Feature: 'Quantum Leap Awards: Storytelling'

For today's Gamasutra feature, with the results now in, we present the third Quantum Leap Award, as voted by the readership of game industry professionals, awarded to the game throughout the industry's history that represented the biggest 'quantum leap' in storytelling. As the introduction explains: "In October 2006, the editors of Gamasutra asked its readership of game industry professionals to chime in and vote for which game brought storytelling forward in the biggest way, from any genre (text adventure through action title to RPG or sim and beyond), and from the early days of video gaming right through to the present day. We were looking for any game which in some way moved, astounded, or engrossed the player through its plot and the way the game evolves through it - and has specifically advanced game storytelling in the largest way. Specifically, we asked: "Which video game has made the biggest 'quantum leap' in terms of storytelling, and why?" On the following pages, we'll first present the "honorable mentions" - games that, while certainly innovative and important, did not receive enough votes to make it into the top echelon. Following this, we'll present the top five best storytellers voted for by our readers, in reverse order, ending with the overall recipient of Gamasutra's third Quantum Leap Award, which received the largest amount of votes from game professionals. " You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the topic, with industry commentary on nearly 20 of the industry's most groundbreaking storytellers, and find out which took the elusive Quantum Leap prize (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).