http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17643
To me, a large part of worlds/movies being translated successfully into games is the writing.
This is an interview with a freelance writer, Dalan Musson, who has written for both film and games. The focus is more on games using movie licenses rather than original game worlds, and it has some interesting points of comparison between the film industry and the game industry. Musson also shares some thoughts on writing for games in general.
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Re: the pay disparity between game and tv/film writers
The best examples I have of good "game writing" are the quest descriptions in Lord of the Rings Online. This has nothing to do with their diction or sentence structure, but only with the fact that they accommodated both people who like reading, and people who don't. The top of the dialog box had the full description/dialog/flavor-text, while the bottom had the simple "go here/kill them/collect these" instructions.
When I was curious, I had delicious words to satisfy me, and when I was in a hurry, nothing extraneous stood in my way.
To me, good writing either makes me want to read it, or else is inconspicuous and extraneous.
In movies and TV, the writer is often also tasked with the plot and scenarios of whatever film or show is being made. How much do the director, producer, actors, or director of photography contribute? I really don't know.
Then there are the people who just "punch up" dialog. It seems like a great many game writers simply fill this role. What we really need is someone who can make engaging scenarios, missions, plots, dialog, and gameplay. Is that Peter Molyneux or Will Wright do?
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