Tag Archives: Mortal Kombat

Train2Game news: Two UK studios nominated for Writers Guild of America awards

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Train2Game blog Brink imageTrain2Game students may be pleased to learn that two UK developed video games are among this year’s nominees for the annual Writers Guild of America Awards. As the name suggests, the awards are usually dominated by American games, but not this year.

Splash Damage Lead Writer Ed Stern is nominated for his work on Brink. You can find out how he wrote Brink in last November’s huge interview, right here on The Train2Game Blog. You can also listen to Stern speaking about games writing as part of a BAFTA panel here.

London based Rocksteady Studios win a nomination for their work on writing Batman: Arkham City, while Canadian studio Ubisoft Montreal is nominated for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

Mortal Kombat and Uncharted 3 complete the list of nominees for the awards which take place in Los Angeles on 19th February. The full list of nominations is below.

  • Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Story by Alexandre Amancio, Jean Guesdon, Corey May, Darby McDevitt; Multiplayer Story by Stéphane Blais, Richard Farrese, Jeffrey Yohalem; Lead Script Writer Darby McDevitt; Script Writers Richard Farrese, Nicholas Grimwood, Corey May, Jeffrey Yohalem; Greek and Turkish Ambient Dialogue Writer Vincenzo Beretta; Ubisoft
  • Batman: Arkham City, Lead Narrative Designer Paul Crocker; Story Written by Paul Dini, Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill; Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
  • Brink, Lead Writer Edward Stern; Bethesda Softworks
  • Mortal Kombat, Story by John Vogel, Brian Chard, Dominic Cianciolo, Alexander Barrentine, Jon Greenberg; Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
  • Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Written by Amy Hennig; Sony Computer Entertainment

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the WGA nominations? What does it say about British games writing?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or here on the Train2Game forum.


UK Charts: Portal 2 still No.1

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Portal 2 stays top of the UKIE/GFK Chart-track All Formats top 40 in a week that sees little in the way of change.  The first person puzzler – which the Train2Game blog reported Valve as saying is their best ever single player game – stays No.1 for the second week in a row.

The continued success of Portal 2 means Mortal Kombat once again sits in second place, one place ahead of former chart topper –as reported by the Train2Game blog – Zumba Fitness which raises one spot to No.3. Codemasters Operation Flashpoint: Red River moves up to take No.4 in its second week on sale, overtaking Call of Duty: Black Ops which drops two places to No.5.

Outside the top five, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars moves down one to No.6, ahead of FIFA 11 which once again holds onto No.7, while Wii Fit Plus moves up one to No. 8. THQ FPS Homefront – which the Train2Game blog previously took an in depth look at – rises one position to No. 9, while Just Dance 2 completes the top ten.

Sega’s Virtua Tennis 4 is this week’s only new entry in 23rd position.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 30h April 2011 is therefore as follows:

1. Portal 2 (EA)
2. Mortal Kombat (Warner)
3. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
4. Operation Flashpoint: Red River (Codemasters)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
6. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (LucasArts)
7. FIFA 11 (EA)
8. Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo)
9. Homefront (THQ)
10. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)

The week ahead is a quiet one for new releases, with Plants vs. Zombies arrival on the Nintendo DS a handful of predominantly new titles  for portable consolesto hit the shelves.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Portal 2 holding No.1? Is it a testament to a great game, or just a lack of competition? Will Valve tale their third top spot of the year next week? Or can Mortal Kombat take the title?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.