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Scribblenauts 'rooster hat' becomes real GameStop pre-order bonus [update]
Click to e-n-l-a-r-g-e [Update: See 5Th Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka rocking the Rooster Hat after the break!] If Scribblenauts' September 15 release date is already noted in permanent marker on your calendar, here's a reason to pre-order the puzzle-platformer for wordsmiths from GameStop: Max's Rooster Hat. The real-world plush hat will be handed over to pre-order customers in the US and Canada (and Australia) at the time of purchase. Quantities are limited, so make sure to ask the sales associate how you can be sure to get one at launch. We want. Want bad. Wait, let's try this: W-A-N-T B-A-D. *poof* Yay!
Mortal Kombat team sheds Midway skin for 'WB Games Chicago'
Picked up by Warner Bros. in the auctioning off of Midway Games' assets, the development studio behind the Mortal Kombat franchise has seemingly been re-branded by its new corporate overlords. Superannuation spotted the info in the LinkedIn profile of Connie Gabelein, a human resources employee currently with Warner Bros. and formerly with Midway (and apparently never part of the management that was recently let go from the failed publisher). Ms. Gabelein lists her position as a "recruiter/HR generalist for the WB Game family of studios, which includes Monolith Productions, Surreal Software, Snowblind Studios and WB Games Chicago."Furthermore, former Midway CTO/now "head of WB Games Chicago" Michael Weilbacher's LinkedIn profile seems to corroborate our suspicions. We've contacted Warner Bros. and Midway for comment and will update this post with more information as we get it. Source 1 - SuperannuationSource 2 - LinkedIn Profile of Connie GabeleinSource 3 - LinkedIn Profile of Michael Weilbacher
Scribblenauts trailer attacks our weak point for massive damage
How many game trailers will you see today that start with a guy jumping a bicycle over a baby? Like, three at most. Even the trailers for Scribblenauts are mindblowing. There's even a little riff on Genji! To demonstrate the versatile gameplay found in the procedural adventure game (that's our awesome term for it), 5th Cell included things like helping improve an old man's vision by giving him another eye. That doesn't work? How about a sniper rifle? And while we're talking about that, we'd like to express our delight that there is a game in which improving an old man's vision is an objective. Even beyond all the item-summoning stuff, there's a ton of creativity at work here. %Gallery-68669%
Scribblenauts to stump brains, warm hearts September 15
5th Cell's wunderkind Scribblenauts has finally been given a US release date: September 15. After having the time of our life with the game back at E3, we're anxious to get through the next two months to play it. If only we had some kind of time-traveling device and, perhaps, a robotic dinosaur that could defend us on our jaunt into the future. Oh well ... %Gallery-68528%
Wait, what? Watchmen game-plus-movie hybrid Blu-ray comes on two discs
In February it was revealed that Sony was working on making game-plus-movie hybrid Blu-ray discs. A great idea that appeals to something movie-goers and gamers share -- an inherent laziness. The first game to feature this was to be Warner Bros' comic book masterpiece, Watchmen, which includes the downloadable game Watchmen: The End Is Nigh on the disc. Well, on a disc, at least. The game and the movie are on separate discs which sort of renders the entire process pointless. Whoops! Still, at least you get the game and the director's cut for for $50. Plus, now you can throw away your copy of The End Is Nigh once you realize how bad it is, without parting with your copy of the movie. Still, bit of an epic fail all around, really.
Midway Newcastle drains the moat, shuts down
Try as it might, Midway Newcastle (Wheelman, Necessary Force) has apparently closed down, thanks to Midway's corporate incompetence and a lack of interest by new overlords at Warner Bros. Develop reports that the studio received the news this morning from Midway CEO Matt Booty -- an "insolvency team" was there to close the studio as soon as possible.That leaves the fate of Midway San Diego still hanging in the balance. Hopefully the 70 or so folks from Newcastle can find jobs soon. We hear that Realtime Worlds is hiring like crazy, and perhaps the team at Ruffian could use some help on Crackdown 2?
