Nobi Nobi Boy
Encyclopedia
is a video game for the PlayStation 3
and iOS by Keita Takahashi
of Namco Bandai
, creator of the Katamari Damacy
series. The PlayStation 3 game was released worldwide on February 19, 2009. The iOS version was released on February 18, 2010, a day less than a year after the PlayStation 3 version. Since Noby Noby Boy's initial release, Takahashi
himself has admitted that he is "not completely satisfied with the game".
One of the meanings of "Nobi" is "stretch
" in Japanese
.
al character referred to as BOY. Using the controller, the left analog stick
moves the front of Boy while the right stick controls the back. By moving both ends in opposite directions, the player can stretch Boy's abdomen to great lengths. The player may maneuver Boy around its environment, interacting with stationary objects like houses, or AI-controlled
characters such as barnyard animals.
The player accumulates points by how much they stretch during gameplay. These points can be submitted online via a character called Sun to another character called GIRL. Points submitted online by players to Girl will be added cumulatively, causing Girl to stretch and unlock new levels. Beginning on Earth
, Girl has stretched to the Moon
, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn and will proceed to several other planets, each unlocking new playable environments for Boy to stretch in. The Noby Noby Boy team expected players to take between one to two weeks of cumulative play time to reach the Moon. The moon was reached on February 23, 2009, just four days after release. Mars was reached on May 23, 2009, and Jupiter was reached on November 20, 2009. As of January 19, 2011 GIRL has reached Saturn.
A playable prototype of the game was showcased at the GameCity 2007 International Interactive Entertainment Festival
, where Takahashi delivered the festival's Vision Statement for the year. In the demo; as many as three Boys were shown interacting on a flat plane filled with barnyard animals; their elastic bodies were used to snap, whip, entangle, and drag themselves around. The Boys could swallow animals, distending the Boys' bellies, which could then be whipped to the posterior to be expelled.
A second gameplay demo was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2008 Namco Bandai exhibit. Boy is guided through a two-dimensional maze with walls made up of colorful squares. As Boy is guided through the maze walls, collisions result in the blocks that make up the wall scattering. Once through the maze, the Boy was directed toward a game title screen made of the same blocks, which were then scattered. This confused many at the exhibit, since the demo seemed to contradict the previous gameplay engine. This gameplay has since been revealed to be a minigame accessible while the main game is paused.
Noby Noby Boy was originally developed on the Xbox 360 development kit but was eventually ported to the PS3 and is currently exclusive to the PSN for home consoles. The reason behind this was that Takahashi preferred the symmetrical design of the analog sticks on the PS3 rather than those found in the 360's controller.
score is 75 out of 100, based on 27 media outlet reviews.
IGN
pointed out that though the game was very unique, "It feels like it could have been played on a PS1."
As of May 2009, Noby Noby Boy has sold "about 100,000" units.
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and iOS by Keita Takahashi
Keita Takahashi
is a game director, his most notable titles being Katamari Damacy and its sequel, We Love Katamari. The original Katamari game was a surprise hit and was praised for its quirkiness, originality, and charm...
of Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai
, also known as the Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Namco and Bandai. It has interests in toys, video games and arcades, anime, and amusement parks. The new entity was founded on September 29, 2005...
, creator of the Katamari Damacy
Katamari Damacy
Katamari Damacy is a third-person puzzle-action video game that is published and developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was first released in Japan, and then later in South Korea and North America...
series. The PlayStation 3 game was released worldwide on February 19, 2009. The iOS version was released on February 18, 2010, a day less than a year after the PlayStation 3 version. Since Noby Noby Boy's initial release, Takahashi
Keita Takahashi
is a game director, his most notable titles being Katamari Damacy and its sequel, We Love Katamari. The original Katamari game was a surprise hit and was praised for its quirkiness, originality, and charm...
himself has admitted that he is "not completely satisfied with the game".
One of the meanings of "Nobi" is "stretch
Stretch
Stretch can refer to:*Stretching is a form of exercise or a pre-exercise discipline, sometimes called Warming up*Stretch ceiling, a type of ceiling made from polymer.*Stretch ratio in the mechanics of materials*Stretched tuning of certain string instruments...
" in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
.
