Uncharted 2 wins Writers Guild of America games writing award

by Griffin McElroy on Feb 22nd 2010 10:30AM

We've lived with an unspoken fear in the back of our minds since the middle of January, when the nominees for the Writers Guild of America video game writing award were first announced. We weren't sure if we could live in a world where X-Men Origins: Wolverine was decorated over Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2 for having the year's best in-game writing. Fortunately, this fear has been dissuaded: Last night at the WGA awards ceremony, Uncharted 2 writer Amy Hennig took home the prize.

In a way, though, we feel bad for Ms. Hennig. How frustrating must it be to know that you can't get comfortable in your seat for too long at one of these awards shows? And can you imagine how many acceptance speeches she's had to write over the past month? The poor thing.

[Thanks, Fintan!]

Source

Tags: amy-hennig, awards, naughty-dog, sony, uncharted-2, Uncharted-2-Among-Thieves, wga, writers-guild-of-america, writing

Reader Comments (52)

Congratulations!

You just HAD to comment seconds before me. Now I look like one of those jerks at the parties who only congratulates someone because someone else did so. Now Naughty Dog won't invite me to their next celebration. Thanks.

It's okay Crimsic. Our time stamps are the same so you are in the clear. We can celebrate together!

Aha but the longer we make this reply thread the more distant crimsic's congratulations become makin him the guy who also said congratulations first but it was drowned out by the other people in the room patting Naughty Dog on the back

Btw Congratulations to Naughty Dog =]

Congratulations to Naughty Dog and their writing team.

I am ashamed to say I have had the disc next to my PS3 for the last month, too busy with Blu-Rays. :(

I am gonna get back into it today.

Can't stop....won't stop...

damn right!

I'd say it's all pretty well deserved. One of the best games of this entire gen ... The overarching story behind the adventure wasn't great but the dialogue and situations between characters was amazing.

Really? Downvoted for saying one negative - and mostly true - thing?

Yeah odd downvote ... I mean he speaks the truth lol.

There was nothing groundbreaking about the story, but the dialogue and acting was superb.

Downvoting? The mans bluer than a smurf

Btw Congratulations to Naughty Dog =]

-sings in his team america voice- Uncharted 2, *&%$ YEAH! comin' again to save the mutha*&%$in day, yeah!

I guess it's safe to say that U2 is critical success. Uncharted 3 is going to have some big shoes to fill, but if anyone can do it Naughty Dog can.

Well deserved.

While the story was nothing special, the actual dialog between the characters was superb, and superior to most TV shows/movies.

Marco !

Marco !

Come On Work With Me Here !

Marco !

......

Ugh.. Fine, POLO! Now get out of the pool. :| (Chloe disapproves -15)

This is no surprise. Uncharted 2 had fun dialogue that was brimming with wit that few games can compete with.

They're gonna need a bigger trophy room...

Good job, now get cracking on another Jak and Daxter title.

Uncharted 2? I've never heard of this game.

Are you one of those people who lives under a rock?

Such a sad reality.

Congrats to Naughty Dog...but i still don't know if Uncharted 2
deserved it.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVES me some Uncharted. One of the few games
I've beaten on multiple difficulties.

But i think the script wasn't anything super. The dialogue was fine
and all, def some memorable lines. "Theres a guy below you." Yet, the
story was common i thought. Only really pushed along by excellent
voice work and direction.

[SPOILERS]

I mean your introduced to Schaufer late in the game and then the NEXT
time you see him he kicks the bucket. how are you supposed to feel
attached? I thought that was a little weak.

[END SPOILERS]

I only criticize because I love it.

Just my 2 cents.

i'm with you. there are definitely things to like in U2, but i didn't particularly think the writing was among them.

It's only an award for this year. Name a better written game this year.

And if you want to talk about gaffes, how about Assassin's Creed 2.

[[ SPOILERS ]]

You discover that there were skyscrapers in Eden and the reaction is simply "well, we'll talk about it next time you come out of the animus". And to top that, when you come out, you DON'T EVEN DO THAT!

[[ END SPOILERS ]]

Compared to that, having Schafer kick off is peanuts. Besides, I was so jazzed with the realization that ND seemed to have slyly put TIm Schafer's name into U2 after he started the whole 'half tuck' craze with his commentary on the first one that I didn't mind if he didn't stick around. Jeff won't be back for the next one either you know, and after all that bonding you did limping through the streets dodging tank fire!

@ why not: "It's only an award for this year. Name a better written game this year."

it says it's a 2010 award, but the games being considered are from 2009.

and for an award that is strictly about writing in video games, i think dragon age: origins should get that nod.

Ha i remember that tank level. At the end I was like "Well that was for nothing."

