Noby Noby Boy

[KidCactus]

This is one odd "game". And by odd I mean FUCKING weird! Even though you don't really do anything in it besides stretch BOY as much as you can, and report your lenght to GIRL, I can't help spending hours with it actually enjoying myself. And I can't even begin to explain why I enjoy it, because I'm not even sure myself. Weird.

http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/noby1.png

The game can both record video and save screenshots (using the PS3 XMB screenshoot function, first game I've seen using it).

Eurogamer's 9/10 review:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/noby-noby-boy-review

[Gorvi]

I watched the trailer for it that was on the Japanese store a few days ago. I still have no idea what the fuck I watched. It's $5, I'll probably get it out of sheer curiousity. That man is on some serious drugs.

[KidCactus]

I still have no idea what the fuck I watched.
Trust me, that's a feeling that stays even after playing around with it.

I wonder if GIRL will stretch to another planet soon, at the moment Earth is the only planet available.

[Restlessavenger]

I'm looking forward to checking this game out tonight. As it is only 5 bucks it is most likely a sure purchase.

[Psykoboy2]

Too. Much. Stuff.

I have this, the new MAW content, the new Burnout content...AND SF IV.

[OldJadedGamer]

I'm picking up a PSN pre-paid card on the way home to buy this one. I can't wait till I get home tonight.

[Spigot]

I can't wait to get home and try this out. Crazy stuff for the win!

[inmostlight]

I'm still not entirely sure what the heck is going on, but it is oddly compelling. I did manage to thread my BOY through the two doughnut-shaped clouds and then wrap him twice around the "map" like a bow, just to see if I could. I wish the camera were better once he starts getting huge, though.

[KamaItachi]

I really want to play this one. Why the hell can't this sort of stuff appear on Live more often?

[OldJadedGamer]

Trophy support?

[inmostlight]

Trophy support?

Yes. They're all marked as "???" until you unlock them.

[ZephidsEmbrace]

That review was absolutely fascinating. I want to play it, but I own no PS3 :(

[Tayaya]

I played a bunch of Flower tonight..... had to get all of those leaves. Then it was off to Prince of Persia for a bit, a teeny bit o' Street Fighter IV, and finally the Yakuza 3 demo..... poor Noby Noby got neglected tonight!

[inmostlight]

Huh, so playing around some more, it seems like there's a lot to this game. Eating certain things and then pooping them out again might have certain effects...I ate a strawberry and a man, and then pooped out some sort of hybrid dude with a fruit head (getting a trophy). He had a tie wrapped around his "forehead" and was wandering around confused. Now I need to try for other combos.

I'm also finding that going to new maps, there's more variety than I initially thought. Once I wound up in a desert world with a huge pyramid made of blocks and nomads on camels. Then the camels jumped on my back, with nomads riding the camels, for a big chain. Then I went to a city overrun by what appeared to be zombies. Then I went to a world where spinning tops are constantly falling from the sky and twirling around, knocking everything over. This is really freakin' weird.

[Spigot]

I wish the camera were better once he starts getting huge, though.This is the only thing that is really bugging me about it. I was having a lot of... fun?... playing it tonight, but the camera gets maddening when you get Boy really long.

I need to report to Sun more often though. I want to be at the front of Girl!

[danhoo]

I somehow managed to break my boy into two pieces. In my attempt to reunite the pieces I tried to eat my own ass.

This game makes me type weird stuff.

[KidCactus]

I want to be at the front of Girl!
Good luck with that though. The leader BOY has A LOT of lenght gathered, no way I'll ever even get close to that.

[OldJadedGamer]

My internet went out right in the middle of my download and now it's too late to play more but I really loved the little bit that I did play. Looking forward to more time with this title.

[Whunpo]

I'm just going to say that I wish I had a PS3 because of this game.

Also: How's the soundtrack?
Anyone see this (http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/02/noby-noby.html)? This guy is fucking bananas. I find it so crazy that he makes such great games.

[Spigot]

There really isn't much of a soundtrack. At least not that I noticed and definately not anything like Katamari.

[inmostlight]

Good luck with that though. The leader BOY has A LOT of lenght gathered, no way I'll ever even get close to that.

Is there a way to jump to your own position in the line? I sat there scrolling for about three minutes and was still only at people with about four more digits of length than I have.

