Scribblenauts, I wanted to love you...

but after a week with the game the love has faded for me. Scribblenauts is a game that has a fantastic concept not seen in any other game. It gives you the ability to write on the DS touch screen, conjure up any objects you can think of and use them to solve the games puzzles. It's a brilliant idea and I must give credit to 5th Cell where it's due. They seem to have a knack for coming up with unique games. Much like 5th Cells Drawn to Life for DS, it oozes creativity but the gameplay isn't executed 100%.

Your goal in Scirbblenauts is to take control of the games main Character Maxwell and capture Starites. In order to obtain these Starites you could do anything from conjuring up the correct item or trying to reach the Startite that is stuck high up in a tree for example. There is a good amount of variety in the levels and you'll find yourself in some very interesting situations depending on what you choose to conjure into the level. At one point I was riding a killer whale, wearing a brazier and holding a turkey baster. Why? Because I could and I don't need to explain my motivations to you people! This is the magical part of the game and it rewards you the more creative you are in solving the puzzles. In the beginning when the levels are simple the game really does work well. But as you advance and the levels get a little more complicated, the faults of the game start to bubble up. It led me down a long path of frustration.

Monster Hunter PSP

Monster Hunter



First of all, what genius came up with that name? Seriously no one in the whole damn department could have thought of a more creative name than "Monster Hunter"?! I have personally overlooked this game for years, I've heard the name but I didn't want to play it because for some reason I thought it was a part of the "Monster Rancher" series. My mistake, my big bad festering mistake!

Good 'ol butcher there was the one to clue me in on this franchise. He had stumbled into some screen shots of this game called "Monster Hunter Tri" that will be coming out for Wii sometime soon. My jaw dropped upon seeing these screens, and I had to know: if this was Tri(3) then there must be others! Sure 'nuff, there were quite a bit more, including some for PSP.

Hello and welcome to SELECT_START. A place for reckless gaming opinions.

SELECT_START is going to be a place where we talk and vent about video games. We were born from our own dissatisfaction of over hyped games that has grown in the past 2 decades. It has run rampant through our TVs, beloved websites and our favorite magazines. Our goal is to help shed some light where there is only darkness.

Haven't we all had this experience? You hear about this game and it sounds kinda cool. It's got zombies, explosions... wait umm... and cute teddy bears? You know, the things we all love. You read about it in magazines and scour websites for bits of info. Sometimes the hype starts years in advance and during the period in which one must wait, the secret forces of the gaming industry begin to shovel barrels and barrels of coal into their "Hype Train". Throughout this period they begin to tell us what we want and what we need. Most of us climb aboard this train and ride it like no ones business. Some of us will ride the train so long that we actually end up wanting those damn cute teddy bears they said were the next big leap in gaming. And when the deed is done, and the game hits the markets, they reap the rewards from their marketing firestorm. Then your left feeling like a sucker who's only going to get 10 bucks for a trade in at GameStop. We need to break free of these bonds, and learn to make decisions for ourselves. SELECT_START is here with gunz blazin'.

We would like to help you, and everyone out there dodge this epic train of failure. Our goal is to protect you from the suffering we all felt during our first online match against Ken in Street Fighter IV. Or after beating Resident Evil 5 that left you with that feeling of; "This fucking game got a 9.5/10?" We too have felt that sting, and we're sick of it!

Bask in the glory that is SELECT_START! Where you may now begin to learn of true greatness. We are your infallible source of joy. Amen (we're not Religious... really).

Your Opinionated Hosts,
Den and The Butcher