E3 '09 Editors' Choice Awards
Game of the Show
Scribblenauts
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: 5TH Cell
- Platforms: DS
- Release Date: Sep 15, 2009
Let's not beat around the bush: the last two E3s were monumentally disappointing, offering few surprises and even less excitement. However, the show returned this year with a bang and included a lineup of spectacular games that easily bested the selections from years past. Just in terms of the exciting games on hand, this year's E3 was one of the best yet, with sequels to heavy hitters such as Forza Motorsport 2, Assassin's Creed, God of War, and Modern Warfare on display. But it wasn't a sequel that impressed us most. It was a little-known Nintendo DS game called Scribblenauts.
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When people first hear of Scribblenauts, they often think, "That's impossible. There's no way that's going to work." But somehow, it does. Scribblenauts transported us back to our childhood, when the world was our playground and anything and everything seemed possible. The basis of Scribblenauts is this: You type in the name of an object, any object (so long as it's not copyrighted), via the touch-screen keyboard, and the object immediately appears inside the game's world. Words such as "cat," "soccer ball," and "police car" all spawn the object you would expect. But the game goes much further than that, recognizing words such as "unicorn," "rocket launcher," and even "Ebola." Whatever we threw at it instantly appeared, seemingly magically. Once you've summoned your objects of choice, you can then interact with them. You can take the police car for a joy ride, catch a ride on a unicorn, or use a rocket launcher to fend off the army of zombies you've created. The possibilities seem endless, as our battle between God and a manticore clearly demonstrated, though neither was a match for the black hole we spawned soon after.
Everything we've just described can be performed on the game's title screen: a virtual sandbox that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what Scribblenauts offers. The core of the game is wrapped around its 200-plus levels, each challenging you to use whatever objects you can imagine to complete the stated objectives. For instance, many of the missions require you to collect a star positioned somewhere out of reach. One level we saw had the star at the top of a tree; most players instinctively spawn a ladder to gain unfettered access to the star. But more-creative players may summon, say, a slingshot, to shoot the star out of the tree instead. We can't even imagine how many ways there must be to reach that star, but judging from what we saw at E3, we'll have a blast finding out.
Scribblenauts is simply one of the most original games we've ever seen. Whereas most games offer a limited number of options at any given time, the only restriction in Scribblenauts seems to be the limits of your imagination. That's not to take away from any of our other finalists, all of which look fantastic. But the fact that 5TH Cell was able to competently pull together a seemingly impossible concept and execute it in a manner that is captivating, exhilarating, and ground-breaking is precisely why it's our Game of the Show.
Finalists: Game of the Show
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Assassin's Creed II (X360, PS3, PC)
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Forza Motorsport 3 (X360)
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God of War III (PS3)
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Heavy Rain (PS3)
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (X360, PS3, PC)
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Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (WII)
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Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
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The Beatles: Rock Band (X360, PS3, WII)
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (X360, PC)
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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
R&C; ACIT best platformer. Surprised I am not.
sick
an awsome game can't wait till tommorow but im confused between it and just cause 2 i am waiting for the reveiw that's where ill choose
BG&E; 2 is NOT canceled, Ubisoft confirmed it. We should hear something about at this year's E3 or till the end of the year. I LOVED the game even though I played it for the first time in 2010.
Man! really hoping BG&E2; is not canceled.
Nice more Experimentals units so HUGE and POWERFULL
Regarding BG&E; 2: If Ubisoft is gonna drop the ball on this one, then they should sell it to Naughty Dog so that studio can give it the Uncharted 2 treatment. It deserves no less.
AWESOME Very good . best Game in the World.............
Finally! I've been waiting for supreme commander 2 for a long time! it's going to be great
I'm still not convinced that the "leaked" BG&E2; footage was legit, after all, the guns in BG&E; weren't projectile weapons & there was cars & cattle in the street, cows in BG&E; were sentient creatures & the vehicles were hovercraft
what the crap uncharted 2 deserves game of show
i may get a nintendo just for scribblenaunts
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
yeah tekken 6 and mordern warfare 2.I will get these games with the ps3 slim for my birthday.Uhhhuuuuuu
Beatles rock band....im so sick of these games why not learn to play instead im not slagging rock band/guitar hero games hell the first game actually made me buy a guitar that i can now play.
that scribblenauts looks pretty good... i would summon Chuck Norris to kill all the enemies
that scribblenauts looks pretty good... i would summon Chuck Norris to kill all the enemies
dude that ds game looks sick! i would summon gordan freeman to help me fight off the zombies
mass effect 2 looks epic good and cod mw2 is going to be amazing
why do the Beatles get their own game? the Beatles suck
lol "the graphics are beautiful" trine looks like a free mmo
Look all games that are on this are going to be the hit games however I would have added L4d2 somewhere like "best online co-op game" or somthing because Im telling you people L4d2 is going to be everything L4d was and more!
i don't know if i should start with the campaign or multiplayer, they both look amazing!!!
sweet cannot wait any longer 4 this god dammm unique GAME TO COME OUT OK NOW IM MAD . COME TO ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't stop sayin WOAW... Uncharted 2 is really impressive game..
Impressive..
___$$$___$$$_____this is game excellent __$$$$$_$$$$$____this is super game __$$$$$$$$$$$____i'm hard getting them ____$$$$$$$______i like this game ______$$$_______u r so sweet _______$________you get to but if....lolz
my most wanted games won awards! now i'm definitely getting them
pure was 8 in ea games so beat that .
COD , , , Daemmmm
How come everyone is trying to copy Guitar Hero? Don't they have a copyright on the guitar and everything?
I hate the ads before the video. When they're good ads I don't care but I have'nt seen a good ad on Gamespot for 2years
i will buy a ds just for scribblenauts
When they said Heavy Rain's quicktime style of gameplay has never been done before, they obviously haven't played the 1984 laserdisc arcade games Space Ace or Dragons lair. Basically to master the game you must memorise long sequences of timed moves and button presses, and the game is made entirely of very short cutscenes.
AWESOME!!!!!!! talking about modern warfare2 trine sucks
T-E-K-K-E-N spells quality and replay value. Awesome as always!
scribblenauts looks very creative and fun but..... Uncharted 2 was the most impressive game on E3. Everyone knows it. It won the OFFICIAL Game of the show award.
heavy rain looks stupid ur only pressein buttons ur not really playing it
Look how Great these games look especially Uncharted 2 I how no worries for these Games
I'm crossing my fingers and my eyes in hopes that Heavy Rain is as sweet as it looks.I played Indigo Prophecy and I love it.If you haven't played Indigo Prophecy and you own a Playstation 2 or an xbox original or 360 you gotta give this a try!
call of duty modern warefare 2 looks awesome
im gettin this game with PES 2010 n Tekken 6 cant wait
Looking forward to uncharted 2 and modern warfare 2, can't wait!!! Looks epic all round.
COD Modern Warfare 2 look awesome!!!!
a black hole to kill god, that game looks awesome, ill be buying a ds just for that
scribblenauts? wtf?
wow uncharted looks amazing
Modern Warfare 2 all the way!!!
Awesome coverage.