spongebob
Latest
Alexa's new kid-friendly skills have a layer of parental control
Amazon's Alexa skills let you add all sorts of functionality to your Echo devices, and there are more coming every day. You can order a pizza, manage your video streaming binges, find out when your package has shipped and even book a hotel with your voice. But why should grown-ups have all the fun? Amazon has just announced kids skills in the US, which have a layer of parental permissions to help adults feel safe in adding them to their children's Echo devices.
Barely Related: Wonderwear, Deadpool footage
Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Exclusive: Nickelodeon's Kyra Reppen on Monkey Quest
With family-themed MMOs attracting an ever-growing number of players, it's little surprise that Nickelodeon has tossed its hat into the ring with the launch of Monkey Quest. It's a browser-based, light-hearted MMO that combines the action style of console games with the virtual world and questing that's traditional to MMOs. It's free-to-play, but it also offers several different subscription plans to suit practically every playstyle. Massively was happy to talk with Nickelodeon Senior Vice President Kyra Reppen about Monkey Quest, the challenges of creating a kid-themed MMO, and trends for the genre overall. Read on for all the details!
THQ soaks up multi-year SpongeBob rights, includes 3DS game
He may never be a Metacritic standout, but SpongeBob SquarePants has won the hearts of millions of little ones -- it doesn't matter what we think about his games. Having shipped 29 million copies of pure SpongeBob gold since 2002, THQ isn't about to let the money-maker off the hook. The publisher has renewed its partnership with Nickelodeon for multi-year rights to develop and release SpongeBob titles across major platforms and distribution channels. The first game under the new agreement is being developed for 3DS, Kinect and THQ's own uDraw GameTablet for Wii. It will be released next year, and you'll probably have to buy it (and one of those new technologies) if you've got a kid between ages 2 and 11.
Bash SpongeBob's boat in SpongeBob's Boating Bash
THQ describes the latest SpongeBob SquarePants game, SpongeBob's Boating Bash, as its "first demolition derby style party game," which makes it perfect for when you want to throw a demolition derby style party without all the cleanup. Boating Bash puts SpongeBob and his friends behind the wheel of customizable "boat mobiles," as they attempt to knock parts off each other's vehicles to earn points and advance through the game. The ultimate goal of the thousands of violent collisions? A driver's license, of course! Boating Bash will be out on Wii and DS this spring.
SpongeBob's Truth or Square aimed squarely at you this fall
SpongeBob SquarePants is ten years old this year, which means that if you were in, say, college when you first learned of the cartoon, you are old now. To mark this milestone (SpongeBob's, not the discovery of your advanced age), THQ plans to release a new SpongeBob platformer called SpongeBob's Truth or Square this October, for the Wii, DS, PSP, and Xbox 360.The Heavy Iron-developed game, based on the "SpongeBob's 10 Happiest Moments" DVD, features two unique new gameplay systems: first, SpongeBob can now change his shape, which means that players will have the power of a sledgehammer-shaped sponge or spatula at their disposal. In addition, a second player will be able to control Plankton and "help SpongeBob solve puzzles, unlock new pathways and defeat super-powered creatures."The Super Mario Galaxy-style co-op seems like an excellent fit for a children's game (so that parents can help out or play along at any moment), but our favorite thing about this game, by far, is that it gives us an excuse to embed this Burger King commercial after the break.%Gallery-63866%
Sony adds 10 titles to PSP Greatest Hits line
Sony is bulking up its Greatest Hits collection for the PSP, dropping the price on 10 select titles starting April 5. Available for the lowered price of $19.99, the majority of the new batch of Greatest Hits games are third party, though there are still some delicious first-party nuggets included, such as Chains of Olympus. Here's your next wave of Greatest Hits: Fight Night Round 3 God of War: Chains of Olympus Medal of Honor Heroes 2 Mortal Kombat: Unchained Patapon SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Tactical Strike Sonic Rivals 2 SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter® 2 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas
Analyst report: THQ franchises in decline
According to the analysts at Cowen and Company, several of THQ's key franchises – think WWE, SpongeBob SquarePants and Saints Row – are in a slump. GI.biz details the firm's findings and all signs point to the publisher posting a "substantial" loss this fiscal year.The firm states that the 22% Q4 year-over-year decline of the WWE franchise, which it calls one of the last "bastions of strength" at the publisher, is of particular concern, while poor little SpongeBob saw a 19% decline over the prior year. Saints Row 2 also isn't doing too hot, with the firm expecting the gangsta-fied sandbox title to move just 900K units over the next year in the US. Though the original Saints Row performed better on a single console, 2006 also had a very different software landscape (read: Grand Theft Auto IV wasn't out yet). Let's see if this holiday season changes THQ's plans to focus on a few "core" titles yearly.
