Writers Guild videogame award nominees announced
The Writers Guild just announced its five nominees for the best videogame writing of 2008 and they're a pretty good cross section of the industry, ranging from hugely popular AAA titles ("Fallout 3," "Star Wars: The Force Uleashed") to a downloadable game I've never heard ("Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!" Actually, Variety's Leigh Alexander has a good write up of the game if you want some info) and from the self-consciously kitschy ("Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3") to straight ahead adventure ("Tomb Raider: Underworld").
Here's the full list of nominees:
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA). Writer: Haris Orkin. Story Producer: Mical Pedriana.
Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! (Mousechief). Writing: Keith Nemitz. Additional Writing: Adrianne Ambrose.
Fallout 3 (Bethesda). Lead Writer: Emil Pagliarulo.
Quest Writing: Erik J. Caponi, Brian Chapin, Jon Paul Duvall, Kurt
Kuhlmann, Alan Nanes, Bruce Nesmith, and Fred Zeleny. Additional Quest
Writing: Nate Ellis, William Killeen, Mark Nelson, and Justin McSweeney.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts). Writers: Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford and Cameron Suey.
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos). Story: Eric Lindstrom and Toby Guard. Screenplay: Eric Lindstrom.
For those who aren't aware, this is actually the second year the WGA has given a videogame writing award. Last year's inaugural winner was "Dead Head Fred." The WGA Awards are the only Hollywood kudofest (that's a Variety term; I bet you can all figure out what it means) to include a prize for videogames.
The nominees and the winners are picked by panels from the WGA's Videogame Writers Caucus (which has 200 members), as well as other winners active in the field. The nominees are picked from games that submit their scripts to the guild. One caveat is that the nominated writers need to either be WGA members of have recently applied. Although that's not too big a restriction really, since anyone who wants to be nominated can simply apply and will almost surely get the nod. I suppose the only restriction would be the cost of joining for independent developers with little funds, or those with employers who simply don't want to pay. I have no idea yet how many scripts were submitted and for what games, but I've asked and will hopefully have an answer soon.
The winners will get their prize at the WGA Awards ceremony on Feb. 7.Meanwhile, can all of us in the videogame world engage in one of Hollywood's favorite pastimes: Awards prognostication? My guess is that the front runner is "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" is the front runner, since it was almost universally acclaimed for its excellent writing, even by those who didn't like the gameplay. "Fallout 3" may have a shot for the sheer quantity of content in that game, but even the most hardcore fans (of which I am not one) don't seem to think it really stood out for the quality of writing. The wild card is surely "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble," since so few of us (including me) have played it, but it sure sounds like it has a smarty, wry sense of humor.
Update: There seems to be a misperception out there on the Interwebs that only games written by guild members are eligible. In fact, wannabe nominees who aren't members simply need to join the Videogame Writers' Caucus, a group started by the guild to promote the field. Membership costs a whopping $75. Some people may not want to join, but they don't need any special guild memberships. They do, however, need a "written by" credit. "Designed by" or anything like that isn't allowed.
The picture on the top right is "Command and Conquer." The one on the left is "Dangerous High School Girls..."
Chris Morris reports on the business and culture of video games and offers analysis of recent events and industry trends.
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So, I'm guessing the nominee list sucks because it can only include writers that are members of The Writers Guild?
There's a lot more independent games with better writing than these...
Posted by: teko | January 13, 2009 at 04:05 PM
Tomb Raider Underworld is one of the most immersive video games ever made and is without doubt the best Tomb Raider game ever and rightly deserves its nomination.
The Tomb Raider story goes back through quite a mess and for Eric to have pulled all the loose threads together the way he did and bring the story up to do date in such fashion was nothing short of masterful.
I hope he gets the award because he deserves it.
Posted by: George Maciver | January 13, 2009 at 03:10 PM
Actually, Prince of Persia wasn't eligible. The awards include games released from 12/01 to 11/30. So Prince of Persia will be eligible for next year's awards. And while it wouldn't make my top five game scripts of the year, it's certainly better than some of the ones nominated, I think.
