THQ today announced its 2007 Nickelodeon video game lineup. The lineup includes the video game debut of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera as well as new titles based on some of the shows on Nickelodeon. A new Nicktoons game is also slated for release this year. Here's the list of upcoming titles:

• Nicktoons 2007 (working title) (PS2, Wii, DS, GBA - fall)
• SpongeBob's Atlantis Squarepantis (PS2, Wii, DS, GBA - fall)
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Atlantis Treasures (working title) (Mobile)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth (Xbox 360, PS2, Wii, DS, GBA - fall)
• El Tigre (working title) (DS - fall)
• Zoey 101: Field Trip Fiasco (DS - summer)
• Drake and Josh: Talent Showdown (DS - summer)

"Our Nickelodeon video game portfolio continues to lead the kids market with more than 45 million units sold-in to date," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. "We expect a continued robust Nickelodeon business in 2007 with an even greater presence on the popular Wii, our first title slated for release on Xbox 360, and additional titles in our new series of games based on Nickelodeon's live-action properties."

Location-based gaming is an untapped resource through which learning may be facilitated, says Nickelodeon bigwig Karen Schrier at the 2007 GDC.

Schrier, an MIT graduate, spoke to the gathering of the game community on just how useful mobile gaming can be for academic advances given the proper treatment, citing her own thesis as an example.

The thesis was a four-character roleplay which featured four characters from the American Revolution time frame. The mission was to find out who fired the first shot in the Battle of Lexington.

A block of seventh-graders were allowed to sample the game and this is how it worked: The avatar selected can be used to interact with the rest of the game's unselected characters. Through interaction, the player gets clues which may or may not help him find the answer he seeks. Schrier emphasized the concept of location-based communication by varying the response received depending on which avatar you chose and who you were talking to.

She also said that no matter what the platform used, interaction often yields learning. What makes remote interaction unique, according to her, is that there's an element of excitement involved, especially with the younger crowd. A more AI-driven online counterpart of her game is in the works.