D3 Publisher of America announced today that its detective-mystery game Dead Head Fred, developed by Vicious Cycle Software, has received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America's first-ever Videogame Writing Award. With a story written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan, Dead Head Fred 's 1940s-inspired universe puts players into the role of Fred Neuman, a private detective savagely murdered and then resurrected thanks to a bizarre scientific experiment that leaves him without his memory or his head. The game then takes players on a quest for vengeance as they try to solve Fred's murder, all the while using the severed heads of his enemies as replacements for his own missing one.

The award the game has been nominated for was developed by the Writers Guild of America and spearheaded by the Guild's New Media Caucus to encourage excellence in writ ing for video games, improve the status of writers and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry (is that actually a good thing?). The WGA Videogame Writing Award honors the best qualifying script from a video game published in the previous year. The 2008 Writers Guild Awards winners in all categories will be announced on Saturday, February 9.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced the North American release date for the upcoming installment of the Gran Turismo franchise today. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue , which will be available exclusively for Playstation 3, will be releasing in North America on April 17, 2008. Developed by Polyphony Digital, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available for $39.99 USD and CAD on Blu-ray Disc and as a download via the Playstation Store for $39.99 USD. The Canadian price for the downloadable version has not yet been released. The Blu-ray Disc version of the game will come included with an exclusive behind-the-scenes, high definition video feature called Beyond the Apex .

As a note, this game is only a precursor to the actual Gran Turismo 5 . It does, however, have many features that players can expect to see in the final game, including 60 beautifully detailed vehicles from manufacturers like Ferrari, Audi and Nissan, a fully featured, vehicle-specific physics system and, for the first time ever in a Gran Turismo game, online racing at 60 fps in full 1080p high definition resolution. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has not yet been rated.