I don't know what happened, but suddenly the 80s are taking on this patina of having actually been a cool decade. As someone who lived through it, I can assure you, the 80s were not cool. The only thing more uncool was the 70s. Yet, revisionist historians are hard at work digging up relics from a decade fueled by Pop-Rocks and New Coke, as is evidenced by the imminent release of a Transformers movie.

I was too old to give a crap about the Transformers when they first hit US shores, though I do have found memories of their precursor, the Micronauts and yes, Shogun Warriors were cool as well. We're on the verge of an 80s blitzkrieg, with Transformers leading the charge. If it proves successful, we can expect Hollywood to lick their lips and secure the rights to more crap from the 80s, ensuring our next-gen consoles and handheld portable will be littered with more movie tie-ins than we know what to do with.

As a public service, your good pal Mr. Cynic is going to point out some classic (and not-so-classic) cartoons from the 80s that we can expect to be seeing in the near future.

The All-New Ewoks – 1985-1986

As if the Ewok Christmas Special wasn't enough torture, the furry critters that all but ruined Return of the Jedi because George couldn't afford Wookie costumes stunk up Saturday mornings on ABC. These weren't your normal Ewoks, however, oh no. These were teenage Ewoks!

The Game: The All-New Ewoks videogame will be designed by Disney Interactive and made exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Players will assume the role of Chief Chirpa and coordinate attacks against the Empire using nothing more than twine and logs. You'll have to engage in the research and development of new technology, advancing to slingshots and mind-numbing musical numbers that will baffle incoming Stormtroopers.

Alvin and the Chipmunks – 1983-1990

The terminally high-pitched Alvin and the Chipmunks originally made their debut in a much cooler decade, the 1960s. They were re-introduced in the 80s and proved successful at selling albums, garnering TV ratings, and annoying the *%$! out of anyone older than four.

The Game: The game is called Chipmunk Hero and will be published by Activision. It will ship with a microphone that will make your voice sound three times faster and feature a soundtrack of classic Alvin tunes. Word is, Chipmunk Hero will be further supported on Xbox Marketplace by overpriced expansion packs.

G.I. Joe - 1983-1987

The massive success of Star Wars figures helped the reintroduction of G.I. Joe in the early 80s, ultimately spawning a popular cartoon and comic book. The time seems perfect for G.I. Joe to make yet another comeback and Mr. Cynic can easily envision Hollywood casting The Rock as Hawk or Lt. Falcon in a huge-budget action-fest that will finally bring us the game we've all been secretly (and not so secretly) dreaming of.

The Game: Designed by Dice, creators of the Battlefield series, G.I. Joe makes his next-gen debut on the 360 and PS3, featuring a warzone with deformable terrain and all of the drivable and flyable vehicles from the cartoon. Players can select from one of two sides in a dynamic online campaign, pitting Real American Heroes versus the nefarious COBRA Organization. This is one game Mr. Cynic might actually like.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

There have been aborted attempts at bringing He-Man, the most macho name in the history of time, to the big screen. Most recently, it was action-god John Woo who was attached to the project but it languished in development hell and never got started. The project appears all but doomed, but the comeback of the Transformers may reignite a belief in the source material.

The Game: The World of He-Man will be developed by Blizzard as a Massively-Multiplayer RPG set in land of Eternia. Hit level 30 and you'll receive a Battlecat mount quest. Hit level 45 and you'll gain the ability to shout, “By the power of Greyskull, I have the power!” which is as redundant at the name He-Man. Graphically, World of He-Man will stay true to the source material, presented with cell-shading and only 2-frames of animation for every character.

Popeye

Yes, I know this was around before the 80s, but it was in the 80s that the series got strong – spinach strong. For most people I know, this pipe-smoking sailor with a serious under-bite was much more of a tormentor than a cartoon hero. Parents used his tattooed biceps and super-strength as their psychological leverage to force children everywhere to eat their vegetables.

The Game: EA will realize that Fight Night has gone enough rounds and retire the series, choosing instead to apply their maddening analog stick control scheme to the fisticuffs of Bluto and the Sailor Man who’s strong to the finish. More story-driven than traditional boxing games, players will have to juggle the fighting while keeping Swee’Pea out of trouble, all while trying to keep Wimpy away from hamburgers. In between rounds, Olive Oyl will make gamers uncomfortable by walking around wearing a string bikini and holding round count cards aloft. Robin Williams will provide voice overs and get a little carried away with “I yam what I yam, and that’s all that I am.”

I am sure there are a lot more on the way, but I’ll leave the rest for you to explore yourselves. Below are a few pictures to refresh your memories of some of the horrible possibilities that could land on your local game store’s shelves soon. Feel free to make my day and post your own cartoon-game predictions through the input tab in your My Base page.