Hoping to make a comeback with that 365-point quixotry play in Scrabulous? US and Canadian Facebook users were likely dismayed to find out this week that Scrabulous has been disabled. The region-specific lock likely has to do with Hasbro's license for all Scrabble video games, which is for US and Canada only (Mattel owns the rights for the rest of the world). In the interim, you can always play the official Scrabble Facebook app care of Electronic Arts, although it lacks the panache of the seemingly now-defunct Scrabulous.
[Thanks, Andrew B]
Reader Comments (22)
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 12:25PM (Unverified) said
Scrabulous? Never heard of it. Facebook? I like Myspace better.
Reply
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 12:34PM (Unverified) said
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 12:43PM Saria the Cat said
Hey, there is still that one freeware of Scrabble I told everyone about. I keep forgetting what it's called, though. :(
Reply
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 12:47PM (Unverified) said
They have a trademark on scrabble, scrabulous was a profit generating enterprise.
They are well within their rights to do this. Could they have handled it better? Yes, most definitely.
Reply
They are well within their rights to do this. Could they have handled it better? Yes, most definitely.
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 12:53PM (Unverified) said
Aside from band-marketing on MySpace, who the hell needs any of this crap? Never understood those people.
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Posted: Jul 29th 2008 1:08PM Keithustus said
Facebook/myspace/etc. is the new hangout place for 10-18 year-olds, rather than McDonald's, movie theaters, malls, etc.
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Posted: Jul 29th 2008 3:55PM Cheezeman3000 said
Actually, FSK, Facebook was initially ONLY open to universities. Only recently has it been open to everyone. Most of my friends on it are in their mid to late-20's.
Plus the interface is professional-looking and you don't have to worry about people's pages being NSFW. Facebook is, hands-down, the best way to keep in contact with people these days.
Reply
Plus the interface is professional-looking and you don't have to worry about people's pages being NSFW. Facebook is, hands-down, the best way to keep in contact with people these days.
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 1:00PM whymog said
I'm all for the copyright holders protecting their rights. I just wish they'd keep using the Scrabulous engine. When BlockStar was replaced by the infinitely more terrible Tetris Friends app, it stung deep. :(
Facebook has the potential to be an incredible social gaming network, and it's a shame that copyright holders would sooner "protect" their property than create high-quality versions that do them justice.
R.I.P. Scrabulous.
Reply
Facebook has the potential to be an incredible social gaming network, and it's a shame that copyright holders would sooner "protect" their property than create high-quality versions that do them justice.
R.I.P. Scrabulous.
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 2:04PM Saria the Cat said
I'm right there with you. I feel it's completely Hasbro's right to do this but it's quite disappointing that they are more focused on protecting their rights than delivering something awesome.
"Hey, Mr. Hasbro. There's this application that is ripping ours off that is really popular and people love it. What should we do?"
"DE_STROY_" (robot voice)
"Well, should we try making our own? People really like this thing."
"ALL_RIGHTS_ARE_BELONG_TO_US_"
"Well, we can probably make a lot of mone---"
"NOT_PAID_FOR_INSOLENCE_"
Reply
"Hey, Mr. Hasbro. There's this application that is ripping ours off that is really popular and people love it. What should we do?"
"DE_STROY_" (robot voice)
"Well, should we try making our own? People really like this thing."
"ALL_RIGHTS_ARE_BELONG_TO_US_"
"Well, we can probably make a lot of mone---"
"NOT_PAID_FOR_INSOLENCE_"
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 1:14PM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said
Way to give a shout out to quixotry! I almost dropped that word in...wait for it...REAL scrabble likle two weeks after that story broke. Awesome.
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Posted: Jul 29th 2008 2:13PM voyceofreason said
scarbulous is just a bunch of f'n thief's. . .
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Posted: Jul 29th 2008 1:59PM (Unverified) said
This is a shame. It was such a great way to play Scrabble remotely. Stuff like this is good for kids, it builds vocabulary, keeps them off the streets and away from gang-related criminal activities (and instead opens the world of internet fraud to them!).
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Posted: Jul 29th 2008 2:38PM (Unverified) said
The people who missed it probably didn't played it.
It sucked,matches were to long because people liked to visit Dictionary.com and make you wait 5 to 20 minutes to pull off as many 3 letter combos across the board.
Reply
It sucked,matches were to long because people liked to visit Dictionary.com and make you wait 5 to 20 minutes to pull off as many 3 letter combos across the board.
Posted: Jul 29th 2008 5:22PM (Unverified) said
Actually, you didn't have to do that. It had a dictionary tool, as well as a list of 2 and 3 letter words for convenience. Scrabulous was a great game. It gave me a way to play a game with my cousin, who lives halfway across the world. I sincerely hope that they will bring scrabulous back, and still protect their investment.
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