5th-cell posts(Subscribe to this feed)
5th Cell on Scribblenauts' control scheme, and more insights
by JC Fletcher 
{ Nov 16th 2009 at 4:30PM } 
"We knew this was going to take a big hit from reviewers," Tringali said, "but we could only spend a limited amount of work on it. We discussed a secondary D-pad control option midway through development only to come to the conclusion it would take a single person 3-4 weeks to integrate it. On our self-funded schedule, that route was not an option."
Tringali said that to free up time to tweak the controls, another feature, like online connectivity, might have had to be lost. But when those decisions came up, it was already too late.
Celebrate Halloween with Scribblenauts
by JC Fletcher { Oct 30th 2009 at 5:00PM }
If you're not planning to go to the London Dungeon, you can still enjoy some spooky Scribblenauts goodies in the form of this wallpaper (1024x768, 1280x1024, or 1600x1200). It's full of creatures that we haven't seen before, including the Candy Corn Man and whatever that adorable giant eyepatch-wearing cat is. If you know the word that summons the Candy Corn Man, please, please let us know.
Scribblenauts achieves noteworthy 194K sales in September
by JC Fletcher { Oct 20th 2009 at 7:30PM }
We asked 5TH Cell creative director Jeremiah Slaczka if it met his expectations. "I didn't have any expectations," he told Joystiq. "I just hoped it'd do well. It's awesome for a completely new, original 3rd party IP on DS to do so well."
Does this strong debut mean a sequel is guaranteed? "Way too early to tell that," Slaczka said. "We've only seen 2.5 weeks of sales." He told us that Drawn to Life, which went on to break a million worldwide, only sold 40,000 copies in its first month, with one more week of sales in that month.
5TH Cell's next: a 'pretty big' XBLA game
by JC Fletcher { Oct 9th 2009 at 6:55PM }
Well, okay, not next next. The actual next game from Scribblenauts developer 5TH Cell is Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter on DS, out October 27. In an interview with Gamasutra, 5TH Cell's creative director Jeremiah Slaczka revealed that the game after that will be the developer's first console game, a "pretty big" game for Xbox Live Arcade. "It's going to be really cool," Slaczka said. "We're very excited about it... it's totally not ready to be announced." Just think of how exciting it will be when it is ready! That's got to be ... more exciting.The full interview is really interesting stuff, going into the inspiration and early design of Scribblenauts, some discussion of emergent gameplay, and 5TH Cell's somewhat indie-like philosophy.
Mega64 uses Scribblenauts technology to change the internet forever
by David Hinkle { Sep 25th 2009 at 6:47PM }
Mega64, the comedic troupe with a taste for video games, has finally realized this and, in combination with the item-spawning gameplay of Scribblenauts, has created something that will change the internet forever. We'd go into more detail, but then we'd be taking away from the surprise. So, head past the break and see what's in store for the future of the intertron.
Scribblenauts Facebook page teases 'special announcement'
by JC Fletcher { Sep 19th 2009 at 5:30PM }
The Facebook page for 5TH Cell's Scribblenauts is teasing ... something. "Get your rooster hats ready!" a message posted on the game's "Wall" reads. "We have a very special announcement coming very soon..." We have no idea what's being announced, or even when, but it seems really early for a sequel announcement. Maybe another platform? Or maybe something outside the game, like a contest. In any case, if you like Scribblenauts, 5TH Cell is going to tell us all something that will probably be delightful. Speaking of delightful, the pictured object is "Game of the Year" as rendered by the game. That's just adorable.
[Thanks, Josh!]