As for AC2. I feel that's a game that had a great story but not the best story telling. Compared to Uncharted 2 it's hard considering U2 had much better scene direction and was linear making it much more capable of telling a stroy. AC2 didn't exactly have that "one scene to the next" story telling because it was open world mission based.

I would say both AC2 and, especially, Arkham had better scripts then Uncharted 2. Arkham i was so invested as to what was happening which was mostly do to the great story telling (voices were great too). Not saying i didn't care about Uncharted 2 and Drake but that was more because I like Drake, not so much because of the story.

"This year" I meant in the same year as U2. So 2009 in this case.

I haven't played Dragon Age: Origins yet, it's next after I finish Mass Effect 2.

geez,

express your opinion in a polite matter. get downvoted.

i reallllllllllllllllllllllly need to play this and the first one.

There are still some of those Dualshock 3 + Uncharted gift packages laying around at gamestop. They cost a little more than just the controller, which is a great deal! My first controller died last week, but luckily my local gamestop still had this package hidden in the cabinet. Its selling for $90 on amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Uncharted-Drakes-Fortune-DualShock-Bundle-Playstation/dp/B002Y2WBCM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1266857528&sr=8-1

After reading the Wga site ,they are nothing more than a union in sheep's clothing ,just like the actors guild.the reason they acknowledge game is so they can get in to the writers head & feed him bull shit ideas & once that's done they will be the one to incite writer strikes among writers & publishers & developers in the gaming industry. pretty much a union forcing it's way with bulls concepts & awards .say no to unions ,there are better ways.

Wait... a guild is really a union? -gasp- No way! I can only imagine the extensive investigation and research you must have undertaken to expose this dirty secret!

"The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writers_Guild_of_America

"The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is an American labor union"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild

I guess they couldn't pull the wool over *your* eyes, could they?

lulwut?

I do think that Uncharted 2 is well written compared to many other video games, but it's just an action movie script translated to a video game. Don't you guys think gamers should raise their standards? or at least expect all video games to at least be up to Uncharted/GTA/Mass Effect/Bioshock/Half-Life standards of storytelling.

Gladiator won the best picture Oscar and it was just an action movie. And it was nominated for best writing too. Should they change their sights too?

don't mind me, just talking to myself.

Its easier and more interesting if you guys just like the awards Uncharted 2 didnt get.

U2 is a nice game I enjoyed it when my friend bought over his PS3 but the writing? Ok I looked at the sight I remember this now, these WGA awards only really considers nominees that have a WGA membership. I remember really liking the dialogue and story of Dragon Age. Will I say it was more Fun that U2 no I like it more but general gaming consensus I know U2 is loved more.

I know I will get voted down but yea if we are talking about writing, I got to go with Bioware.

If you didn't agree with Uncharted 2 winning the award, at least take comfort in the fact that Modern Warfare 2 didn't. Eesh what a mess of a plot that was.

Well deserved. I love Naughty Dog!

And coming up on next week's episode of "Why Sarcasm Doesn't Work on the Internet..."

Whether or not Uncharted 2's writing is good, this award is still just a scam to get people to sign up with the WGA.

@End User no they did not pull the wool over my eyes , but they do blatantly tell you what they are .my problem is that i hate unions,been burned by them so i all together just anything that tries to entice you be letting you know they care about you when all they want to do is hurt big business that don't need unions.all they care about are fees, particularly the ones that tell you will get work ,just as long that you pay your fees & if you don't pay they blackball you thur out the whole industry.that why i am against unions.thier are ways individuals can achieve or obtain certain perk from thier employer or the company they work thier called contracts incentives.unions are just bad business.

Yeah, um, I've worked in a union (Communication Workers of America). I don't currently. While they have their failings, overall they're good for the rank-and-file workers.

No, big businesses don't "need" unions. They "need" labor at the cheapest possible rate, and unions exist to prevent that need being pursued to the detriment and predation of those employed.

It's just funny to me that you act like the WAG is trying to hide that it's a union ("they are nothing more than a union in sheep's clothing"), when a "guild" is effectively synonymous with a "union." I guess the teachers' union at your elementary school had its own failings as well, ya scab.

i didn't even know they had awards for script writing in games. ive never played a game whose script is so compelling and well written that i felt it deserved an award. maybe i need to play encharted for more than 10 min... but its just not that good. maybe its that womans voice, the one in the beginning that looks late 20's but sounds like a late 50's british aristocrat. yeah... not a turn on.

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Uncharted 2 wins Writers Guild of America games writing award

Reader Comments (52)

Posted: Feb 22nd 2010 10:35AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

Posted: Feb 22nd 2010 10:38AM Crimsic said

Posted: Feb 22nd 2010 10:40AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

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