Scribblenauts could come to other platforms
It's a scientific fact that 100 percent of people on Earth love Scribblenauts -- trust us, an actual scientist said that -- unfortunately, not everyone owns a Nintendo DS. Sure, almost everyone owns a DS, but that still leaves a small sliver of humanity who will be unable to experience 5th Cell's wordy puzzler whenever it hits store shelves this September. Fortunately for this minuscule contingency, there's a chance Scribblenauts could be released on other platforms. In a recent interview with VG247, the game's technical director, Marius Fahlbusch, explained, "We never limited ourselves to the DS as platform in our heads and we'll see what the future holds." Personally, we think it would be a hit on any platform, whether that platform be Xbox 360, PS3 or coloring book.
Interview: Scribblenauts creative director Jeremiah Slaczka
During E3, word of mouth changed 5TH Cell's Scribblenauts from a promising DS oddity to one of the most highly anticipated upcoming games on any system. Following this sudden and drastic rise in interest level, we spoke once again to creative director Jeremiah Slaczka, whom we last interviewed when the procedural adventure game was first revealed. Just how well has the world reacted to Scribblenauts' public debut? And who at 5TH Cell is a zombie? Read on!
The Scribblenauts ESRB listing is hilarious
Above, you can see the actual ESRB listing for the upcoming DS write-em-up, Scribblenauts. We've taken the liberty of blurring out the most boring bits. Left behind is just a tiny sampling of the truly wondrous things that Scribblenauts is capable of. Trust us, developer 5th Cell did its homework. We know, we checked. Seriously, any game that allows you to attach a steak to a baby in order to attract lions ... that's at least a rental, right? Scribblenauts drops this September. [Via NeoGAF]
Watchmen sequel and retail pack dated, priced and still (likely) boring
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has put its Watchmen: The End is Nigh release plan cards on the virtual table of scheduling. Watchmen: The End is Nigh The Complete Experience: Watchmen: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 for PS3 + movie (Director's Cut with 25 extra minutes) on July 21 with MSRP of $50. Watchmen: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 on single disc for Xbox 360 on July 21 for $30. Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2 available July 29 on PC for $15. The title will hit PSN and XBLM on July 30 and August 26, respectively, for $15 (1200). We've previously said and shown all we need to about the quality of this downloadable movie tie-in title. The "make it expensive" trick won't work this time, like it did with Part 1. If there's a burning desire to purchase a downloadable title in your heart, there are plenty of better games on both systems to drop coin on. %Gallery-44353%
Warner Bros. was the only one interested in Midway
It appears that Warner Bros. was the sole bidder for Midway, meaning the company's $33 million offer likely nets it the whole mortal kit and kaboodle. The LA Times reports that there's still some issues to deal with before the acquisition is finalized -- involving creditors, objections and those who had deals with Midway, including Mortal Kombat producer Lawrence Kasanoff.If the deal is finalized, WBIE will add more titles to its roster, including the next Mortal Kombat game and This is Vegas. Warner could also resurrect Joust and Spy Hunter if it wanted to. But, before all that, the company may still have another acquisition looming with Codemasters.
5th Cell had five people research words for six months for Scribblenauts
In Scribblenauts, you can manifest basically anything. Whether it's a skateboarding god fighting Cthulhu, or hilarious internet memes involving cats, it seems like this game has endless potential. We're anxiously anticipating the game's arrival, with a gigantic notebook full of ideas that we can't wait to try out. As confident as we are that we'll be able to best the game, it's tough when developer 5th Cell admits to G4 that it had five people reading just about everything for six months. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and Wikipedias are just a few of the sources these folks scoured for juicy words to add to the game's enormous lexicon. Check out the video past the break, where 5th Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka and Matt Cox detail how much work went into building this game's robust vocabulary. %Gallery-39784%
Hands-on: Scribblenauts
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. Surprisingly, it's not a big-budget blockbuster, or a groundbreaking advancement in storytelling, or a bold new method of how we interact with our video games. It's Scribblenauts, an unassuming DS puzzler with a massive lexicon, charming gameplay and, as far as we can tell, a large infusion of impossible technowizardry. The premise of the game is simple -- you play as Maxwell, who must solve various puzzles to obtain Starites spread across 220 different levels. To execute the aforementioned solving, you write words to create objects in the world that your cartoonish hero can interact with. It's a simple concept that's bolstered by one astounding accomplishment from developer 5th Cell: Anything you can think of is in this game. (Yes, that. Yes, that too.)
