more than just the voice actors, it's also about the gaming industry's terrible, exploitative labor practices. They exploit their employees just as badly as they do actors and it needs to stop.


This Strike has nothing to do with the programmers, designers, and developers though and those people are treated far far worse than the voice actors who have various other opportunities open to them to make money. And don't have to worry about not getting overtime pay or getting laid off at a moment's notice.


Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:03 am; edited 1 time in total
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CrownKlown



Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 1762
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 11:05 pm Reply with quote
Some further details were revealed today, that the portable part of the console runs on 720p and the games run on 900p natively, I am assuming that means hooked up to the tv. While nice for the portable side, that doesn't even put the console on par with the base ps4 and xbox one.

Also the battery life is rumored to be rather sparse, as low as three hours I have heard which kind of limits it for longer activities like flights or other travel.

I really have my doubts, as did the investors which promptly caused nintendo shares to fall after the announcement. And the president of Nintendo saying he did not understand why this happen, typical clueless nintendo, plus his announcement of gadgets and add ons aka we sell you a base piece of hardware and then jack up the price with add ons does not inspire confidence.
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otagirl



Joined: 26 May 2015
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 2:34 am Reply with quote
3rd party support is paramount.

You cant target real gamers with poor games. Thats the reason the Wii had limited potential. Families bought it as a Christmas present gimmick, but once the novelty wore off the shallow games couldnt keep people loyal.

The reason Nintendo is failing is because of weak technology and that it sticks too close to a few classic titles that the old timers are getting bored of. And the younger guys are attracted to the fresher series on xbox andd ps.
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