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There are deeper, more engrossing, better crafted experiences on the iPhone than Robert Szeleney's Rope 'n' Fly, but you'd be hard pressed to find many that take advantage of the platform so well.

It is, basically, a Spider-Man game. No, of course it's not called that, and (after a recent update) the main character is no longer clad in Spidey's trademark red and blue, but there's no doubt that the game's trying to simulate the feeling of tooling about as the world's favorite wall-crawler.

We were delighted to hear that The Revenge of Shinobi would be coming out on the Virtual Console in Europe, though we were very curious about how Sega would get around the inclusion of Spider-Man, for whom the company once had Marvel's permission.

As Nintendo Life reveals, Sega solved the copyright issue the way many of us solve chili issues: with a thick coat of Pepto-Bismol. The Spider-Man boss is now solid pink! Other pop-culture-based bosses had already been altered in previous cartridge releases to be a bit more legally distinct -- for example, Batman became more of a bat monster.

We were sent a tip regarding a new PS3 bundle that Blockbuster was supposedly selling, so we headed on down to our local chain to snoop around. What we found was the above image showing off a PS3 bundle consisting of a 40gb console, Transformers: The Game, Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray, PS3 remote, HDMI cable, and a 12-week rental card (which allows you to rent one movie each week), all for $359.99. What makes this such an odd story, however, is that this bundle isn't offered at every Blockbuster store.

We called another nearby chain and quizzed an employee on his store's bundle. He said that particular store offered a 80gb console, with Transformers: The Game, Click Blu-ray, PS3 remote, HMDI cable, and a 12-week rental card, all for $499.99. So, it would seem that each store has a bit of leeway with its bundle package. If you're in the market for a PS3 and thinking Blockbuster, give them a call before you head down. Both stores we talked to were all sold out.

Activision, as the bastion of original IP development, announced a number of megaton titles in development for 2010. Names dropped at its investor's call include new additions to its venerable lineup of franchises: 007, Tony Hawk, Spider-man, Transformers and Shrek.

Those hungry for innovation will be able to look forward to a new original action IP from the company. In addition, Activision plans on expanding the Call of Duty franchise to new genres. Call of Duty Kart? Call of Duty Party? Call of Duty Hero: Metallica? We're psyched.

It's true! Ultra publisher Activision Blizzard is planning to release more games based on the lucrative Transformers and Spider-Man franchises. According to The Cut Scene's Ben Fritz, the powerhouse has already chosen which of its owned developers will sit next to the conveyor belt for upcoming (and currently unannounced) titles.

Fritz and his sources suggest that High Moon Studios, developer of last year's The Bourne ConspiraQTE, will deliver a new Transformers game in 2010. Activision likely hopes to turn the robots in disguise into an annual franchise, even without an accompanying film for fans to despise. Likewise, with a Spider-Man 4 film nowhere in sight (we'll ask Spider-Man 3's CSI butler to get on the case), you can expect to see a new, unattached arachnid adventure crawling out of Radical Entertainment -- currently finishing the superheroic Prototype -- sometime in the future.

Things you're unlikely to see sometime in the future: giant robots and agile superheroes losing their appeal.

There are a lot of games out this week. In fact, it makes other heavy weeks look absolutely empty, and yet, this blogger only has eyes for one game. In the shadow of Castlevania, there is so little room for anything else. Luckily, even with such a big list, there aren't a lot of contenders even trying for the spotlight.

• Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade
• Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games
• Backyard Football 2009
• Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
• Dancing With the Stars: We Dance!
• Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell
• Ener-G: Dance Squad
• Ener-G: Gym Rockets
• Ener-G: Horse Rider
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
• Lovely Lisa
• Master of the Monster Lair
• Mechanic Master
• My Baby Girl
• The Naked Brothers Band: The Video Game
• Pass the Pigs
• Smart Girls: Party Game
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
• SpongeBob Squarepants: Nicktoons Globs of Doom
• Tornado
• TouchMaster 2
• Transformers: Animated
• What's Cooking with Jamie Oliver

Oh boy. Not only are there eight new games hitting the Xbox 360 this weeks (and Portal on XBLA, lest we forget), but several of them look to be good games. Heavy hitters like Far Cry 2 and Fable II undoubtedly top the list, but there are some other big names in there as well. Check 'em out:

• Fable 2
• Midnight Club: Los Angeles
• Far Cry 2
• Disney Sing It
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
• The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
• Dance Dance Revolution: Universe 3
• Legendary

Now, the question is are there any "must have" games on this list for you, or are you strategically withholding your funds for something else?

