THQ announce Nickelodeon based 2007 lineup

Posted by: Dan at 5/8/2007 8:46 PM - Comments (0)

THQ Announces Robust Product Slate for 2007 Based on Nickelodeon’s Biggest Hits

El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera to Make Its Video Game Debut; Avatar: The Burning Earth to Become First Nickelodeon Title for Xbox 360™

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) today announced the company’s 2007 Nickelodeon video game lineup. The upcoming portfolio will include the debut of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, as well as all-new titles based on some of the top-rated kids TV shows including SpongeBob SquarePants™ and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon fans can also look forward to a new installment of the popular Nicktoons. In addition, THQ plans to release new adventures based on highly-rated Nickelodeon live-action TV shows Zoey 101 and Drake and Josh. The company’s overall portfolio is expected to ship across multiple game systems, including the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, along with Nintendo’s Wii™ video game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS™ and Game Boy® Advance.

“Our Nickelodeon video game portfolio continues to lead the kids market with more than 45 million units sold-in to date,” said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. “We expect a continued robust Nickelodeon business in 2007 with an even greater presence on the popular Wii, our first title slated for release on Xbox 360, and additional titles in our new series of games based on Nickelodeon’s live-action properties.”

“We’re excited to expand our relationship with THQ in 2007 as we introduce our first El Tigre video game, along with all new games based on Nick’s biggest hits,” said Shaul Olmert, vice president of digital products, Nickelodeon. “Nickelodeon is the number one entertainment brand for kids and the innovation that THQ brings to our gaming lineup continues to elevate us to new creative heights.”

The 2007 THQ Nickelodeon videogame lineup includes:

Nicktoons 2007 (Working Title) -- Players must defeat Professor Calamitous’ vast army of evil toys based on the Nicktoons Heroes in this fast-paced action platform game. Featuring the largest selection of playable Nickelodeon characters from the most popular TV shows including SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Phantom and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Nicktoons 2007 (working title) is scheduled to release for the PlayStation 2 system, Wii, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance this fall.
SpongeBob’s Atlantis SquarePantis -- The game will follow SpongeBob and the rest of the Bikini Gang as they leave Bikini Bottom and journey to the legendary city of Atlantis. Players will discover the treasures of Atlantis, while experiencing new game mechanics and multiplayer features. SpongeBob’s Atlantis SquarePantis is scheduled to release for the PlayStation 2 system, Wii, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance this fall. In addition, SpongeBob SquarePants: Atlantis Treasures (working title) is scheduled to release for various mobile carriers.
Avatar: The Last Airbender -- The Burning Earth -- Based on the popular Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series, players will follow the second season storyline as Aang teams up with friends to defend the greatest Earth Kingdom city against a deadly Fire Nation threat. Avatar: The Last Airbender -- The Burning Earth is scheduled to release for Xbox 360, the PlayStation 2 system, Wii, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance this fall.
El Tigre (Working Title) -- Based on the animated series, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, players will follow the adventures of Manny, the son of a superhero and the grandson of a supervillain. Players will help Manny as he must choose to use his El Tigre superpowers for good, or let his mischievous side take over. El Tigre is scheduled to release for Nintendo DS this fall.
Zoey 101: Field Trip Fiasco -- Players will take on the role of Zoey Brooks, played by Jamie Lynn Spears, as she embarks on a field trip to Red Stone Gulch Canyons with her friends. With the aid of a park ranger, players will learn the techniques needed to survive the seemingly hostile wilderness terrain once they become separated from their guide. Zoey 101 is available now for Game Boy Advance. Zoey 101: Field Trip Fiasco is scheduled to release for Nintendo DS this summer.
Drake & Josh: Talent Showdown -- Featuring all of the humor from the hit TV series, players will enjoy adventure-style gameplay as they help Drake and Josh win the infamous talent show, “Teen American Talent,” by avoiding sabotages from other contestants and by perfecting their music skills. The game allows players to interact with all of their favorite characters from the TV show, including Drake, Josh and Megan. Drake & Josh is available now for Game Boy Advance. Drake & Josh: Talent Showdown is scheduled to release for Nintendo DS this summer.