[KidCactus]

Is there a way to jump to your own position in the line? I sat there scrolling for about three minutes and was still only at people with about four more digits of length than I have.
I tried that too last night, but could not find any button that does that. I guess you just have to exit GIRL and go back to get to yourself.

You can zoom out though, to be able to scroll much faster.

[Ink Asylum]

Dammit. I hate when these small games are exclusive to either PSN or Live. They're cutting themselves off from a lot of players.

[KidCactus]

There's still a long way to the moon, about 300,000 km I think. And GIRL is just about 85,000 km now. Get on it people, stretch!

[darkbase]

Got this last night and LOVE IT. Although I agree that the camera gets annoying but I usually just jump up to compensate. Makes me hope Flower goes down to $5 soon.

[Restlessavenger]

This is definitely the weirdest game I have ever played, and I can't wait to get home and play more of it.

[National Kato]

I'm going to pick this up purely based on Katamari and the desire to support out-of-the-box game design.

[Restlessavenger]

The Giant Bomb Quick Look (http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-noby-noby-boy/17-256/)video is pretty great.

[Xydarc]

This game is full of Whiskey, Tango, and Foxtrot. And FUN.

[Tayaya]

I somehow managed to break my boy into two pieces. In my attempt to reunite the pieces I tried to eat my own ass.

This game makes me type weird stuff.

I had that happen tonight. God this game is weird. Using the trees in the forest to help control my body I was able to make my BOY almost long enough to traverse the stage about 3.5 times... and I succeeded in winding myself around a cloud and dragging it back down to the ground. I don't know what I want to do more now, play SFIV or go stretch more.

[mister slim]

I managed to loop myself trough all four clouds on one of the stages the other day.

Anyway, I noticed Katamari Damacy is now the top seller in Amazon's game deals section. I wonder what the cause of that is? :p

[menage]

I managed to loop myself trough all four clouds on one of the stages the other day.

Anyway, I noticed Katamari Damacy is now the top seller in Amazon's game deals section. I wonder what the cause of that is? :p

I also bought it 4 weeks aqo for like 10 bucks. I always wanted it but the 60 dollar price tag seemed way out of line with what the game offered. I think they could have sold a lot more copy's if they just put it out for 30. Maybe they would have made more money in the end.

Just like the Gabe piece I agree that every game should have pricing that reflects it content. Not 60 bucks for Damacy and 60 bucks for Fallout 3. That's just insane,

Ontopic.

How does Noby Boy eat stuff?

[Spigot]

I also bought it 4 weeks aqo for like 10 bucks. I always wanted it but the 60 dollar price tag seemed way out of line with what the game offered. I think they could have sold a lot more copy's if they just put it out for 30. Maybe they would have made more money in the end.

Just like the Gabe piece I agree that every game should have pricing that reflects it content. Not 60 bucks for Damacy and 60 bucks for Fallout 3. That's just insane, COme up here where the new trend is to bump the prices up to $69 for most stuff. That's $69 for Fallout 3 or $69 for X-Blades. Yeah... The me from 2007 and earlier (and somewhat from last year) would have just grinned and borne the high prices but not any more. Not when you KNOW that there is such a huge disparity both in content and quality...

Ontopic. How does Noby Boy eat stuff?The L2 button. You don't hold it all the way down...

I don't know what I want to do more now, play SFIV or go stretch more.I hear your pain. This is such a silly little game but when you are playing something else, you just keep thinking, "I could just pop in for 5 minutes and stretch a little more..."

Evil, evil game... Though my best experience with it was when my son got mad at me for making Boy stretch. "I don't want him to stretch! Keep him small!"

[danhoo]

I also bought it 4 weeks aqo for like 10 bucks. I always wanted it but the 60 dollar price tag seemed way out of line with what the game offered. I think they could have sold a lot more copy's if they just put it out for 30. Maybe they would have made more money in the end.

Wait, when was Katamari Damacy $60? The PS2 version, at least, I'm fairly sure was released at a budget price, $30 maybe? I seem to recall the sequel was even budget priced. This is in the US though, so maybe I'm unaware of some insane Canadian/other mark-up. Was the 360 edition really $60?

Also, on topic, Noby Noby Boy is like a window onto madness. I was trying to generate new maps to see what I would get yesterday. One map was just mushrooms of different sizes (oddly appropriate). Another map had a bunch of cops chasing robbers, except it looked like the cops and robbers had two heads.

