The LoadDown -- 03/15/2012

Almost forgot it was Thursday!  Here's what's new on the wire...

WiiWare -- Nothing here this week. But...

Wii Virtual Console --  This platform is enjoying a bit of a resurgence; this week, SNK's 1996 Neo*Geo fighting game Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge turns up.  It's one of the many solid fighting games that dominated the Neo*Geo library.

DSiWare -- Pirates Assault arrives, a tower defense game where the player's pirates must protect their booties.  Um, booty.  And you can rescue stolen treasure from escaping enemies by taking them out before they leave the screen, always a nice way to up the ante in TD play.

3DS eShop -- Three new games are available for download, all originally released on the SEGA Game Gear handheld.  Shinobi is sure to cause some confusion, as this is the Game Gear version rendered in virtual console form, while SEGA's new retail title created for the 3DS is titled... Shinobi.  Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble is a collection of three Game Gear Sonic titles, and Dragon Crystal is a dungeon-crawl RPG with randomly generated dungeons.

XBox Live Arcade -- Two new games this week; hard to believe the XBox 360 is already six and a half years old, and still going strong.  Shoot Many Robots is a multiplayer co-op robot shooter with colorful graphics and a more cinematic presentation than the norm for a side-scroller.  Defenders of Ardania is a tower-defense game with a fantasy/RPG theme; it bears a certain resemblance to Defense Grid, but that's not a bad thing.

PS3 on PSN --  It's a busy week here, with four new titles arriving.  The cute/gory alien escape game, Warp, arrives after its XBLA debut, and Shoot Many Robots is also available (see above).  Journey has nothing to do with the 80's band, but is a PS3 exclusive -- a loose desert exploration concept with a certain degree of artiness to it, from the makers of Flower.  Artiness is not necessarily a bad thing, mind.  Time Machine: Rogue Pilot sounds more interesting than it might actually be -- it's a color-matching puzzle game with a plot.

PSOne Classics -- Quiet here also.  Going once?