An early story today. This interview is done by "Atomic Maximum Power Computing", which...well...I'm not entirely sure why they wanted an interview with the maker of a NDS game, but that's ok! You can grab the interview here and the interesting tidbits below...
*The restrictions of the DS actually helped them narrow their focus. It probably wouldn't be the game it is now if they were allowed free reign with the graphics.
*The cartoon style is very important to the game, both in its creation and as its defining feature
*Not just marketed to kids, but rather, to just about anyone with an imagination
*"If we look at other systems, it won't be for a while"
*The game had a LOT of problems early on (due to the amount of objects they had to test), and it took their entire team to help fix them
*"There were some ideas like level specific rules that would restrict what a player could use in that level, and time limits, which in the end didn't seem necessary or fun so they were cut."
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Dialing Down the Hype: Part 1
Alrighty, it's been awhile since I've done any sort of article write up. Scribblenauts has been RIPE with news and info lately and it's been hard to squeeze anything in. However, I've had the idea for this article for a couple of weeks now, and I think it's important enough to take the time and write it.
Readers, this is an intervention.
Scribblenauts? It won't be as good as you're expecting.
Now, it might be more than a little weird to hear that from the owner of a fan site. But even if you think I'm trolling, believe me, it's for our own good. Hype? It ruins games. It raises expectations to astronomical levels, and even if a game IS good, if it doesn't live up to the image people created in their minds, it will be seen as a failure. The best example I can give is Spore, a game cited as "revolutionary", which was met with a brief burst of activity before everyone decided they hated it. They didn't hate it, not really. They were just upset that it was a different game then they hyped it to be.
In an attempt to help us all be realistic I've decided to bring a semi-frequent feature to the site. Each time I plan on examining one flaw of Scribblenauts. Something to bring it down to earth. Or I might dispell some hopes or wishes people have for the game that we know just won't happen.
Without further rationalizing, let's get on with today's topic.
You're going to be seeing a lot of repeats. A lot of repeats.
Scribblenauts has a great tagline, doesn't it? Write anything, solve everything. It embodies the image of the game and really drives the point home that you really can write any object you can think of and it'll pop into the game.
Well...not exactly. See, though the game boasts "tens of thousands" of words, we can't help but wonder how many OBJECTS they point to.
For example, typing "Crate" and "Box" spawns the exact same object. Now that makes sense, right? You can count the differences between those two on one hand. But there are some repeats we already know that don't make a whole lot of sense. Take this for instance...
President
Prime Minister
Official
Republican
Democrat
all produce the same white skinned, gray hair individual with a suit.
We know that fact from various previews and videos we've seen. Now I guess you could argue (rather humorously) that you can ALSO count the differences between all those people on one hand...but social commentary aside, some gamers are bound to be disappointed. After all, us Americans know just how (stereotypically) different Republicans and Democrats are. The fact that we won't get to fiddle with that is a bummer.
But taking that further, we can make some pretty safe assumptions. I'm willing to be...
Libertarian
Congressman
Senator
Leader
Representative
etc.
all point to this guy as well. Already we're seeing a possibility of a single object having close to a ten or so words all pointing back to it.
Now, again, some people might not think that's a big deal because there's not a whole lot that's TANGIBLY different about them. However, going further, we can find words that are barely linked together that point to the same object.
"Pot of Gold" doesn't give you a pot of gold. It simply gives you a gold bar. "Blood" doesn't give you blood. It gives you a bat (creature). "Treasure" doesn't give you mounds of riches or valuables. It gives you a single diamond. "Epic Fail" doesn't give you some hilarious internet meme object. It simply gives you a nuclear explosive, just like if you typed in "Nuke".
I think you see where I'm getting at here.
We're still going to be surprised at what objects ARE in the game. A lion is different than a tiger, and they're both different than a liger (yeah, that's in the game!). But I guarantee you're going to run into at least one object that's a repeat that you didn't expect. Imagine the guy who tries to make an epic fight between a Republican and a Democrat while the President cheers them on...only to realize he just spawned 3 copies of the same person.
One thing I definitely need to make clear: I don't blame 5TH Cell even a little bit for any of this. To even write this article is an exercise in nitpicking, and I know that. I don't seriously think these things detract from the game very much.
But some people - and with the hype train in full throttle, I'd warrant to say a lot of people - probably think that every word they type will map to a different and unique word. This will not always be the case, and I think we need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that one object can be shared across dozens of words, even if those words aren't closely related.
