I owe so much to those old fansubs. The way they would sub the openings and endings with the Japanese, romanized Japanese, and English translation really gave me a great boost starting learning back in the day. Official localizations don't tend to do that now but it used to be common.
Plus all the translator notes explaining cultural norms and phrases that didn't really have translations. Also signs. Dear god I miss have signs get translated. It's a weird thing to miss, but it demonstrated the effort that was going into those early fansubs. Maybe I just miss the craftsmanship of it all in a world that seems determined to throw away craftsmanship.
Even more importantly, trans people didn't exist at all back then so you didn't have anybody who would intentionally vandalize a translation by making Nagatoro say sus.
Yeah the typesetting skills in some of those fan groups put official localizations to shame. I understand people wanting to throw money at the "official" version when there is an easy way to do so, but personally the effort and quality on official anime localizations are so piss poor compared to groups of dudes doing it for free as a passion project in their mom's basement in 2005 that it is hard for me to conclude that they deserve anything at all. Anyone who wants to support the show can buy the source material if they want; more probably goes to them than if you pay a monthly sub to Crunchyroll anyway.
The lettering always had bordering and the coloring was chosen with good contrast in mind so that it was never a struggle to read the subtitles, which is far more than can be said for every single official sub I've ever seen.
Right? There's definitely a place for fully-voiced games, and I do appreciate them, but it's far from a requirement. At their core, video games do not require actors for anything.
I'm mixed on it too. Voiced can feel more alive, but also is often used as an excuse by devs to go more "cinematic," which isn't what I want in my video games generally. I want to play, not watch a ten hour movie like some games try to do. Thankfully the games that generally go so overboard aren't the games I like to play, even if they didn't do that, but it's still absurd.
On the other hand, too much text can be a bit of drag for the same reasons, pulling you out of the game. Especially if there's a bunch of bonus lore laying around, it can feel like a chore going through it all; can end up feeling more like a job, and something you need to do for the sake of completeness, before you can get back to the gameplay. But maybe that's just me being a bit obsessive.
But that's just common sense; too many cinematics, or too much text can be annoying, just as too little story could be, and neither has anything to do with the actors. You certainly don't need actors for games if you don't want.
These people really don't realise how easily replaceable they are...There are thousands of people who actually fucking like games and appreciate the work they do who will gladly replace them...
Yup, replaceable indeed. Breaking the back of the current incestuous "talent" pool would probably be a great thing and, at worst, a neutral one. Do it. Strike.
We don't need you shits. Even if most of them liked games and respected gamers, they still wouldn't be essential. The fact that they often despise us, and that their existence often ends up producing worse games due to the "moviefication" of games, is just all the more reason to show them the door. Again, do it. Strike.
It's hilarious when unions work against the people they're supposed to represent, too. These fucks had almost complete ideological capture in the AAA sphere; they got what they want. Now they're going to threaten to leave?! Hahaha, they need us a lot more than we need them.
Or they'll contract out since this is just a US union. It's kind of hilarious that they don't realize how easily replaceable they are, and once they find out how cheaply their jobs can be done they'll be out of work for good.
The other issue is that unlike Hollywood, there is a vast and extensive network of Indie and AA studios that are not beholden to the overall Games industry and would continue to exist if this strike happened. In fact, such a strike would probably allow them to cut into the market share of AAA devs even more than they already are, which is a market where a $15 voxel based game is putting up player numbers on par with Call of Duty and its $70 price tag.
They are relying heavily on the public pressure to prevent companies from doing so. They think if they can get enough bad press it'll scare them off making such a choice.
How is the request reasonable? If you can't distinguish between the things they produce and the things an AI produces there's no reason to pay them.
Also: Looking at what western media shat out in the last few years, you actually can distinguish between AI and actual "human" beings. Sadly, AI seems to produce better things.
SAG-AFTRA leaders announced Friday that they will seek authorization for a strike against major video game companies, which would presumably include giants Activision and Electronic Arts.
In a statement, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher called out video game companies for their “greed and disrespect.”
The Nanny is on the warpath.
The last time SAG-AFTRA launched a strike against video game makers was in 2016. The strike lasted nearly a year.
Uh, I honestly do not remember this happening.
Does anyone remember that? Did it have any actual effect?
Yeah, it was over royalty disputes and a few other things. They were basically saying that voice actors should get royalties on video games.
Non-woke people made the argument: even the creative designers don't get royalties on their games so why should Hollywood actors?
