From what ive heard everyone seems to compare it to Stubbs the zombie.

I'm too sexy for my cat, too sexy for...

What! Not Right Said Fred?

Oh man that is too awesome of a character design.

In order to get the award the writer has to be a member of the guild. That narrows down the games eligible to win.

this game was oh so amazing! yay for dr.cox!

Portal?
PORTAL?
Where is it?

@MasterOfPastures:in the orange box!

what an awesome game on the psp. can't believe so many ppl passed it up. or just plain ignored it.

I am many people "enjoyed it quote a bit" also. ;)

"If I had a mouth, I'de hurl on you."
That's the only one I can remember.

@MasterOfPastures: Yeah, I thought the same thing, along with Bioshock.

It's a fantastic game, the difficulty curve is a bit odd but otherwise it's brilliant.
The only qotes I remember are the ones Fred says when you die, such as "new player please!", or "learn to play, dumbass"

Dead Head Fred is a great game. It's a shame that so many just passed on it.

The OP says exactly what I was thinking when I read this earlier. I don't think WGA cares about these awards at all, instead like most of hollywood right now and many media outlets they see gaming as the new frontier same as with the internet. I don't doubt that Dead Head was quite interesting in its writing I just don't put it past WGA to try and get more leverage where every they can find it.

Did anyone else notice/think that dr steiner was the same voice actor(and character) as doctor kleiner in half life 2?
At 14.99 which i got it for, it's a great deal. Tons of gameplay. Combat and platforming can be feel a bit rough and frustrating due to controls. It's the first (psp)game that had me want to throw my psp into a wall due to a very frustrating and pointlessly unforgiving jumping puzzle. Perhaps I'm just getting old and my platforming skills never were very good.
The game isn't as consistently funny as Portal but there's a lot more to this game than Portal (writing wise). It's not as polished as say Daxter is, but I recommend it pretty highly, and hope they do a sequel.

Ok Kotaku. You failed to mention that not all videogames were considered. Only the ones that are members of the WGA.

the game was very well written, I loved all of Freds smack talk

The major problem with this award is that it discounted games like Portal, Mass Effect (which I thought had good writing despite a lame story but I'm in the minority there), Half-Life 2 etc. because their writers aren't WGA members.

Don't video game writers get paid next to nothing compared to other writers? Like say those that are in the WGA?

The writer of this article seems to think unions are profit making organisations when in fact they are organised by workers to get better pay. So who makes money from the WGA? The members! So how is joining screwing yourself?

Without the WGA writers in all sorts of professionals would be getting screwed by the studios. Hasn't the writers strike taught any of you anything? Without the WGA the writers would be getting screwed out all sorts of royalties they deserve.

This competition was a complete joke.

@Parabolee I see your point but the WGA only concerns with Hollywood, and their debate was over Dvd royalties. As much as I saw the writers point of view I also saw where the studios were coming from. Even in their judging of video games they didn't judge all games that were well written they judged all games well written by WGA members.

Where am I going with this you may ask? IF you want to get recognized by them you had to be part of their New media Caucus which means they are only helping people who help their cause. Now ask yourself is that a fair judge of the writing talents of people in the videogame industry today, or is this a way to get another media medium in their grasp for further endeavors in the future.

They picked who they thought were "real writers" in the video game industry and then proceeded to give them awards in that small category. Unions have helped this country in many ways but those days have gone, the WGA helps their writers for their causes nothing else.

@NoBullet: real quick, since for some reason printing in bold must make you correct... these were the qualifications for games this year, strait from the WGA.org website:

*The award will go to the writer(s) of the best qualifying script from a videogame published in the previous year. To be eligible for entry, games must have been released between 12/1/2006 and 11/30/2007. Submission deadline is November 21, 2007 - 12:00 p.m. (Noon) PST.

*This year, work that was not produced under WGA jurisdiction may be submitted.

*Submitted games must have separate credit for writing (i.e., Written By, Story By, Writer, Story Designer, etc.). While there is no limit on the number of credited writers a particular game may have, credits not specifically tied to videogame writing are not acceptable (i.e., Lead Designer, Designed By, Produced By, etc.). Note: Writers of source material are not eligible for awards consideration.

*All submissions must be made in the name of the credited writer(s), and not the game itself. Scripts may also be submitted by the developer/publisher of the game, or by writer representatives, i.e., agents, managers and publicists.

*At the time the script is submitted, the credited writer(s) of the game must be, or apply to become, a member of the WGA's New Media Caucus.

so it does not have to under the WGA jurisdiction, but the writer needs to be/ apply to be in the Caucus thingy

Mark Wilson: Anti-Union. I'm voting Fahey in 2008!
But yeah, in my humble opinion, the bulk of game scenerio writers should get into the WGA. It's to the mutual benefit of the guild and them. Game writers are getting ripped off compared to the rates for film and TV scripts. There's obscene amounts of money coming into the industry of late, get your fair share.

@HawaiianActor: by the by, i didn't mean for that to sound dick-ish (as i read it i saw that it did have a pretty high level of dickery) so sorry about that

Bought this at Best Buy for $15 the other day. Haven't been able to sink my teeth into it yet, but from the little bit I've played, it has been well written.

