This past year, Activision and High Moon Studios proved that the marriage of 1980s carton franchises and modern video games could be a happy one, with the surprisingly awesome Transformers: War For Cybertron.  Of course, EA and Double Helix proved that the relationship could also go down in flames with their 2009 release of GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  Then again, that game still managed to make money, despite being downright terrible.  Mattel and THQ will be trying one of the two methods soon, as they have inked a partnership that covers, among other properties, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

We’re very likely to see (awful) games based on Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price, Polly Pocket, Monster High, and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, but with the He-Man property, THQ has a potential hit on its hands.  The He-Man universe’s blend of magic, technology, swordplay, and instantly recognizable characters make it ripe for translation into an action RPG, or even an MMO.

In general, the gaming industry has shied away from He-Man; there was a nearly unplayable NES title in 1983, a few releases for the Commodore 64, and a 2002 Game Boy Advance title, He-Man: Power of Grayskull, which was met with terrible reviews.  Its 2005 sequel, He-Man: Defender of Grayskull for the PS2, was never released in North America.  1980s toy and cartoon properties are hot right now, though, and the time could be right for the epic battle between He-Man and Skeletor to come to our consoles.  It’s just a shame that the Thundercats property is owned by Bandai, or we might just have a chance to see my dream project come to fruition.