Scribblenauts: Accomplishment and potential

Although Scribblenauts is a terrifically fun and shockingly innovative game, its concept is even more compelling than its gameplay. Scribblenauts is a new game for the Nintendo DS in which you solve puzzles by summoning and using items. If your goal is encased in a block of ice, you could break the ice with a hammer, melt it with a flamethrower, or detonate it with a grenade. The game's hook is that you can summon almost any item imaginable.

Hidden machinery

Of course, the game is phenomenal, but the technology behind it is even more impressive. 5th Cell, the developers of Scribblenauts, managed to cram tens of thousands of interactive, animated characters and items on a tiny DS cartridge. On top of the actual pictures, they programmed in complex interactions between the items. For example, a toaster will turn bread into toast; monsters scare and attack people; cops shoot criminals and chase donuts; and beavers gnaw down trees. This game's backend is completely unprecedented.

Unlimited Possibilities

Imagine if the contents of the Scribblenauts asset database were accessible to all game developers. Designing a traditional game would be a breeze: lay out a level, populate it with items and characters, and show the player an objective. However, giving developers (and players) instantaneous access to a massive library of items would create entirely new gaming possibilities. An RPG could allow players to equip their teams with typical household items with different strengths and weaknesses. A point-and-click adventure could use the sprites and interactions to let the player pick up literally any item in a room and use it in the game. A platformer could use the vast selection of items and characters to make each level a unique experience. A universal resource database could fundamentally change process of creating and playing games.

Making the concept a reality

Thinking about the possibilities if the Scribblenauts database was open is entertaining but unproductive. In order to give developers and users the power of instant item creation, steps must be taken.

1. A lightweight format for interactively animated sprites must be established. Whether it's a particular arrangement of sprites on a sheet or an XML dialect for defining how a character's parts fit together and interact, there must be a standard for people to follow.
2. A central database must be created to systematically store and retrieve the standardized sprites. It must be easy for people to contribute, but impossible for someone to damage or corrupt. The sprites and their interactions must be version-controlled.
3. Developers must have access to the database from their games. Web-based technologies could access the database directly, but pc-based games should be able to use a copy of the database. It could be optimized and compressed, or developers could simply "check out" the portion of the database they intend to use. Perhaps, when a game using the entire database is started, it could check to see if any new items have been added to the database.

Conclusion

The game Scribblenauts is an enormous accomplishment, but it could be so much more. The technology behind Scribblenauts could revolutionize the resource management of game development, tearing down barriers for both designers and developers to create experiences. Nevertheless, in order for that to happen, 5th Cell must release the Scribblenauts' resource database for non-commercial use, or the independent developer community must unite to create their own asset database.

If you'd like to support the developers of Scribblenauts (and me), you can buy Scribblenauts for yourself.

Mega Man 3: Retro or Dated?

I am addicted to Mega Man. My first experience was with the PS3 demo for Mega Man 9, and although I received game over after game over, I couldn't stop playing until I reached Concrete Man. Therefore, when I found myself without a new game to play, I cashed in some of my Wii points for Mega Man 3.

I wasn't disappointed. Mega Man 3 is tough as nails and a blast to play. When I started to notice some relics from the NES era such as my health bar sporadically blinking and the level backgrounds being loaded before my eyes, I marveled at the port developers' attention to detail. However, my admiration turned to consternation when the game started slowing down with just two enemies on the screen.

I fully understand that this painstakingly realistic emulation probably impresses people who have played the original game on the NES, but I know I'm not the only person who's frustrated by this lack of quality. Even if a staggering forty percent of the people who download this game have played the original, that leaves sixty percent of the potential audience unlikely to appreciate the relics.

I seriously doubt that removing gameplay slowdown would be a challenge for Capcom's port developers, and I'm confused as to why they would choose to leave it in. I can understand some of the appeal of quaint little glitches like the pulsating health bar, but I can't fathom Capcom's reasons for leaving the gameplay impaired for the port.

Gaming quality has come a long way in the last twenty years, and I know I'm not the only one who appreciates this progress.

Ratchet and Clank: a technical marvel

I have recently begun to play the PS3 game "Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction". I'm thoroughly enjoying playing through the game, and I can't help but notice the stunning graphics. The detailed environments are further enhanced by the showy effects, including the over-the-top weapons.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that this game may be the most technically impressive game I have ever played. The genius developers at Insomniac have created far more than a pretty game, but one that is a benchmark by which other games will be judged.

A few good examples:

• One of the staples of R&C games is the taxi, a convenient object within the game that allows you to travel to other parts of the level you're playing. This could be a mundane enough piece of the game, but it is in reality one of the most impressive demonstrations of the power of the R&C engine. As you ride the taxi, you can move the camera around to look at the world passing by. The entire level is displayed before your eyes, from the enemies mulling around to the boxes just waiting to be broken. There is no canned travel screen, no suspicious fog that limits your visible area, and no visible enemy pop-in. It is just an unobstructed view of the entire world. It appears that they accomplished this feat by caching the entire world to the PS3's flash memory. More evidence of this can be found in the teleporters found sporadically in the levels. These teleporters are not the usual developer excuses found in some games, but truly instantaneous transports. There are no spinning gears, no canned loading animations, and no lags of any kind. Step in and step out; it's that quick.
• Another notable technical achievement of this game is its incredible lighting effects. From the dull sheen of exotic crystals to the tarnished gleam of ancient metal, almost every object in this game has some kind of reflectivity. One time, I was walking through an already-destroyed level when I noticed a yellow flash. Upon closer inspection, it was a gear, half-buried in the dirt and completely covered in shadow. This gear was reflecting the glare off a light-colored wall opposite it. Not only that, but the reflection shifted as I changed my angle relative to the gear. It's quite an accomplishment when your engine creates environments so immersive that the player can see beauty in debris lying on the ground.

Obviously, these aren't the only two examples of good graphics in the game, but they are two of the most striking. Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is a testament to the obsessiveness of all its creators, not just its art directors and level designers.

Show your appreciation by buying it here: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Cockroaches and WoW

I have many ideas, most of which aren't to interesting to the average person. Every once in a while, I come up with something so fascinating (in my opinion), I wish I could share it with the world. Well, now I can!

As I was taking an evening walk a couple months back, I had an unusual thought: "Why doesn't a scientist hook up a roach's brain to a virtual avatar? He could wire the bug's mobility processors to the motion of its avatar and its senses directly into the game. That would be an interesting enough experiment, but what if he hooked up the bug to a massively multiplayer online game such as World of Warcraft? In theory, he wire the bug's brain to give it pleasure if it did something good for its player, like damaging another player, and pain if it did something bad, like taking damage.

This bug could become the best WoW player in the world, because it would play non-stop, with an insatiable urge to succeed. Its sole purpose in life would be to win the game, and it would keep trying and learning until it did. Of course, I don't have the means or the experience to accomplish something like this, but it is a very interest hypothetical, in my opinion.