He may never be a Metacritic standout, but SpongeBob SquarePants has won the hearts of millions of little ones -- it doesn't matter what we think about his games. Having shipped 29 million copies of pure SpongeBob gold since 2002, THQ isn't about to let the money-maker off the hook. The publisher has renewed its partnership with Nickelodeon for multi-year rights to develop and release SpongeBob titles across major platforms and distribution channels.

The first game under the new agreement is being developed for 3DS, Kinect and THQ's own uDraw GameTablet for Wii. It will be released next year, and you'll probably have to buy it (and one of those new technologies) if you've got a kid between ages 2 and 11.