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Writer's Guild of America announces nominees for game writing award

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 15th 2008 at 7:30PM }

The only thing that's consistently more ham-handed and embarrassing than the writing in games is the writing about games. Unlike the latter, however, small glimmers of hope emerge every year with the few games that thought it wise to deliver engaging dialogue and thoughtful plotting. This year alone saw titles like Mass Effect, BioShock and Portal being praised for exceptional writing and the emotional heft it lent to gameplay.

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.

A game's eligibility hinged on being released between Dec. 1, 2006, and Nov. 30, 2007, and credited writers must have been or applied to become members of the WGA's New Media Caucus. Though we're undecided about which game deserves to win, we're certain that highlighting and rewording the good righting in games are vary importent.

World in Conflict for Xbox 360 pushed into 2008

by Jason Dobson { Oct 2nd 2007 at 3:51PM }

Sierra has confirmed that the Xbox 360 port of Cold War era real-time strategy game World in Conflict won't surface until sometime in 2008. The game, which is currently available for the PC, was originally planned for release on the console this November. The jury is wide open to speculation as to the reason for the date change, though Sierra has offered no official reason for the delay.

Interestingly, the shift follows last month's PC ship date announcement, which if you'll recall completely ignored the existence of the Xbox 360 alternative, though when pressed Sierra did tell us that the game "is still scheduled for this year," information that we know to be erroneous. Still, the PC version has been garnering impressive reviews so far, so we continue to hold out hope that Sierra's internal studio Swordfish, which is handling the console port, will deliver the goods someday.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

PAX 07: The World in Conflict party

by Christopher Grant { Aug 26th 2007 at 8:30PM }

Sure, we had a lot of blogging to catch up on, but we couldn't help but stop by Sierra's splashy Word in Conflict party last night if only to play our favorite game: "How Much Do You Bet This All Cost?" Alongside what appeared to be real military vehicles (they're scary looking in Real Life) and Communist propaganda were the requisite "booth" (party?) babes and overpriced drinks. How overpriced? How does upwards of $7 or $8 sound? It's a good thing anyways, we'd have just drank too much, riflebutted a guard, then drove one of those tank-things out of the building and through downtown Seattle.

Gallery: World in Conflict PAX party

World in Conflict declares war on PC Sept. 18

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 10th 2007 at 3:00PM }

On September 18, Sierra's World in Conflict is ready to go all alternate timeline, and make us experience what could've happened if the Cold War had gone hawt. The game will retail at $49.99 for the normal box and $59.99 for the collector's edition. Our time with the game was so-so, but we definitely enjoy the Magnum P.I. trailer that was put together (which can be found after the break).

But what about the Xbox 360 version, you may ask? Being completely ignored on the press release, we called up Sierra and it turns out that the game "is still scheduled for this year." Although you can expect to purchase the Xbox 360 version at the "collector's edition" price of $59.99 -- minus the History Channel DVD and piece of the Berlin Wall.

Gallery: World in Conflict

Continued →

Joystiq impressions: World in Conflict

by Ross Miller { Jul 16th 2007 at 2:26PM }

Think of a real-time strategy game session as a bell curve. At the lower end is the beginning, when there's a lot of resource-gathering and scouting. In the middle and the higher portion, there's lots of action. As the battle winds down, so does the action. Massive Entertainment's World in Conflict was described to us as a strategy game with the lower ends of the bell curve cut off, and from what we saw at the Sierra suite, it's a pretty accurate description.

The story of World in Conflict is based in an alternate future where the Berlin wall didn't fall and the Cold War went hot. At the beginning of the battle, the player is given 6,000 in currency that can be used to purchase and deploy troops. Once a troop is destroyed, its value is returned to the player for purchasing more troops, keeping the intensity up.

Gallery: World in Conflict

Continued →

World in Conflict Collector's Edition to include piece of Berlin Wall

by Jared Rea { Jun 22nd 2007 at 9:41PM }

What is a publisher to do when everyone and their mother is offering up a "collectors edition" of their game? You fill it with history is what. Sierra Entertainment must have been particularly inspired when they decided to include an "authentic piece of the Berlin Wall" with the special edition of their upcoming strategy title, World in Conflict.

Though the recently announced 360 version of the title is not mentioned, the PC's collectors edition contains not only a chunk of the Cold War era, but a bonus DVD from the History Channel as well. We're willing to award Sierra with a well deserved golf clap for their ingenuity, but at the same time it does feel odd to commercialize a historic world event with a video game about Russian forces invading US soil, Red Dawn style.

For those curious about the game itself, 1UP previewed World in Conflict today in this weeks episode of The 1UP Show.

[via Blues News]

World in Conflict not conflicted about 360

by Richard Mitchell { Jun 14th 2007 at 5:45PM }

Rumored earlier this month, Sierra has confirmed today that the Massive Entertainment RTS, World in Conflict, is heading to the Xbox 360. The PC version is expected in September with the 360 version following sometime after. No date has been given, but an official announcement is expected soon. World In Conflict looks to set itself apart from other RTS games, such as Command & Conquer 3, by doing away with resource management and a fixed camera. 1UP notes that the game also features Tears for Fears (we'll let you guess which song). Check out the official World in Conflict website for plenty of images, videos, and info.

World in Conflict suits consoles -- so, can we expect it or not?

by Nick Doerr { May 21st 2007 at 10:30PM }

Massive Entertainment, a huge RTS developer (I still prefer Westwood ... wherever they went) recently talked about a new action-oriented approach to the genre and how it would feel right at home on a console rather than a PC. Its game World in Conflict fit the bill, they claimed. So long as keyboard and mouse support is ... supported, we're game to listen further.

In fact, the one drawback to bringing RTS games to consoles is just that -- the keyboard and mouse. The PS3 fully supports these, developers! I play Phantasy Star Universe with the keyboard on the PS3. Well, I would if I could figure out if its possible. Come on! Regardless of this strange claim to avoid consoles, Massive still thinks World in Conflict would suit consoles because it "is much more visceral and action-oriented than traditional RTS titles, so if there's ever a game that could translate well to the consoles, it would be something like World in Conflict." So will we see an RTS title hit the PS3? Will it support those peripherals we mentioned? Who knows. We'll keep you posted.