The next eight days in handheld games

If you know your film history, you'll know we have Jaws to thank for the summer blockbuster phenomenon. To this day, marketing teams around the globe must worship Steven Spielberg.

Of course, it didn't take them more than a nanosecond to start branding merchandise with which to catch punters hook, line and sinker – you can almost picture them falling over each other as they pitched their vision of a Terminator toothbrush, an Aliens alarm clock, and a set of Top Gun bath towels.

And once videogames got on the scene, it was only a matter of time before they got swallowed up along with the rest of consumer commodities.

Which neatly explains this week's multi-format Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest release. And next Friday's Cars, again for all three main handhelds.

The old gaming adage warns players to be wary of film licences, of course, and with good reason. Still, DS owners can at least ensure they don't get sucked in by the hype by using Big Brain Academy to sharpen their intellect.

Their PSP brethren are not so lucky, however, and will have to survive a week of dangerous temptation – not least because releases for Sony's handheld are currently thin on the ground – before working out whether the intriguing PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient may help them do the same.

Either way, consider it good practice not take the marketing bait. At least not before you read our reviews.