Game Developers Choice Awards

[schild]

I was going to post the list, but I'll just post this one snippet (original list here):

Writing
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North / Rockstar Games)
- Dan Houser, James Worrall
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software / Vivendi Universal Games)
- Marc Laidlaw
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (High Voltage Software / Vivendi Universal Games)
- Matt Entin, Ed Kuehnel, Eric Nofsinger
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
- Nate Bihldorff, Ryota Kawade
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian Entertainment / LucasArts Entertainment)
- Chris Avellone

When you completely overlook the best writing of the year...something is wrong.

[HaemishM]

What... what the... what the fuck is that? I didn't know parroting hip-hop slang laced with four-letter words and writing about zombies taking over the world was some great heights in interactive narrative. LEISURE SUIT LARRY? And Vampire doesn't get one bit of notice? Fuck, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow had better writing than probably everything on that list other than KOTOR 2(and I'm only guessing there).

MARIO BROTHERS? FOR WRITING? WHAT THE FUCK?

EDIT: Oh I see. They had Doom 3 for Visual Arts. WHO THE FUCK CAME UP WITH THESE NOMINEES?

[stray]

GTA:SA did have great writing imo. For execution, not necessarily content.

[schild]

GTA:SA did have great writing imo.

imo, I'd rather listen to a wu tang album.

[stray]

Be glad they didn't pick Halo 2.

[Paelos]

I think you guys are just going to have to accept that a game about Vampires is going to get the shaft. Sorry for your loss.

[SirBruce]

Katamari Damacy is a shoe-in for best game design.

Bruce

[Rasix]

Well, the 2 games that I did play on the list both had excellent writing.

KOTOR2's writing was superb.

Leisure Suit Larry's writing was also very good.  The game itself was one of the worst things to have ever been produced this decade, but it wasn't because of the writing.

As for the rest...

Paper Mario is a RPG, so, the writing could be there. But this is a Mario universe game, I wouldn't expect Planetscape like dialog.

GTA games have always had very good writing.  I'm sorry if someone doesn't like black or urban culture, but if they followed in the same lines of GTA3 and Vice City, then I don't see why it shouldn't be up there.

It's a shame Vampire was left off, the writing was just really fucking good.  It being terribly buggy probably didn't help people get a feeling for the entirety of the experience.  Heh, mistakes are made, beyond not knowing what Paper Mario or HL2's writing is like, I can't quite ring the "unimaginable travesty" bell just yet.  And writing is a fairly subjective subject, the Gothiness may have turned a number of people off.

[schild]

Half-Life 2 didn't have enough writing for me to even form an opinion. I do love the opening sequence on the metrotrain though.

[stray]

It's a shame Vampire was left off, the writing was just really fucking good.  It being terribly buggy probably didn't help people get a feeling for the entirety of the experience.

My problem exactly. I could barely play the game, let alone enjoy the storyline. I lent it out, so when I get it back, maybe I'll try again.

Heh, mistakes are made, beyond not knowing what Paper Mario or HL2's writing is like, I can't quite ring the "unimaginable travesty" bell just yet.  And writing is a fairly subjective subject, the Gothiness may have turned a number of people off.

I've been pretty out of it with shooters for a while, especially single player ones, but HL2 was good enough to keep me playing till the end. That's more than I can say for most games of it's type. Not sure if I'd qualify it as "great writing", considering all of the other likely candidates, but it's definitely fun.

[Sky]

Great writing? Half Life 2? I don't even think it was a great game. Great physics and graphics, sure. Bland shooter, otherwise. Kept me playing to the end, because it was pretty short (if repetetive), and the ending was a new low in suck. I disliked the ending of the first one, and it was far preferable to the new one (which I won't spoil for the three of you who haven't seen it ;))

Hell, meeting Jack when you're first dumped on the street in Bloodlines beats all the writing I've heard all year long. I think Vampire set the bar for dialogue writing.

I'm looking forward to playing the new GTA, as I love the series, but I'm not sure I'll be able to handle all the gangsta talk in the LA sections. It was bad enough living it, dawg.

[Yegolev]

I would say that The Thousand Year Door did have good writing compared to many games I have played, but I would not put it above San Andreas.  Paper Mario is very funny and very well-written but I can't say it has "gritty drama", so maybe it depends on what you are looking for.  Although, I would nominate it for superb gameplay and singlehandedly fixing everything I hate about last year's JP console RPGs (Yeah, I'm looking at you, Star Ocean), and adding a few tasty tidbits on top of that.  Separating the writing from the design of Paper Mario seems like a disservice.

[trias_e]

The only one of those I can disagree with is Half-Life 2  (I haven't played most of the others).  Yeah, the writing was ok I guess, but nothing spectacular.  Pretty minimal to the game as well.

Paper Mario was hilarious for the first 3-4 hours I played it.  I could see it getting a nomination, I remember being distinctly impressed by the writing.  Unforunately I haven't played either San Andreas or Vampires yet, so I can't comment on those...

I can't imagine Leisure Suit Larry was particularly amazing either though...

[Llava]

I'm guessing that writing this article for Gamasutra helped Larry get the nomination.  Possibly put the game fresh in some important minds.

[HaemishM]

I'm guessing that writing this article for Gamasutra helped Larry get the nomination.  Possibly put the game fresh in some important minds.

From that article:

There was never any doubt in our minds, however, that we had a wonderfully conceived character in Larry Laffer, one that could make the transition from hardcore adventure game icon to modern-day hero for Spike TV-watching twenty-somethings with ease.

Wait, sober people watch Spike TV? Isn't that like Neanderthal Television?

I think this guy might have overthought the whole Leisure Suit Larry concept.

[Sky]

I hear the next installment of Larry will be voiced by Doug Stanhope, aka "that creepy guy".

[Paelos]

I hear the next installment of Larry will be voiced by Doug Stanhope, aka "that creepy guy".

I heard he's a bum: