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Scribblenauts Preview/Impressions Thread - You will say "wow." (see post #217)

S

someguyinahat

Member
I think we paused once while going through a list of chemical formulas, but then just continued on. Chlorinated Diphenyl Oxide anyone?
Click to expand...

This is not only awesome, but it brings up the question:

Does "sildenafil citrate" produce a small blue pill? Or did you leave it out because it's too suggestive?
 
S

SmellyWaffles

Neo Member
True, it's a chemical, but I'd say trademark issues are present too:

Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra, Revatio and under various other trade names, is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It was developed and is being marketed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Click to expand...

EDIT: Yes, actually, and being a huge fan of Tomba!, I like the comparison :) I absolutely love the music we've heard so far in the game, ever since I first heard that catchy little number in the very first trailer last year.
 
C

Cyndar

Neo Member
Tomba was a landmark in my childhood of gaming (One of my first PSX games). It does give me a sense of nostalgia to hear that music. I actually want to re-beat the game again now...
 
V

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
Guess who is playing Scribblenauts right now :D

Not me :( But someone from my site is. Damn them!
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
SmellyWaffles said:
Blizzard, you a rock climber? I figure that's why you're so zealous about pitons :lol
Click to expand...
Nah, I just have an awful habit of being annoying if something seems to fit the rules but isn't included. XD I have read a bit about climbing, so I was curious if some of the other sorta climbing-specific legal objects were in there.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
SmellyWaffles said:
yeah, I remember being disappointed when I heard "valkyrie" didn't work. But that was back at E3, they've likely remedied it.
Click to expand...
Valkyrie's a proper noun, so I can live with that. Avalanche is an event, like Jackson explained. At any rate, expecting a less than perfect word list and less than perfect controls seems reasonable...the game should still be awesome. ^_^
 
F

faridmon

Member
BorkBork said:
NP's been surprisingly good with criticism and scores in the past few years.
Click to expand...
this is ONM not NP. its teh Nintendo magazine here in UK. and Trust they are not as good as NP.

I wish we had NP :(
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
It feels weird how so many media sites are digging into the retail copy now, when it's only the end of July, and the actual release is more than a month away.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
EatChildren said:
It feels weird how so many media sites are digging into the retail copy now, when it's only the end of July, and the actual release is more than a month away.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that kinda scares me. I was hoping that only preview copies would be available, but if the retail one is out already people are basically going to be playing the ROM on their DSes a month ahead of time. :mad:
 
S

SirPenguin

Member
^^^

Where are you guys hearing they have the retail copy? I know people have their hands on the game, but I don't think any of them has said it's the final version.


******* has a Scribblenauts challenge going on

http://www.*******.com/2009/07/31/take-the-*******-scribblenauts-challenge/

Similar to Edge, only no prizes (afaik) and the level seems a good deal easier. But I'd say the objective is simpler on purpose, as it allows for some really outlandish solutions.

but lord knows the internet will try to use Keyboard Cat or whatever to solve it.
 
S

someguyinahat

Member
but lord knows the internet will try to use Keyboard Cat or whatever to solve it.
Click to expand...

Sure enough, one person in the comments already suggested that. Yes, we get it, guys, internet memes are in the game. It's slightly amusing seeing it once, but when you see it in nearly every preview, it's frustrating.
 
S

SirPenguin

Member
That Gamespot preview is probably one of the more skeptical previews we've seen. He seems to be pretty caught up on in-game incentives for using different solutions, which I don't really get. To me, the whole point is to personally challenge yourself and your own imagination.


Edit: Also, he mentioned that milk bottle level can be beaten with basically anything, as you can simply spawn an item, drag it over the bottles with the stylus, then drop an item to make them fall. That ******* "challenge" just got a lot easier :lol
 
S

SmellyWaffles

Neo Member
^exactly. I plan on using four solutions for each level that are completely distinct from one another, rather that using four sets of objects that are functionally identical. So what if you can throw a football, baseball, croquet ball, etc. at the starite in the tree? The reviewer didn't understand that Scribblenauts is all about making your own fun. If all you're concerned about is beating the game as quickly as possible, you can go that route, but then this game probably isn't for you.

Although, the thing about being able to drop a taxi on top of the bottles was kind of... cheap? But like I said, it's all about solving the puzzles your own way. If you think that kind of solution is too simple, just don't use it.
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
For me, Scribblenauts is less about solving the puzzles logically, and instead solving them as illogically as possible.
 
phisheep

phisheep

NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
S

SirPenguin

Member
EatChildren said:
For me, Scribblenauts is less about solving the puzzles logically, and instead solving them as illogically as possible.
Click to expand...

Definitely. I mentioned this on my site this morning but I'm actually happy some of the levels ARE simple because the simple levels are where you're free to get as weird and obscure as you want.
 
S

SirPenguin

Member
http://kotaku.com/5327438/

For the next hour, if you write a concrete, kid-friendly noun, I will try to test it in Scribblenauts. The DS game should render your nouns as objects. I'll attempt to keep up in the comments and report back.

I will ignore bad words, so don't waste my time.

Look for a preview of Scribblenauts' gameplay next week. For now, let's mess around with turning words into virtual objects in the game's menu screen.

I'll start: I typed "boy," and a boy appeared. I typed "blob" and a blob appeared and attacked the boy.

I typed "president" and got a white guy in a suit. I typed "Republican and got the same guy." I typed Democrat and again got that guy.

Suggestions?

(The game's out on September 15, from development studio 5th Cell and publisher Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment.)
Click to expand...

Go forth and suggest words! And please don't suggest stupid and overdone objects!
 
