Jump to content

The Gamasutra 20: Top Game Writers


funcroc

Recommended Posts

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3935...ame_writers.php

 

Chris Avellone - Creative Lead and Co-Owner, Obsidian Entertainment

Richard Dansky - Central Clancy Writer, Ubisoft

Tom Abernathy - Writer, Microsoft Game Studios

Patrick Redding - Game/Narrative Designer, Ubisoft Montreal

Erik Wolpaw - Writer, Valve

Drew Karpyshyn - Lead Writer, BioWare

Ken Levine - President and Creative Director, 2K Boston

Kazushige Nojima - Freelance Game Scenario Writer

Marc Laidlaw - Writer, Valve

Emil Pagliarulo - Lead Designer, Bethesda Software

Dan Houser - Vice President of Creativity, Rockstar Games

Jerry Holkins - Writer, Penny Arcade

Hideo Kojima - Head, Kojima Productions

Jonathan Blow - Founder, Number None

Susan O'Connor - Game Writer, Susan O'Connor Writing Studio

Jesse Stern - Writer and Co-producer, CBS's "NCIS"

Sohei Niikawa - Producer, Nippon Ichi Software

Yuichiro Tanaka - Scenario writer, Atlus

Marianne Krawczyk - Freelance game writer

Tim Schafer - Creative director, Double Fine Productions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hideo Kojima? Really?

 

Also woooooooo Avellone wooooooo!

 

This game in particular took a number of commendable risks when it came to including content -- like the potential for a lesbian love side story.

Whaaat?

 

There is also a notable lack of Tornquist.

 

@Morgoth

I'd imagine that Gaider couldn't be on since he hasn't released a large work since... BG:ToB or something?

sporegif20080614235048aq1.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This game in particular took a number of commendable risks when it came to including content -- like the potential for a lesbian love side story.

Whaaat?

 

Maybe they didn't care enough to look up the actual anatomy/social structure of the Asari to see that they are actually asexual. And even then it still LOOKS like a lesbian love story to the uninitiated.

 

So apparently Emil Pagliarulo's writing on Oblivion and Fallout 3 is considered impressive now? Seriously?

 

Maybe Dante's Inferno swooped in and lowered the bottom end so much that even Pacman is considered good writing now?

Edited by Purkake
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe Dante's Inferno swooped in and lowered the bottom end so much that even Pacman is considered good writing now?

 

I couldn't even finish watching that first trailer for it, it was... embarrassing. No wonder why it's hard for many to take narratives seriously in video games when the industry praises people like Emil and allows a game like Dante's Inferno to more than likely molest a highly praised literary work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lacking big japanese names aswell :*

Sent from my Stone Tablet, using Chisel-a-Talk 2000BC.

My youtube channel: MamoulianFH
Latest Let's Play Tales of Arise (completed)
Latest Bossfight Compilation Dark Souls Remastered - New Game (completed)

Let's Play/AAR Europa Universalis 1: Austria Grand Campaign (completed)
Let's Play/AAR Europa Universalis 2: Xhosa Grand Campaign (completed)
My PS Platinums and 100% - 29 games so far (my PSN profile)

 

 

1) God of War III - PS3 - 24+ hours

2) Final Fantasy XIII - PS3 - 130+ hours

3) White Knight Chronicles International Edition - PS3 - 525+ hours

4) Hyperdimension Neptunia - PS3 - 80+ hours

5) Final Fantasy XIII-2 - PS3 - 200+ hours

6) Tales of Xillia - PS3 - 135+ hours

7) Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 - PS3 - 152+ hours

8.) Grand Turismo 6 - PS3 - 81+ hours (including Senna Master DLC)

9) Demon's Souls - PS3 - 197+ hours

10) Tales of Graces f - PS3 - 337+ hours

11) Star Ocean: The Last Hope International - PS3 - 750+ hours

12) Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - PS3 - 127+ hours

13) Soulcalibur V - PS3 - 73+ hours

14) Gran Turismo 5 - PS3 - 600+ hours

15) Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3 - 302+ hours

16) Mortal Kombat XL - PS4 - 95+ hours

17) Project CARS Game of the Year Edition - PS4 - 120+ hours

18) Dark Souls - PS3 - 197+ hours

19) Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory - PS3 - 238+ hours

20) Final Fantasy Type-0 - PS4 - 58+ hours

21) Journey - PS4 - 9+ hours

22) Dark Souls II - PS3 - 210+ hours

23) Fairy Fencer F - PS3 - 215+ hours

24) Megadimension Neptunia VII - PS4 - 160 hours

25) Super Neptunia RPG - PS4 - 44+ hours

26) Journey - PS3 - 22+ hours

27) Final Fantasy XV - PS4 - 263+ hours (including all DLCs)

28) Tales of Arise - PS4 - 111+ hours

29) Dark Souls: Remastered - PS4 - 121+ hours

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it's nice to see Chris Avellone get the recognition, the list as a whole is down right laughable.