Readers, this is an intervention.
Scribblenauts? It won't be as good as you're expecting.
Now, it might be more than a little weird to hear that from the owner of a fan site. But even if you think I'm trolling, believe me, it's for our own good. Hype? It ruins games. It raises expectations to astronomical levels, and even if a game IS good, if it doesn't live up to the image people created in their minds, it will be seen as a failure. The best example I can give is Spore, a game cited as "revolutionary", which was met with a brief burst of activity before everyone decided they hated it. They didn't hate it, not really. They were just upset that it was a different game then they hyped it to be.
In an attempt to help us all be realistic I've decided to bring a semi-frequent feature to the site. Each time I plan on examining one flaw of Scribblenauts. Something to bring it down to earth. Or I might dispell some hopes or wishes people have for the game that we know just won't happen.
Without further rationalizing, let's get on with today's topic.
You're going to be seeing a lot of repeats. A lot of repeats.
Scribblenauts has a great tagline, doesn't it? Write anything, solve everything. It embodies the image of the game and really drives the point home that you really can write any object you can think of and it'll pop into the game.
Well...not exactly. See, though the game boasts "tens of thousands" of words, we can't help but wonder how many OBJECTS they point to.
For example, typing "Crate" and "Box" spawns the exact same object. Now that makes sense, right? You can count the differences between those two on one hand. But there are some repeats we already know that don't make a whole lot of sense. Take this for instance...
President
Prime Minister
Official
Republican
Democrat
all produce the same white skinned, gray hair individual with a suit.
We know that fact from various previews and videos we've seen. Now I guess you could argue (rather humorously) that you can ALSO count the differences between all those people on one hand...but social commentary aside, some gamers are bound to be disappointed. After all, us Americans know just how (stereotypically) different Republicans and Democrats are. The fact that we won't get to fiddle with that is a bummer.
But taking that further, we can make some pretty safe assumptions. I'm willing to be...
Libertarian
Congressman
Senator
Leader
Representative
etc.
all point to this guy as well. Already we're seeing a possibility of a single object having close to a ten or so words all pointing back to it.
Now, again, some people might not think that's a big deal because there's not a whole lot that's TANGIBLY different about them. However, going further, we can find words that are barely linked together that point to the same object.
"Pot of Gold" doesn't give you a pot of gold. It simply gives you a gold bar. "Blood" doesn't give you blood. It gives you a bat (creature). "Treasure" doesn't give you mounds of riches or valuables. It gives you a single diamond. "Epic Fail" doesn't give you some hilarious internet meme object. It simply gives you a nuclear explosive, just like if you typed in "Nuke".
I think you see where I'm getting at here.
We're still going to be surprised at what objects ARE in the game. A lion is different than a tiger, and they're both different than a liger (yeah, that's in the game!). But I guarantee you're going to run into at least one object that's a repeat that you didn't expect. Imagine the guy who tries to make an epic fight between a Republican and a Democrat while the President cheers them on...only to realize he just spawned 3 copies of the same person.
One thing I definitely need to make clear: I don't blame 5TH Cell even a little bit for any of this. To even write this article is an exercise in nitpicking, and I know that. I don't seriously think these things detract from the game very much.
But some people - and with the hype train in full throttle, I'd warrant to say a lot of people - probably think that every word they type will map to a different and unique word. This will not always be the case, and I think we need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that one object can be shared across dozens of words, even if those words aren't closely related.
A bunch of very awesome videos from 1Up
Gotta check these bad boys out. 1Up really did these things up in style, focusing on doing "scenes" in with the engine that followed a theme. We got 5 videos for you today, averaging a length of about 2 minutes each, and they're all amazing.
First up we're shown a video with the theme of "vehicles". We see a rickshaw (I do hope someone can pull that for Maxwell while he rides in it!), then a pogostick which looks glorious. It bounces pretty high and can destroy things. We also get confirmation that some things can be broken off into parts. The seat portion of the rickshaw was destroyed, but it left behind a wheel.
I also absolutely LOVE the ghost ship...it looks so cool! And who would have thought something like would be in the game? There's lots more to this video (I'm not going to give a commentary to EVERY thing), so check it out.
This is called "big monster battle", and boy does it live up to its name. It starts out with Bigfoot vs. Yeti, each being smashing the other while making monkey noises. Bigfoot does reign supreme, though he fails when pitted against Nessie. Nessie is ALSO able to take out Manbearpig (holy fuck!) but not even the Loch Ness Monster herself can defeat an old god like Cthulhu.
