Dead Head Fred, the critically acclaimed videogame created specifically for the PSP (PlayStationPortable) 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.