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Writers Guild Game Writing Nominees Leave Us Unimpressed

by Ben Deitz on January 6, 2011 at 04:10 PM

Video Game WritingThe Writers Guild of America has announced its 2010 Writers Guild Awards nominees for best video game writing, and, oh, what a baffling list it is. It's important to remember that this is the award that was given to the bona fide fan-fiction of 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed' in 2009, the same year that saw the release of game changers like 'Fallout 3' and 'Grand Theft Auto 4.' This year's nominees do include some reasonable selections, like 'Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood' and 'Fallout: New Vegas,' both of which featured excellent stories that arguably bested those of their predecessors. The nominees then take a quick turn for the head-scratching, though. 'God of War III'? Does it really take that much talent to write out the guttural moans of an enraged psychopath? Other confusing nominees include 'Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands,' 'Singularity' and (shudder) 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.' Someone at the Writers Guild sure does love their Jedi.

What makes the list even more upsetting is that 2010 was arguably the best year for writing in video games ever. We were graced with the taut narrative of 'Alan Wake,' the in-depth characterizations of 'Mass Effect 2,' and the grand homage to the dying days of the wild West that was 'Red Dead Redemption.' Granted, the industry is still a ways away from evoking the depth of Faulkner, but, if ever there was a year that gave us games whose dialogue and narrative were actually pretty good (rather than merely serviceable or cringe-worthy), then this was it. The truth, however, is that we can't blame the Writers Guild for having abysmal taste, as the awards are only open to WGA members. Still, winning can't be all that satisfying. It's kind of like being the skinniest kid at fat camp.

Tags: assassins-creed-brotherhood, fallout, fallout-new-vegas, gaming, TheForceUnleashed, top, videogameawards, videogames, WritersGuildOfAmerica

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