Deal of the Day: Spongebob Squarepants Edition
We really, really liked Drawn to Life, so we view Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition with both curiosity and trepidation. On the one hand, hey, more Drawn to Life! On the other hand, it's more Drawn to Life without the guiding hand of developer 5th Cell, and with a license we aren't young enough or high enough to appreciate.If we were going to take the plunge and just buy the thing to satisfy our curiosity, today would be a pretty good day for that. Amazon has marked Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition down to $17.98 for today only. And we wouldn't have to be seen in a GameStop buying a SpongeBob game. Or in a GameStop at all.
Grab a jellyfish, it's a SpongeBob weekend!
Hey fanboys, did you know that we're smack dab in the middle of a SpongeBob SquarePants Live Weekend? We were oblivious to that fact until about twenty minutes ago when a pink jellyfish knocked on our door and told us the news. No joke either, jellyfish really do talk if you're willing to listen. So, with it being a SpongeBob Live Weekend, we're encouraged to download a the free episode "Blackened Sponge / Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" off the XBVM, purchase other episodes, try the trial of SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam!, purchase new spongy gamer pictures / themes and give the retail SpongeBob games a whirl. For those who can't stand SpongeBob, his laugh or the mind control he has on tweens, then feel free to vent in the comments section. Personally, we don't mind him. Our dishes have never been so clean.
New release dates for THQ games including Lock's Quest
Gamefly's DS listings have been updated with a bunch of tentative release dates. A bunch of them are THQ games, leading us to believe that the rental service received some kind of communication from the publisher -- which makes the dates more believable. Lock's Quest, the new strategy/action/tower-defense game from Drawn to Life developers 5th Cell, is listed for September 17. The Nickelodeon stuff has dates too, if you're interested (Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition September 24, Naked Brothers Band October 15, Tak Mojo Mistake, SpongeBob: Globs of Doom, Back to the Barnyard: Cowlympics all October 22). Our Gamefly search has also revealed that THQ has picked up Mikoishi Studios' Drop Cast (website here) for U.S. release. According to the listing, it'll be out October 14. %Gallery-19901%
THQ announces a bunch of Nickelodeon stuff, for good reason
THQ has announced that their longtime Nickelodeon licensing agreement has resulted in $1 billion in sales and 50 million games sold. That goes a long way towards explaining why they think it's a good idea to release a game based on The Naked Brothers Band (though we would have preferred the Naked Brothers' producers' other show).The press release went on to announce 5 more Nickelodeon-based projects. Many of the games are Wii/PS2/DS multiplatform, but Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants and Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games are DS-exclusive, and the DS is getting a different Tak game from the other platforms. Score. The new announcements include: The Naked Brothers Band: The Videogame Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Tak Mojo Mistake SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno
Drawn to Life: SpongeBob Video Pants
It's a credit to the original Drawn to Life's concept and quality that we're still interested in the follow-up despite 5th Cell's absence and its attached license -- SpongeBob SquarePants. IGN previewed the customizable platformer, and while it doesn't revolutionize the draw-your-adventure formula, it's a "polished, Nickelodeon-ized" take on it. We've never played any games from Alton, the developer taking the reins from 5th Cell, so we'll have to try Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition ourselves before developing an opinion with any firmness to it. Word has it, a two-player versus mode will be included, so look forward to pitting grotesquely phallic avatars against crude renditions of cartoon characters -- Donatello, Heathcliff, skies the limit!See also: DS Fanboy Review: Drawn to Life
A new Drawn to Life, but ...
How can you tell that Drawn to Life was a success? Publisher THQ is making full use of the IP, with a new licensed spinoff ... Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants. It's a Drawn to Life game, developed by a company called Altron and not 5th Cell, set in the SpongeBob SquarePants universe, featuring a story in which lazy sea creatures SpongeBob and Patrick are captured by the pencil-drawn SpongeBob clone DoodleBob. The player creates a hero in order to rescue the pair and defeat DoodleBob.We don't know what to say. We thought we'd be happy to hear about more Drawn to Life, especially one with a two-player mode, but we didn't expect this. Doesn't putting the game in an established setting kind of defeat the create-it-yourself appeal of Drawn to Life?
This Wednesday: SpongeBob gives XBLA 'Underpants Slam!'