Posted by: Ben Fritz | January 13, 2009 at 01:33 PM
For those wondering why one game or another wasn't on the final list, remember that these awards start with writers, developers & publishers first nominating their own work... so if, say, Prince of Persia, isn't there and you feel it should be, it's quite possible that none of the writers nominated it, or that Ubisoft forbade the writers from releasing the script, claiming that it's a "industry secret," or that the developer mistakenly believed that allowing their writers to submit for the WGA's award would mean that writer would somehow suddenly become Unionized. The games industry is virulently anti-union... I think it's a remarkable list of major games considering how terrified the games industry is of Hollywood's guilds. It's also nice to see that a tiny game no one's ever heard of can crack the top five along with the best franchise titles.
Posted by: Micah Wright | January 13, 2009 at 09:40 AM
Surprised to see Tomb Raider nominated. Awful script.
Posted by: David W | January 13, 2009 at 07:51 AM
Oh my god!
I am a TR fan but I really can't understand what Underworld has to do with good writing. The story was the most horrible thing to ever be included in a TR game. It seemed like a cheap fanfiction or sth. Definately doesn't deserve this price or even the nomination. Prince of Persia would've been a better choice.
Posted by: Stefan | January 13, 2009 at 06:48 AM
Underworld? The writing and the character redesign were cobbled together from a plaigiarised mishmash of Tomb Raider fan ideas. Also, maybe it was Keeley Hawes' lack of voice acting skills, but the dialogue was atrocious and there were more boring monologues than Hamlet. I nominate Uwe Boll to do a rewrite. The unjustly sacked Eric Lindstrom may deserve some credit for trying to improve a ghastly mess but what on earth did Toby Gard contribute?
Posted by: Peter Mandelsohn | January 13, 2009 at 04:01 AM
Though I'm very happy to see the WGA encouraging video game writing, I have to admit that the choices seem a bit populist and bland. Except for Dangerous High School Girls, all the names are big franchises, none of which have particularly memorable writing (down to really horrid stuff, like Tomb Raider Underworld). Well... whatever, the awards are a great step forward, and have lots of potential, so I won't be too criticizing
Posted by: DBeav | January 13, 2009 at 02:29 AM
"Wow, I didnt even know the WGA had videogame awards. Thats excellent, certainly will give the writers a bit more credibility. Congrats to all nominated."
Given that Fo3 is nomiated, I fear it's more likely to reduce the WGA's credibility. Fo3's writing isn't absolutely terrible. It's bad even for a computer game.
Posted by: Claw | January 13, 2009 at 01:57 AM
I haven't finished Dangerous High School Girls, but it's intriguing and unusual, and the writing is sharp and fantastic. Glad it's getting this recognition.
Posted by: Chris Dahlen | January 12, 2009 at 04:57 PM
I'm surprised Braid wasn't included.
Posted by: Drew Maw | January 12, 2009 at 04:38 PM
I just completed Tomb Raider Underworld, which I greatly enjoyed as a game. However, it easily had some of the absolute worst writing I have personally encountered in a video game released in 2008.
Posted by: Chris Remo | January 12, 2009 at 03:07 PM
I think they should have an award for best Reality Show writing. I think that would make more of a statement.
Posted by: Michelle T | January 12, 2009 at 02:29 PM
I haven't played (or heard of) "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!", but the title is intriguing. Is it the High School that is dangerous, or is it the Girls? Either way, I understand why the aforementioned girls would be in trouble.
On another note, I find it interesting that the WGA's would have a videogame writing category. Do they have a novelization category as well? Or playwriting?
Posted by: Simon Prefontaine | January 12, 2009 at 01:59 PM
Wow, I didnt even know the WGA had videogame awards. Thats excellent, certainly will give the writers a bit more credibility. Congrats to all nominated.
Posted by: Scott | January 12, 2009 at 01:52 PM