Thursday April 17, 8:33 am ET

CALABASAS HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2003--THQ® Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI - News) today announced that "SpongeBob SquarePants(TM) Revenge of the Flying Dutchman" for PlayStation®2 won the "Favorite Video Game" award at the 2003 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, beating out videogame contenders "Spider-Man: The Movie," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Mario Party 4."

Hosted by Rosie O'Donnell, the 16th annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards were held on Saturday, April 12, 2003, at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards allows kids to decide who will win by submitting votes in several categories such as "Favorite Movie," "Favorite Cartoon," "Favorite Song," "Favorite Sports Team" and "Favorite Video Game." A record-breaking 22 million kids participated in the voting on Nickelodeon Online (www.nick.com) or by calling a toll-free number during Nickelodeon programming. Voting began March 10 and continued online through the day of the awards ceremony. The theme of this year's show was video game based; the guests and audience members appeared as if they were parts of a giant, live video game.

In "SpongeBob SquarePants(TM) Revenge of the Flying Dutchman," players assume the role of SpongeBob. The game features authentic voice talent and all of the favorite characters from the television show including Sandy Cheeks, Squidward, Patrick Star and more. Players can explore six worlds with multiple challenges per level. "SpongeBob SquarePants(TM) Revenge of the Flying Dutchman" is also available for the Nintendo® GameCube(TM) and Game Boy® Advance.

See Tony's Spongebob page for more about this project.