5th Cell

## Location(s)

Bellevue, Washington USA

**5th Cell** is an independently owned video game developer founded in 2003 as 5th Cell Media, LLC. by Joseph M. Tringali, Jeremiah Slaczka and Brett Caird and currently develops video games for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

## Overview

Founded in 2003 by Joseph M. Tringali, Jeremiah Slaczka and Brett Caird, the company started out developing mobile games working with such publishers as THQ Wireless, JAMDAT Mobile (now EA Mobile) and UIEvolution (a former subsidiary of Square Enix).

On August 2, 2004 THQ Wireless announced it would publish 5th Cell's first three original Mobile games *Siege*, *SEAL Team 6* and lastly *Mini Poccha*.

In 2006 5th Cell transitioned into Nintendo DS and Casual game development. While 5th Cell has worked with licenses and work for hire in its past, its core focus has moved completely onto building innovative, original video games.

In an IGN interview with Michael Thomsen, Jeremiah Slaczka, the company's Creative Director, was asked "What kinds of games do you ultimately want to be known for?" He responded by saying:

On April 21, 2006 IGN announced 5th Cell's first Nintendo DS game *Drawn to Life*, an original title.

On June 1, 2006 5th Cell announced its partnership with *Merscom* to publish *D.N.A* a PC casual game and also an original title.

On May 9, 2007 THQ announced it would publish *Drawn to Life* an Action-Adventure/Platformer hybrid with the unique twist of the player drawing the hero and the world itself using the DS's touchpad.

THQ released the game worldwide in 2007 and 2008. According to Next-Gen.biz from the game's launch (September 2007) until March 1, 2008 (6 months) the game had sold 820,000 units worldwide and was ranked 61st of the top 100 selling video games of the last 12 months.

On April 2, 2008 THQ announced it was publishing 5TH Cell's next Nintendo DS game *Lock's Quest* an original Action-Strategy game where the player first builds defenses and then battle against an invading clockwork army all racing against the clock.

On December 5, 2008, 5th Cell unveiled its next Nintendo DS game, on IGN.com, *Scribblenauts* an Emergent/Action Puzzle game where the player can write anything they can think of to help them solve the puzzle.

On May 1, 2009, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced it would be publishing *Scribblenauts*.

On September 15, 2009, Scribblenauts was released in North America, with its Australian release being on September 30 and European release on October 9. According to the NPD Group, *Scribblenauts* sold 194,000 units in the United States during September 2009, following *Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story* and *Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days* in top Nintendo DS sales.

## Original Titles

* 2003 | *SEAL Team 6* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless
* 2003 | *Siege* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless
* 2003 | *Mini Poccha* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless
* 2006 | *D.N.A.* (PC) - Published by Merscom
* 2007 | *Drawn to Life* (DS) - Published by THQ
* 2008 | *Lock's Quest* (DS) - Published by THQ
* 2009 | *Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter* (DS) - Published by THQ
* 2009 | *Scribblenauts* (DS) - Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
* 2010 | *Super Scribblenauts* (DS) - Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
* 20XX | *Unannounced XBLA Title* (Xbox Live Arcade)

## Licensed Titles

* 2004 | *Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events* (Mobile) - Published by EA Mobile
* 2005 | *Darts Pro!* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless
* 2005 | *Ministry of Sound: Club Manager* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless
* 2006 | *Pat Sajak's Lucky Letters* (Mobile) - Developed for UIEvolution (an ex-subsidiary of Square Enix)
* 2006 | *Moto GP Manager* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless
* 2006 | *Full Spectrum Warrior: Mobile* (Mobile) - Published by THQ Wireless

## Spin-Off Titles

These are titles directly based on 5TH Cell's original games that were not developed by 5TH Cell themselves.

* 2008 | *Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition* (DS) - Developed by Altron, Published by THQ
* 2009 | *Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter* (Wii) - Developed by Planet Moon Studios, Published by THQ

## References

1. ↑ 5th Cell's Developer Authorization. 5th Cell (2007-06-02). Retrieved on 2007-08-20
2. ↑ THQ Wireless (2004-08-02). "THQ Wireless, Inc. publishes 5th Cell's titles". Press release. http://www.5thcell.com/news\_080204.html. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
3. ↑ Thomse, Michael (2008-10-08). Independent View: 5th Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka. IGN. Retrieved on 2009-02-19
4. ↑ Harris, Craig (2006-04-21). Drawn to Life. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-08-20
5. ↑ Merscom (2006-09-26). "Merscom Announces D.N.A". Press release. http://www.merscom.com/corporate/dna.php. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
6. ↑ THQ (2007-05-09). "THQ Announces Drawn to Life, the First Nintendo DS Experience That Allows Players to Draw Their Own Hero". Press release. http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=997672&highlight=. Retrieved 2007-08-20. .
7. ↑ The Top 100 Selling Games of the Last 12 Months. Future Network (2008-04-19). Retrieved on 2008-04-21
8. ↑ Geddes, Ryan (2009-10-19). Scribblenauts Sees Solid September Sales. IGN. Retrieved on 2009-10-19
9. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5378417/scribblenauts-dev-moves-on-to-consoles-pretty-big-xbla-game

## External links

* Official 5TH Cell Website
* Official Japanese 5TH Cell Website

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