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An upgrade 20 years in the making will soon let kids play the upcoming "Boy And His Blob" video game with parents who may have played a similar title when they were young. Just like the original, the new "Blob" is side-scrolling, stylized and colorful, with a comic book-like feel.

"The blob is an alien who crash lands on earth because his home planet was taken over by an evil emperor," says Pete Rosky of Majesco. "He's coming for help but all he finds is a 10-year-old boy and you wonder, what they can do together to save the day? Well, the boy has these jellybeans that when he fees to the blob, he transforms into useful tools that help them advance."

That appears to be the reverse plot for "Planet 51," a game based on the upcoming movie with the same name that has a human try to get off a foreign planet named Planet 51.

"The game is a mission-based driving game that's based off the whole that is seen in the movie, of Chuck escaping the military of Planet 51 trying to get him," says Marcella Churchill of Sega.

Meantime, the trend of making games aimed specifically at young girls continues to be a hot field for developers. Title include the "Imagine" games, the online game "Wonderpets" and a new franchise called the "Charm Girls Club" that has gamers find and collect charms.

"You go on adventures that are fun and fashionable and totally relevant to a tween girl's world," says Dyan Williams of Electronic Arts. "We have over 30 really frenetic and fun mini-games. It's all about the social fun and excitement and gigglefest that girls have when they get together."

Meanwhile, a new combat game for kids might actually get parents' approval. When the player of "Mini Ninjas" defeats the enemy, the results are not blood and gore but instead cute little fuzzy animals.

"When you defeat the samurais, you will break the spell that holds them together and it will release the animal inside," says Ulrik Hauen-Limkilde of IO Interactive. "So there's no actual killing in the game, it's all about restoring harmony back to nature and balance to the land."

"Mini Ninjas" was developed by the same group that spawned two of the goriest mature-rated games out there, "Hitman" and "Kane & Lynch." Representatives say the team members grew up, had kids and wanted to create the mini-ninjas for their growing mini-gamers.