Top 30 iPad games we'd like to see

The iPad may not have a built-in camera, multitasking capabilities, or support for Flash, but it does have a 9.7-inch high-resolution touch screen that many expect will be conducive for gaming. And though Apple only showed off a couple of games at the iPad launch event, the company made it clear that all iPhone apps--including games--would run on the iPad and that it expected many developers to create updated versions of their games that would take advantage of the device's larger display.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether developers will charge you extra for the iPad version of an iPhone game you've already bought (we suspect that at least for some games the iPad version will be a separate purchase). However, we're not going to worry about all that right now; instead we're just going to take a moment to imagine what iPhone games will really benefit from making the move to the big screen, and which PC or online games would be ripe for iPad treatment.

As always, feel free to agree or disagree with our picks and make suggestions of your own. Click on any image to start the slideshow.

DreamWorks Taps THQ for Three Franchise Games

THQ has signed a multi-year deal with DreamWorks Animation to be the exclusive maker of video games based on several of the studio’s top franchises.

The game developer had already had been working on a game based on the upcoming feature film MegaMind, and now will add the sequel film Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, the Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots and the TV series The Penguins of Madagascar to its shelf.

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with THQ and continue to be impressed by their focus on the kids and family videogame business,” said Kerry Phelan, Head of Worldwide Consumer Products for DreamWorks Animation. “We look forward to extending the reach of our feature films and The Penguins of Madagascar TV series into a broad line of games and believe THQ will do a great job of maximizing our properties for family audiences.”

WGA Nominates Five Games for Writing Honor

The Writers Guild of America has nominated five titles for its outstanding writing in a videogame award.

The nominees, chosen from a record field of submissions that more than doubled last year’s entries, are:

• Assassin's Creed II, Story by Corey May, Script Writers Corey May, Joshua Rubin, Jeffrey Yohalem; Ubisoft Entertainment
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Written by Jesse Stern, Additional Writing Steve Fukuda, Story by Todd Alderman, Steve Fukuda, Mackey McCandlish, Zied Rieke, Jesse Stern, Jason West, Battlechatter Dialogue, Sean Slayback; Activision
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Written by Amy Hennig; Sony Computer Entertainment
• Wet, Written by Duppy Demetrius; Bethesda Softworks
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Script Writer Marc Guggenheim; Activision

The winner will be announced at the group’s annual award ceremony, set to be held simultaneously at locations in New York and Los Angeles on Feb. 20.

To be eligible for entry, games must have been released between Dec. 1, 2008 and Nov. 30, 2009, the work must contain separate writing credits, and the credited game writer or writers must have been or must have applied to become members of the WGA’s Videogame Writers Caucus at the time scripts were submitted.

Nintendo Plans Pokemon Reboot

For fourteen years, Pokemon has been one of the most reliable brands in the world, succeeding in video games, card games, anime TV and feature films, print and merchandising.

But in the modern entertainment world, everything eventually gets the re-boot — and Pokemon is no exception.

According to a report on the official Pokemon website, franchise owners Nintendo are planning a completely new Pokemon series is in development that will feature new monsters, new game play functions and other new features.

The new Pokemon is being prepared for release later this year in Japan as a video game on the Nintendo DS platform.

Should the revamp catch on, expect the changes to make their way both across the Pacific and into other media.