Though Portal and BioShock were largely the critical favorites among last year's crop of titles, earning numerous industry awards apiece, the Writer's Guild of America decided to bestow its newly-created Videogame Writing Award on Dead Head Fred. Nothing against that title, but many game fans were surprised that many other more obvious candidates didn't even make the list of nominees.
At 1UP, Lara Crigger shared the general puzzlement:
The list shocked gamers — not so much for what it included, but what it left out. Sure, The Witcher and World in Conflict were written well enough, and The Simpsons Game certainly had its fair share of good jokes. But how did Crash of the Titans — the 14th Crash Bandicoot game — and PSP no-name Dead Head Fred end up on the list when Portal and BioShock, two of the best-written games ever to hit PCs, didn't?</blockquote?
So what was the reasoning behind the awards?
The logic behind the list, explains Jacobs, is that writers had to be members of the WGA's New Media Caucus to be nominated. But few writers in the industry currently belong to the WGA, much less the Caucus.
Oh, eligibility. That makes sense. Do you think game writers will be rushing to join the association's Caucus in droves?
Has Game Writing Finally Comes Of Age? [1UP]