couple of weeks; lifetime royalties (Score 1)

I DON'T THINK SO! Short version: A couple weeks of work on a game that takes many other people 1 to 3 years spending thousands of man-hours to put together does NOT entitle the voice actor to royalties. The programmers, artists, etc. don't get any royalties for the thousands of man-hours (and I'm sure much more passion and talent) put into the game. Most of the profit, if not all, goes back into paying salaries and development costs. The rest? Well that goes into the next project the Publisher wants. Longer version: I'll be completely honest; I like voice acting in some games. I will be honest again; I'll be absolutely appalled if the SAG gets to set terms in games and companies actually USE it. Voice acting is the last thing gamers care about in a game. However, there are a couple exceptions for the exceptional voice actors, like Patrick Stewart, who started as Stage Actors and are whom I consider REAL actors. Actors like that know how to put certain inflections in their voice to hint that they are hiding sadness or something of the like and you can feel it rather than see it. That is talent and credit should be given where credit is due. But, (big but) it is still voice acting and in a video game, that comes last. Game companies shouldn't rely on actors to MAKE their characters anyway. They are supposed to be creating somebody new, special, somebody we all love and adore (or hate and respect) and have never seen before. If game companies start using actors too often, especially well known ones, it is going to take away from the gaming experience because you will recognize the voice and it will pull you out of the illusion. We want to feel the experience, be immersed in it. Voice acting can help that happen, I understand this, but it is most definitely not needed. No matter how much voice actors THINK they are important to a game, they are not. ALL games can do without voice acting (save for cases like Chronicles of Riddick), which can in fact have no voice acting, just text boxes or sub-titles on the bottom. Games like that definitely deserve credit where credit is due; big name actors like Vin Diesel have enough clout to get the deal they want without some guild trying to get deals for them. Like I said, a couple weeks of voice acting deserves absolutely NO royalties. If anyone deserves royalties, it's the programmers, artists, etc. that put thousands of man-hours, blood, sweat, tears and heart into a game.