Yeah, instead of the top game writers, that list should be called 'writers who were recently involved in big games', with a few exceptions.

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Erik Walpow is awesome, he wrote for Portal, and he was also the Co-Writer on Psychonauts.

Tim Schafer is simply a genuis as well.

Drew Kaprpeshyn is okay-ish I guess. He did a good job on Mass Effect.

Hideo Kojami is an awesome dude, he directed the awesome MGS4.

Ken Levine dude is the Thief/System Shock2/Bioshock dude. Therefor, he's an awesome dude too.

 

The rest I don't know/is garbage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

chrisA has gotten 10 year's worth of credit for ps:t. isn't it about time he followed it up with something else? chrisA's contributions to iwd2 were arguably noteworthy, if limited, but he was complete hit & miss for kotor2. nwn2:motb was a wonderful example of chrisA recycling ps:t... but the new stuff were often craptacular. gotta do something more than come up with wacky concepts to gets a "top writer" label.

 

has anybody since salinger gotten so much mileage out of 1 effort?

 

keep in mind that ps:t is Gromnir's favorite crpg, but we thinks that chrisA is perhaps the most overrated crpg writer... evar. chrisA is still better than most crpg "writers" but he ain't near the super-groovy-keen master o' writing that bis/obsidian fans suggest that he is. chrisA lugubrious introspection and kooky concept stuff worked perfect for ps:t, but not every game is ps:t.

 

HA! Good Fun!

"If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

"Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ken Levine dude is the Thief/System Shock2/Bioshock dude. Therefor, he's an awesome dude too.
Did he actually write anything for Thief though? It doesn't say in his article.

 

Btw, the guy who did the Cradle level in Thief: DS is supposed to be heading up Bioshock 2, that could be very interesting.

"Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ken Levine dude is the Thief/System Shock2/Bioshock dude. Therefor, he's an awesome dude too.
Did he actually write anything for Thief though? It doesn't say in his article.

 

Btw, the guy who did the Cradle level in Thief: DS is supposed to be heading up Bioshock 2, that could be very interesting.

Yes, Thief I think was his first job in the game industry. He wrote the story. :*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, he was the lead writer on Kotor 2 as well for starters....which sold about 2 million units.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

the transformers move sold how many tickets?

 

Gromnir already recognized that chrisA were writing for kotor2, but am not sure we would hold out as an indicator o' writing excellence... and if you wanna use units sold as measure o' good writing, you is gonna find self standing on a very slippery slope.

 

HA! Good Fun!

"If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

"Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So apparently Emil Pagliarulo's writing on Oblivion and Fallout 3 is considered impressive now? Seriously?

 

 

ANybody who worked as a writer on either Oblivion and/or FO3 should be immediately disqualified from inclusion. :*

 

 

 

Ken Levine ... Bioshock

 

 

:(

Edited by CrashGirl
Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Morgoth' post='920827' date='Feb 20 2009, 01:21 PM'But he can at least feed his family!

 

 

Very true. And I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. It must have been frustrating to work on 2 great games that made so little (any?) money.

 

It's just too bad that his mainstream approach on Bioshock, while it made him a lot of money (apparently), resulted in such a comparatively inferior game to what he had done before.

 

Maybe now that he's got it out of his system, he'll return to his previous form.

 

edit: You know though, as I think about it, I can't really blame him for wanting to sell a lot of copies of a game even if that mean dumbing it down for a mass audience. Bioshock was just such a disappointment that it makes me sad. :*

Edited by CrashGirl
Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only game that kept Irrational over water was SWAT4 - which sold 800k. Not bad for a PC game with no story. Funny, it was the only Irrational game where Ken wasn't involved, and voila'! It sells.

Tribes Vengeance and FFvs3rd Reich bombed hard.

 

I'm curios what he's doing these days? I really hope he's involved in that rumored X-Com game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's just too bad that his mainstream approach on Bioshock, while it made him a lot of money (apparently), resulted in such a comparatively inferior game to what he had done before.

 

Maybe now that he's got it out of his system, he'll return to his previous form.

 

edit: And I should say that my comment about selling his soul is probably a bit harsh. I can't really blame him for wanting to sell a lot of copies of a game even if that mean dumbing it down for a mass audience.

Yeah, Bioshock really took shape and the team was assembling the game together to a little masterpiece, until Ken made the decision to cut everything down and basically make it a straight forward shooter. It's not bad as it was released, it just screams so much after "More potential!". Maybe he did the right business choice, but he didn't do the right artistic choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ANd the writing was really the best part of Bioshock anyway. SO I guess it doesn't really disqualify him from this thread.

 

It was the rest of the game that was so tedious.

 

 

Did Levine actually write Bioshock himself? Or did he just control the overall design of the game?

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...