Dave Perry has been feeling a twinge of seller's remorse since washing his hands of former platforming icon, Earthworm Jim. More than that, actually, as the Shiny Entertainment founder admits in a recent interview that, in hindsight, selling off the rights to annelid-made-superhero was probably the "dumbest move ever."

The outspoken Wii detractor lays the blame for the miscue largely on the industry's transition away from 2D and into the third dimension in the 90s, his animators at the time unwilling to lay down their pencils in favor of the almighty polygon. Of course, the team eventually went on to create the fabulously tongue-in-cheek action epic, MDK. Now, like Perry, we're left to sit and wonder what might have been as we wait for Interplay to push Jim up from the soil once more.

• Earthworm Jim (Genesis) - An invertebrate finds a special suit -- action ensues.
  
• Earthworm Jim 2 (Genesis) - Bigger, badder and wormier than the original.
• Earthworm Jim 3D (Windows) - The transition to 3D was not kind on the hero.
  
• Earthwo ... Sacred Gold - A Baldur's Gate/Diablo-style game that stood out from the glut of clones based on the aforementioned titles.

GameTap's list of free games can be found after the break. This week, arcade classic Burger Time joins the lineup. If you've never played, you'll never turn your back on eggs or sausage again without fearing it's trying to kill you.

Earthworm Jim is sort of an anomaly. It's been 13 years since he last starred in a good game, but people still call out for his return. If Kid Icarus had been a good game, he'd be the Pit of the annelid world. Now, after breaking our hearts with the 2007 cancellation of his PSP game, it seems that Jim is finally poised to make his return. Interplay has announced a new deal with original creator Douglas TenNapel to revive Jim.

So far, plans reportedly include "an animated series and feature film to expand the well known brand" and, most importantly, Earthworm Jim 4 for unspecified consoles (which we sort of knew about already). As much as we'd like to be excited, after being strung along on Jim's hook for more than a decade, "cautiously optimistic" is the best we can muster.

[Via X3F]

Whatever last remnants of identity clung to by both Shiny and The Collective were lost today as the duo were merged together by owner Foundation 9, creating a new, wholly unfamiliar entity known as Double Helix. Studio head Michael Saxs Persson calls the new name and logo, which were chosen from a pool of employee submissions, a "perfect" match for the company, adding that "making games is in our DNA."

The founding follows the initial merger, announced last October, and according to Foundation 9 creates a studio "that is now able to build upon its previous experience to gain new heights in quality and efficiency." And all it cost us was our fond memories of a simpler time spent playing the likes of MDK and Earthworm Jim. While the company remains coy regarding what it's up to currently, today's announcement notes that Double Helix is developing a trio of multi-platform licensed games, one of which we assume to be the already announced Silent Hill V.

Outspoken developer and former Shiny founder Dave Perry has found himself on the receiving end of an honorary degree by the UK's Queen's University Belfast, to be awarded as part of the school's centenary year celebration this July.

While the degree would be equally served for recognizing Perry's unceremonious commentary on the Wii's questionable longevity when compared to the competition, the architect behind MDK and others has instead received a diploma in science engineering for distinction in computer game development and design. Perry shares the honorary spotlight with some distinguished company as well, with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Taioseach Bertie Ahern, actors Joanna Lumley and James Ellis and others filling out the university's honorary graduate list, though we doubt any of those can boast having breathed live into a gun-toting earthworm.

David Perry, who should sound familiar to you Earthworm Jim fans out there, sat down with GamesIndustry.biz to conduct a nice little interview. GI grilled him on all of the current consoles on the market, eventually coming to Nintendo's newest console, the Wii. What Perry had to say, however, might not be what we all wanted to hear.

In regards to the competition of Nintendo's first-party titles, Perry states "You have to allow for that. You can't assume it is going to be like the other platforms, because you are going to have Nintendo taking most of the sales. And if Nintendo really sees you as a threat, they will take the moves to wipe you out. They are not going to let you win." Kind of makes Nintendo sound like the mafia or something, wouldn't you say?

Perry also talks about Nintendo's new winning attitude, stating that the ease of use of the Wii is what is bringing them all of this new fortune. Perry compares them to Apple, saying "What matters is the fact that things are easy to play. Hopefully, everyone heeded the Nintendo message. Easy to play is very important in this industry. Does anyone get that yet? You can go back to Apple, who taught us the same thing. Time after time after time they put out a new iPod with the same controls. Why? Because adding ten more buttons, which would have been very tempting and very easy to do, would have made it more complex. Keeping that system, that round dial that does everything magically, is part of the proof that making things easier sells."

Earthworm Jim for PSP has been put "on hold" as Atari focuses on other projects. Sister site PSPFanboy reveals that the game they thought was coming along fine with "sharp graphics, and awesome 2D gameplay potential" is no longer in the works, but an Atari spokesperson says it "may be revisited in the future."

Optimistically, there's still 60 reasons to own a PSP. Maybe some information will shake out at Min-E3 over why Earthworm Jim got the bird. Atari still has other titles coming out for the PSP, but a lot of their energy (and money) is currently going into upcoming potential hits like the return of Alone in the Dark.

