Developers Vicious Cycle Software have offered up the studio's cross-platform Vicious Engine middleware to students attending the Indiana University School of Education, giving those aspiring to a life of game development some helpful hands-on time with real-world tools.

But don't go expecting the university to churn out the next Puzzle Quest or Dead Head Fred, as according to the school, students will be using the engine to make so-called 'serious games." Students' games will be "designed to teach various subjects of their choosing," and will be part of a larger university study on "how people learn through games." Even so, we imagine the experience will likely prove invaluable for those students wanting to eventually grease the wheels of game development with their sweat and blood.

Now that that silly writer's strike is under control, it's time to get back to the busy work of ... video game writing awards! The Writer's Guild of America has chosen the winner – from amongst five nominees – of its first-ever Video Game Writing Award. Congratulations to the team at Vicious Cycle Software for their work on Dead Head Fred.

As much as we enjoyed Dead Head Fred (it even made one of our Best of the Rest '07 lists), there's still that part of us that says it wasn't a fair fight. In a year that included some of the best video game writing we can think of, the fact that the WGA's nominees didn't include titles like Mass Effect, BioShock, or Portal leaves us feeling ... well, uneasy.

We understand that the game's writers must have been or applied to become members of the WGA's New Media Caucus in order to be eligible for the award so, fair enough, perhaps the other games weren't. Regardless, highlighting quality game writing – regardless of the game – is a noble task in an industry where all your base are belong to the master of unlocking, y'know?

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.