[Via Joystiq]

This is what Ricky Gervais calls the olds. It is news ... it just ain't news today! On Friday, Canadian actress Tricia Helfer was announced as the voice of Black Cat in the upcoming game, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows from Activison. Helfer is famously known as the gorgeous Cylon Number Six in the Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica. Casting Helfer as the agile (and somewhat reformed) cat burglar works well as it isn't the first time the actress has taken on the role. The gorgeous actress previously took on the voice of Black Cat as a guest character in the CW 'toon The Spectacular Spider-Man back in May 2008. Did we mention, gorgeous.

Source - Far Cry 2 achievements
Source - Spider-man: Web of Shadows achievements

First we'd like to point your attention to this lovely new screenshot of everyone's favorite insect-like hero, Spider-Man. Unfortunately for him, his spidey senses must not be tingling properly because it sure didn't help him get out of the maw of a Venom-wannabe symbiote. This is the sort of picture that good old J Jonah Jameson would pay good money for. You know who else would be paying good money? You -- well, that is if you're North American and are planning to pick up the title this October 21st.

If you're planning on pre-ordering, best do it at Best Buy. You'll be getting an art book for your troubles. Check out the art book cover and more screenshots in our gallery below.

Spore has been much more than a game over the years - years! -- that we've been talking about it, and it's tough to produce a companion piece in the shadow of such an epic project. From the reception of Spore and the DS crony, it's sadly clear the two were destined to sink or swim together. But Spore Creatures deserves its own time in the sun, despite what you may have heard; for a handheld title, it's certainly ambitious, and the amazing development team at Griptonite Games has done more with less.

Griptonite Games has worn several nametags in the past few years. When last we spoke with them, they were Amaze Entertainment, and their own identity as Griptonite was shelved. Now, Amaze is a part of Foundation 9 and the Griptonite name has been dusted off. In all the chaos of nomenclature, one thing has remained a constant: this little corner of the development world has been responsible for some real gems. We recently sat down with studio head J.C. Connors to discuss Spore Creatures, our Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (GBA) withdrawals, and the unexpected excellence of Disney Friends (yeah, man, Disney Friends).

DS Fanboy: Spore Creatures is an interesting companion to the main title. What can you tell us about the best aspects of the DS game?

J.C. Connors: Hands down, the creature creator. It's one of the coolest features ever seen on the DS.

NEXT >>

"Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia ... does whatever a Prince of Persia can." Oh wait – that's the Spider-Man song. Well, it's easy to get the two characters confused, what with news out of Leipzig by way of Eurogamer that his royal majesty, the Prince of Persia, can add running along ceilings to his move repertoire.

Using this new "roof run" move, he can scamper along, grabbing hanging objects in order to keep the momentum going. According to level designer Michael MacIntyre, "When you come in contact with the ceiling you jump, you do the run, and then you have to hit the glove button to grab any element on the roof in order to keep going. So there's a rhythm to it," adding, "With this new move, our level designers had all the tools they needed to create acrobatic sequences that can use pretty much every surface in the game." Every surface? We're pretty sure there's some nasty black goo you can't touch without, you know, dying. At least that's what the video walkthrough we posted yesterday seems to show.

We knew that Wolverine would make an appearance in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows since Activision released potential box art for the game. What we didn't know, is that Wolvy will be infected by the infamous symbiote at some point in the game, creating a clawed, Venom-like monster. Joystiq blogger (and feeble podcast producer) Justin McElroy notes that this already happened once in the comics, at which point the alien goo was immediately ejected by Woverine's mutant healing factor. We have some possibilities then. One, this is a special new breed of symbiote. Two, the developers at Shaba want an awesome Woverine monster and don't care about continuity.

Whatever the answer is, we suggest you watch the (awesome) trailer after the break, in which Wolverine shows up near the end. Be sure to watch the whole video for a look at some great looking combat too.

OK, so you can color us confused. The end of the stunningly rad Spider-Man: Web of Shadows trailer we've put right after the jump seems to end with a glimpse of an alien symbiote bonded with lovable gruffster Wolverine. But we could have sworn the last time that happened the symbiote was forced out by Logan's mutant healing factor. Are we alone here?

OK, niggling continuity issues aside, if the combat is half as cool in Shaba's game as this video makes it look, we could finally be in for a game where we feel like the Webhead both when we're spinning webs any size and catching thieves just like flies. And we can't wait.

It's Florida 2000 all over again: You show up to seizecontrol.com hoping to exercise your democratic right to vote for the lesser of two wacknesses and you exit having accomplished zilch. We're referring, of course, to Activision's new user-generated content marketing campaign for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, which is currently giving the community the power to choose the game's box art. (The correct answer is "shake-to-make-it-snow globe holding" Spider-Man over "dude, check my dual-action sleeve tats" Spider-Man, btw.)

Remember kids, always read the fine print: "Activision shall not be bound by the outcome of the community vote and Activision's decision(s) and selection(s) shall be final and binding." And here we thought our clicks still stood for something!