Monday, June 6, 2011

The LoadDown - 06/06/2011

Interesting news today, with a different balance of activity than we usually report.  We'll lead off with a brand new online platform arriving tonight!

3DS eShop -- The new online eShop is due to appear along with this evening's 3DS system update, and a 3-D layered rerelease of the classic NES game Excitebike will be made available free through July 7th.  There will also be a new application called Pokedex 3D, a bit of Pokemon fan service providing 3D browsable models of the 150 monsters featured in the new Pokemon Black and White Version games.  Nintendo's press release also indicates that upcoming 3DS Virtual Console titles will apparently be drawn from the NES and Game Boy libraries; not all will be remastered in 3D, some will play in the original 2D style.  And existing DSiWare games will also be made available on the 3DS -- with "most" games already purchased transferable to the 3DS.  No word yet on which titles won't be as portable as we'd like.

WiiWare --  Just one new game this week: Ubongo, a puzzle-solving/gem-collecting game.

Wii Virtual Console -- Nothing new here.

DSiWare -- Three new titles this week on this consistently active platform.  GO Series Picdun is an odd hybrid of dungeon crawl and Picross, with 60 floors of dangerous pictures to reveal.  Dreamwalker is a puzzle game reminiscent of Lemmings and old cartoons, as the player adjusts cloude-borne mazes in a frantic attempt to keep a dozing sleepwalker safe from harm.  Crazy Cheebo: Puzzle Party is yet another match-three puzzle game.

XBox Live Arcade -- A rare week indeed, with NOTHING new on XBLA.  Are Microsoft and Sony conspiring to trade off?  Because...

PS3 on PSN -- Apres May, le deluge!  Seven new downloadable games arrived on the PS3 last week, with something for everyone and serious retro flair.  Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls revives the classic Apple II-era dungeon crawl RPG series.  Red Johnson's Chronicles is a new point-and-click graphic adventure in the classic style.  Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp brings the third and final Don Bluth laserdisc game to the PS3.  Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 1 ports the WiiWare early-learning title to Sony's machine.  Sega Rally Online Arcade and Star Raiders are updates of classic retro franchises recently released on XBLA.  Armageddon Riders is a vehicular combat game.

PSOne Classics -- After a lengthy quiet period, patient PSOne fans were rewarded with two new releases last week: Atari/Hasbro's 1990s update of Missile Command, and Namco's classic 3-D fighter, the original Tekken.

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