More information about the THQ Nickelodeon videogame lineup can be found at www.thq.com.

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E3 2008: Dark Void (Interview and Hands On)

by: Chuck - posted: 7/20/2008 1:50 PM - Comments (0)

One of the games that I wanted to check out going into E3 was Airtight's Dark Void. The early trailers had shown some stomach churning vertical combat and given that Airtight is composed of a lot of people who worked on the Crimson Skies games there was a lot of potential in the game. After talking to Jose Perez III (audio below) I think Dark Void is another game to keep on your radar.

You play Will, your typical everyman who's sucked into the Void while traveling through the Bermuda Triangle. Now you have to find a way to escape and defeat the Watchers, an alien race trying to destroy mankind. The best way to think about the vertical combat is to take the cover based gameplay from Gears of War and turn it 90 degrees upward. Throw in a little acrophobia and now you're talking Dark Void's core gameplay mechanic (which makes sense given that the game is using the Unreal Engine 3). You'll only be climbing up rock surfaces for part of the game as eventually you'll build a fully functional jet pack and that's where the Crimson Skies influences really start to show. With the fully upgraded jetpack you can zoom around levels without any worries or restrictions and the game opens up to accomplish that.

I only got to play the game for about five minutes but zooming around the with the jetpack was a lot of fun as you got to try and take out a series of flying saucers. The real key is that you need to board one of the flying saucers and then use it to take out the others in the area. Once you get close to one of them you press the B button and then that kicks off a small mini-game where you circle around the edge of the saucer trying to work your way in. Thankfully it's not a quicktime event but once you have control you can then zoom around and take down the rest of the aircraft with ease. Controls are very tight and responsive. I will admit that flying in the jetpack is a bit like flying in WarHawk as you have the option of hovering as well as flying forward.

From what I saw the game looks like it's coming along well. I do worry that the vertical combat part of the game is going to take some getting used to as you do have to climb your way along a linear path but I don't think a lot of people will mind it. I guess we'll find out when the game ships. Here's our interview with Jose Perez III that explains more about the backstory of the game and more about the vertical combat gameplay.

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E3 2008: Motorstorm:Pacific Rift (Interview and Hands On)

by: Chuck - posted: 7/20/2008 12:52 PM - Comments (0)

The original Motorstorm was one of the better looking titles for the PS3 and did a fairly good job of showing off the strengths and weaknesses of the PS3. You had amazing visuals, interesting SIXAXIS controls, and some really brutal load times. The follow up game looks to build on those strengths and fix a lot of the issues with the first game. In our chat with Paul Hollywood, the creative director on the project and he confirmed that the game will not require a hard drive install to increase speend.

The game is placed on a new imaginary jungle island which provides for some new challenges. You'll now have to deal with foliage and water which can slow down smaller vehicles. Water is important in other ways as it can instantly cool down your engine from boosting which adds a new tactical element to the game.

I did have the chance to go through one quick race in the game against Mr. Hollywood using the game's new split screen mode. The game builds on the amazing visuals of the first as the graphics are just jaw droppingly gorgeous. While Pure comes close I still think Motorstorm: Pacific Rift has a slight edge on them graphics wise. Gameplay is still fast paced and the game retails the multiple paths through a course setup from the first game.

Load times for vehicle selection are now almost non-existant as you now pull up a 2D card with the information about the vehicle rather than the 3D model of the car. This may change by the time the game ships but for me it works. Level load times have also been decreased dramatically and this isn't final code. The racing itself will be familiar to fans of the first game (why ruin what works well). I was able to narrowly defeat Paul but I have a sneaking feeling he let me win. Hopefully I'll be able to get a re-match this fall when the game is released.

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