We've just gotten our filthy hands on the first batch of screens for the DS version of Activision's multi-platform superhero title, Spider-Man 3.

For those who haven't been reading up on the game (and you haven't checked out the game's site yet), you should know that this side-scrolling baby will make full use of the DS's touch screen and will feature local wireless multiplayer modes. You'll as lo get to challenge one of your friends to go head to head in game challenges like Hot Potato, Target Practice, Brawler, and Combo Challenge.

For the first time ever, players will also be able to explore good old Spidey's black suit-donning alternate persona, Venom (also playable, by the way). So see, it's still fun to know that not all superheroes are your typical goody two shoes, eh?

Also available for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, and PC, Spider-Man 3 is slated for release this May and will carry with it a price tag of US$ 29.99.

  

Currently brewing in EA Canada's labs is Pogo Island, which compiles five of the most popular games found over at Pogo.com - Word Whomp, Poppit!, Phlinx, Tri-Peaks Solitaire, and Squelchies.

• Word Whomp - kinda like Text Twist, requires you to guess the word by unscrambling the letters
• Phlinx - you have to group together stones of the same color
• Poppit! - good old balloon-popping fun
• Squelchies - nah, contrary to what this writer thought, you won't be using the DS's mic and letting out loud squelches (awwww. haha!). Instead, you'll get to manipulate three same colored aquatic creatures to make way for more creatures as they advance downward
• Tri-Peake Solitaire - (need we explain this one, folks?)
  

But in addition to all these, there's also reportedly a meta game that'll require players to look for Pogo mascots found scattered all over the backdrops of Pogo Island. Kinduva healthy distraction, if ya ask me.*winks*

So anyway, another cool thing about Pogo Island is that you'll get to collect tokens while playing the game which you can then transfer to Pogo.com and earn bragging rights. Hahaha. Pogo Island is set to bounce your way on March 26 and will sell for an SRP of US$ 29.99.

More screens await in the full article!

Disney Interactive Studios announced today that the sleepy Spectrobes have awaken from sweet slumber and is now on its way to your nearest retail stores.

Follow the adventures of Rallen and Jeena as they travel across the galaxy to collect the narcoleptic fossilized creatures called Spectrobes. With full support for the DS's Wi-Fi capabilities and ad hoc wireless connection, you'll also be able to download new content, access game results online, and trade with or battle other players.

And not only that, Spectrobes also makes use of the handheld's touch screen and microphone in training nearly 500 unique game creatures and customizing each Spectrobe.

The Jupiter Corporation-developed Spectrobes is rated E by the ESRB and has a suggested retail price of US$ 29.99.

   

"Love Can Build a Wall. Hate Can Tear it Down. Justice Stands Forever."

Or so the tag line goes. Intriguing, eh? That's the basic theme that Darren Reid's graphic novel "Xevicom Forever" revolves around. The first two issues launched today for the PSP and PC mark Reid's very first release for your beloved handhelds.

There will also be enhanced online editions for the Wii and PS3 soon, which will also allow DS users in Europe and Japan to view the novel. (Currently, you can view the Wii/PS3 online browser versions at Reid's website, the link to which is in the Read link)

And the fun (?) doesn't end there: the novel's third issue will be released on March 16th, and the fourth and final one to be launched on March 23rd. But if you don't wanna go through the hassle of downloading the issues one by one, you can opt to wait 'til March 30, when you can download the whole novel in one bundle.

With previous works that include The Sword of Oz, Darren Reid still has quite a few novels up his sleeve. So if you like what you see in Xevicom Forever, make sure you keep an eye out for his future releases.

Download: Xevicom Forever for PSP
Download: Xevicom Forever for PC

Nintendo has just released their full Q2 lineup of Wii and DS games which boasts of tons of great titles that a lot of us have been itching to get our hands on. These include Prince of Persia Rival Swords, Mario Party 8, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, and tons more.

Handheld-luvvin' folks need not worry too, as Nintendo and third-party publishers also have a lot of great games in store for you in the months to come. And with Pokemon Battle Revolution to wage war on your Wiis soon, you'll now be able to link the two Ninty consoles for the first time.

Import characters from Pokemon Pearl/Diamond to Battle Revolution for a totally unique gameplay experience. Included in the lineup of DS games are Harvest Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Pirates of the Carribbean, along with tons of other great titles. Here's the full Q2 lineup of Wii and DS games:

Wii

• April 9 - Super Paper Mario
• April - Prince of Persia Rival Swords
• April - Bust-A-Move Bash
• April - Bionicle Heroes
• May 15 - Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
• May 29 - Mario Party 8
• May Tamagotchi Party On
• May - Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End
• May - Escape from Bug Island
• May - Spider-Man The Movie 3
• June 11 - Big Brain Academy
• June 25 - Pokémon Battle Revolution
• June - Cosmic Family
• Spring - Heatseeker
• Q2 Legend of the Dragon
• Summer  Shrek the Third
• Summer  Transformers the Game

The Q2 lineup for your beloved Ninty handheld awaits in the full article!