Then, well, a T-Rex comes along and just ruins Cthulhu's shit after he was distracted with Maxwell. The T-Rex here wins them all, even killing a bothersome kraken as he chases Maxwell into the ocean.
And if the music from "The Ultimate Showdown" was playing in your head while you watched that, then you're not alone
This one is called "The Final Frontier", and I think you'll figure out why soon enough. I like how they included all sorts things you'll find in the sky. My mind exploded when "aurora borealis" worked. Holy shit!
I also wonder if that "Scribblenaut" was the original character design of Maxwell back when the game was about traveling through different planets. Hmm! Very interesting.
Whoa, now THERE are some powerful beings. God kills Satan and a zombie easily enough (and "popo" spawns a cop) but succumbs to a vampire, who turns him into a ghoul!
Then a Necromancer pops up, apparently picks up a spell book (I couldn't quite tell) and begins turning everyone into skeletons. Uh oh. The assault on poor Maxwell was relentless, and nothing he tried, not a super hero nor cyborg, could save him. Except for, perhaps...plutonium? After hitting the necromancer it apparently turned her into a radioactive mutant. This apparently gave Maxwell the idea to set off the nuke, ending them all.
I definitely think I saved the best for last here. This video is full of fantasy references, featuring elves, dwarves, wizards, and even excalibur itself. Unfortunately, as these stories tend to go, no one quite knows what to do with the dragon...
...well, except for the guy in the tank.
First up we're shown a video with the theme of "vehicles". We see a rickshaw (I do hope someone can pull that for Maxwell while he rides in it!), then a pogostick which looks glorious. It bounces pretty high and can destroy things. We also get confirmation that some things can be broken off into parts. The seat portion of the rickshaw was destroyed, but it left behind a wheel.
I also absolutely LOVE the ghost ship...it looks so cool! And who would have thought something like would be in the game? There's lots more to this video (I'm not going to give a commentary to EVERY thing), so check it out.
This is called "big monster battle", and boy does it live up to its name. It starts out with Bigfoot vs. Yeti, each being smashing the other while making monkey noises. Bigfoot does reign supreme, though he fails when pitted against Nessie. Nessie is ALSO able to take out Manbearpig (holy fuck!) but not even the Loch Ness Monster herself can defeat an old god like Cthulhu.
Then, well, a T-Rex comes along and just ruins Cthulhu's shit after he was distracted with Maxwell. The T-Rex here wins them all, even killing a bothersome kraken as he chases Maxwell into the ocean.
And if the music from "The Ultimate Showdown" was playing in your head while you watched that, then you're not alone
This one is called "The Final Frontier", and I think you'll figure out why soon enough. I like how they included all sorts things you'll find in the sky. My mind exploded when "aurora borealis" worked. Holy shit!
I also wonder if that "Scribblenaut" was the original character design of Maxwell back when the game was about traveling through different planets. Hmm! Very interesting.
Whoa, now THERE are some powerful beings. God kills Satan and a zombie easily enough (and "popo" spawns a cop) but succumbs to a vampire, who turns him into a ghoul!
Then a Necromancer pops up, apparently picks up a spell book (I couldn't quite tell) and begins turning everyone into skeletons. Uh oh. The assault on poor Maxwell was relentless, and nothing he tried, not a super hero nor cyborg, could save him. Except for, perhaps...plutonium? After hitting the necromancer it apparently turned her into a radioactive mutant. This apparently gave Maxwell the idea to set off the nuke, ending them all.
I definitely think I saved the best for last here. This video is full of fantasy references, featuring elves, dwarves, wizards, and even excalibur itself. Unfortunately, as these stories tend to go, no one quite knows what to do with the dragon...
...well, except for the guy in the tank.
Official Nintendo Magazine is taking item requests again
and they've also dropped off this lovely picture
Oh...good...internet memes...
...anyways.
So hop on Twitter and give them some good words to try out.
http://twitter.com/onm_uk
And make sure they're good words! Or else.
Oh...good...internet memes...
...anyways.
So hop on Twitter and give them some good words to try out.
http://twitter.com/onm_uk
And make sure they're good words! Or else.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
This Week in Jackson on NeoGAF: Jul 28 - Aug 4
I decided we could use a review of some of the stuff that was posted on NeoGAF by Jackson. (AKA super important Scribblenauts Guide as seen in the Rooster Hat)
Jackson is very active in the Scribblenauts thread on NeoGAF, often correcting different misconceptions:
Now then, let's take 'em on.