T

toonhead2

Neo Member
phisheep said:
The only problem I have with that preview is that the writer seems to be under the terribly mistaken impression that Scribblenauts is a game you play on the DS.

It isn't. It is a game that you play inside your own head.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I like the fact that you be logical or illogical as you like. Its up to how the player wants to play.
 
K

KScorp

Member
For whoever is interested but doesn't feel like going through the comments at Kotaku, here's some of the words that did make it (and their interactions, if applicable) along with words that didn't.

Did spawn:

Shrink ray - It's functional too.
Spork
Sasquatch - It's friendly.
Durian - Fruit from southeast Asia.
Cyborg - Hostile. Sasquatch beats it.
Mexican wrestler - Shirtless man. (May simply be a wrestler.)
Chimera
Corpse
Vulture - Eats the corpse.
Noob - Some guy in a kilt.
DPSS - It spawns a gun. Wikipedia says it's a Diode-pumped solid-state laser.
Femtochemist - Probably just a normal chemist is spawned.
Blood - It spawns a bat.
Goth - It spawns a vampire.
Shofar - A horn used for Jewish religious purposes.

Didn't spawn:

Saveloy - A sausage. Doesn't spawn anything.
Dromedary - A camel. Doesn't spawn anything.
Influenza
Rubber chicken - This surprised me.
Beelzebub
Pandora's box - A normal crate is spawned.
Feminist

I don't care much about the missing words, but some of the included words are interesting.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
KScorp said:
words
Click to expand...
Doggone it, I picked that time to go bowling and didn't get to suggest all my mountain-climbing words. :( (though this -is- the preview build again, presumably, and IGN is the only one saying they have the full version?)

Dromedary and maybe saveloy are probably legitimate words. Feminist might be too "controversial" a word to potentially have. "rubber chicken" contains an adjective modifying chicken and thus breaks the rules. I'm kind of surprised "Mexican wrestler" even works. (they should have tried "wrestling mask" though :p)
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
Puffles said:
I don't know what I thought was more hilarious:
using lettuce on a fishing pole to make a kangaroo charge through the bottles
, or
making the little girl happy by burning her own house down
.
Click to expand...
I thought the best was Maxwell happily running in place on the escalator, or the girl charging OVER the escalator to get to her cat. And I'm still digging the music...it's so happy!
 
K

Koomaster

Member
Blizzard said:
Doggone it, I picked that time to go bowling and didn't get to suggest all my mountain-climbing words. :( (though this -is- the preview build again, presumably, and IGN is the only one saying they have the full version?)

Dromedary and maybe saveloy are probably legitimate words. Feminist might be too "controversial" a word to potentially have. "rubber chicken" contains an adjective modifying chicken and thus breaks the rules. I'm kind of surprised "Mexican wrestler" even works. (they should have tried "wrestling mask" though :p)
Click to expand...
Or Luchador; which is the name of a mexican wrestler. At least, I assume that is what the person suggesting it was going for.
 
S

SirPenguin

Member
IGN videos were fantastic. I love his "loophole" around the "No Weapons" rule of the bottle level...hehe.

Also, again, where did IGN say they have the full retail copy? Was it in their podcast?

Edit: I mean, it'd be weird if they did, as Gamespot (and I'd assume all the others) have the preview build. Gamespot was surprisingly descriptive of everything they got:

11 Action/11 Puzzle levels from World 1
1 Action/1 Puzzle level from each world 2-10

Totals out to 40 levels
 
S

SirPenguin

Member
Scribblenauts was mentioned in the latest ******* podcast.

Find the podcast here:
http://www.*******.com/2009/07/31/*******-podcast-103-2010-edition/



Bullet points of the discussion. And if it seems overly negative, well, it is, but read all of them (mainly the last 3) before reacting.

*Action levels don't seem to "work as well" as Puzzle levels
*Controls are finicky
*Puzzles are really interesting and unique
*"Protect a picnic basket from ants, but don't kill the ants as it'll upset the hippy" - Amazing level description
*Biggest problem Scribblenauts will have: Gives impression possibilities are unlimited, when that's not the case. Some objects don't act like you'd expect or want them to.
*Example: Needed to get on top of something, created a beanstalk, but it just created a rope and didn't work like they wanted it to
*Another: Needed to stop a ship from hitting an iceberg. Fireball killed the iceberg, which was cool. But he wanted to attach an anchor, needed a chain, but the weight of the chain was enough to stop the ship, which was weird.
*Yet another: Farmer freaked out and killed a rabbit, then killed a rat. I don't know why he thought that was weird...
*Favorite thing that happened: Created God and Dracula. Dracula killed God and turned him into a Zombie.
*Another about God: Had to knock over some bottles. Created God on one side, the Devil on the other, and it was close enough to the bottles so the ensuing fight knocked them over
*Keeps coming up with these caveats on purpose in order to tone down expectations
*Half of the appeal is solving puzzles, other half is to see if a solution will work the way you want
*You will absolutely want to purchase it



Listen Up also covered it a bit, so I'll be listening to that sometime tonight as well.
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
*Example: Needed to get on top of something, created a beanstalk, but it just created a rope and didn't work like they wanted it to
Click to expand...
When I read this, I thought he meant that beanstalk just re-used the asset from rope, but after listening it seems like he means that it is an actual beanstalk, its just this limp, rope like thing.
 
S

SmellyWaffles

Neo Member
To be honest, though, can that really be considered a flaw? I mean, they asked for a beanstalk, and they got a beanstalk, just as it would appear and act in real life. Not a magical giant beanstalk that happens to appear in a certain fairy tale. Surely they can't mark down a game because of their own unrealistic expecations? :D
 
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