Joystiq

The Wii U accessory onslaught begins in the Scribblenaut-iest way

JC Fletcher — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:15:00 EST

With a new console comes a world of new accessories. I encountered my first Wii U accessory in PDP's booth, and it's glorious. To go with the Wii U version of Scribblenauts Unlimited, PDP has concocted a cover for the WiiPad designed to mimic Maxwell's "rooster hat."

Now that it exists, every Wii U controller that isn't in a rooster hat is a missed opportunity.

The Wii U accessory onslaught begins in the Scribblenaut-iest way originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scribblenauts' Maxwell now available for pre-order in toy form

Mike Schramm — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:00:00 EST

The adorable Scribblenaut himself, Maxwell, is heading to toy stores this June. First, he's an action figure, complete with a pencil and notebook used to create anything you can dream of. Then while you're dreaming, you can hug a little plush Maxwell, available for $10 plus shipping.

Scribblenauts' Maxwell now available for pre-order in toy form originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Scribblenauts features a reprogrammed Maxwell

Mike Schramm — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:32:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Upon playing Super Scribblenauts, it becomes readily apparent why you'd want to use the D-pad to manipulate the game's hero, Maxwell. So why wasn't that an option in the first game? Joystiq asked 5TH Cell Creative Director Jeremiah Slaczka, and were told that the original touch-screen input didn't draw any complaints -- at least not from casual players. "We haven't gotten any emails from casual users," he told us this week, "that are like, 'Hey, I don't like the controls.' It's the hardcore users that are like, 'I play Mario all of the time, and I'm a hardcore gamer, and I'm used to these kinds of controls, and what's what I want."

Though controlling Maxwell directly with the D-pad may seem an obvious choice, it wasn't the first time around. "Maxwell's actually an AI," Slaczka said. "So it wasn't just like throw the D-pad controls in." Maxwell was programmed to respond to the rest of the game's systems rather than just follow button directions, and so it didn't occur to the developers to control him directly. "You'd have to overwrite all of the code that we'd built up for him. So in the second one, we basically did that." The team "stripped out" all of the behaviors and responses that had been coded, and created the option for "one-to-one player control."

For his own part, Slaczka says he doesn't care which option players use, but he'll stick with the stylus. "This isn't a platforming game," he said. "This is a puzzle game. Unfortunately, it has a platforming-type feel to it. So we said for the second one, that's fine, we'll address it, we'll give you both. And we actually fixed up the stylus controls, too, so Maxwell doesn't run away as you tap -- when you let go he stops. So we made it way better."

Super Scribblenauts features a reprogrammed Maxwell originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Schizophrenic man kills, says GTA told him to do it

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:24:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360

Ezekiel Maxwell, a 17-year-old paranoid schizophrenic on "skunk cannabis," stabbed a woman to death because the "gangster voices" from Grand Theft Auto told him to do it. Although this incident is just being reported now as part of Britain's supposed "skunk cannabis" epidemic, the murder actually occurred last September.

Maxwell believed he was Carl Johnson from GTA: San Andreas when he committed the murder and believed the game was telling him to "stab a woman for seven days, it had to be a black Afro-Caribbean woman." The voices took over his thoughts and "made him do things." According to reports he was playing GTA and smoking skunk cannabis for months to the exclusion of everything else before the killing. Maxwell has since been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yesterday he was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Schizophrenic man kills, says GTA told him to do it originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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