Well Put

Wil Wheaton has this post on the new SAG deal with Video Game Producers. It sounds like a reasonable deal, though actors still are underpaid given the game industry's profits. My favorite bit is here though:

"And while I'm talking about things producers should do: I'm really sick and tired of employers and non-actors lecturing actors about how useless and replaceable we are. If it's so easy to replace us with Dave from Human Resources, then go for it. Otherwise, show us just a tiny bit of respect for the craft we practice, and the value we provide to your movies, TV shows, commercials, and, yes, video games.

"I recently reviewed Area 51 for The Onion AV Club, which meant that I played it for about 7000 hours in three days. The gameplay is great, and I enjoyed it . . . but the story made it more than just another shooter, and it was the reason I kept playing until the end. And guess what? If you watch the "making of" features, you'll discover that just about everyone at the company thought it was important to hire actors who could bring "unique" voices to their characters, like Marilyn Manson, David Duchovny, and Powers Boothe. Maybe I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt that Kenny, the Hot Topic kid from the IT department, could bring the same energy and creepiness to the project as Marilyn Manson."

Yes, as funny as the guy who gave us the "AWWKISH HOORDE" from Warcraft 2 was, he just doesn't bat in the same league as actual thespians. I just finished another round of "James Bond: Everything Or Nothing" and, though I respect the crew who worked on the previous 007 games, it is so much better having Judi Dench, John Cleese, and Pierce Brosnan for this outing. Sean Connery is preparing to do the next Bond game, and Clint Eastwood will add his voice to a Dirty Harry title. Clearly this is serious work for a highly lucrative enterprise, so give the actors their due.

And the writers, while we're at it.