Play Scribblenauts off, keyboard cat
While trying to stump 5TH Cell's Scribblenauts, it was suggested to us that we should try typing some Internet memes into the game's interface and see if they'd materialize. Our first experiment: Longcat. As it turns out, Longcat is in the game ... and he's looooooong. Equally long, but not pictured, is Longcat's nemesis Tacgnol. Seriously. Get ready to declare your game of the show after the break. You'll forget all about Splinter Creed or whatever once you see the player character, sitting in a mech, next to a mecha, watching 5TH Cell's creative director breakdance to the musical stylings of ... Keyboard Cat.
Impressions: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Unlike the character it's based on, Batman: Arkham Asylum has been prancing about in broad daylight quite a bit as of late. We've seen walkthrough videos, tons of screenshots, and we've gotten our hands on it. In fact, if you really find yourself itching for some quality time with the Caped Crusader, you can head down to your local Target and try out a combat demo on the PS3 for yourself. Even PlayStation Home broke news via an in-game ad that players will be able to control the Joker, only in the PS3 version (video just after the break). Seriously, the game has been everywhere.So how did Eidos and WB decide to whet our appetite even more? By showing us another gameplay demo, of course. This time, it was all about showing off Batman's CSI skills, which should come as no surprise (he is the World's Greatest Detective, after all). Get the details after the break, and dust the brand-new screenshots below for fingerprints.%Gallery-64370%
Scribblenauts gets more awesome with level creation, sharing
We already know that developer 5th Cell's ambitious DS project Scribblenauts will keep us distracted with its purported ability to let us conjure up anything simply by writing its name on the screen. What we didn't know is that the game will also let us confound others by letting us edit and share levels. Seriously, is there anything this cute little game can't do? In Scribblenauts, players will be able to create and share custom obstacle course-style levels with other players, as well as dictate how objects in these levels behave. We might create a whale who loves honey, or a rainbow that attracts flies. Or, as Kotaku's Totilo puts it, things could get weird when Scribblenauts pencils in all of our free time this fall. [Via GoNintendo]
PSA: Watchmen: The End is Nigh is coming to the PC
Yesterday, and for seemingly no particular reason, Warner Bros. told GameSpot of its decision to not distribute the second episode of Watchmen: The End is Nigh on PC. Today, when asked for comment, a WB representative told Joystiq, "It is actually coming to PC. What we told GameSpot yesterday, as of yesterday, was what we knew." Whoops! These things do happen though -- the question now is whether or not the publisher is doing the public a disservice by continuing to release poorly made games based on the classic Warner property. But that's a question you'll have to ask yourself. And maybe Justin. %Gallery-44353%
Watchmen: The End is Nigh coming to retail disc
Both chapters of downloadable title Watchmen: Please Make it End The End is Nigh will be available on a retail disc around the time the movie makes its way to DVD/Blu-ray on July 21. 1UP confirmed the information with Deadline Games director Søren Lund at the Nordic Game Conference yesterday. A press release with the full details should be made available today. Reviews for the The End is Nigh weren't exactly glowing (a la blue dongs), but perhaps having the two Nigh episodes together on one disc will reveal the undiscovered brilliance of the simplistic beat-em-up. %Gallery-44353%
Watchmen: The End is Nigh provides more of the same in Part II
Poor reviews won't stop the episodic Watchmen game. The End is Nigh: Part II has been rated by the ESRB, and it looks as though the next installment won't stray far from the first. For those that have played the first episode, that's not a good thing. According to the ratings board, Rorschach and Nite Owl return in the second episode, dashing our hopes of playing as other characters in the Watchmen universe. Once again, Rorschach and Nite Owl will take advantage of rudimentary brawling skills to take down "bikers, gang members, and thugs." The setting of the second episode seems a bit raunchier than the first, with players tracking down "a villain who has molested an actress appearing in a pornography film." Players will then have to enter a strip club that contains caged dancers, peep-show booths and porno playing in the background. Hot stuff? We're hoping that, in spite of the ESRB rating, the next episode of Watchmen takes its time to come out. Who knows? With a bit more development time, the developers might be able to churn out a more solid product. If not, can they at least drop the price?
F.E.A.R. 2 maps yanked from XBLM, back in April
Microsoft has removed the free F.E.A.R. 2 DLC, released yesterday, from the Xbox Live Marketplace. According to Big Download, the Toy Soldiers pack will be available again sometime in April, as was Monolith's plan all along. So, no miniature F.E.A.R. 2 toy battles for anyone 'til next month. Hey, there's always, um ... the Army Men series?
