While the actors unions mull their contract negotiations, one actor feels slighted by the video game industry.  Actor Michael Hollick portrayed Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV, providing voice work and motion-capture acting over a 15 month period.  Hollick earned $100,000 for his efforts, which came out to $1,050 per day he worked, almost 50 percent more than the standard $730 rate.  GTA IV earned $600 million within its first week, none of which Hollick will see.  And that’s the way it should be.

Hollick negotiated his contract for a fee he found reasonable at the time - you can’t renegotiate after the fact just because you think you didn’t get enough before.  I’ve express issues with royalties before, but Hollick’s complaint shows an lack of understand the economics of his business rather than mistreatment by evil corporations. 

As Hollick admits, he was paid a premium over acting guild rates.  He just wants a piece of that huge GTA pie.  But who bought GTA IV because of this no name actor?  Even a big name actor wouldn’t pull me into a video game I didn’t want to play anyway.   Hollick had every right when negotiating his contract to ask for royalties and GTA maker Rockstar had every right to throw him out and hire someone cheaper.  And it’s hard to believe Hollick didn’t know GTA IV would make hundreds of millions of dollars when negotiating.

The media industry has evolved itself into a corner with royalties turning into an entitlement for actors and writers rather than entertainment’s form of profit sharing.  Some companies give employees stock options to give them incentive to make the company more money.  Actors and writers argue royalties are their way of getting a fair share of the millions media companies make off their hard work, but who said business is fair?  Royalties are

I do see royalties serving a purpose with big name actors.  Major movie stars do attract large audiences and are often worth their expensive salaries.  These stars then promote their movies on talk shows and at press events, work they do months after filming finished.  With royalties the actors are encouraged to promote the film because the bigger the box office the bigger the paycheck.

But what promotion did Hollick do?  Does anyone think he did a half-assed job because he wasn’t getting royalties?  Was $1,000 a day not enough?  Or is Hollick just doing this as a publicity stunt (probably)?  Hollick was willing to do the work for $100,000 and that means the job was worth $100,000 then and now.  Hopefully the experience would net Hollick a bigger paycheck for his next job, but after this publicity stunt, video game companies might stop calling.

Television uses commercials. Movies run ads and endorsements. Video games should join the trend.

Many sci-fi and fantasy video games cannot benefit from in-game advertising. No one wants a Coca-Cola ad in Final Fantasy. But maybe there’s a compromise so video game producers can pad their bottom lines and gamers don’t have to sacrifice quality. Video games can be sponsors by companies themselves. Just like a TV special brought-to-you by a lone or small group of advertisers, a video game could be brought-to-you by a car company or soft drink.

There are a variety of ways to implement this. The game could come with a commercial a the beginning, skipable with the start button. Even if the commercial is skipped, every time you play the game you see some quick logo to remind you of the sponsor. Before you scream at me, think about how many times you already have to hit start for all the game company logos you have to sit through (do I care that much that Havok’s physics engine was used again). One more time ain’t going to kill you, especially if it cuts $10 off the price tag (or at least allows for a bigger budget and a better quality game).

Also the game box could be valuable real estate. On the back of each game bottom, there already reside soon-to-be a dozen logos of game companies and partners. Why not charge McDonald’s a million dollars to put their logo there too? And to not piss off the gamers, maybe toss a coupon in the game. For even more synergy, let McDonald’s share commercial time or sponsor free trailers and demos. Advertising won’t suck if it gives us something cool at the same time.

Production costs for video games are rising fast scaring away ambitious development (damn casual gamers). Finding a variety of revenue opportunities can calm anxious executives worried about the bottom line and, hopefully, at the same time give gamers some added value.

7. Mastermind

The manipulative master of, shockingly, minds, had the power to create illusions, making people see what isn’t there.  He greatly amplified his powers using a mind-tap mechanism to create an all-new reality for Jean Grey, who at the time was possessed by the Phoenix.  Mastermind’s fantasy world led to Jean Grey becoming the evil Dark Phoenix, destroying solar systems and killing billions.  Sure Mastermind didn’t mean to be such a dick, but that’s what happens when you play with fire.  If only he could master that too.