The aquatic antics of our obliviously cheerful pal, SpongeBob SquarePants, have once again been transformed into a video game, this time for Xbox Live Arcade. Though we can't guarantee that "Underpants Slam!" will be any more enjoyable than the unexpected punch to the groin as suggested by the title, we can confidently inform you that it'll be available for download in North America from the Xbox Live Marketplace this coming Wednesday, December 26th. THQ's "side-scrolling slap-happy extravaganza" absorbs players into SpongeBob's quest to collect King Neptune's 99 pieces of laundry, with garment hunting parties being comprised of up to four players over Xbox Live. If that sounds like F.U.N. to you, prepare to get slammed in the pants for 800 MS Points ($10).
SpongeBob leads THQ Live Arcade lineup
THQ has announced that it plans to bring 4 original titles to Xbox Live Arcade. The foremost titles is undoubtedly SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!, which you may recall was mentioned as part of Microsoft's new family initiative. Three other titles are planned, Screwjumper, Elements of Destruction, and Rocket Riot. Currently, Screwjumper is the only title that has been detailed by THQ. The game is about "destroying mining equipment in a freefall environment," which is apparently what Screwjumpers do. Not only that, but there are enough Screwjumpers that they've formed their own union, the foreman of which is a playable character. Yeah, we're confused as well, but it's got online and local multiplayer, which is always a plus, right?Screwjumper and SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! should hit XBLA this November.[Via Joystiq]
THQ brings SpongeBob and three others to XBLA
THQ is making four new games for Xbox Live Arcade, including the horribly named (for those with dirty minds) SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! The other games are Screwjumper, Elements of Destruction and Rocket Riot. SpongeBob and Screwjumper will release sometime in November.To be honest, we know next to nothing about any of these games. We dug up an interview with the Screwjumper developers on XBLArcade. They describe the game as a "vertical action/racing game" which tasks the player "with destroying alien mining equipment and architecture while plummeting downward in continual, rapid, free-fall descent." They go on to say, "The objective of the game is to maximize score by crashing into and dynamiting as many alien structures as possible on the way down the mineshaft, then to initiate a detonation and race back to safety on the planet's surface." Well, if it's coming out in November, we don't have to wait too long to find out what that means -- thank goodness for XBLA demos.
Microsoft touts family focus with cartoon downloads
Think Nintendo has a stranglehold on the family-friendly console maker moniker? Microsoft would like you to think again. A new press release from the Xbox 360 maker touts the availability today of 100 downloadable cartoons from Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon properties on the Video Marketplace, as well as the impending launch of Shrek and Spongebob-licensed games for Xbox Live Arcade. Add in the recent branding of the new Xbox 360 Arcade as "the console for families" and a Microsoft-sponsored "family fun day" event in Times Square's Toys "R" Us today and you have a major push into the Big N's family-oriented turf.This isn't the first time Microsoft has tried to extend its reach past the hardcore Halo fans, but in the past innovative family titles like Viva Pinata have had trouble making inroads against big-name hardcore games like Gears of War. Will this latest push broaden Microsoft's image or is the 360 destined to be known primarily (and inaccurately) as a first-person shooter system. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Nickelodeon's three new DMPs
It's not all just questionably-useful tween gear for Nickelodeon today -- the company is also releasing a line of DMPs that would be pretty tempting if they weren't festooned with giant pictures of The Naked Brothers Band and SpongeBob. The $40 SpongeBob player holds 500 MP3s and goes for 10 hours on the built-in rechargeable battery, while the $50 Fission Digital Music Player comes in SpongeBob and Naked Brothers varieties and features a motion-sensitive remix feature that allows you to tweak your tunes by shaking the player. The cream of the crop, though, is the $100 Fusion Digital Media Player (yeah, no hurried parents are ever going to confuse those names), which rocks a pretty nice QVGA screen with what appears to be fairly smooth video playback, 1GB of internal storage with SD expansion, and a selection of preloaded and downloadable games. Not bad -- except for the terrible, terrible shame. Check 'em all out -- including some hands-on shots -- in the gallery.%Gallery-7834%
Nickelodeon unveils an array of tween-centric devices
DigitalLife is all about the tweens today, and Nickelodeon isn't about to be left out in the cold -- the venerable network has paired up with Imation to release an array of brightly-colored gear for the budding young geek. In addition to a line of pretty-decent DAPs, it's a pretty broad array of stuff you'd be mortified to own if you're not 7, including Dora / Diego and SpongeBob-branded cameras in resolutions from VGA to 3.0 megapixels, a Dora the Explorer portable CD player, a SpongeBob 15-inch LCD TV and progressive-scan DVD player, and a whack-SpongeBob-to-snooze alarm clock. The best of the bunch appears to be the $100 7-inch picture frame, however, which has a pretty decent-looking screen. Check it all out -- along with some hands-on shots -- in the gallery.%Gallery-7833%