[Spigot]

Wait, when was Katamari Damacy $60? The PS2 version, at least, I'm fairly sure was released at a budget price, $30 maybe? I seem to recall the sequel was even budget priced. This is in the US though, so maybe I'm unaware of some insane Canadian/other mark-up. Was the 360 edition really $60? The original Katamari Damacy was the awesome $29.99 back in the day. We Love Katamari was $39.99 if I recall correctly. Beautiful Katamari was either $49-59.99 though. ANd yes, I did pay that price for it AND bought all of the DLC levels. I'm a Katamari whore.

Also, on topic, Noby Noby Boy is like a window onto madness. I was trying to generate new maps to see what I would get yesterday. One map was just mushrooms of different sizes (oddly appropriate). Another map had a bunch of cops chasing robbers, except it looked like the cops and robbers had two heads.My son was begging me to change some maps yesterday (before he started puking) because the things on them were so strange. I wish I could remember what they were...

[ZephidsEmbrace]

The Giant Bomb Quick Look (http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-noby-noby-boy/17-256/)video is pretty great.

Wow, that's a great video. I'm not one to enjoy watching other people play games, but this is just one of those games that is hilarious to watch first-timers try to get a handle on. I giggled pretty uncontrollably.

But I'm still without a PS3, and I still want to play it :(

[menage]

Wait, when was Katamari Damacy $60? The PS2 version, at least, I'm fairly sure was released at a budget price, $30 maybe? I seem to recall the sequel was even budget priced. This is in the US though, so maybe I'm unaware of some insane Canadian/other mark-up. Was the 360 edition really $60? .

In Europe is was full priced sadly, Just like Banjo and VP2. Like people in Europe didn't care. It didn't sell well, all of them didn't. Shame though. Really fun games.

That's my point about pricing. At 30-40 even they would have shifted beter is my opinion.

[danhoo]

In Europe is was full priced sadly, Just like Banjo and VP2. Like people in Europe didn't care. It didn't sell well, all of them didn't. Shame though. Really fun games.

That's my point about pricing. At 30-40 even they would have shifted beter is my opinion.

Ah, I see. Yeah, that's a shame. I love Katamari Damacy, but it's definitely a $30 game, not a $60 game. I think I remember reading something to the effect that Namco wasn't sure it would even be well-received in the US, so they priced it like a budget title, and it was a surprise hit.

[Spigot]

Ah, I see. Yeah, that's a shame. I love Katamari Damacy, but it's definitely a $30 game, not a $60 game. I think I remember reading something to the effect that Namco wasn't sure it would even be well-received in the US, so they priced it like a budget title, and it was a surprise hit.It's amazing what happens when you price a title at what it should be sold at instead of at some mythical pricepoint that has no bearing on what the game contains...

People will be a lot more likely to try something unfamiliar if they're not paying through the nose for it. If Noby Noby Boy was $15-20, I couldn't see anyone looking twice at it. But for $5? Sign me up!

[KidCactus]

Some screenshots I've made:

One broken BOY:
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/10.png

The leader only two days ago. Today the one in the lead has 6.5 million meters!
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/21.png

Frogs en masse!!!
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/20.png

BOY getting twisted:
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/23.png

BOY getting fat after eating everything on the map:
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/24.png

BOY tied around the map:
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/25.png

Fat BOY:
http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/26.png

[Spigot]

Heh. I've got my Boy all twisted up yesterday. That was awesome.

Have they made it to the Moon yet? When I was on yesterday, Girl was about 280K long.

[KidCactus]

Have they made it to the Moon yet? When I was on yesterday, Girl was about 280K long.
Nope, still no moon, but I think we're getting closer, since the fairy said something about it today when I started playing.

[Tayaya]

The moon is, on average, 384,403,000m from earth. So I'd say we're getting there. Currently we're at 288,000,000 or so. The guy in the lead for distance has to have found an exploit, because his contribution alone is insane. I've found the best way to get a stretch is to put bot ends of BOY in the air and just pull... you can get a couple hundred meters that way easily.

Someone else beat me to making a "boy wrapped all the way around the level" screen shot.... I was going to post one yesterday morning. I'll upload my best ones tonight and share them when I get home from work.

If you want to track Girl's growth and you're away from the computer, use the Japanese website, with the BEST URL EVER.

http://o--o.jp/

[KidCactus]

Hahaha, awesome url! :D

And you're so right, there's just no way that the leader has achieved that length without cheating.