6. Mirror Master

Three people have held the mantle Mirror Master, showing just how popular mirrors can be.  The most recent Mirror Master, Evan McCulloch, not only can use mirrors as dimensional portals (hella cool), but he also speaks with a Scottish accent.  This has no bearing on his addiction to cocaine.

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Grand Theft Auto has become the poster child for everything wrong with video games. From glamorizing criminal activities to shooting cops to abusing women and engaging in every kind of illegal activity, GTA does seem pretty bad. But as the book Everything Bad Is Good for You points out, there are many benefits missed when you judge a game by its box. I’m not making a judgment about whether 4-year-olds should play GTA (maybe a really really mature one), but I think parents and even adult gamers should look at what GTA really offers.

7. Fantasy is good

Imagination is healthy and rewarding. Video games help bring that fantasy to life. Sure it’s a morbid twist on good ol’ cops and robbers, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. GTA is a chance to pretend to be something most of us could never be. The key is to…

6. Learn right from wrong

And hopefully parents, or adults, can us GTA as an example in right and wrong. Specifically, anything you do in GTA is wrong. Easy to understand, right. So go crazy, enjoy yourself, but remember, don’t try this at home…without a game controller.

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Sony is polling PSP users why they hack their powerful handheld opening the system to a variety of homebrew software.  Sony is likely concerned about widespread homebrew which enables piracy of games.  Sales of PSP software has been disappointing, with no PSP game selling in the top 100 of games from 2007.

Disappointing software sales likely has Sony worried.  Piracy is the common scapegoat, but that line is getting old.  NeoGAF posted the number of downloads of PSP torrent files in a flawed attempt to show widespread piracy.  There are over 30 million PSPs, but Sony is scared of 100,000 downloads of God of War. 

Paranoia over piracy only hampers the PSP, hurting Sony and users.  Sony expends so much time and money to fight homebrew when homebrew only helps increase the value of the system at no cost to Sony.  No matter what Sony other tech companies do, some geeks will pry the secrets from the system.  The iPhone, MP3 players, and every video game system ever (with one exception) have been hacked.

The reasons aren’t because people want to stick it to Sony, but because hacking these systems often makes them better.  iPhone users love adding function expanding software for free while Apple stumbles to release a helpful developer kit (still waiting) to even offer a paid option.

Sony isn’t offering any option.  Sony’s PS3 has managed to rein in hackers by building in an easy Linux install, the staple of homebrew achievements (they’ve even got it running on the Wii).  So why not build in some option on the PSP.  Don’t build in piracy obviously, make the hackers work for it.  But by embracing homebrew, Sony increases the value of the PSP with no effort and lessens the incentive to hack the system for bonus software. 

There nothing to study, Sony.  People love to make stuff better.  We want our purchases to be valuable, expansive, and customizable.  Don’t fight it. Embrace it.

Next-Gen editor Collin Campbell wrote a lecture on the evils of selling and buying used video games. He claimed resellers of video games like GameStop are costing the industry $1 billion (source?) because when GameStop sells used games, the publishers receive no additional revenue. Instead of backing up his position with facts, Campbell follows the common practice of claiming that publishers have some entitlement to more money, rather than letting the market decide and recognizing that there is more money to made thanks to the second hand market.

Video game companies have been critical of used game sales for years, with Sony even attempting to build-in copy protection on PS3 games to prevent them from being resold (Sony did not include this feature). Even book publishers criticized Amazon.com, claiming selling used books would hurt the sale of new books. But no study has shown used game sales hurt the video game industry, though one study has shown sales of used books can actually help the industry. Campbell’s unsupported $1 billion cost to the industry is only attributed to how much GameStop makes selling used games, meaning Campbell is assuming every used game sale would transfer to a new game purchase. Of course, Campbell’s claim that GameStop forces used games on its customers is contradicted by reports that 17.6 percent of GameStop’s holiday sales came from used games - 43.2 percent came from new games.

