The LoadDown -- 04/26/2012

April showers bring... erm, fun-filled hours... of downloadable gaming!

WiiWare -- Quiet here.  Going once?

Wii Virtual Console -- Bobbing back up this week with Capcom's Mega Drive game Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, in case you need another SFII variant for your collection.

DSiWare --  One title that makes for a full circle of sorts... Chuck E. Cheese's Arcade Room, which is not so much an arcade as a virtual ticket-redemption game center.  Available games include racing, skee-ball, target shooting, basketball, and Smash-a-Munch.  Chuck E. Cheesy!

3DS eShop -- One new game, Block Factory -- something like an unlicensed Tetris Construction Kit.  I'm surprised casual game publishers haven't ensured this DIY generic puzzle creator never saw the light of day.

XBox Live Arcade -- Two new titles arrive:  Bloodforge is a forgotten 80's hair band an M-rated combat action game, heavy on the gore and horned helmet fetishism.  Deep Black: Episode 1 is a third-person shooter focused on underwater movement and combat, a potentially fresh idea with multiplayer to boot.  (Personally, I'd hold off on either of these for a bit -- Episode 1 of The Walking Dead is expected to arrive on Friday, see below.)

PS3 on PSN -- Two new titles this week.  PopCap Games' Bejeweled 3 is yet more color-matching mayhem fun entertainment matching of colors.  And Telltale Games' The Walking Dead series debuts with Episode 1: A New Day -- see below for more details.

Notable on PC and Mac -- Telltale Games' newest episodic series, The Walking Dead, premiered this week.  Based on the universe of Robert Kirkman comic books, it's available on Steam and -- after a few days of technical glitches -- Telltale Games' own website.  Critical reception has been positive, and from my brief experience with it so far I think it's going to be one of Telltale's most successful efforts, both creatively and financially.