The LoadDown - 03/29/2010 - XBLA Game Room!

It's Monday, and time to take a look at recent downloadable games for the various console platforms.  The big news this week is the arrival of a new distribution channel for retro games, in the form of Microsoft's Game Room.

WiiWare -- Two new titles this week.  WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase allows Wii owners to download and play frantic microgames created on the DS WarioWare D.I.Y. platform.  Diner Dash brings the popular PC title to the Wii.

Wii Virtual Console -- A rarity this week -- Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Calibre brings the classic Nintendo 64 strategy game to the VC.  I really enjoyed the SNES Ogre Battle, so this one is tempting.

DSiWare -- Five new titles this week, three of which are traditional games.  Disney Fireworks is a virtual toy with game elements, allowing the player to generate colorful fireworks displays with the stylus and hit targets for points.  Save the Turtles is an action-puzzler challenging players to help baby turtles hatch and make their way to the sea.  Two musician tools, Nintendo DSi Metronome and Nintendo DSi Instrument Tuner make the DSi a useful companion for practice and performance.  Super Yum Yum Puzzle Adventures stars Leon the chameleon.

XBox Live Arcade -- No new games for the general XBLA platform last week, because the new Game Room channel became available (on XBLA and also for Windows PC).  As weekly retro game releases are expected, I will be covering this as a unique distribution channel, with a review coming up on this week's video podcast.

XBLA Game Room -- Debuted on February 24th, 2010, with a solid mix of thirty-one games for a number of platforms.  Specifically, for the Atari 2600:  Adventure, Combat, Millipede, Outlaw, Realsports Tennis, Star Raiders and Yar’s Revenge.  For the Intellivision:  Armor Battle, Astrosmash, Football, Sea Battle, Mountain Madness - Super Pro Skiing, Space Armada, Space Hawk, and Sub Hunt.  Atari coin-op arcade games:  Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Lunar Lander, Red Baron, and Tempest.  Konami arcade games:  Battlantis, Finalizer, Jungler, Road Fighter, Scramble, Shao-lin's Road, Super Cobra and Tutankham.  So far I've purchased Tutankham for unlimited play.  So far.

PS3 on PSN -- Three new titles arrived last week after a quiet period.  Blue Toad Murder Files is an episodic series of mystery/puzzle games.  Hamsterball is an action game patterned after the classic Marble Madness.  Wakeboarding HD is a retro-style water-based stunts-and-hazards game.