Editor's note: I don't necessarily agree with Joel's conclusion -- that journalists were backed into a corner with Scribblenauts due to the prerelease hype and forced to give it good scores. But I do think that, oftentimes, critics will be more forgiving of flaws if the rest of the experience offers something new. For example, I know that I was more forgiving of Odin Sphere's slowdown due to the novel aspects of the game -- perhaps I would've been more critical if I didn't feel like the game hadn't offered something new. And I think that's where critics were coming from on Scribblenauts as well. -Fitch

I'll confess: I bought it.

No, Raptor. I want you to EAT the princess.

I don't just mean Scribblenauts. I mean the hype. Whether on podcasts, in previews, or when awarding "Best of E3," it seemed game journalists tripped over each other to heap praise upon 5th Cell's latest release. And I couldn't wait to join the party.

But then I played it. Within five minutes -- as soon as protagonist Maxwell rubbed his face up against a cactus instead of chopping it down with the ax in his hands -- it became obvious the control scheme had some serious issues. The physics engine allows boat anchors to get pushed around like Jon Gosselin, and the A.I. characters do their best to knock bridges over and follow them right down into oblivion.

Get over here, God. It's obviously skeeball time!

While I don't want to call any one publication out, it's easy enough to head over to Metacritic or Google to find out what reviewers had to say. Sure, a couple pointed out these issues, but many either glossed over (or completely pardoned!) the flaws. Hell, I'm even a little bit guilty -- though I'm willing to confess. Some, reviewers, however, went so far as to say that it's acceptable for the game to have these problems.

I can't read minds, but I can offer a guess as to why the scores were so high and the reviews so positive: Scribblenauts was the industry darling. It wasn't the hot cheerleader -- it was the girl next door.

Finally, a sensible interaction. Get 'em, Chupacabra!

After months of hype and awards, journalists refused to back away from their proclamations of grandeur. The game was destined to get high scores simply because of the premise -- and the six months those interns spent researching words -- actual gameplay be damned! And this wasn't Halo, Killzone, or Final Fantasy -- games where it's cool or trendy to disagree with the masses.

Instead, due to the hype created largely by their own words, game journalists were backed into a corner -- and forced to give glowing reviews.