Gameplay
The player takes control of a worm-like quadrupedQuadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of land animal locomotion using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet"...
al character referred to as BOY. Using the controller, the left analog stick
Analog stick
An analog stick, sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller; input is based on the position of this protrusion in relation...
moves the front of Boy while the right stick controls the back. By moving both ends in opposite directions, the player can stretch Boy's abdomen to great lengths. The player may maneuver Boy around its environment, interacting with stationary objects like houses, or AI-controlled
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
characters such as barnyard animals.
The player accumulates points by how much they stretch during gameplay. These points can be submitted online via a character called Sun to another character called GIRL. Points submitted online by players to Girl will be added cumulatively, causing Girl to stretch and unlock new levels. Beginning on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, Girl has stretched to the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn and will proceed to several other planets, each unlocking new playable environments for Boy to stretch in. The Noby Noby Boy team expected players to take between one to two weeks of cumulative play time to reach the Moon. The moon was reached on February 23, 2009, just four days after release. Mars was reached on May 23, 2009, and Jupiter was reached on November 20, 2009. As of January 19, 2011 GIRL has reached Saturn.
Lucky Week
Every now and then Keita will choose specific weeks for "Lucky Week", which is a week where each day a random number is chosen and every time the player reports his or her length, it will be multiplied by that number. The first was from May 11 to May 22, 2009. There were rumors of another one in June as right after Lucky Week finished Keita wrote, "About Lucky week Thanks to everyones effort, GIRL has managed to stretch out a lot!! Still a long way to go in reaching Mars but we will see you in June for the time being!". A "Lucky Weekend" was held on July 4 and 5, 2009 with all lengths multiplied by 99. During the weekend following New Year's Day 2010, the multiplier was 2010.Development
The game was first shown at a press conference held during Sony's Playstation Premiere 2007 event in Tokyo. Takahashi showed a silver stretch hose with two pink balls at the ends, explaining that it wasn't a controller, but a visual aid to help explain the game. A 30-second demonstration clip featuring the character "Boy" was shown.A playable prototype of the game was showcased at the GameCity 2007 International Interactive Entertainment Festival
Gamecity
GameCity is an independent, annual videogame festival in Nottingham, England. The festival is aimed at the general public, and many events allow members of the public to participate freely. The festival receives little funding from the commercial video game industry, and is concerned instead with...
, where Takahashi delivered the festival's Vision Statement for the year. In the demo; as many as three Boys were shown interacting on a flat plane filled with barnyard animals; their elastic bodies were used to snap, whip, entangle, and drag themselves around. The Boys could swallow animals, distending the Boys' bellies, which could then be whipped to the posterior to be expelled.
A second gameplay demo was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2008 Namco Bandai exhibit. Boy is guided through a two-dimensional maze with walls made up of colorful squares. As Boy is guided through the maze walls, collisions result in the blocks that make up the wall scattering. Once through the maze, the Boy was directed toward a game title screen made of the same blocks, which were then scattered. This confused many at the exhibit, since the demo seemed to contradict the previous gameplay engine. This gameplay has since been revealed to be a minigame accessible while the main game is paused.
Noby Noby Boy was originally developed on the Xbox 360 development kit but was eventually ported to the PS3 and is currently exclusive to the PSN for home consoles. The reason behind this was that Takahashi preferred the symmetrical design of the analog sticks on the PS3 rather than those found in the 360's controller.
Version 1.1 update
On April 29, 2009, Noby Noby Boy was updated to include offline multiplayer for up to 4 players. Also included in the update was a larger selection of in-game music, new "hair styles" for Boy’s house as well as new bird thinking poses. Additionally, a hidden feature was added where if the player holds a certain button right before exiting Boy's house, another Boy will appear, mirroring the player's movements.Reception
Noby Noby Boy has received generally positive reviews. CasualGaming.biz admitted that the game is "a little odd" but added that "if nothing else it’s unlike anything you’ve ever played, and it’s pure Takahashi". The game's current MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
score is 75 out of 100, based on 27 media outlet reviews.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
pointed out that though the game was very unique, "It feels like it could have been played on a PS1."
As of May 2009, Noby Noby Boy has sold "about 100,000" units.
External links
- o--o.jp - WEB WEB BOY, official site for Noby Noby Boy (Japanese and English)
- Noby Noby Boy at 1UP1UP.com1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
- Noby Noby Boy at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...