Writer's Guild of America announces nominees for game writing award
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jan 15th 2008 at 7:30PM }
Of course, none of those were nominated for the Writer's Guild of America's first ever Video Game Writing Award, but never mind. The winner to grace the stage during the Writer's Guild Awards held in Los Angeles on February 9, 2008, will be chosen from this list of witty nominees:
- Crash of the Titans -- Written by Christopher Mitchell for Sierra Entertainment
- Dead Head Fred -- Written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan for D3 Publisher
- The Simpsons Game -- With lead writer Matt Selman, written by Tim Long and Matt Warburton, dialogue by Jeff Poliquin for Electronic Arts
- The Witcher -- With lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec, dialogue by Sebastian Stepien, additional dialogue by Marcin Blacha and writers Sande Chen and Anne Toole for Atari
- World in Conflict -- Story design by Christofer Emgard, story consultant Larry Bond and script consultant Ed Zuckerman for Sierra Entertainment.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nick the Hero of Canton @ Jan 15th 2008 7:34PM
I'd assume the writers of Mass Effect, Portal, and Bioshock are not part of the guild, then?
Anyways, out of those, i'd give it to The Simpsons Game, though I haven't played like...3 of those lol, soo....
Huey2k2 @ Jan 15th 2008 7:36PM
I was thinking the exact same thing, how could BioShock and Mass Effect not be on there? They were both superbly written games.
Zachary Dellis @ Jan 15th 2008 7:41PM
It is a sin against all things good in this world that Portal is not on this list.
Anonim @ Jan 15th 2008 8:09PM
You HAVE to be in a guidl so such abnominations ar The Witcher translation into english are on this list...
"The Witcher -- With lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec, dialogue by Sebastian Stepien, additional dialogue by Marcin Blacha and writers Sande Chen and Anne Toole for Atari"
All should be shot without mercy.
Anonim @ Jan 15th 2008 8:10PM
@note to myself - don't post before proof-reading :(
Negativecool @ Jan 15th 2008 8:32PM
The whole lesbian alien sex thing probably scared them off.
Negativecool @ Jan 15th 2008 8:32PM
The whole lesbian alien sex thing probably scared them off.
Ignatius @ Jan 15th 2008 9:14PM
Apparently, Mass Effect pales in comparison to The Simpsons Game.
We must be in Bizarro world.
Einhanderkiller @ Jan 15th 2008 11:25PM
If you can get past the somewhat poor translation, the story in The Witcher is amazing.
Luzid @ Jan 16th 2008 7:41PM
Where's God of War II?
(OT: go WGA - your strike demands are imminently reasonable!)
LaughingTarget @ Jan 15th 2008 7:42PM
This seems to me as a means to get more members in the Writers Guild.
Negativecool @ Jan 15th 2008 7:45PM
Of the nominees, my choice would be The Simpsons game. Despite its short comings, it's really the type of Simpsons game I always wanted. It has the same wit and humor as the series, in addition to all of the same voice acting from the series and cameos from many memorable characters.
But, I'm sure your choice is the correct one.
Rob Accomando @ Jan 15th 2008 7:45PM
Whomever thought up, "The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie." should win the biggest award they have.
Worst Review Ever @ Jan 15th 2008 8:15PM
Don't you get it? The award is a lie!
Chase @ Jan 15th 2008 7:46PM
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Great selection there. I know I was riveted to my seat in anticipation as I played... none of those games.
Edguy @ Jan 15th 2008 7:54PM
Ludwig, you're the best righter evar. :)
Julio @ Jan 15th 2008 7:59PM
Yes, you're vary right.
Ghen @ Jan 16th 2008 12:44PM
he speeled rewording coractly even if it was out of context ;)
jabbertrack @ Jan 15th 2008 7:58PM
righting is easy
what is the big deel heer?
mcatrage @ Jan 15th 2008 9:03PM
I think some striking reality show writers have found joystiq.
Cyantre @ Jan 15th 2008 8:03PM
It's a shame Portal isn't on this list, because it would take the cake... literally.
BPM64 - The Second Attack! @ Jan 15th 2008 10:33PM
WHAT cake? ;)
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jan 15th 2008 8:15PM
hmmm.. Out of those my pick would be Dead Head Fred. I enjoyed but I'm sure there were other games with better stories.
n0v4 @ Jan 16th 2008 8:53AM
You must be fucking kidding me. The Simpson game????
Where's Portal, Biochok, Mass Effect, HL-Episode 2 What the fuck?
Groening must be sucking reeeeaaal good.
KeenCommander @ Jan 15th 2008 9:15PM
No Bioshock or Portal? And yet Crash of the Titans makes the list???
Evangel @ Jan 15th 2008 10:06PM
People, please read the entire post. Only games that have writers who've applied or are in the WGA get considered.
That being said, the hate against The Witcher is unneccessary, yes the translation butchered the dialogue, still a great game. World in Conflict, however, deserves to be well above Bioshock.
GreyFox @ Jan 16th 2008 12:55AM
I'm so damn happy to see World in Conflict get some attention for it's writing because people are completely over looking it's single player and it's a damn shame they don't see an RTS doing the whole package RIGHT for once.
@People clamoring for Portal: As much as I love the game the fact that it's a popular internet meme doesn't make it deserving of honours for writing. This isn't to say it's bad (it's quite good) but it really doesn't stand up to WiC or Mass Effect in terms of overall quality.
Jason Axelrod @ Jan 15th 2008 11:11PM
What about Uncharted: Drake's Fortune? The plot itself may have sucked, but the writing was excellent.
dustandechoes91 @ Jan 16th 2008 12:31AM
I was about to say that. That game was written like a movie....a good movie....id pay to see it. It was even more fun playing it.
baby sea tuna @ Jan 16th 2008 7:51AM
It was certainly better than National Treasure 2.
Philip Wesley @ Jan 16th 2008 1:18PM
Of course well written games will be excluded as the WGA is a shoddy union. Unions serve some purposes, they help keep corporations honest on overtime, rally to get better health coverage, et cetra. Then there are unions that sue or threaten a strike for double profits on free internet downloads in the hopes that they can eventually raise union dues.
The WGA is absolute crap. The people on strike right now should say: "Forget this union, I'll go back to work, and instead... join the Animation Guild."
Luzid @ Jan 16th 2008 7:45PM
You are so misinformed - if they join animation, they don't get things like residuals.
What a load of horseshit your uninformed opinion represents!
Nekura @ Jan 16th 2008 10:08AM
So, basically, only "slumming" TV and movie writers are eligible for the award. What a crock.
Just to be equally arbitrary I think we need to start limiting "Best Director" awards to members of the Mile High Club...
Deuxhero @ Jan 16th 2008 10:21AM
Now that the guild has proven they can see through the shiny graphics and hype of games like Mass Effect or Bioshock I definitively support there strike.
Now all they need to do is make an "of all time" award so they can give Planescape Torment a prize