If anything, the actual designers should get the royalties, because there is no game without them. As most popular indie games show -- like Battlebit -- you can have a very fun and robust experience without voice actors.
So, come to think of it... I hope they do strike the gaming industry again.Woke companies will have to stall their projects in mid-development to either wait out the strike and lose money on operating costs while doing so, or have to hire outside of the SAG-AFTRA union pool, and risk being black-balled by the union (though, honestly, I don't think that's a bad thing).
Best argument I heard of why this would fail actually came from SFO last night, we ALL have such a backlog of games that a strike could last DECADES and we wouldn't notice. No new games? Well time to hop on Skyrim and see what new mods are available or try to finally beat that hard game I have with a no death run.
No new shows? Better go over all those old shows that I haven't taken the time to watch or get used to subtitles and watch something from Asia.
Extend the strike to include dub artists/studios and what we'll have is not 'valiant strikers making a heroic stand against the establishment', it'll be the mass suicide event from a failed ideology that chose to kill themselves than admit they were wrong.
I support expanding the video game strike to video games. There could be nothing more important than crashing the corporate games industry and making both the corporations go broke, and the developers lose their careers.
Or for escapism, which is antithetical to the political grandstanding many companies will force into their product no matter how completely irrelevant it will be.
One day, within our lifetimes, there will be a prototype of the last adventure game we'll ever need. A collection of LLMs and generative AI subroutines will create the world, and then in real time write the lines, animate the characters, and voice them, based on your prompting. The great-great-great grandson of Dwarf Fortress, where no two adventures are the same unless you want them to be and share the seeds with others.
After that, it'll be engine upgrades, efficiency tweaks, and better LLMs as plugins, but the AAAA studio $300M game will be dead.
i hope they also drag anime localizers and voice actors into this
I like the way you think!
I want AI generated fansubs. Feed it all the old school fansubs from the mid 2000s and have it revive that style of localization.
I owe so much to those old fansubs. The way they would sub the openings and endings with the Japanese, romanized Japanese, and English translation really gave me a great boost starting learning back in the day. Official localizations don't tend to do that now but it used to be common.
Plus all the translator notes explaining cultural norms and phrases that didn't really have translations. Also signs. Dear god I miss have signs get translated. It's a weird thing to miss, but it demonstrated the effort that was going into those early fansubs. Maybe I just miss the craftsmanship of it all in a world that seems determined to throw away craftsmanship.
Even more importantly, trans people didn't exist at all back then so you didn't have anybody who would intentionally vandalize a translation by making Nagatoro say sus.
Yeah the typesetting skills in some of those fan groups put official localizations to shame. I understand people wanting to throw money at the "official" version when there is an easy way to do so, but personally the effort and quality on official anime localizations are so piss poor compared to groups of dudes doing it for free as a passion project in their mom's basement in 2005 that it is hard for me to conclude that they deserve anything at all. Anyone who wants to support the show can buy the source material if they want; more probably goes to them than if you pay a monthly sub to Crunchyroll anyway.
The lettering always had bordering and the coloring was chosen with good contrast in mind so that it was never a struggle to read the subtitles, which is far more than can be said for every single official sub I've ever seen.
It'll reduce the workload for (actual) translators, too. Have AI do most of the work for them and they clean up anything that was missed.
I'll happily go back to silent protagonists.
Right? There's definitely a place for fully-voiced games, and I do appreciate them, but it's far from a requirement. At their core, video games do not require actors for anything.
I'm mixed on it too. Voiced can feel more alive, but also is often used as an excuse by devs to go more "cinematic," which isn't what I want in my video games generally. I want to play, not watch a ten hour movie like some games try to do. Thankfully the games that generally go so overboard aren't the games I like to play, even if they didn't do that, but it's still absurd.
On the other hand, too much text can be a bit of drag for the same reasons, pulling you out of the game. Especially if there's a bunch of bonus lore laying around, it can feel like a chore going through it all; can end up feeling more like a job, and something you need to do for the sake of completeness, before you can get back to the gameplay. But maybe that's just me being a bit obsessive.
But that's just common sense; too many cinematics, or too much text can be annoying, just as too little story could be, and neither has anything to do with the actors. You certainly don't need actors for games if you don't want.
Yup, replaceable indeed. Breaking the back of the current incestuous "talent" pool would probably be a great thing and, at worst, a neutral one. Do it. Strike.
