Cartoon Network Honors the Ultimate Teen Hero with “Ben 10 Week”

Ben Tennyson, one of Cartoon Network’s most beloved characters, is getting his moment in the spotlight with Ben 10 Week, featuring special television programming and online games.  Starting Monday, April 11, Ben 10 fans will have the chance to relive favorite moments from past series and enjoy all-new Ben 10 experiences on CartoonNetwork.com and Facebook.

On-air, Cartoon Network will host a full week of Ben 10 episodes and movies, and the teen hero also invades CartoonNetwork.com, where it’s Ben 10 x 3!  During the week of April 11 only, three all-new free Ben 10 games will be available for fans to play. In Ultimatrix Unleashed, go ultimate as Spidermonkey, Humungousaur, and Swampfire to save the planet using special moves that unleash an ultimate alien attack.  For gamers up to a challenge, Galactic Challenge features 20 mini-games, and mastering them unlocks 10 different alien heroes.  Finally, guide the alien Upchuck through the Forever Knights’ labyrinth, eating objects for ammo to defeat the evil Forever King in Upchuck Unleashed.

Coinciding with Ben 10 Week, Cartoon Network brings one of its most popular online games to Facebook.  The Ben 10 Game Creator, which has to date generated more than 790 million gameplays and 6.6 million games created online, allows fans to create their own video games and share them with their friends in a new Facebook format. Fans of the game creator can build a fun, challenging game in just a couple of minutes, or craft a videogame masterpiece to post on their wall and challenge friends.

Please see the box below for the on-air programming schedule for Ben 10 Week:

• Monday, April 11, 4 p.m. (ET, PT): Ben 10: “Kevin 11” – After an argument with Grandpa Max, Ben goes out on his own and meets Kevin, a mutant with the power to absorb any form of energy. “Gwen 10” – Ben and Gwen switch places as Gwen gets The Omnitrix and the power that comes with it, while a very confused and left out Ben must come to grips with his new place.

• Tuesday, April 12, 4 p.m. (ET, PT): Ben 10: Alien Force: “Max Out” – Gwen’s older brother, Ken, disappears and she gets Ben and Kevin to help help investigate, leading them to find a startling secret of the DNAliens. “Pet Project” – Ben and co. must rescue the shape-shifting, dog-like alien, Ship, from the Forever Knights.

• Wednesday, April 13, 4 p.m. (ET, PT): Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: “Video Games” – Ben is forced to fight a robot that’s been programmed to perfectly counter Ben’s aliens.  Series debut of Nanomech! “Revenge of the Swarm” – The return of Elena and the nanochips from the “Alien Swarm” movie!

• Thursday, April 14, 4 p.m. (ET, PT): Ben 10: Alien Force: “The Final Battle” – Albedo Ben has stolen the Ultimatrix and has used it to kidnap Gwen and Kevin. Ben goes to face Albedo Ben and rescue his friends when he quickly discovers that Albedo Ben has been working with Vilgax. Ben is defeated by the pair and gives up the Omnitrix to save himself and his friends. Powerless, Ben goes aboard Vilgax’s ship and faces off with Vilgax to stop his invasion of Earth in their final battle!

• Friday, April 15, 4 p.m. (ET, PT): Ben 10: “Ghostfreaked Out” – Ben’s internal demons get externalized when Ghostfreak escapes from his watch and becomes a full fledged being on his own. “Ben 10,000” – Ben gets sucked into the future by a grown up Gwen. His mission is to help the now all powerful and adult “Ben 10,000” seemingly defeat the future versions of Dr. Animo and Vilgax.

• Saturday, April 16, 3:30 p.m. (ET, PT): MOVIE: “Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix” – When the Omnitrix unexpectedly transforms into self-destruct mode and seeks to destroy Ben and everything in sight, Ben’s typical day turns into a race across the galaxy to locate the Omnitrix’s creator.

• Sunday, April 17, 11:30 a.m. (ET, PT): MOVIE: “Ben 10: Alien Swarm” – This feature-length live-action movie follows Ben as he breaks ranks from the Plumbers (a secret organization that battles alien forces) to help Elena, a mysterious young woman from his past, uncover an alien threat to our world.

