Strawberry Shortcake: Strawberryland Games, by The Games Factory, is a game for the Nintendo DS that is trying to appeal to the audience of the animated show with the same name. In the game you will compete in three different Strawberryland events: Berry Boarding down the whip cream slopes of the Sundae Mountains, Balloon Rise through candy cloud skies of Strawberryland and Black Liquorice Leap from one end of Punchbowl Pond to the River. Sounds like they are making "When Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory Attacks Part 3," but really its just going to be a game for the younger ones who have a DS. The game should be coming out sometime in the third quarter of this year. Go ahead and check out the screenshots by clicking their thumbnails below to get a full sized view.

    
   

If you can't beat the announcements of Square and Sony, the least you can do is announce something undeniably cute that someone might notice. That's what Game Factory had in mind when they announced their line up of games for the third and fourth quarter of the year.

For Games Factory, its all about the games for the little critters. So they've got a couple of cartoon friends for the young ones to play with. For the Nintendo DS, they are releasing Cartoon Network Racing, Code Lyoko, Garfield 2, Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry Land Games and Strawberry Shortcake Adventures in the Land of Dreams. For the PSP, they will have Legend of the Dragon.

      

The basic premise of these games is to take the players into the world of the cartoons. The gameplays of the games are quite menial and nothing entirely spectacular, nonetheless, they are still fun to play with, especially on those long road trips. They're there to remind you how loony and fun these characters are.

Cartoon Network Racing lets you race Blossom and Johnny Bravo down Dexter's Lab. Code Lyoko will let you solve some puzzles in Lyoko's World. Garfield will dance around in London. While Strawberry Shortcake has tons of mini-games in store.

On the other hand, their PSP title, Legend of the Dragon, is a Western game trying to be an Asian game. Taking cell-shaded animation as its graphic appeal, you try to battle it out against people who are out to get the seal of the temple. It's your typical fighting game meshed with a bit of Chinese Zodiac spirituality.

Games Factory's lineup looks promising but their titles might not be strong enough for the giants. Then again, their games might just appeal to a child who wants play a carefree game. Nonetheless, the titles look wacky enough to help you through a boring day. Well, isn't that what a game is all about?