Slashdot Mirror
Industry Group to Set Video Games Work Standards
Chris Reimer writes "C|Net News is reporting that a new industry group will establish ethics and work standards for video game workers. From the article: 'With an aging work force of video game creators, the game industry is going through growing pains similar to what Hollywood once experienced. Today there are more programmers, artists and producers in their 30s, 40s and 50s, many with families, who are looking for better pay, fewer work hours and improved benefits. PEER will focus on representing these experienced programmers.'" This is more information on an organization that we've previously talked about (related, below).
Has the general computer software industry gone through a similar phase?
If not, should they change the scope to include everyone who designs computer software? (I know that the game industry is reputed to be particularly brutal to its workers, but I think it is a question worth asking none the less.)
Am I open minded towards open source, or closed minded towards closed source?
""C|Net News is reporting that a new industry group will establish ethics and work standards for video game workers. "
While the one for IT workers has been outsourced.
Sounds vaguely like a protection racket to me - 'work with us or we might recommend unionization to those who want better benefits.' Recruiters talking about benefits is kinda like the user car dealer talking about the car - all they care about is moving you out in one & getting their cut on the deal.
Today there are more programmers, artists and producers in their 30s, 40s and 50s, many with families, who are looking for better pay, fewer work hours and improved benefits. Heck, I know all sorts of people who want better pay, fewer work horus and improved benefits! Maybe these PEER guys should contact them, too! This could be some sort of revolution: more money and goodies for less work! It's amazing nobody has thought of this before.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
Man, I am sure glad that you folks in the gaming industry have rights. Because us here in tech support have been enjoying the GOOD LIFE for way too long!
This story is a dupe of the "related story" shown above.
:)
So THAT's why the "related story" feature was invented!
Cool.
Circumcision is child abuse.
They don't make new and innovative...they make what sells. And people that play games rarely want something new. They want something that is fun. And whats fun is fun, whether its new or not. Having said that, I think that with the new wave of consoles we are coming upon new things. From the sounds of the new Elder Scrolls, its going to similar, but much better. New, well sort of. And whats wrong with shoot-em-ups? And finally, on the topic, I think that no one ever takes you seriously until you are in your thirties. So it makes sense that has the bulk of the game designers begin reaching the age when they expect to be taken seriously, they expect to be taken seriously.
"They" aren't the ones making the decision about which games get made. That'd be the publishers. The ones that aren't paying "them" enough. They want to make a "safe" "sure hit" type game, for as cheaply as possible, so they do so by rehashing a successful formula, in less time, with less people.
Developers get very little say in the creation of their games... unless they are developers that are either a. outside of the US, or b. an extremely successful developer that isn't owned by a publisher already.
Don't you like how the word 'ethics' magically got taken out of the meaning behind it all.
"To be is to do." --Socrates
"To do is to be." -- Aristotle
"Do-Be-Do-Be-Do..." --Sinatra
That's not entirely true. If you are a developer and you have an idea you are set on, you will do it. The fact is that a lot of developers are just like the publishers. Doing new things involves risks, and for the development studio that can mean going under. Many developers would rather have safe games that pay consistent paychecks rather than a potential hit or flop.
I like to kill your couch. HE DIED HARD! MOO.
Where sensible Health & Safety laws fine employers who don't do enough to make sure people don't work over 48 hours a week - and that includes on-call time. In our company, we all do 40 hour weeks. If you do more than eight hours of on call, you *must* get a day off the following week. In our French office, there is someone who is responsible for kicking people out by 18:00, in case they work too long by accident, or get carried away.
Don't listen to big business who say it harms the economy, to have people working like slaves. It does more damage to people and family to let them work those hours. It's amazing that it's a given that there are US laws to stop you poisoning yourself with cocaine, but not against killing yourself with work stress.
john
I think that with the new wave of consoles we are coming upon new things. From the sounds of the new Elder Scrolls, its going to similar, but much better. New, well sort of.
That's a PC game.
It's getting an XBox 360 port, but it's a PC game first and foremost. Just one more example of how PC gaming is keeping innovation alive while the console manufacturers (apart from Nintendo) flounder around releasing games like "Madden June 2006" and "Halo 7: Still No Ending In Sight".
I would take a shooter like Gradius or Truxton over Halo/Fear any day of the week...
As I read this, what popped to mind was that they're acting like a union, but they don't want to call themselves a union. It's a sad commentary on unions that you have an organization negotiating with employers (or muscling them) for better pay, benefits, and working conditions for their employees, but it's "not a union."
It is a function of the industry maturing. The days when one or two people could sit down and turn out a killer game are pretty much gone - the technology has gotten too complex. It's also gotten to the point where the ability to hire the "young and foolish" is no longer a plus. The advanced skills needed are in the group of people who no longer feel like working 80+ hours a week.
When lawyers get paid for providing legal services, win or lose.
When GM employees get paid for building a new car no matter how it drives.
When the band at your wedding gets paid regardless of whether people dance.
What does your enjoyment of the product have to do with whether the people who worked 80-hour weeks to bring it to you are being treated fairly? Would slavery be OK if you really liked the products it made possible?