Home Front Leads The Race For Best Game of 2011

Now that we’re halfway through 2011, let’s look at the 10 best games so far.

1. “Homefront” (THQ) is my favorite 2011 game, but not for its solo campaign, which is a decent war-shooter in which you save America from invading Korean soldiers.

The reason I love “Homefront” is its online multiplayer, the best since 2008′s “Frontlines: Fuel of War.”

Online battles are more realistic than “Call of Duty: Black Ops.” The physics — guns, bullets, helicopters and maps — are amazing. This thing is ridiculously addicting. It’s rated “M” for PS 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

2. “L.A. Noire” (Rockstar Games) is like a playable detective TV series in which you solve crimes.

You scrutinize corpses and crime scenes for evidence, then try to ask pertinent questions during interviews with witnesses. Your brain must work hard to arrest the right suspects. It’s rated “M” for Xbox 360 and PS 3.

3. In “Infamous 2″ (Sony), you portray a superhero with the power to take out baddies by hitting them with bursts of electricity, ice and other elemental ammo, in a New Orleans-inspired city ravaged by a hurricane, militia, thugs and radiated swamp monsters. It’s quite fun. It’s rated “T” for PS 3.

4. “MLB 11: The Show” (Sony) is nearly a perfect baseball game. The look and movement of hitters, pitchers and fielders is incredible. Batting and pitching feels realistic, which is to say it’s very hard to win. It’s rated “E.”

5. In “Killzone 3″ (Sony) you portray an interplanetary supersoldier saving humans from evil. It’s a first-person shooter with a duck-and-cover system. Battles (offline and online) are smooth but gritty. Guns are fantastic. It’s rated “M” for PS 3.

6. The fun of “Top Spin 4″ (2K Sports) is creating a tennis player from scratch and slowly improving his or her talents in realistic, addicting matches. Downer: There’s no voice-over commentary, making the narrative feel hollow. It’s rated “E.”

7. “LittleBigPlanet 2″ (Sony) is a beautiful sidescrolling platform game, with images reminiscent of “Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline.” It’s delightful, but I didn’t want to play it again after finishing, so replay value may be low. It’s rated “E” for PS 3.

8. There’s no deep storyline in “Brink” (Bethesda). You merely shoot through online-cooperative-esque missions, such as setting and defusing a bomb in the middle of a battlefield. It’s a genius shooter, but offers too few battlefields. It’s rated “T” for Xbox 360, PS 3 and PC.

9. “Dead Space 2″ (EA) is a horror-survival shooting game set in a space city in 2511. It tries to startle you with aliens who pop up in the dark suddenly. You kill them a lot. It’s rated “M” for Xbox 360, PS 3 and PC.

10. “BulletStorm” (EA) is a funny “bromance.” You and a soldier buddy shoot monstrous villains on an Earthlike planet. Dialogue is humorous, while you blast aliens in the behind and stuff. It’s rated “M” for PS 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

(“Homefront” by THQ retails for $60 PS 3 and Xbox 360; $50 for PC — The offline campaign plays fun enough, but it’s the online shooter that makes it awesome. Looks very good. Rated “M” for blood, strong language and violence. Four stars out of four.)

Cartoon Network action game coming to the 3DS in Spring 2011

Some of our favorite Cartoon Network characters are being stuffed into one package. In 2011, Crave Games will be publishing an action game starring characters from many popular Cartoon Network shows. Developed by Papaya Studios, this untitled cross-over game will be coming to 3DS, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Papaya Studios is responsible for such games as Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks and Toy Story Mania! Its Cartoon Network action game will feature characters from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and many others.

The 3DS will be the first console to get this game in spring 2011. Other consoles can expect to get it during the 2011 holiday season.

Unfortunately there’s no further information about this project. We know this is an action title, but that covers more than one genre. It could be an action-RPG, action adventure or fighting game. Given the sheer scope of shows Papaya is working with, I think a fighting game is most likely.

Papaya Studios’ latest releases share a Metacritic score of between 49 to 65 out of 100. That generally means its games are terrible, but aren’t exactly must-have titles. Perhaps this new game will follow a different path.