The LoadDown - 06/07/2010

Sorry for the delay in posting and comment approval -- Blogger suffered a regional outage that kept me from getting to it most of the day today.  At last it's time to sum up another week of new downloadable games...

WiiWare -- Three games this week.  Reel Fishing Challenge II is an inexpensive sequel to the fairly well-received Reel Fishing.   Lead the Meerkats is an interesting life/management sim set in the African savanna.  And Zoo Disc Golf is what it sounds like, disc golf with animal friends; I expect it supports Wii Motion Plus, as it seems foolish to release this kind of game without the additional input detail, but have been unable to confirm.

Wii Virtual Console -- All's quiet on the VC front this week, which seems to be the pattern when we get more than one or two WiiWare games.

DSiWare -- The flood of DSi downloadable titles continues unabated, with four new ones this week.  Flametail is an action/puzzle game challenging players to incinerate space junk and create chain reactions.  Don't Cross the Line is a classic box-and-connecting-line puzzle.  Fire Panic is a simple concept, sending an overworked fire truck racing along a route drawn by the player with the DSi stylus.  And Flips: The Magic Faraway Tree is an interactive e-book with fanciful themes and characters.

XBox Live Arcade -- One release last week, Snoopy Flying Ace, pitting Charles M. Schulz's ever-popular beagle against enemy aircraft (with Avatar support for online multiplayer).  I wish the game looked more like the original Peanuts strips -- the game looks nice enough, but it's generic, family-friendly 3-D that makes the Snoopy license seem like an afterthought.  But it's gotten some very positive reviews.

Game Room -- Game Pack 005 debuted last week, and we're at last seeing the healthy pace Microsoft promised.  They seem to be packaging two weeks' worth of releases in each batch, with some unlocking the following week.  Last week, we were able to play and purchase Frog Bog on Intellivision, Atari's coin-op Missile Command, the Atari 2600 edition of Atari's Video Pinball, Activision's Atari 2600 Skiing game, and the most interesting title, Konami's arcade game Mr. Goemon, which gave rise to the long-running Legend of the Mystical Ninja series.  


PS3 on PSN -- Two games last week, Tecmo Bowl Throwback, an updated version of the classic arcade football game previously seen on XBLA, and Planet Minigolf.