5TH Cell: Scribblenauts' scandalous-looking 'sambo' item is a misunderstanding
by JC Fletcher { Sep 16th 2009 at 10:30PM } 
Reader Zachary spotted a rather unfortunate term in Scribblenauts entirely by accident: "sambo," which summons ... a watermelon. We thought there was no way 5TH Cell would intentionally hide racist, or even racially charged, imagery in its game, so we contacted creative director Jeremiah Slaczka to figure out what happened.It turns out that like Zachary's discovery, the item was an unfortunate accident. Slaczka explained to Joystiq that "sambo" is used in the game as an alternate term for "fig leaf gourd," an ingredient in the Ecuadorian dish fanesca. "Sambo" is the local term for the gourd. As for the watermelon-like appearance? "We reuse art," he said. "Fig leaf gourd looks a lot like a watermelon. It's just an alternative name in a giant list of tens of thousands of names."
Slaczka noted, offering evidence to the contrary of calls of racism, that many of the human characters in the game, including the fireman, winemaker, and dancer, manifest as black, as does "Brandon," the in-game representation of a 5TH Cell "wordsmith" (one of the employees tasked with finding words for the database), who is of course black in real life. He also mentioned Isaiah, a major character in the developer's last game Lock's Quest.
We must admit, a random, potentially slightly embarrassing art/word pairing in the game seems a lot more likely to us than endemic racism expressed through antiquated epithets. Slaczka told us he didn't even know "sambo" (the slur, not the gourd) until tonight.
5th Cell: Leaked Scribblenauts word list is incomplete
by JC Fletcher { Sep 15th 2009 at 8:13PM }
"That was leaked by a hacker who does not know anything," Slaczka said. "It's more than that." Slaczka also revealed the last word to be added to the game's database: "Low Rider." Presumably this was added at the insistence of his friends, all of whom love a low rider.
[Via VG247]
Review: Scribblenauts
by Justin McElroy { Sep 15th 2009 at 12:31PM } 
It's a game where you solve simple puzzles with almost any object you can dream up (as long as it's not libations, licensed or lascivious) and every item acts the way you'd expect: bears chase honey and dogs chase cats. It's a game where you can spend hours just messing around to see what creatures can beat God in a fight (zombies: no; vampires: yes). As a technical achievement and as a toy, it's really brilliant. Scribblenauts is a thing of wonder.
Gallery: Scribblenauts (7/24/09)
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Behind the scribble with Scribblenauts
by David Hinkle { Sep 14th 2009 at 6:00PM } 
Anywho, if you've got a Wii, check out the Nintendo Channel for a bunch of new content. Or, if you're lazy and want to know what's there before booting up the system, head past the break where we've got you covered, baby!
Reminder: Early Scribblenauts launch today at Nintendo World NYC
by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 13th 2009 at 9:30AM }
The 5th Cell team should be on hand for autographs (hopefully for longer than an hour) and demos of the game. Scribblenauts will allegedly only be sold between 11AM-2PM, so take that into consideration. If you're reading this post from the line at Nintendo World, feel free to let us know how long the queue is in the comments.
There are 22,802 words in Scribblenauts
by Griffin McElroy { Sep 12th 2009 at 2:30PM }
Also, if the list is legit, then "Plumbob" finally made it into the game -- as per our suggestion from E3. As we see it, we're owed around 0.00005 percent of Scribblenauts' total profits. We'll be waiting on the check, 5th Cell.
Watch this Scribblenauts ad with your pterodactyl
by JC Fletcher { Sep 11th 2009 at 6:15PM }
This live-action ad does a great job of getting the gameplay across, and presenting it in an appealing way. In fact, the events of this commercial would work as a real Scribblenauts level. Bonus points for using the real Scribblenauts art style for the summoned objects.
Toys R Us writes in $15 launch day savings on Scribblenauts
by JC Fletcher { Sep 9th 2009 at 6:29PM }
There you go. If you live near a TRU and you've been on the fence (for some reason) about this game, consider your decision made.
[Via GoNintendo]
Scribblenauts UK release date erased, 'October 9' written over it
by JC Fletcher { Sep 2nd 2009 at 1:00PM }
In other Scribblenews, a bunch of fun downloadables are available at the website now. Your wallpaper could have more panda-riding on it.
