The frightening thing is that I had almost exactly that train of thought all the way up to the Phantom Hourglass reference (I just got a copy and haven't tried it yet) but my ambivalence about writers/unions/royalties/etc. is identical.  I have a strong sense that unions were only possible to organize back when the studios were really victimizing the creative people - now that the game studios are only heavily oppressing us but not squeezing the last drop of blood out, it's still too easy to say "hey, I can make a living and work for someone else if I don't like my current company, and I get to have the fabulous, fun-filled life of a game developer, what do I need a union for?"  The tiny number of writers who get immense amounts of money are a seductive pull, but big riches are a distant possibility, and union dues (and having to stop working during a strike!) are very real.