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How to fully enjoy this post:

1. Grab the nearest preteen girl. (If you're not in your home, please ask permission before grabbing random preteens.)
2. Insert earplugs.
3. Tell the aforementioned girl that Activision is making a video game for Wii and DS with Nickelodeon based on the network's iCarly, and that it will allow her to make her own episodes of the show through the magic of minigames.
4. Remove earphones.
5. Repair squeal-shattered windows, champagne flutes.
6. Look totally cool to said preteen for at least 15 minutes.

The PlayStation Network video service has been open for about eight months now, and it continues to grow. Users will find an expanded selection today, with two new partners joining the service: VH1 and Nickelodeon. Now PS3 and PSP owners will be able to download Avatar, iCarly, Invader Zim, SpongeBob SquarePants, Confessions of a Teen Idol, Sober House, and more. As usual, SD episodes cost $1.99 each.

In addition to the new content providers, NBC and PlayStation have teamed up to provide the pilot episode of NBC's new series, KINGS, free for PS3 and PSP owners. Simply visit the PlayStation Store and you'll be able to download the 80 minute debut in SD or HD for free.

See the top video downloads of the week after the break.

Casualgaming.biz asked a who's who of casual games about how they felt the business would get by during the current financial horribleness. As it turns out, the polled companies expect to either weather the crisis or even benefit from it.

A representative for PopCap said "When economic times are tough, the most broadly appealing, cost-effective forms of entertainment tend to not only survive – but thrive." This sentiment was echoed by the CEO of Oberon Media. Nickelodeon's Dave Williams, however, sees problems for companies who "need access to outside capital and high valuations to fund growth and investment and/or haven't reached profitability and need cash to fund existing operations." In other words, companies who rely on others' money to make their games.

Not that we're Industry Analysts, but we fully expect the casual games industry to do well during this recession. It's pretty simple: these companies make video games -- often very enjoyable ones -- that do not cost sixty dollars.

The PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service will be getting a big boost from a new partner: MTV Networks. While MTV Networks includes the well-known "music" channel, it also includes VH1, Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike, Logo, CMT, The N, TV Land and Atom. Some shows to be added to the PlayStation Store include MTV's The City, COMEDY CENTRAL's South Park, Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants and VH1's Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels.

"We're thrilled to add content from MTV Networks to our line up, it's a perfect fit for the PlayStation demographic, one of the most coveted audiences in entertainment today," said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA. "Combined with the superior technology of the PS3 and PSP, the PlayStation Network's video delivery service truly provides consumers the best and most comprehensive content on demand from an incredible line up of entertainment brands to enjoy at home or on-the-go."

"From Nickelodeon to TV Land and everywhere in between, MTV Networks' brands feature some of the most popular shows and some of the hottest stars for almost every conceivable demo," said Greg Clayman, Executive Vice President, Digital Distribution and Business Development, MTV Networks. "By making our diverse content lineup available through the PlayStation Network, we're giving PlayStation users instant access to hundreds of hours of our very best programming in the comfort of their own living rooms."

Geraldine Laybourne, the founder of women's cable television channel Oxygen, has joined the Board of Directors at Electronic Arts. Prior to creating television programs that pander to the fairer sex, Laybourne also worked for Nickelodeon, where she was instrumental in launching the station's window into the past that is Nick at Night.

While it's pure guesswork as to whether this move was more driven by Laybourne's business savvy or EA's continued interest in putting games in front of women, families and tweens, we imagine that both played a vital role in getting the TV exec to hop on board.

Gamefly's DS listings have been updated with a bunch of tentative release dates. A bunch of them are THQ games, leading us to believe that the rental service received some kind of communication from the publisher -- which makes the dates more believable.

Lock's Quest, the new strategy/action/tower-defense game from Drawn to Life developers 5th Cell, is listed for September 17. The Nickelodeon stuff has dates too, if you're interested (Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition September 24, Naked Brothers Band October 15, Tak Mojo Mistake, SpongeBob: Globs of Doom, Back to the Barnyard: Cowlympics all October 22).

Our Gamefly search has also revealed that THQ has picked up Mikoishi Studios' Drop Cast (website here) for U.S. release. According to the listing, it'll be out October 14.

THQ has announced that their longtime Nickelodeon licensing agreement has resulted in $1 billion in sales and 50 million games sold. That goes a long way towards explaining why they think it's a good idea to release a game based on The Naked Brothers Band (though we would have preferred the Naked Brothers' producers' other show).

The press release went on to announce 5 more Nickelodeon-based projects. Many of the games are Wii/PS2/DS multiplatform, but Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants and Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games are DS-exclusive, and the DS is getting a different Tak game from the other platforms. Score. The new announcements include:

• The Naked Brothers Band: The Videogame
• Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants
• Tak Mojo Mistake
• SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom
• Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno

Hell, we imagine, might be a place where you're forced to plug The Naked Brothers Band art assets into the Random Kids Game Generator® year after year in the labyrinthine basement of some corporate complex, right until the bros age into drug-riddled obscurity and it's onto the next new thing to become a licensed game. The real burn comes after you learn that your pitiful existence is paying for the expensive habits of the suits, some 50 floors above you where fabled glass walls look out onto majestic horizons. Hell, it would seem, is THQ Inc.

