THQ Nordic and Nickelodeon are teaming up to revive several video games based on popular Nickelodeon properties.
“This one hits close to home,” says Adrienne Lauer, VP Digital Sales & Business Development Americas at THQ Nordic. “We believe the combination of strong licenses and solid, crisp gameplay was one of THQ Inc’s trademark strategies, and we intend to continue this tradition… It is a perfect fit for our “asset care” strategy: bringing back fan-favorites, continuing to support legacy games and make them available on current and even next-gen platforms.”
Jon Roman, Senior Vice President, Toys, Nickelodeon, added to that sentiment by stating that “These titles were popular when they were first released and we can’t wait for fans around the world to rediscover their favorites.”
As excited as both parties appear to be, we have to admit that it’s still not clear at this time what exactly this announcement means. We can tell you that THQ Nordic will be releasing games based on Nickelodeon properties, but it’s not entirely clear whether they will be new games, remakes of old titles, or a combination of both. Given that Nickelodeon reference the games “when they were first released,” that makes us think it’s going to be remakes and remasters of older Nickelodeon titles.
What we can tell you is that the “on-shelf availability” of these games will be confirmed in the coming months. As for the games themselves, they will include the following properties:
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Back At The Barnyard
Catscratch
Danny Phantom
El Tigre
Invader Zim
Jimmy Neutron
My Life As A Teenage Robot
Rocket Power
Rocko’s Modern Life
Rugrats
SpongeBob SquarePants
Tak And The Power Of JUJU
The Fairly OddParents (US only)
The Ren & Stimpy Show
The Wild Thornberrys
There are a few names out there that will immediately jump out to gamers. For instance, SpongeBob SquarePants has actually been featured in a few notable video games over the years – like 2003’s Battle For Bikini Bottom – and Rocko’s Modern Life, which hasn’t received a video game adaptation since the SNES era. Other names are popular in their own right – Rugrats and Invader Zim – but aren’t commonly associated with any particular video game.
Regardless, it will be nice to see some Nickelodeon games back on the market. Now, we just hope that the two find a way to make some kind of competitive online version of Legends Of The Hidden Temple.