This is just the WGA trying to get their mits on a piece of what they perceive to be a very lucrative pie. You have to be a member of the WGA in order to be considered for this award, but they do not offer membership for someone who has written for videogames. Lame.

Haven't tried this one yet, too busy with puzzle quest lol, awesome game. I just can't get enough... brilliant combination of bejeweled and RPG elements.

Next on my PSP playlist: PATAPOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

Great game one of my favorite PSP titles. Not to mention one of the MOST underated/overlooked titles on the system. Way to go Fred!

Quite honestly I think the only thing DHF has going for it is the visual style and the funny script.

The game is plagued with long load times around every corner and its the only game on the PSP where the bleeding that occurs from camera motion got so bad that I couldn't bring myself to play again after the third hour.

If the rumored PS2 conversion manages to fix the load times then I might just give it another go. On the PSP I wouldn't be able to stomach the 40 hours it takes to complete for the life in me, which is too bad because the game really has its charm.

What I see is a hypocritical approach to video games and writing. It is beyond obvious at this point that most people complain that the writing in video games falls quite short of the expectations of TV and film... The good writing in games seems to be born more out of input from designers, etc and not dedicated writers.

The reason why writing in video games might be so low could be that writers who want a fair shake and see success/career opportunities seem to be in industries that provide more lucrative salaries and other benefits (ie, union provided health care).

If we want better writing, the industry needs to encourage better writers, and the way to encourage better writers for games is to offer them a better deal. Being a part of the union could be a part of that deal.

Of course, this is all a bit in the future, the recent strike was unable to include animation writers and reality TV in the guild and those will come first.

@Sir_Stovetop: I'm not sure what you're trying to say, here? Are you saying that the WGA doesn't offer membership to video game writers? Where do you get that information, because that's just dead wrong. I joined the WGA after I wrote Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force in 2000. It was a very easy process with a low cost and simple requirements. Anyone who writes a script for a published videogame, gets proper credit for it and whose publisher agrees to it, can get in the WGA. At least, that's my experience.

And yet nobody here actually bothers to submit some quotes. So here's a few:

----

Fred dies - "I'll see YOU after the re-spawn, fuckface!"

----

Sam Spade - "Watch out for... HER! She's not quite... right in the head."

Fred - "Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going around."

----

Sam Spade - "You opened the GATE!"

Fred - "Good job with the ole observation there."

----

Fred is spying by peering through the eyeslots of a painting in the wall.

Ulysses S. Pitt - "I think it's time I took you to see "the Horseman", Doc."

Doctor Steiner - "The horseman? You mean..."

*raising his voice, looking right at the painting*

"...THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN? THE ONE BEHIND THE GRAVEYARD? IN THE WOODS?!"

Ulysses S. Pitt - "Geez, Doc! You don't have to shout. YES that Horseman! What other horseman would I be talking about?"

----

Sam Spade - "There's a lot you can do with a dead head... Fred."

----

*Upon reaching a fridge inside Doctor Steiner's castle*

Fred - "Man, I don't think I even want to know what the good doc keeps in his fridge!"

----

*A radio in the background*

Radio Announcer: "Mr. Pitt! Do you have any comments on the report filed by the safety regulatory committee?"

Ulysses S. Pitt: "Yeah, as a matter of fact. It's a bunch of bull*BLEEP*! Those mother*BLEEP*ers can't seem to get it through this thick *BLEEP*ing skulls that I'm just a generous philanthropist who wants to donate my good nature to supporting this fine town. And if they aren't fine with that? *BLEEP* 'em!

Radio Announcer: "There you have it folks!"

----

The voice acting is also really superb. Definitely deserves the 4/5 it got from X-Play.

~Otaku-Man

Heh. Videogame makers don't have anything to fear as such from the WGA - there's no central body à la the AMPTP for them to sign exclusive deals with, which would then force those deals on smaller studios. Each studio will get to choose for itself whether they want WGA talent.

Sure, this award - in the future - will only recognise games written by WGA members. But what makes anyone think these awards will become relevant to the wider population? There are many respected, universal game awards shows. The Game Developer Choice Awards has a writing category. The Game Critics Awards doesn't... for some... reason... but it could.

This is just the WGA leadership telling its members that it won't ignore videogame writing. You see, there are already tens of WGA awards for other areas, but videogame writing wasn't eligible for recognition. Now it is! That's all :)

No! No video game writers in WGA! They'll just make them go on strike!

@resetbutton: Too right

I'm a game reviewer by profession and when we had to state our favorite game of the year, I skipped over all the AAA titles and gave DHF the nod.

It is just such a fantastically well put together and enjoyable game. The writing certainly top notch, my only complaint was the load screens.

Finished it 100% :)

Haha his Head make me laugh...anyway this game was great

Absolutely Free PSP Themes

What game is this? I've never heard of it...

Maybe they have a bias against first person shooters.

Portal should have at least be nominated

I have a PSP and I've never even heard of this game...

Was I really in a hole for an entire year...oh yeah, that's right, I was playing portal so that counts right?

@NoBullet:

That's a pretty important point, Did Kotaku not know, or are they willfully omitting this point?