Computer games may be going quiet in the near future, as a vocal majority of video game voice actors has been authorized by their union to go on strike for better pay and working conditions. In late September, several prominent gaming actors pushed for a strike, and an impressive 96.52 percent of the SAG-AFTRA union’s members have voted in favor, according to a recent announcement from the powerful performers’ union.
The announcement is quick to point out, however, that this does not yet mean that the actors are on strike, but rather “it gives the National Board the authority to declare a strike.” 75-percent approval was required from the membership for a strike to be possible, and the vote’s overwhelming support for a strike easily satisfied that requirement.
The possibility of a strike came up when the union’s previous Interactive Media Agreement expired at the end of 2014. Negotiations in both February and June of 2015 failed to produce a new deal, and the union then decided to pursue stronger tactics. With the board and membership’s authorization, the Negotiating Committee will now be able to realistically threaten to strike when they return to the bargaining table with major video game publishers.
According to an explanatory page on the union’s website, their platform comes down to essentially four big issues. The actors wish to be paid and treated in a manner that reflects the massive growth of the video game industry in recent years, which is eclipsing film as one of the most dominant and profitable media. Like film actors, voice actors want residual compensation from the back end for games that do exceptionally well. They are only asking for additional payment when games sell over 2 million copies, protecting smaller projects and developers. This figure was chosen based on research conducted by the union, as it explained in a related statement:
“We looked at the 100 top-selling games of the past two years and found that of the games with sales numbers that would trigger a secondary payment under this proposal – the “blockbusters” – the penetration of union performers is nearly 100 percent. That’s why we positioned our “ask” at 2 million copies – it’s where most games start to turn a profit, and it’s where all the union talent is found.”
Second, the actors would like protections in place for vocally stressful recording sessions, in the same way that stunt performers are compensated based on the difficulty of a given role. With the massive total recording times typical of major video games, the fatigue from challenging sessions can add up and damage the actors’ instrument, the union claims. They are asking that taxing sessions be limited to two hours.
Third, voice actors are often pulled into doing motion capture work in games as well, but sometimes without the same safety precautions taken for stunt performers in film and television. The union is asking that stunt coordinators be used in order that dangerous physical scenes are recorded with the same rigorous concern for safety as in any other medium.
Finally, the union is requesting greater transparency on the projects that actors are signing up for. Actors are frequently recruited for projects knowing little about the context in which their work will be used. In extreme cases this has led to actors revoking the rights to their performances on finding out about a game’s offensive content.
The move to strike has been supported by many prominent voice actors, including Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect), Wil Wheaton (Broken Age), David Hayter (Metal Gear Solid), Ashly Burch (Life is Strange), Tara Strong (Batman: Arkham City), Elias Toufexis (Deus Ex: Human Revolution), and more.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.