News

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. – Feb. 16, in the year of our Lord 2011 – Fans of the shenanigans in Bikini Bottom will laugh their squigglepants off when the immensely popular uDraw GameTablet™ for Wii™ combines with the world’s most popular cartoon character in SpongeBob SquigglePants, scheduled to debut April 12 from THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI).

Only the uDraw GameTablet can offer a SpongeBob SquarePants experience like this: Players will tilt, flip, shake, roll, flick, sketch, tap, trace and draw their way through more than 100 “nanogames” set in six zany worlds. SpongeBob SquigglePants takes full advantage of the unique capabilities of the uDraw, one of the most popular Wii accessories.

SpongeBob SquigglePants frenetically races players through a dizzying series of nanogames, which give them mere seconds to finish before moving right on to the next. As the experience progresses, each nanogame becomes faster and faster. Within this rapid-fire succession of nanogames, SpongeBob SquigglePants also treats players to never-before-seen SpongeBob art styles from the Nickelodeon vault. It’s the first time fans will see “Pixel Bob,” inspired by the 8-bit world of video games; “Punk Rock Bob” and “Comic Book Bob,” which turns the denizens of Bikini Bottom into super heroes; and many more.

The entire SpongeBob SquigglePants experience is hosted by the live-action character Patchy the Pirate, who not only guides players through the game, but also makes surprise appearances and interacts with players as they tackle the huge array of nanogames, offering an added level of under-the-sea fun.

“SpongeBob SquigglePants gives SpongeBob fans and Wii players an experience they’ve never had before,” said Martin Good, THQ’s Executive Vice President of Kids, Family and Casual Games. “It’s a collection of super-fast-paced games that capture the creative energy of SpongeBob SquarePants and let us really show off what the uDraw can do – hitting the funny bone at the same time.”

Since introducing the uDraw in November, THQ has shipped more than 1.2 million units of the innovative Wii device, which turns any TV into a virtual art studio. The uDraw GameTablet is scheduled to launch in international markets in February and March 2011, providing a worldwide market for SpongeBob SquigglePants.

SpongeBob SquigglePants also lets players digitally draw, paint and color with a free-form drawing function, or choose from dozens of SpongeBob-themed stamps. With the uDraw, they create a masterpiece worthy of a place in the Bikini Bottom Museum of Art – or their own refrigerator, thanks to the uDraw’s exclusive ability to export art to the Wii’s SD card slot. The SD card capability also makes it possible to share artwork with friends via e-mail or save it to computer desktops.

“The uDraw is an incredibly creative device, and we’re really happy to have SpongeBob be the very first cartoon character to star in a uDraw title,” said Manuel Torres, Senior Vice President, Global Toys and Video Games for Nickelodeon Consumer Products.

SpongeBob SquigglePants is scheduled to debut on April 12, only for uDraw, with a suggested retail price of $29.99. A Nintendo 3DS™ version of SpongeBob SquigglePants is planned to be released later in the spring, giving SpongeBob fans the chance to play the hilariously frenetic experience on the go, in 3-D.