Iron Chef just got cuter. That's how some would probably describe Digital Embryo's upcoming game, Cake Mania. That is, if Iron Chefs weren't opposed to the idea of wearing cute pink aprons and catering solely to customers' confectionery cravings.

If you found the idea intriguing, then you might wanna check out this game from Majesco which lets you take on the role of Jill, a culinary student who goes home to find that her grandparents' bakery has closed down. You're then faced with the task of reviving the business by using your culinary skills.

Here are some of the game's features:

• Includes the entire original online Cake Mania game plus the full Back to the Bakery expansion pack
• Over 80 levels and five locations (Home Bakery, Beach Front, Circus, Casino and Hawaii)
• full touch screen support
• customizable kitchen - upgrade your kitchen equipment using the cash you earn from cake sales
• get to serve seasonal (albeit very important) customers like Cupid and Santa Claus with custom holiday cakes
  

Cake Mania is set to sweeten your handhelds on April 10 with an attached price tag of US$ 19.99.

   

It's been quite a while since Kevin last updated his homebrew DS app, WFCStatus. Kevin says that the biggest update for this version is the addition of the auto update function, which will allow users to download new game data from his WFCStatus site. According to Kevin, "the first DAT has 71 games listed, 69 DS and 2 Wii."

For WFCStatus neophytes, Kevin's app basically functions as a Wi-Fi status viewer to track its activities on your handhelds. That said, here's the list of stuff you can expect in v1.5...

Changelog:

• Added auto updater for new games and boxarts (Settings -> Update)
• Added 4 DS games (incl. Panel de Pon DS (J) and the new Yu-Gi-Oh)
• Added 1 Wii game (Elebits)
• Added Diddy Kong Racing gamehub
• Added a few new boxarts
• Fixed Megaman Dragon/Pegasus boxarts
• Moved site to new domain http://wfcstatus.net
  

Aaaand once again we remind current and would-be users that you're gonna need Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 in order to run WFCStatus. If you're still not getting any of this, we recommend you head on to Kevin's site (click the read link below) to read up on more info on his app.

Download: WFCStatus v1.5

It's only been mere hours since Game Developers Conference 2007 opened its doors and yet news of next year's event are already circulating in, how do you say it, teh intarwebz. It's been a real crazy day here at the QJ quarters, what with all the GDC updates pouring in (in torrents, if I might add). Personally, I'd just like to deal with the ongoing GDC first, but just so you guys are way ahead of everybody else, we'll share with you the details we scored on next year's GDC.

According to DevelopMag, show organiser CMP has already confirmed this early on the dates and venues for GDC 2008. If things go as planned, the Game Developers Conference 2008 will take place on February 18-22, and will be held once again at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's shift the focus back to this year's event. GDC Mobile,the Serious Games Summit, Casual Games Summit and Independent Game Festival are the front acts for GDC 2007, with the main conference and expo scheduled to hit the stage on Wednesday. That said, allow this writer to sneak out and get back to insane GDC news reporting. Stay tuned for more.

Namco Bandai announced today that their fun brain teaser (yes, there is such a thing), QuickSpot, has just gone gold and is now prepped to boggle the minds of DS users all over North America. For those not in the know, the game's main objective is for you to be able to spot the differences between two seemingly similar pictures via the handheld's touch screen and microphone.

The game sports loads of exciting features, so make it easy on your eyes, here's how we'll do this:

• Single Player modes: 
• Rapid Play - the main game mode which has five levels with 10 stages each spot the differences in 10 seconds or less to advance to the next stage.
• Focus Play – contains 140 unique pictures with 10 differences for the player to spot
• Brain Activity - Test your intuition, concentration, recognition and other activities to see how your brain measures up.
• Today's Fortune - gives the player her/his Health, Study, Romance, and Money fortune for the day.
  
  
• Multiplayer modes:
  
• Time Bomb - spot the difference and pass a single DS around to your friends before the time bomb explodes
• Scramble Mode - using Wi-Fi and a single DS Card, annoy and disrupt your friend’s game by changing the color of their screen, filling it with frogs, etc.
• Download Play - players can compete against each other on multiple Nintendo DS.

Makoto Iwai, EVP and COO of Namco Bandai Games America Inc., says, "Quickspot offers players an addictive experience...Whether you play individually or as part of a group, QuickSpot will test recognition and concentration skills to the extreme." Rated E10+ by the ESRB, QuickSpot is set to hit store shelves on March 13 with an attached price tag of  US$ 19.99.

A lot gamers who have a knack for solving mysteries were bummed to find out that Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village will never reach U.S. shores. And while the game has been out in Japan for more than a month now, we still decided to share with you a hilarious vid which shows how the animal voice acting in the game was done.

For those not in the know, Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village is a puzzle/adventure RPG from Level-5 (same folks responsible for Dark Cloud and White Knight Story for PS3) and is hailed by some as a fusion of your traditional videogames and Brain Training.

Usually, we'd just bring you guys the video embed but for some reason it's messing up. So to be safe, what we'll do is just give you the link to the vid so you can view it on Game Videos. Just hit the read link below and you're good to go.