There was apparently a rumor that you would need to stay connected to WiFi in Scribblenauts constantly to play the game. This was quickly shot down by Jackson with some sarcasm.
Then there was of course the Joystiq video that was taken down. For a moment, rumors spread that it showed something "disappointing". However, Jackson clarified:
There has also been some recent rumblings about Scribblenauts not living up to it's hype (based on some of the previews complaining about the controls and the lack of some items). Jackson pointed out the source of all the hype
One final point posted today, another fact that I didn't realize until Jackson said it
I didn't really realize, every time someone made an item for a person or animal, they always put it in front of the animal/person. I'm actually glad for this, you can try to hide from a bull, or something like that. It's not just people instinctively knowing an item is in play.
Jackson is very active in the Scribblenauts thread on NeoGAF, often correcting different misconceptions:
I have the info. People have misconceptions, I like fixing those misconceptions. Is that so wrong? :)Source
Kinda like I'm doing right now...? O_O lol
Now then, let's take 'em on.
There was apparently a rumor that you would need to stay connected to WiFi in Scribblenauts constantly to play the game. This was quickly shot down by Jackson with some sarcasm.
We've changed Scribblenauts to now require you to first be in the range of the word.
If you want to type elephant you need to be within 15 feet of a real elephant. Don't worry we've hired 1000s of people called "Scribble Friends" to attached RFID chips to everything in the world.
Then there was of course the Joystiq video that was taken down. For a moment, rumors spread that it showed something "disappointing". However, Jackson clarified:
It was taken down because ******* showed too much straight footage which every other site (including *******) agreed to show much less than that. So it gave them something unfair over all other sites that got the preview build. So WB was trying to be fair and told them to take it down.
Conspiracy theorists ftl?
There has also been some recent rumblings about Scribblenauts not living up to it's hype (based on some of the previews complaining about the controls and the lack of some items). Jackson pointed out the source of all the hype
The thing is myself and 5TH Cell haven't really hyped the game, others have for us. We just said what the game is. And like any game, controls take awhile to get used to. It's not perfect, it's DS and we had a year to make it. It's just a really cool idea (ok I'm biased there ) that was done as best as it could be on a DS in a year's time. And most everyone comes back happy and impressed and every preview even the ones that point out flaws still say the game is the real deal and is worth buying.
One final point posted today, another fact that I didn't realize until Jackson said it
I'm not 100% certain, but I think she was holding it below his line of sight, behind the table. I could be wrong though... AI has line of sight though. So when it was standing upright, the bull noticed it immediately.
I didn't really realize, every time someone made an item for a person or animal, they always put it in front of the animal/person. I'm actually glad for this, you can try to hide from a bull, or something like that. It's not just people instinctively knowing an item is in play.
Another Hands-On and Joystiq Challenge: Round 2
First up on the list we have a hands-on impression from Ugo...whoever THOSE guys are! You can grab it here, and catch my "highlights" below. Not much new, but I rounded up what I could.
*Theramin is in, as is a Fisherman's wife. I wonder if you can play the former, and does the latter stare longingly at the ocean on top of a lighthouse?
*"The controls are atrocious"
*Really loves how it felt like "edutainment". The previewer learned lots of new cheeses and metals!
Next up we have Joystiq redoing their challenge post. This time without a video. They describe the events as they happened in the video, but you can catch the actual video and my impressions right here.
*Theramin is in, as is a Fisherman's wife. I wonder if you can play the former, and does the latter stare longingly at the ocean on top of a lighthouse?
*"The controls are atrocious"
*Really loves how it felt like "edutainment". The previewer learned lots of new cheeses and metals!
Next up we have Joystiq redoing their challenge post. This time without a video. They describe the events as they happened in the video, but you can catch the actual video and my impressions right here.
New Destructoid interview
This one is with Jeremiah, better known to the internet by his NeoGAF username, Jackson. You can read the interview for yourself right here.
In terms of new things it's pretty lacking, if only because we know most everything said. We do learn that to create an item takes "a few hours", which is mind boggling when you consider the tens of thousands of words in the game.
In terms of new things it's pretty lacking, if only because we know most everything said. We do learn that to create an item takes "a few hours", which is mind boggling when you consider the tens of thousands of words in the game.
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