I confess to not having played the original Drawn to Life back when it came out, but I've a pal who's a SpongeBob Squarepants fan, so when I was at THQ's Fall/holiday season preview event in New York City, I had to take a peek.

A rep demoed the DS title for me, and explained the gameplay is similar to the original Drawn to Life - this time, obviously, with a big SpongeBob cartoon theme. It's actually based, she said, on an episode of the TV series where Spongebob accidentally scribbles himself an enemy, "DoodleBob," a drawing come to life.

Like I said, I never played Drawn to Life, but I heard at length from lots of friends and readers that the platforming was nothing to get excited about, so I asked whether they'd taken that feedback and cleaned it up this time.

Spongebob Savior: Will Kid-Friendly Licenses Save THQ?

Earlier today, we reported that THQ's portfolio of Nickelodeon titles has hauled in more than $1 billion in sales, with the publisher looking forward to its 2008 lineup of more Nickelodeon properties.

THQ's survived a series of hard knocks in the market thanks to the strength of its kid-friendly titles based on licenses from the likes of Nickelodeon and Pixar, even while its stock has taken a serious dive since January of this year. The company's about to announce its fiscal fourth quarter results tomorrow - as a new year begins for THQ, is it on track for smoother sailing?

I am ashamed to admit that I'm a bit of a closet SpongeBob fan. Really, you can't blame me. When you have a child, and spend time with him watching television on occasion, you're going to eventually get drawn into liking one or two of his shows. SpongeBob, actually, can be quite funny at times.

As I mentioned before, one of my all-time favorite episodes is the one featuring the inordinately creepy DoodleBob, the creation of a artistically-lacking SpongeBob and a real-world pencil.

THQ contacted us after I posted about my reserved anticipation for the game with a couple of screen shots. I have to say they don't really assay my fears that the developers will entirely miss the point of what makes DoodleBob so awesome. In a nutshell? More creepy, less kiddie. Don't underestimate the SpongeBob adult fan club.

Hit the jump for a couple more screens and some of the game's details.

DoodleBob Set to Invade Drawn to Life Sequel

MTV reports that THQ is pimping out their Drawn to Life franchise to the SpongeBob SquarePants universe. Normally I'd be all over the another-crappy-kidsploitation-game band wagon, but I happen to think this is a fantastic idea.

The game will feature DoodleBob, the horrible disfigured, and slightly Frankenstein-esque SpongeBob knock-off created by the yellow sponge in one of his cartoons. In the original show, a fan favorite at our house, SpongeBob finds an artists pencil and uses it to create a version of himself, which turns out to be quite evil.

Fantastic fun and more than a little bit creepy. What will make or break this game, I think, will be whether they include the creepy or sanitize it and make it into the sort of cartoon that only kids get, but bores adults, aka not SpongeBob. The fact that Altron, makers of Alex Rider: Stormbreaker for the DS, is behind this version doesn't bode well.

Hit up the link for the game's fact sheet and such.

Exclusive: Next 'Drawn To Life' Set In SpongeBob SquarePants Universe [MTV]

Drawn To Life: Great Success, Coming To Wii

THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell dropped word today, via quarterly earnings conference call, that Nintendo DS platformer Drawn To Life—which I was bit "meh" on— would be coming to the Wii. Farrell didn't specify a port or a sequel, instead saying that the publisher planned to "extend the brand to the Wii." The 5TH Cell developed DS game appears to have been a hit for THQ, with execs boasting of hundreds of thousands of copies sold worldwide. Drawn To Life also appears to have boosted the publisher's DS take, up some 94% over the previous year. Here's to hoping the team can duplicate the success with a Wii-mote.

This week has a nice choice of titles spread out over various systems (sans the PSP). I'm trying to get to Heavenly Sword tonight so I can see for myself what it's going to be like and I am anxious to check out Jam Sessions and Drawn to Life for the DS. I've avoided Oblivion for a while just because I'm afraid of getting sucked in, but the inclusion of all the expansions on one disc is intriguing. What to do, what to do?

Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Will Nariko and her moves rival Kratos?

Skate (X360)
Skate to your heart's content and see what life is like without Tony Hawk.

NHL 2K8 (PS3, X360, PS2)
All the fun of Hockey without the broken teeth.

NHL 08 (X360, PS3, PC, PS2)
Because we always need more hockey games.

Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power (PC)
Rule the planets in this sci-fi RTS.

.hack//G.U. vol. 3//Redemption (PS2)
The final game in the trilogy. The end of an era...

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition (X360, PC)
All of Oblivion including the two expansions in one tidy package.

Kengo: Legend of the 9 (X360)
You are a legendary samurai in feudal Japan doing the stuff a samurai does.

DiRT (PS3)
More racing action for your PS3.

Jam Sessions (DS)
Strum your blues away.

Drawn to Life (DS)
Draw your own character and put him through his paces.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (WII, PS2)
Still guilty after all these years.

Fatal Inertia (X360)
Race in supersonic planes and kick some ass.

Ship Simulator 2008 (PC)
Imagine the fun of piloting your own oil rig!

Drawn to Life Commercial

Kind of a cool game that seems to be getting lost in the white noise that is this fall's uber-game line-up. What I enjoy most about this game is that you can draw liquid-spewing phallic heroes and the game doesn't seem to mind... seriously, I've seen it done.

Drawn To Life Eyeballs-On