With the games industry trade fair E3 just around the corner, and two new consoles vying for attention (the PS4 and the Xbox One from Sony and Microsoft respectively) along with oodles of big name games waiting to be revealed, it can be easy for the little guys to get somewhat lost in the shuffle. Little being kind of the operative word here, as the folks at Little Orbit - a smaller publisher focusing on tie-in games - have decided to beat the E3 rush with the announcement of a trio of games aimed squarely at children, with all three set to release just in time for Christmas.
Having a good relationship with toy maker extraordinaire Mattel, the first two titles revolve around two incredibly popular, but rather different styles of dolls, with both Monster High: 13 Wishes and Barbie Dreamhouse Party coming exclusively to Nintendo platforms (the Wii U, Wii, 3DS and DS) later this year. The former ties in directly with this October's TV special of the same name, in which Howleen Wolf stumbles across a magical lamp that will grant her 13 wishes - although she soon finds out each wish comes with a darker side, causing havoc around the school. Monster High 13 Wishes is essentially a platform game, where you pick your favourite school ghoul and jump, climb and swing your way through the game's levels to save the school from trouble, rescuing your friends in the process. Barbie Dreamhouse Party, meanwhile, ties in with the popular web cartoons of Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, letting you explore the titular house and play a load of minigames.
The final title in the list ties in with the popular Cartoon Network super hero series inspired by the popular DC comics - Young Justice: Legacy. Planning on bridging the gap between the first and second series of the show, Young Justice is an action game which sees the twelve teenaged versions of some of DC's most popular super heroes hot on the trails of the kidnapped archaeologist Dr. Helena Sandsmark, tracking down the world's most notorious villains along the way - but things soon turns into a race against time, as its discovered that the kidnappers are using Dr. Sandsmark to locate fragments of an ancient statue which has the power to destroy the world. With co-op multiplayer and bad guy bashing aplenty, this one could go down a treat with fans of the show.
The Mattel titles - Monster High 13 Wishes and Barbie Dreamhouse Party, with their strong female focus, will be hitting the family friendly Nintendo consoles, the Wii, Wii U, DS and 3DS this Christmas. Young Justice: Legacy meanwhile, is set to blast onto the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U a bit sooner, on the 13th September, with the first trailer below telling you a bit more about how the game will play out.
