Scribblenauts

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Scribblenauts
Scribblenauts-logo.jpg
Studio 5th Cell
Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 United StatesUnited StatesSeptember 15, 2009 September 30, 2009 October 9, 2009
AustraliaAustralia
EuropeEurope
platform Nintendo DS
genre Puzzle game
Game mode Single player
control Nintendo DS stylus and buttons
medium Memory card
language German , English , others
Age rating
USK released from 6
PEGI recommended for ages 12 and up

Scribblenauts is a 2009 published puzzles - video game for the Nintendo DS , which by 5th Cell developed was and Warner Bros. Interactive distributed is.

Gameplay

The player controls the protagonist Maxwell, who has to solve tasks in 110 action and puzzle levels each, which are rewarded with a symbolized star fragment and a variable amount in Ollars currency. Alternatively, the player can use the sandbox mode in the main menu , in which there are no tasks. By entering nouns, the player can make objects appear that assist him in solving a puzzle. Outside the levels, other game worlds and extras such as other characters that only differ in appearance can be unlocked by Ollars. A level editor is included, whereby levels can be exchanged with the Wi-Fi connection.

Riddle example

One of the puzzles contains four people from different professions, two of whom are to receive a tool that they use in their profession. The player can now create the tools, for example a stethoscope for the doctor and an ax for the firefighter , and thus solve the puzzle. As a reward, the Starite appears, which Maxwell takes to complete the level.

Development and technology

Developer Jeremiah Slaczka, 2010

The game is operated completely with the stylus and the DS buttons. The DS microphone, however, is not used.

Scribblenauts was developed over a period of 15 months. The idea for the game came from Jeremiah Slaczka. During the development, consideration was given to making the game equally accessible to casual gamers and hardcore gamers. Warner Bros. Interactive was chosen as the publisher because it is relatively new but has a lot of money. At Gamescom 2009, half of the Warner Bros. booth was made up of Scribblenauts.

Objectnauts

The object generator is based on the Objectnauts database developed by 5th Cell. Five employees searched for and entered items from encyclopedias such as Wikipedia for over half a year . divides the objects into categories, which in turn can influence the properties of the objects. So an elephant is in the mammals category , which in turn is a sub-category of animals . Every object in the category animals has the property of having organic meat , which in turn can be eaten . According to the developers, the database contained in Scribblenauts contains more than ten thousand objects. However, synonyms for terms that are too similar are also included, for example a Gouda in the database is the same as cheese . Box and crate are also considered the same item in the database. On the other hand, there are also similar terms with different properties, such as Android , robot and cyborg , for each of which there is a separate database entry.

All items have been given properties by hand, such as different hit points . Due to the large number of objects and interaction options, a full test of the effects of all actions was impossible. As an example, Slaczka stated in an interview that it is impossible to test what would happen if you first freeze an airplane, then send it back in time with a time machine, put an old man on it and then set it on fire.

Reviews

The game idea and object database were praised by critics, while the control system was widely criticized.

The average rating at critify.de is 83/100, while Metacritic has an average rating of 79/100 points and a reader rating of 7.6 / 10 points.

Success of the title

According to the NPD Group , 5th Cell sold 194,000 units of Scribblenauts in the United States in the month of its release. Warner Bros. Interactive announced in February 2010 that the game had sold over a million copies worldwide.

successor

Great scribblenauts

A sequel called Super Scribblenauts was released for the Nintendo DS in autumn 2010. An adjective system is now new. This allows the player to add additional adjectives to terms. In addition to these new possibilities, control problems have been resolved. These were the main points of criticism in the first part. The game also provides around 890 other objects.

Scribblenauts Unlimited

On June 5, 2012, Scribblenauts Unlimited was announced. The game has been available in North America since November 13, 2012 and in Australia since November 30, 2012 for 3DS and Wii U, as well as in North America since November 19, 2012 and for PC since November 28, 2012 in Australia. In Europe, the game was originally supposed to appear as a title when the Wii U went on sale on November 30, 2012. The release date of the game in Europe was finally set on February 8, 2013 for 3DS and Wii U and February 15, 2013 for the PC. However, Nintendo announced on January 28, 2013 that Scribblenauts Unlimited would be delayed again in Germany. Nintendo did not give a reason for the delay or a release date. On February 5, 2013, Nintendo confirmed that the release of the game would be delayed not only in Germany, but also throughout Europe. In an October 2013 edition of Nintendo Direct, the game was finally announced for Wii U and 3DS in Europe on December 6, 2013. The game was also released for iOS on December 15, 2015 and costs € 4.99 as a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

Unlike its predecessors, Scribblenauts Unlimited no longer has a level selection screen, but a large, connected upper world that the player can explore freely. This adds an adventure element to the game in addition to the puzzle . Another innovation in the game is that players can now create new objects themselves using an object editor.

