Scribblenauts passes our ten-word challenge with flying colors

1. Internet -- While we thought the developer wouldn't bother including something as intangible as the intarwebs, entering the word actually spawns a little computer. A little adorable computer. Scribblenauts 1, Joystiq 0.
2. Tattoo -- How could the game possibly render a piece of body art? By spawning a sheet of temporary tattoos, of course. Clever, Scribblenauts. Very clever.
3. Air -- How could you even tell if the game spawned air? Inputting this word creates a tiny puff of air that, when dragged and dropped, is absorbed into the surrounding air. 3-0.
4. Molecule -- No object is too small for Scribblenauts' vocabulary. We entered molecule, and received a tiny model of a molecule in turn.
5. Scribblenauts -- Instead of causing the game to become self-aware, an event that would certainly lead to the destruction of mankind, entering Scribblenauts causes the original character model for Maxwell, the game's protagonist, to appear.
6. Narwhal -- Not only did it cause a horn-touting whale to appear, but we were able to ride atop its back, crossing the liquid divide between us and a Starite. Incredible.
7. Lutefisk -- Sure enough, a bright white fish appeared and began to flop around the level. Oddly enough, a previously spawned Santa Claus ran up and ate the Lutefisk. He must have a cast-iron stomach.
8. Plumbob -- No dice! The game's lead designer was hanging over our shoulder as we entered in this unrecognized word. He quickly asked what it was, pulled out his phone and feverishly sent some unknown party a text message. "Okay," he said. "It'll be in the final product."
9. Stanchion -- The bulk of us actually thought this word was made up -- but Scribblenauts managed to spawn a weight-bearing post, which is apparently what a stanchion is.
10. Joystiq -- Upon entering Joystiq, the game brought up the spell check menu, asking us if we meant to spell "Joystick." We're willing to count this, but we're hoping 5th Cell can manage to include some representation of our site in the final product.
Final score: Scribblenauts: 9, Joystiq: 1. Good game, 5th Cell. Good game, indeed.






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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Saria the Cat @ Jun 5th 2009 7:20PM
Whoa, even I didn't know what a plumbob was, and I am an ex-Sims addict. You've managed to imbue me with your joy over this game, Griffin!
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 7:23PM
i already knew what it was after seeing the sims 3 LE, but i looked it up for the hell of it. and this is part of what i found on urban dictionary.
"Hi, my plumbob is red and I suggest you fuck off before I rip your asshole apart because I'm angry."
wow.
Saria the Cat @ Jun 5th 2009 7:26PM
I never knew they were called plumbobs!
Now all they need is a "Saria the Cat."
charlie b. @ Jun 5th 2009 7:29PM
@saria:
if they put you in the game, i'd buy two copies.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 5th 2009 7:31PM
Just write "Pretty Girl" (or "Pretty Cat") and Saria will appear...
;)
ice~ @ Jun 5th 2009 7:40PM
creepy...
Martin @ Jun 5th 2009 7:45PM
... really?
Saria the Cat @ Jun 5th 2009 7:54PM
I have no idea what those last two comments are referring to.
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 8:02PM
i think ice~ was talking about fernando...
Rollins @ Jun 5th 2009 8:08PM
"Just write "Pretty Girl" (or "Pretty Cat") and Saria will appear..."
Well, they did say that using adjectives to modify nouns may not work. You'll get a girl (or a cat), but its looks may not be to your liking. Tee hee.
eldee @ Jun 5th 2009 8:10PM
"Internet Creeper" would proabaly spawn fernando.
ZING
Old Professor Zertoss @ Jun 5th 2009 8:16PM
Geez Fernando, the internet is only for insults, you creepy pervert. How dare you give someone a compliment? HOW DARE YOU!
BananaBoat @ Jun 5th 2009 8:21PM
I like where this is going. Can I be in the wedding?
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 8:35PM
eldee wins, haha
Saria the Cat @ Jun 5th 2009 8:38PM
Aww, Fernando's just a sweet guy --- and he's married! You devil, you, Fernando!
TheJerk @ Jun 5th 2009 9:31PM
Christ, she's back. Oh well guess i wont read the comments anymore as it will soon go back to her posting stupid shit, rarely making a good point, while all the super lonely nerds fall over themselves to impress a woman that vaguely resembles alanis morissette.
Old Professor Zertoss @ Jun 5th 2009 9:56PM
Way to earn your name, Jerk.
Vegnagun bwf @ Jun 5th 2009 10:28PM
Wow Fernando, I want to compliment you on your subtlety.
Rhamsey @ Jun 5th 2009 10:58PM
yeah, i had to google it
Saria the Cat @ Jun 5th 2009 11:06PM
@TheJerk: B-but we're always DYING to hear from you... :(
Matisyahu Serious @ Jun 6th 2009 5:41PM
i read on the internet that there's a girl here...
HI!
LOL @ Jun 29th 2009 9:03PM
The plumbob from the Sims would be copyrighted and they can't do that. They are probably referring to the plumbob used to build. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumb-bob
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 7:21PM
they're adding plumbobs to the game?! now THAT'S what i call dedication.