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Video game fans know it sucks to invest hundreds of dollars in consoles, accessories, and games only to do the whole thing over again in five years. We do it, but we hate it. Sony’s PS2 is showing the console lifecycle might be lengthening, with awesome games still being releases for the seven year old system. The PS2 even outsells the state-of-the-art PS3 meaning people seem willing to invest a couple years in the aged platform.

But Sony’s PSP handheld is a different beast. John Koller, senior marketing manager for Sony’s PSP told IGN he believes the handheld has a 10-year lifecycle similar to the PS2 and PS3. Using firmware updated and some hardware revisions, they can milk the life out of the PSP. But this is a bad idea and an example when starting fresh is better in a few years.

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Reading books sucks, unless those books teach you something like, say, magic.  These 7 masters of mystics have done their reading and know all the best, most flashy, and powerful spells in the book(s). 

7. Malificent

Best known for her master Sleeping Beauty curse, this mistress of the dark arts has a real fire inside her.  Yup, a dragon joke.  Sure the pretty Prince Charming stabbed her an apparently killed her, but the Kingdom Hearts video game series showed she can spring back from anything - even a little boy with a giant key.

6. Voldemort

The Dark Lord has cheated death and has remained one of the most fearsome names in magic even though he was beaten by a little baby.  Hubris aside, Voldemort’s got a bevy of scary spells from the Killing Curse to mind control and talking to snakes (and he looks like one too).  Maybe if he stopped fighting adults and took kids seriously he’d be alive and higher on the list.

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There’s lots of debate about what defines art and video games are caught in the crossfire.  These often violent bastions of 21st century manhood are shuffled off as immature, shallow, and silly, which many are, but then of course, so are many books, movies, plays, and paintings.  As technology improves, so do the games, but that alone does not make an artistic video game.  Look at games for their stories, character development, visual design, and innovations in the medium, these are the games that are the proof of the medium’s potential for greatness.

7. Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy has been the standard-bearing for storytelling and character development as well as unmatched for its creative designs and attention to detail.  Of all the best of the bests, Final Fantasy VI stands out for its phenomenal use of sprites and 16-bit technology to create the franchise’s most massive epic.  With a cast of 14 main playable characters, and several optional additions, the game had so much back story to fill all on a Super NES cartridge.  With limited pixels and colors, Final Fantasy VI matched if not surpassed the story telling epics of the half dozen Final Fantasies that followed.

6. Bioshock

Amid the hype and rave reviews, Bioshock was an amazing step forward in video game artistry.  The story posed ethical questions drawn from philosophical literature, provided creativity through emergent gameplay, and showed off some of the best artistic design in a video game - you feel like you were in a gorgeous art deco city.  Most impressively, Bioshock altered the video game narrative (SPOILER WARNING) by revealing that for the first half of the video game, all the decisions you thought you were making were actually mind control through Pavlovian trigger words.  Really raises the question of who’s controlling who?

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The only thing worse than licensed movie games are licensed TV show games.  But rare gems have shown licensed games can sometimes be moderately enjoyable.  The Lost game, in theory, has the potential to be one of those mediocre games.  When the game comes out next week, think about how cool the game might have been if some of these ideas were included.

7. Social interaction with other characters

It’s like the Sims with guns and betrayal. The survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 have to team up, back stab, and hook up to survive (and entertain).  Let players interact with other characters, trading equipment, offering compliments, lying, etc. with diverse dialogue trees.

6. Stealth and survival over gunplay and combat

There’s a limited amount of bullets and guns on the island, but no shortage of enemies.  So lets seem some quality stealth missions, strategic uses of weapons (shooting exploding barrels is a helpful cliche), and let’s even throw in a cover system - hiding behind trees, logs, and maybe a hatch or two.

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