There are slight differences between the different game versions. The object editor is missing on the 3DS, instead it allows communication using the 3DS functions StreetPass and SpotPass . The Windows version of the game includes a Steam Workshop integration and allows players to share the objects they have created with others. The Wii U version includes an exclusive co-op mode for two players. Well-known Nintendo characters such as Super Mario are available in-game on Wii U and 3DS .

action

In contrast to its predecessors, Scribblenauts Unlimited has a plot:

The adventurer Edgar was reputedly the most famous adventurer in the world. When he wanted to retrieve a gold-plated figure from an ancient temple, he only found the adventurer Julie there, who preceded him and was about to eat her lunch. Later Edgar and Julie competed against each other, adventure after adventure. Julie beat Edgar when she opened a treasure chest, but the treasure she found was an engagement ring. Edgar and Julie get married and initially had only one son named Edwin, but later they raised 42 children, all of whom are their children! They gave each of their children a special relic, the two twins Maxwell and Lily received a globe with which you can travel to any point in the world, and a magical notebook that, as soon as you write a word in it, makes it a reality! However, they got too used to their gifts that their parents fear that they will spoil them too much. So they sent their children out to discover the world. On their way into town, Maxwell and Lily met a hungry old man. Maxwell conjures him an apple, but it was rotten. The old man cursed Lily, she gradually turns to stone. Maxwell and Lily went to their eldest brother, Edwin. Edwin told them about starites, magical stars that arise from the joy of others. Maxwell sees it as his job to save his twin sister and collect enough starites for her to be fine again.

Reviews

The magazine GBase.ch gave Scribblenauts Unlimited a rating of 7.5. In the test report, the enormous scope and large vocabulary were particularly praised. In return, the bulky controls and the long loading times were criticized.

On Metacritic , the average rating for the PC version is 75/100 points and for the Wii-U and 3DS versions 73/100 points each.

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure

In September 2013, Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure was a fourth part of the series. The base game is very similar to Scribblenauts Unlimited, but Unmasked contains numerous characters and locations from the DC Comics universe, such as Batman and Superman . In Europe, the game is only available for Windows, while versions for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS have also appeared in North America and Australia.

Litigation

In April 2013, a lawsuit against Warner Bros. and 5th Cell on the part of Charles Schmidt and Orlando Torres was filed because the copyrights of the Internet memes Nyancat and Keyboard Cat had been infringed. The two memes, which in the past received a lot of attention on video platforms like Youtube, are said to have been used in the game without permission from 5th Cell or Warner Bros., according to Schmidt & Torres. They have nothing against purely private use, but the trademark rights they have registered should prevent commercial use. A value in dispute or a statement by Warner Bros. has not yet been issued (as of May 2013).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ data from vgreleases.com: Scribblenauts Release Dates - Nintendo DS . Retrieved December 14, 2009
  2. ↑ eurogamer.net: Scribblenauts dev making XBLA game . Retrieved December 20, 2009
  3. ↑ a b c d e f gamasutra.com: Fountain of Scribbles: 5th Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka Speaks . Retrieved December 20, 2009
  4. ↑ g4tv.com: 5 People spent 6 months researching words for Scribblenauts , accessed December 14, 2009
  5. ↑ ign.com: World Debut: Scribblenauts . Page 2. Retrieved December 14, 2009
  6. ↑ see for example John Walker for Eurogamer: Scribblenauts Review . Retrieved December 14, 2009
  7. ↑ see for example Gamasutra: Postmortem: Behind The Scenes Of Scribblenauts . Retrieved December 14, 2009
  8. ↑ critify.de: Scribblenauts . Retrieved December 14, 2009
  9. ↑ metacritic.com: Scribblenauts . Retrieved December 14, 2009
  10. ↑ Scribblenauts Sees Solid September Sales at www.ign.com, accessed August 14, 2017. Archived version , archived August 23, 2009
  11. ↑ News on DSi-Fans.de
  12. ↑ http://www.gamepro.de/nintendo/spiele/wii-u/scribblenauts-unlimited/news/scribblenauts_unlimited,48400,3028537.html
  13. ↑ http://www.iplayapps.de/scribblenauts-unlimited-ios-premium-raetselspiel-26035/
  14. ↑ Scribblenauts Unlimited - test report on GBase.ch
  15. ↑ metacritic.com: [1] . Retrieved August 14, 2017
  16. ↑ metacritic.com: [2] . Retrieved August 14, 2017
  17. ↑ metacritic.com: [3] . Retrieved August 14, 2017
  18. ↑ http://ia601700.us.archive.org/24/items/gov.uscourts.cacd.559999/gov.uscourts.cacd.559999.1.0.pdf
  19. ↑ http://winfuture.de/news,75896.html