We don't need you shits. Even if most of them liked games and respected gamers, they still wouldn't be essential. The fact that they often despise us, and that their existence often ends up producing worse games due to the "moviefication" of games, is just all the more reason to show them the door. Again, do it. Strike.
It's hilarious when unions work against the people they're supposed to represent, too. These fucks had almost complete ideological capture in the AAA sphere; they got what they want. Now they're going to threaten to leave?! Hahaha, they need us a lot more than we need them.
As long as the developers let me skip to the next line at MY pace, not theirs.
Sure but also they can just tell the actors to fuck off and use AI and consumers won't know the difference
Please, do it!
Or they'll contract out since this is just a US union. It's kind of hilarious that they don't realize how easily replaceable they are, and once they find out how cheaply their jobs can be done they'll be out of work for good.
The other issue is that unlike Hollywood, there is a vast and extensive network of Indie and AA studios that are not beholden to the overall Games industry and would continue to exist if this strike happened. In fact, such a strike would probably allow them to cut into the market share of AAA devs even more than they already are, which is a market where a $15 voxel based game is putting up player numbers on par with Call of Duty and its $70 price tag.
They are relying heavily on the public pressure to prevent companies from doing so. They think if they can get enough bad press it'll scare them off making such a choice.
How is the request reasonable? If you can't distinguish between the things they produce and the things an AI produces there's no reason to pay them.
Also: Looking at what western media shat out in the last few years, you actually can distinguish between AI and actual "human" beings. Sadly, AI seems to produce better things.
The Nanny is on the warpath.
Uh, I honestly do not remember this happening.
Does anyone remember that? Did it have any actual effect?
Yeah, it was over royalty disputes and a few other things. They were basically saying that voice actors should get royalties on video games.
Non-woke people made the argument: even the creative designers don't get royalties on their games so why should Hollywood actors?
If anything, the actual designers should get the royalties, because there is no game without them. As most popular indie games show -- like Battlebit -- you can have a very fun and robust experience without voice actors.
So, come to think of it... I hope they do strike the gaming industry again.Woke companies will have to stall their projects in mid-development to either wait out the strike and lose money on operating costs while doing so, or have to hire outside of the SAG-AFTRA union pool, and risk being black-balled by the union (though, honestly, I don't think that's a bad thing).
I completely agree with her, but for entirely different reasons than she would ever support or believe.
The response of the majority of the public at this threat
Best argument I heard of why this would fail actually came from SFO last night, we ALL have such a backlog of games that a strike could last DECADES and we wouldn't notice. No new games? Well time to hop on Skyrim and see what new mods are available or try to finally beat that hard game I have with a no death run.
No new shows? Better go over all those old shows that I haven't taken the time to watch or get used to subtitles and watch something from Asia.
Extend the strike to include dub artists/studios and what we'll have is not 'valiant strikers making a heroic stand against the establishment', it'll be the mass suicide event from a failed ideology that chose to kill themselves than admit they were wrong.
Also. And furthermore. And finally.
oh no, not my ugly women displaying, buttsex promoting, diversity shoehorning AAA gamerinos!
I would love to see a wave of new games with no story or voice acting at all. Just technology and gameplay.
I support expanding the video game strike to video games. There could be nothing more important than crashing the corporate games industry and making both the corporations go broke, and the developers lose their careers.
Please do strike. Also make sure localizers lose their jobs too
You're not needed in videogames. Go away.
[Monotone] Oh no. Whatever will we do.
No one plays games for the acting and writing. Actual gamers play for the GAMEPLAY.
Or for escapism, which is antithetical to the political grandstanding many companies will force into their product no matter how completely irrelevant it will be.
Oh no! Anyway
Do it
Hopefully we ban machines in assembly lines for putting all the craftsmen out of business.
Protest against reality!
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Although I was going to say FAGs, for a Team America reference.
MATT DAMON!
FUCK YOU, AREC BARDWEEN!
Little known fact, they actually used puppets in that movie not as a style choice, but so Alec Baldwin wouldn't kill anyone.
One day, within our lifetimes, there will be a prototype of the last adventure game we'll ever need. A collection of LLMs and generative AI subroutines will create the world, and then in real time write the lines, animate the characters, and voice them, based on your prompting. The great-great-great grandson of Dwarf Fortress, where no two adventures are the same unless you want them to be and share the seeds with others.
After that, it'll be engine upgrades, efficiency tweaks, and better LLMs as plugins, but the AAAA studio $300M game will be dead.
I'm pretty sure AI will be used to smooth out animations in video games. The permanent end to jank could lead to a new golden age.