The publisher responsible for all that is Nickelodeon in the industry has confirmed that success makes for a better headline than hard-earned respect. THQ's long-term licensing agreement with Nickelodeon has paid off -- to the tune of $1 billion and growing! With no shortage of kids who eat, sleep, and pray for Nickelodeon, THQ has sold more than 50 million games of this stuff. And there's no end in sight.

It's a credit to the original Drawn to Life's concept and quality that we're still interested in the follow-up despite 5th Cell's absence and its attached license -- SpongeBob SquarePants.

IGN previewed the customizable platformer, and while it doesn't revolutionize the draw-your-adventure formula, it's a "polished, Nickelodeon-ized" take on it. We've never played any games from Alton, the developer taking the reins from 5th Cell, so we'll have to try Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition ourselves before developing an opinion with any firmness to it.

Word has it, a two-player versus mode will be included, so look forward to pitting grotesquely phallic avatars against crude renditions of cartoon characters -- Donatello, Heathcliff, skies the limit!

See also: DS Fanboy Review: Drawn to Life

Today, at 5:00PM eastern (2:00PM pacific), Xbox Live Game with Fame gets a healthy coat of orange paint going Nickelodeon with two Nick stars gaming it up with fans. Roxy Hunter's own Aria Wallace and Zoey 101's Victoria Justice will be on Xbox Live playing Guitar Hero III and DDR: Universe 2 under the gamertags NickGWF1 and NickGWF2. So gather the kids, gather the adults, shoot a few friend requests and show those Nickelodeon stars how brutal Xbox Live can really be. Do us proud.

MTV-owned Nickelodeon recently announced plans to add a whopping 1,600 Flash games to its network of web sites. That might sound like a lot, until you consider that the children's network already controls roughly 5,000 web games that reach over 20 million users every month.

Sure, a good proportion of those games are probably Space Invaders clones found at the acquisition AddictingGames.com. But the Nick portfolio also includes some deep, popular virtual worlds like Neopets and Nicktropolis, and the company has announced they'll be creating three more kid-focused, web-based MMOs in the future. When exactly did the first kids network become the first kids gaming network?

For its third fiscal quarter through the holiday season, publisher THQ saw their sales boost to $509.6 million but profits down to $15.5 million (via Gamasutra). Comparatively, last year they had $475.7 million in sales (a 7% raise) and $62.1 million in profit (a 75% drop). THQ also had $27 million in non-cash charges due to the cancellations of Juiced and Stuntman.

Big sellers include THQ's licenses. Life to date sales from Nickelodeon projects total $1 billion, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 enjoyed a whopping five million in unit sales -- behold the power of licensing.

Think Nintendo has a stranglehold on the family-friendly console maker moniker? Microsoft would like you to think again. A new press release from the Xbox 360 maker touts the availability today of 100 downloadable cartoons from Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon properties on the Video Marketplace, as well as the impending launch of Shrek and Spongebob-licensed games for Xbox Live Arcade. Add in the recent branding of the new Xbox 360 Arcade as "the console for families" and a Microsoft-sponsored "family fun day" event in Times Square's Toys "R" Us today and you have a major push into the Big N's family-oriented turf.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has tried to extend its reach past the hardcore Halo fans, but in the past innovative family titles like Viva Pinata have had trouble making inroads against big-name hardcore games like Gears of War. Will this latest push broaden Microsoft's image or is the 360 destined to be known primarily (and inaccurately) as a first-person shooter system. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

In an effort to bring in the youth and parent markets, Microsoft just announced plans for releasing brand new content from Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. to the Xbox Live Marketplace as well as announcing two new children's based XBLA games.

Starting today, you'll be able to get 50+ episodes of Warner Bros'. "Looney Tunes" via the (US only) Video Marketplace. The episodes included feature the standard "Looney Tunes" greatness and a few episodes are even available in Spanish (double w00t!). Nickelodeon made the announcement that, starting today, exclusive content from their show "The Backyardigans" and episodes of "Blue's Clues" and "iCarly" will be available for purchase off the Video Marketplace. Finally, two new XBLA games were also revealed today both capitalizing on the popularity of children's animated figures. SHREK-N-ROLL and SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam will hit the Arcade soon'ish.

Oh, and don't worry about us fanboys. We will not be blowing all our cash on television episode downloads this week, because we so outgrew our obsession with "Blue's Clues" like ... totally months ago. Seriously, we don't like that adorable and laughable blue dog at all. Really ...

MTV intends to spend over the next two years $500 million dollars in the video game industry. OK, seriously, maybe seeing the full line of digits will have more impact: $500,000,000. Eight zeros, a half billion dollars. This is big news and goes way beyond anything having to do with MTV's potential mega-hit Rock Band.

"We're putting well over $500 million behind building our games business across all of the brands in our portfolio ... I'd like to see more game applications on some of our current big brands across the music group," MTV chairman Judy McGrath said. It's still not absolutely clear if this money includes the $100 million already announced for MTV Network's Nickelodeon. This continues MTV's march across the industry having already acquired major properties like GameTrailers and Harmonix. No announcements yet where this money is going, but it's going to be very interesting to see MTV flex its financial muscle in the industry.