Category: Games

Nickelodeon will record the best year in its 29-year history, finishing 2008 as basic cable's number-one rated network in total day and first in all kids and tween demos. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS will finish 2008 as the top-rated series for kids 2-11 as it heads into its 10th anniversary year in 2009, and ICARLY ranks as the number-one kids' show on all of television with kids 6-11.

Industry tracking firm The NPD Group reports Friday that the videogame industry is seeing green this year, with dollar sales for all games, hardware, accessories and software topping $32 billion so far this year.

Game sales hit $2.91B in November 2008, up 10 percent from a year ago, and for the year sold $16.04B, up 22 percent from 2007. Leading the hardware unit sales was the Nintendo Wii with more than two million sold in November, followed by Nintendo DS (1.57M), Microsoft's Xbox 360 (836,000), Sony's PSP (421,000), PlayStation 3 (378,000) and PlayStation 2 (206,000).

Activision Publishing has released new details on X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, whose titular hero is one of the most popular Marvel characters of all time. The videogame, scheduled for release in May 2009, coincides with the global debut of Twentieth Century Fox's release of its feature film, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, which is also based on the famous Marvel character.

Acclaimed graphic album BATMAN: BLACK & WHITE from Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution has debuted as a Warmer Premiere Motion Comics series.

The Original Crew of the Starship Enterprise are roaring to the iPhone and iPod touch from IDW Publishing and iVerse Media.

Available immediately, STAR TREK ARCHIVES: THE BEST OF PETER DAVID #1 is the first issue of the ongoing digital comics series that reprints some of the best comics from Star Trek's illustrious history. Peter David is one of the most popular and respected STAR TREK writers, known for his mingling of humor and popular culture.

Bruce Shelley will be the 12th inductee into The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame. Shelley is a preeminent game designer, who assisted Sid Meier in bringing the award-winning CIVILIZATION and RAILROAD TYCOON to the world, and later the AGE OF EMPIRES strategy games with Ensemble Studios.

PC GAMER named Shelley one of the 25 Game Gods in 1999, and in 2002 GAME SPY named him the eighth most influential person in gaming.

HOTEL FOR DOGS, the videogame based on the upcoming feature film, HOTEL FOR DOGS from DreamWorks Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, will jump, sit and stay in North America in January 2009 -- good dog! Coming to the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows-based PC, HOTEL FOR DOGS features the likenesses and voices of the movie's two young stars, Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin. And, of course, lots and lots of dogs.

The Think Eco-Logical initiative, a milestone thought leadership program supported by IT professionals across multiple industries, has launched to educate enterprises and organizations on combining environmental concerns with intelligent business management. The core theme of the Think Eco-Logical movement addresses both the environmental side (Eco) of IT sustainability imperatives and the economics (Logical) of achieving environmental efficiencies.

LucasArts has released a new single-player level for STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED. Available now for Xbox 360 owners through Xbox LIVE Marketplace and for PlayStation 3 owners through the PlayStation Network, the level features The "Secret Apprentice" in an entirely new mission set in the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant.

The Secret Apprentice travels to the Jedi Temple to learn more about his father, and while searching through the rubble of the destroyed building he must confront his inner demons.

Atari will release the videogame to Universal's upcoming animated feature THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, per VARIETY.

Brash Ent. had been set to release the game about the heroic, giant-eared mouse, but they went out of business last month. The company, who specialized in film adaptations, planned to also distribute a game for Nintendo DS produced by Universal, the studio's first self-funded game.

Brash completed the game before going out of business, but they and Universal had to rush to find another publisher before the film's December 19 release date.

Toei Animation has appointed The Licensing Company Germany as the merchandising broker for DRAGON BALL, DRAGON BALL Z, and DRAGON BALL GT.

According to the agreement, The Licensing Company Germany will handle Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. The Licensing Company will have all merchandising rights for the brand with the exception of toy, videogame, publishing and Lamincards categories.

Chinese online game developer NetDragon Websoft will partner with The Walt Disney Company's Interactive Media Group to create Disney's first Chinese Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game: DISNEY FANTASY ONLINE, which will be launched in spring 2009.