From from the beginning, we haven't quite understood Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. Is it a movie game? Is it standalone? Is it for kids, or can adults play too? We got in contact with producer Jamie Bafus to help us understand the rationale behind the new series.

A lot of people were confused when they saw Spider-Man: Friend or Foe announced so soon after Spider-Man 3. Can you tell us a little bit about the inception of the game, the vision for setting it apart from the movie games?

The previous movie-based Spider-Man games were rated "T" which left out the huge base of younger Spider-Man fans. With Spider-Man: Friend or Foe we set out to make a Spider-Man game that was not only suitable for kids but also fun for gamers of all ages.

When we were thinking of how to best create a family-friendly Spider-Man game, we liked the idea of combining all three movies together in one game, but we also had a concept for a team-up game which would have made it really difficult to follow the Spider-Man movie plots. So, we decided to pay homage to the movies in, what we think, are really fun ways and create something unique with the team-up aspect that we feel fans of all ages will want to play.

Did you ever pass / receive "do you like me: yes or no" messages in school? No? Oh well, Spider-Man did, according to Tim Buckley. His Ctrl+Alt+Del strip took top honors in this week's webcomic wrapup.

Second and third place to go to Penny Arcade and VG Cats, respectively. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!

The name of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is sort of oddly appropriate. From its ignoble announcement in the instruction manual for Spider-Man 3 to the first time we laid hands on it, we've never been sure whether or not this Spidey-based brawler would be a good or bad egg. Now that a demo has been released to Xbox Live, we find our feelings on it to be (unsurprisingly) mixed.

What's pleasant about the experience is how very "Spider-Man" it feels. It's not overly serious in tone and the voice actor playing Spidey is more chipper and in-character than Tobey Maguire ever dreamed of being. Even the combat feels more authentic than the movie games. That said, the combat is not only very basic, it's pretty much the whole game, so if you're looking for something deep, look elsewhere. If you're looking for some mindless action though, you may have just made a new friend.

We're nerds and we hate when we get penalized for it. Take, for instance, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. We're intrigued by the concept, and it's Spider-Man, so we're going to have to play it. But this new trailer from Leipzig is doing nothing to convince us that we're not in for a sub-par experience, at best.

First, we're concerned by the lack of actual gameplay here and in several other trailers we've seen. Also, the character designs are pretty underwhelming. Most troubling though is the decided lack of swinging, which is the best part of the previous Spider-Man games. We can already hear you shouting at your computer screens and, yes, we know that this game is aimed at kids. But just 15 minutes ago we were making clanging sound effects with our mouths while we walked a Big Daddy figure across our desk. You'll forgive us if we don't draw much of a distinction.

Riding off the coattails of Spider-Man 3's massive box office success this weekend (we kid because we love), 2P Start took top honors for this week's best game-related webcomic. What we love most is the comic's simplicity and its decision to avoid any and all text.

Ctrl+Alt+Del made second place, while the first Penny Arcade (about Spider-Man 3: The Game) and Dueling Analogs duke it out for third place. Thanks to everyone who voted and be sure to let us know of any gaming comics you stumble upon this week!