Earthworm Jim for PSP was looking good: it had sharp graphics, and awesome 2D gameplay potential. Unfortunately, it appears that the game is canned ... for now. We contacted Alissa Bell from Atari, who commented: "I believe EWJ is off the roster. May be revisited in the future, but the title is, as I hear it, on hold." Hopefully, this isn't the end of Earthworm Jim on PSP.

Atari's upcoming support for PSP includes Dungeons & Dragons Tactics and HOT PIXEL. However, it doesn't appear that PSP fans can expect too much more in the upcoming future. Talking about their E3 plans, Alissa told us that "I don't believe Atari will be focusing on PSP titles at E3."

You've seen everyone's picks, sure, but of all the games listed, which one do you most want on the Virtual Console? Each member of the Wii Fanboy staff has selected one of their top five VC picks -- now you get to decide which game is the most desired of all those featured during Virtually Overlooked week (it's totally StarTropics).

But what if the game you most wanted isn't listed here? Then let us know about your real pick in the comments, but go ahead and vote (for StarTropics), because, hey -- we need to be ranked by you. It fulfills us (especially if you vote for StarTropics).

No subliminal messages were harmed in the writing of this poll.

Which fanboy pick do you want to see on the Virtual Console?
	Star Tropics
	Earthworm Jim
	River City Ransom
	Seiken Densetsu 3
	Saturn Bomberman
	These are all such great games that I could never choose!

Virtually Overlooked has taken over Wii Fanboy! All this week, members of the staff will be outlining their personal picks for future Virtual Console releases.

I was always a Nintendo fanboy growing up. I had all the Nintendo consoles (I even owned a Virtual Boy once) and only arrived on the Sega scene as it neared its conclusion. But when I did, I arrived in style, as my dad gifted us kids with a Sega Genesis, Sega CD and 32X add-ons, one Christmas during my teen years. There were a lot of great Sega games I was able to play thanks to that, including Star Wars Arcade on the 32X (let the laughing commence!). But, I still managed to primarily play on Nintendo consoles.

It wasn't soon after that the N64 emerged on the scene and I found myself actually playing wrestling games. You remember those games, developed by AKI and Yuke's? WCW vs. NWO World Tour was probably the game I played most on the N64 (aside from Goldeneye, of course), but I couldn't bring myself to include it into my list. What did I include in my list?

Well, let's find out!

The Neverhood, a stop-motion clay-animated adventure game from 1996 (used copies of which can go for $100 on eBay), may well become a feature film, according to Neverhood (and Earthworm Jim) creator Doug TenNapel on his official message board. TenNapel wryly notes that this time, there will be "no game to get in the way" -- in case you don't remember, The Neverhood got mixed-to-bad reviews as a game, though everyone agreed it looked absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, TenNapel says, "Don't speculate on the feature." So, seriously, no speculating in the comments section, okay? Doug wouldn't like it.

[Thanks, B]

Probably some of the most inventive, off-the-wall crap to come out on the SNES were the Earthworm Jim titles. Nothing could give the sense of high-octane shootin' action as well as some of the most insane humor found in video games of their day. Well, in another interview with former Shiny boss Dave Perry, it seems the worm-in-a-suit will be coming back for more.

Perry said the entire team behind the games had reformed: "We reformed the (Earthworm Jim) team and they were all into it. Trust me, all the original Earthworm Jim guys are still very interested in the whole idea; just know that it'll happen eventually." Eventually, indeed. The last one to grace consoles on the N64 was delayed so many times people thought that was actually the game -- waiting. We don't know anything else. No consoles declared, no details... just that it'll happen eventually. Groovy.

Good news for dirt-lovin' annelid fans. Shiny Entertainment founder Dave Perry has hinted that a new Earthworm Jim game will "happen eventually." The development team has been re-formed and is interested in reviving the wiggly space-suit-clad hero for a new generation of gamers.

The original run-and-gun platformers were packed with strange enemies, lush graphics (for 1994, anyway), and a wacky sense of humor. After all, when you're launching cows as a worm in a space suit, it's hard to be serious.

Sega is dishing out the goods yet again as they aim to bring another title to Nintendo's Wii console. This title, which is based on the upcoming movie starring Daniel Craig (who was in the amazing film Layer Cake and most recently played James Bond in Casino Royale), follows Lyra, a woman who finds herself unwillingly at the heart of a secret consipracy.

Sega has revealed that the game will be released during the Christmas holiday later this year and be comprised of a total of 13 chapters for players to go through, which have been taken directly from the book the movie is to be based on. Shiny Entertainment, who were responsible for the highly-loved (by us, anyway) Earthworm Jim series of games, are handling development duties for the title on the Wii.

Fans of book to movie to game adaptations, are you going to wet your pants when you hear this news! Sega has let everyone know that they are releasing a game based on The Golden Compass film adaptation. The game is being developed by Shiny Entertainment (who are also working on the Earthworm Jim PSP title) and will feature the likenesses of the film's cast. You'll play as Lyra and her animal friends Pan and lorek Byrnison. The gameplay consists of using special items and sneakiness when playing Lyra and more head-on physical attacks with lorek. The game will span 13 environments based on areas from the movie as well as some areas that aren't featured in the film.

I really have no idea what to expect of this title, but I used to love Shiny's games back in the day, so I can only hope this and Earthworm Jim are good fun. We'll find out for sure when The Golden Compass game is released this fall.

[Via Gamespot ]