[Tayaya]

Hahaha, awesome url! :D

And you're so right, there's just no way that the leader has achieved that length without cheating.

Oddly enough it's an American in the lead. These kinds of things are usually dominated by the Japanese, who in my experience love it when game companies make something like this where the whole community contributes to a common goal. In the arcades, for example, Konami had a campaign for Pop'n Music that added up all the points earned in a certain time period by everyone playing, and unlocked game content if a certain point goal was reached. I know several people that were playing basically 24/7 in groups at the local game centers in their area. Seeing Noby Noby do this on a global scale just makes me smile.

But yeah, an American with a 5x lead over the number one JP player..... gotta be cheatin', or just REEEEEEEEEEEALLY dedicated.

[KidCactus]

But yeah, an American with a 5x lead over the number one JP player..... gotta be cheatin', or just REEEEEEEEEEEALLY dedicated.
Two days ago the leader was Japanese, with far less length. So he has gotten to 6.5 million in just a few days.

I've put is several hours every day since it was released, at least 3-5 hours in total, and I've got about 26,000 meters now. The guy in the lead has stretched about 250 times my length, meaning he would have had to spend 250 times my 3-5 hours. So it's just not possible, since that would mean he would have to have spent about 50 days playing, day and night.

[Spigot]

Well, it's obvious what he's done. He has taken his PS3 back in time from the future and hooked it up to the internet now. It's the simplest answer...

[KidCactus]

I've recorded my first Youtube video now, with my fat BOY in chaos:

4ahAUA45KwM

And I finally managed to thread BOY through all five clouds:

http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/29.png

[Spigot]

How do you get the camera to center on BOY's head? Mine always seems to be fixated on its butt.

<insert Maggie joke here>

[inmostlight]

How do you get the camera to center on BOY's head? Mine always seems to be fixated on its butt.

Hold L1 and press the D-pad left. Unfortunately, if you're more than a few segments long the camera will only stay like that for about half a second before becoming awful again.

[KidCactus]

How do you get the camera to center on BOY's head? Mine always seems to be fixated on its butt.

<insert Maggie joke here>
I don't. I think the camera actually focuses on the center of BOY, so as long as you keep the head close to that you're ok.

[Spigot]

Hold L1 and press the D-pad left. Unfortunately, if you're more than a few segments long the camera will only stay like that for about half a second before becoming awful again.Ok. That's what I was worried about.

I love the game to death but man, the camera sets a new standard for crappy cameras in videogames.

[KidCactus]

Ok. That's what I was worried about.

I love the game to death but man, the camera sets a new standard for crappy cameras in videogames.
I just zoom out when I need to see something, works fine for me.

[Spigot]

I just zoom out when I need to see something, works fine for me.Yeah, I guess I could do that. I just like having it in a little closer but then it becomes nigh-impossible to control.

[Psykoboy2]

Holding L1 and tilting does the zoom. But holding L1 and R1 and then tilting will rotate the camera.

[KidCactus]

Holding L1 and tilting does the zoom. But holding L1 and R1 and then tilting will rotate the camera.
L1 and R1 + tilt = tilting the camera up down.

[Dukefrukem]

Okay... wtf is this game?

[Spigot]

We made it to the Moon!

[KidCactus]

The moon, we've finally reached the moon!

http://gemigreptilen.nu/pictures/37.png

Edit: You beat me to it. :D

[Spigot]

But you have pics, so it happened :)

[Food Nipple]

I read a post where someone explained that the game uses the actual distance between the Earth and Moon in the game. Assuming that the game also uses the real distance between Earth and Mars, it will take 5 years to stretch that far, assuming Girl continues to grow at the same rate.

[Spigot]

Well, everyone had better get stretching then! Or find the exploits.

Maybe BOY stretches more on the Moon...

[MachEnergy]

Awwww, I was going to download this tonight, but I see that everyone already reached the moon. Oh well, I'll still get it, but I was looking forward to partaking in the celebration.

[Spigot]

Awwww, I was going to download this tonight, but I see that everyone already reached the moon. Oh well, I'll still get it, but I was looking forward to partaking in the celebration.I wonder if you'll see the arrival at the Moon if you get it tonight.

And you still have Mars or Jupiter to look forward to!

