Maybe it’s just early in the year but both the Virtual Console and GameTap haven’t been that impressive – the good news is that we continue to see new independent games on the service, but they do need to throw us a bone. Thankfully Sam & Max was that bone last week , but this week…well….uhh….DiRT is coming soon, so there’s that. The three games released this week are Ancient Wars: Sparta, Ingenious and Starscape. Starscape has some fun gameplay but it sure feels like a much older game.

Over on the PlayStation Network, all of the songs that were released on the 360 also made it over to the PS3. In addition demos for the Club and Devil May Cry 4 also arrived, truly making it a week of parity on the next gen consoles.

There were a few items of note only on the PS3 though: first up was PixelJunk Monsters, which according to the press release is a game in the ‘popular’ tower defense game genre. That was a new genre to me, but the game is actually quite a bit addictive and at $7.99, it’s enjoyable.

Ring the alarm! It’s another PSOne game! At this rate, we could get another one in July! Anyway, skipping the original Jet Moto, we get Jet Moto 2 for the low, low price of $5.99. There seems to be a trend of water based games – Jet Moto, Wave Race and Undertow so apparently someone enjoys the water based genre!

There’s a new Folklore add-on which is the winner of the create a creature competition, so check that out if you’re still playing the game. Rounding out the PS3 downloads is a new map pack for Stranglehold. This is similar to the pack released for the 360 a few weeks back—just a caveat that while the pack is $14.99, you have to pick the right one – there’s a version for the collector’s edition and one for the regular edition. It’s a pretty high price for a map pack, but you do get quite a bit of content.

Well, that wraps up another week of download goodness. We’ll be back next week with hopefully the announcement of Earthbound on the Virtual Console. I guess I’ll just keep trying!

This Week’s Best Downloads:

• Editor's note: Dan didn't care enough to include this. Send him some hate email.

GameTap

(All games included in monthly/annual subscription)

• Ancient Wars: Sparta - PC - Strategy game
• Ingenious - Puzzle - PC
• Starscape - Action - PC

Wii Virtual Console

• Adventures of LOLO 2 - NES - 500 Wii Points
• Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers - SNES - 800 Wii Points

Xbox Live

• Demo: Devil May Cry 4
• Demo: Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
• Addon: Kingdom Under Fire - Circle of Doom Accessory paks (130 - 500 Points)
• Addon: Virtua Fighter 5 - Item Pack 3 - 200 Points or $2.50
• Demo: The Club
• Addon: Rock Band Oasis Pack - 440 MS Points or $5.50 (Wonderwall, Live Forever, Don't Look Back in Anger)
• Addon: Guitar Hero 3 Classic Rock Track Pack - 500 Points or $6.25 (Any Way You Want It - Journey; Peace of Mind - Boston; Juke Box Hero - Foreigner)
GameTap

PlayStation Network

• Addon: Guitar Hero 3 Classic Rock Track Pack - $6.25 (Any Way You Want It – Journey; Peace of Mind – Boston; Juke Box Hero - Foreigner)
• Game : PixelJunk Monsters - $7.99
• Addon: Folklore Create a Creature winner
• Addon: Rock Band Oasis Pack - $5.49 (Wonderwall, Live Forever, Don't Look Back in Anger)
• Addon: Stranglehold Map Pack - $14.99
• Demo: Devil May Cry 4
• Demo: The Club
• Game: PSOne - Jet Moto 2 ($5.99)