A month or so ago, I posted a story about the Writers Guild of America announcing the nominees for their first ever award for video game writing. Here were the 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.

They only eligible writers were those who were in the WGA, so amazingly written games like BioShock and Half-Life 2 were left out by default. The remaining games weren’t insanely well written, so Dead Head Fred was a shoe in for the award. Its only real competition was The Simpsons Game, and John C. Mcginley didn't do any of the voices for that game.

Gamervision would like to congratulate D3Publisher and Vicious Cycle Software for this prestigious award. While they didn’t have the competition they should have had due to game writers not being WGA, they still earned the award for the fantastic Dead Head Fred. Hopefully, as the years go on, the awards will branch out as games are taken more seriously and more WGA writers lend their talents to the gaming industry. 

D3Publisher of America and Vicious Cycle Software’s Dead Head Fred™ Wins WGA’s First-Ever Videogame Writing Award

Writers David Ellis and Adam Cogan Are Recognized by the WGA for Their Outstanding Achievement in Bringing Dead Head Fred to Life

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dead Head Fred, the critically acclaimed videogame created specifically for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) by publisher D3Publisher of America, Inc. (D3PA), and developer Vicious Cycle Software, Inc., has won the Writers Guild of America’s inaugural Videogame Writing Award. The 2008 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, documentary, radio, promotion, and videogames during 2007 were announced on Saturday, February 9th.

“D3PA and the entire Dead Head Fred team at Vicious Cycle are all very grateful and humbled by this award,” said Yoji Takenaka, executive vice president and chief operations officer, D3PA. “We look forward to bringing fans many more top quality games and continuing to elevate the standard of game writing in the industry.”

Developed by the WGA and spearheaded by the Guild’s New Media Caucus to encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, improve the status of writers, and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry, the WGA’s inaugural Videogame Writing Award spotlights quality work by videogame writers, raising their profiles, and validating their contributions to this rapidly maturing medium. The WGA Videogame Writing Award honors the best qualifying script from a videogame published in the previous year.

“Being nominated along with so many top caliber writers for the first WGA Video Game Writing Award was an honor in itself, so it’s fantastic that we won,” said Eric Peterson, president and chief executive officer, Vicious Cycle Software. “Dead Head Fred was something we had a lot of fun with and we are glad that players and fans are enjoying the game as much as we do.”

Dead Head Fred is rated “M” (Mature – Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor and Strong Language) by the ESRB. In Dead Head Fred, writers and nominees Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan draw players into an original 1940’s-inspired alternative universe where players take on the role of Fred Neuman, a private detective savagely murdered and then resurrected in a bizarre scientific experiment without his memory or his head. Players embark on a quest for vengeance as they solve their own murder by using the severed heads of enemies as replacements for the one missing on the game’s cranium-impaired hero. Source 

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