E3 2008: Defendin' DePenguin

In a frozen world where marauding wildlife stomp into penguin villages to steal fish, one penguin takes a stand. But he's no ordinary penguin. His name is Little Blue, and he knows how to build automated sentry guns. With his terrifying towers of terror, a little luck, and a lot of fish, he will take back the Arctic and your Nintendo Wii when his game, Defendin' DePenguin, ships on August 19.

OK, OK, we admit it. This is actually a penguin-themed Tower Defense, but it sure is cute and kid-friendly. Here's how it works: There's a penguin village and a twisting road running through it. Along this road are fish. Gradually, unfriendly animals will come from one end of the road, through the village, and out. If they take all your fish, then you lose, because you won't have any fish to eat. So, the obvious answer is to erect all manner of defense turrets to repel the fish thieves. Some of these are cute and innocent, like the snowball launcher. This will repel your less-than-stalwart attackers.

For larger prey, there's a tower that shoots entire snowmen. Yeah, you've been hit by a snowball before, right? Kinda stings, doesn't it? Imagine being hit by an entire snowman. That would stop me. I would go buy a hamburger instead. But it won't stop a walrus. A walrus will shrug off a snowman, so strong is its hunger for fish. So, you'll have to spend a little extra money and buy a giant Vulcan cannon that shoots giant ice shards. You see, walruses are blubbery, so you need something sharp and heavy to penetrate through their defenses; to penetrate them. This "knocks them out." At least, that is what you can tell your children.

Obviously, you'd just build a battery of icicle launchers if you could, but those cost a lot of money, and you're a penguin on a budget. If you built only icicle launchers, you might be able to afford only one or two towers (you can place eight). Also, some enemies are resistant to icicles. So you'll want to mix things up to ensure you kill, er, knock out everyone who comes sniffing after your precious pisces. Besides, you can put Little Blue inside any of your towers to boost its power, so even if you have a couple of cheap, weak towers, you can make them hurt when it counts most.

We got only a glimpse of Defendin' DePenguin, but if what we saw is any indication, it should be a fun, kid-friendly strategy game for the Wii when it hits store shelves on August 19.