[Tayaya]

I read a post where someone explained that the game uses the actual distance between the Earth and Moon in the game. Assuming that the game also uses the real distance between Earth and Mars, it will take 5 years to stretch that far, assuming Girl continues to grow at the same rate.

Well it's a harder one to judge, since while the moon is a constant distance from the earth (roughly.... it does change a bit), the Earth and Mars travel at different speeds around the sun, so Mars can be anywhere from 54,000,000km (not m, km!!!) to just over 400,000,000km.... so it really depends on how cruel Takahashi is. He could always use the average, which would still be pretty cruel.

It could, of course, be a ploy to get all 21,000,000 PS3 owners out there (according to the most recent Sony numbers) to chip in... that would speed it up a LOT.

[Tayaya]

Oh..... and don't even get me started on Jupiter.... currently 895,194,432km from us.

[Psykoboy2]

That is awesome!

[Dukefrukem]

how do you take pics? is that only on the 360?

[Psykoboy2]

Noby Noby Boy is ONLY on the PS3.

Hit the PS button during gameplay...move to pictures on the XMB and the option is there.

[MachEnergy]

reading the in-game manual shouldn't be so much fun

this "game" is truly something unique......i just don't know if i'll ever understand it, and that's ok :)

[Dukefrukem]

Noby Noby Boy is ONLY on the PS3.

Hit the PS button during gameplay...move to pictures on the XMB and the option is there.

Thanks.


reading the in-game manual shouldn't be so much fun

this "game" is truly something unique......i just don't know if i'll ever understand it, and that's ok :)


Yeh it's crazy weird.

[KidCactus]

reading the in-game manual shouldn't be so much fun
I think you can even get a trophy if you eat stuff in the manual, haven't tried it myself though.

[Dukefrukem]

I think you can even get a trophy if you eat stuff in the manual, haven't tried it myself though.

Yeh i got that one. You need to eat 20 inhabitants and keep them all inside you. Don't poop them out. (God that sounds weird)

[Mike Kelehan]

Hold right on the left stick and press select during gameplay to hear your new favorite song.

[KidCactus]

Yeh i got that one. You need to eat 20 inhabitants and keep them all inside you. Don't poop them out. (God that sounds weird)
But that isn't the same trophy though (I got that one). I'm talking about eating things in the manual.

Edit: It doesn't seem to work though, just tried it. :(

[danhoo]

But that isn't the same trophy though (I got that one). I'm talking about eating things in the manual.

Edit: It doesn't seem to work though, just tried it. :(

No, you're right, there is a trophy for this. You have to eat the words "NOBY NOBY BOY", eating those letters in order, and possibly only those letters. I got it, and was amused to find it was a gold trophy (the only gold I have, I think).

[KidCactus]

I see, then I'll try it again. :)

Edit: I don't get it, doesn't work at all for me. :(

[Dukefrukem]

how do you eat things in the manual?

[danhoo]

I see, then I'll try it again. :)

Edit: I don't get it, doesn't work at all for me. :(

Maybe it's a glitch? I had to try a couple times, I think -- I kept eating the letters out of order (Noby Noby Boy is not, umm, very precise when it comes to eating). I believe I just ate the letters, nothing else, and then returned to the game.

Duke: To eat in the manual, I think you have to hit Triangle to make the manual boy (?) move to the foreground, and then the usual L2 to eat applies.

[Dukefrukem]

Got it. I just did it and nothing happened. Hmmm

[inmostlight]

It took me a couple tries, but I eventually got the trophy for eating the words in the manual. The way I got it was to eat ONLY those letters. If you eat anything else beforehand it won't work -- quit out of the manual and then go back in to retry. It's harder than it sounds, since he's so touchy and sometimes eats faster than you want.

[TheFlyingOrc]

So, How exactly do you progress through the level? How does the primary gameplay mechanic work, exactly?

[Spigot]

You eat a bunch, you stretch a bunch. When you're bored, go into the house and go to a new map.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Then report the length to GIRL and see if you hit a new planet!

[AliasRomanian]

So, How exactly do you progress through the level? How does the primary gameplay mechanic work, exactly?

There is no progress, it's basically like playing with legos by yourself.

[KidCactus]

Looks like the game might get offline MP:

http://o--o.jp/

Click the daydream.

[danhoo]

Looks like the game might get offline MP:

http://o--o.jp/

Click the daydream.

Crazy. I look forward to the chance to eat someone else's ass.

Damnit, this game is still making me type weird things.