Hydrophobicfish @ Jun 5th 2009 7:22PM
"Oddly enough, a previously spawned Santa Claus ran up and ate the Lutefisk."
Hahaha, what? Man, this game is turning into something similar to Noby Noby Boy, in that you can have the most bizarre conversations about the game, and they actually make sense to those in the know, but are absolutely bat-poo insane to those not.
Vegnagun bwf @ Jun 5th 2009 10:58PM
Please, don't compare this to Noby Noby Boy. Please...
Snake Robot Podium @ Jun 8th 2009 10:53AM
I heard on RebelFM that someone spawned "vampire" a few times, then "vampire hunter". The hunter proceeded to kill all of the vampires.
James @ Jun 5th 2009 7:22PM
This game is one of the ones where the core mechanic is basically all I really want from the game.
The whole downloadable levels and level creation puzzler thing sounds amazing but I'd be happy to just sit there with a dictionary and look at stuff interact.
It's sort of like Wikipedia... everything leads on to ten other things which you simply must experience!
Brodo @ Jun 5th 2009 7:22PM
What happens if you input "Penis"?
Can you create your own models of various words?
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 5th 2009 7:24PM
I wish I could read a Scribblenauts thread (at any site) without someone asking the same over and over again...
Kokomadeta @ Jun 5th 2009 7:28PM
That's a good call. I wonder if it will pull a Dreamcast/N64/PS1 Spider-man on us and censor some words.
Martin @ Jun 5th 2009 7:47PM
@Fernando - or you could just skip over parts of a thread that you've read before. I haven't read much about the game, so it seemed a valid question to me. Do you know the answer?
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 8:04PM
you know what's really bad with censorship? the ps3's text chat. i was telling my friend that infamous can get really hard and he said he likes challenging games. it censored challenging. wtf...
pman1225 @ Jun 5th 2009 9:01PM
Naw, both censor inducing words and proper nouns are out.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 5th 2009 7:22PM
Scribblenauts = Winner of E3.
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 7:24PM
agreed.
CaptNink @ Jun 5th 2009 7:24PM
You got that right.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 5th 2009 7:33PM
Those are some mighty low standards you got there fernando.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 5th 2009 7:34PM
Of course tmac... whatever you say.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 5th 2009 7:37PM
This game is actually a good, new and original idea... in fact, is the only truly innovation of the shown at E3.
I don't remember Sony, MS or Nintendo showing a game as innovative and original as this one.
*Write Troll = tmac appears.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 5th 2009 7:38PM
Good, then we agree on that. Glad that's settled.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 5th 2009 7:40PM
Innovative doesn't mean fun, I learned that the hard way with Team Ico games and Little Big Planet. When I saw the video to this earlier it didn't look the least bit fun at all. Good for them for coming up with a new idea, but let's try to make it fun too.
Cesaria (seh-sare-ee-ah) @ Jun 5th 2009 7:42PM
Agreed. This is my most anticipated title this year.
KEENMACHlNE @ Jun 5th 2009 7:42PM
"There's a growing sect of Joystiq writers who are walking away from E3 2009 with the same title constituting their Game of the Show. It's Scribblenauts"
Guess a majority of joystiq staff have low standards as well.
Jason Statham (Aka Vegeta) @ Jun 5th 2009 7:43PM
"Good for them for coming up with a new idea, but let's try to make it fun too."
That's nice Tmac, but it's just too bad that everyone who has tried the game disagrees with you.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 5th 2009 7:46PM
Yeah, and a lot of people like those games I listed above and I think they're horrible.
Big deal, the game recognizes words and drops a sample of one down. I don't get how that's fun at all.
Jason Statham (Aka Vegeta) @ Jun 5th 2009 7:47PM
I agree with this. sure it may not have, HD GRAFFIXS!!! but goddamn does it seem to be the most fun people will have in years.
Cesaria (seh-sare-ee-ah) @ Jun 5th 2009 7:47PM
tmac, who the hell pisses in your cereal every morning?
Jason Statham (Aka Vegeta) @ Jun 5th 2009 7:51PM
Miyamoto. That damned fool. Gets those Trix everytime.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 5th 2009 7:52PM
So easy to just call people graphic whores, specially when they said nothing about graphics, instead of bringing up a counter argument
But to say I expected anything more from you after all this time would be a lie.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 5th 2009 7:53PM
tmac
Actually, the real innovation is the "Objectnaut" software that they developed for the game:
"Objectnaut is a data-driven system, which allows the developers to write in a word, and then write in various properties, including weight, size, if it can be picked up, if it can catch on fire, and other properties. Miah used the elephant as an example, saying that instead of having to write in that it has organic flesh, they can merely write in "animal", and the Objectnaut would assume that it would have organic flesh. Further, he states that because it has organic flesh, it may be eaten by other animals such as a tiger"
Evey object has a set of properties, and then the game determine how each is object is going to react with other objects.
You should read NeoGAF... the devs of the game post there very often, and they give very good info about the game development.