This Week in Downloads - February 22, 2008
All the latest and greatest downloads for the week ending Friday, February 22, 2008.
Date: Friday, February 22, 2008
Author: Dan Clarke

A demo for Pixel Junk Monsters was released, so if you didn’t believe me about how great this game is, now’s your chance to take it out for a spin without spending money, but I bet that you will part with it after you’ve played the demo.

Well, that’s all the playable content for the PlayStation store for the PS3. If you have access to the PC PlayStation store, you can also download the God of War demo for the PSP. I’m not sure I understand why it’s available for the PC and not the PS3, but nonetheless it is absolutely worth getting if you don’t have it yet. The PSN for PS3 did add a few MLB 08 The Show videos, and if you’re eagerly anticipating the game as much as I am, you’ll want to check those out.

GameTap

Moving along to GameTap, the tradition of putting up more games by a company called Merscom continues. I believe I will now call GameTap the “doesn’t work with Vista” service because all of these games by this company are incompatible with Vista. Rumor has it that Ball 7 Deluxe is a great Breakout clone, but I’m unable to tell you if that’s the case, because I have Vista. An Ubisoft game from a few years back that I was unfamiliar with called “Largo Winch” was also put on the service – it’s an interesting adventure game. Finally Blood Ties, another adventure game, rounds out the three on GameTap—what’s so great about this game? Nothing, but I can tell you it actually works on Vista!! Yay! So that’s one Merscom game I can play now. Kind of makes me wish this one didn’t work on Vista either. Heh.

Virtual Console

Finally, over on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, we only have two new games but one will keep you busy for some time. I’m referring to the Sega Genesis classic Phantasy Star II, one of the best RPGs of its time. That being said, it’s tough to get excited about a game that is already playable on GameTap and included in your monthly subscription – so I didn’t play it on the Wii, but I’m assuming it’s the same game. Hey, I need to save that $8 for other things, like..uhh I forgot this is a family site. Never mind.

The other new Wii game is Ninja Gaiden III, which was a different take on the series. By different I mean don’t bother downloading because it isn’t the Ninja Gaiden you’ve come to know and love. Save your money for Ninja Gaiden Black on the Xbox 360 originals service.

So that wraps up another week in downloads. As February comes to a close, we can only hope March will bring us a better week of gaming downloads. Here’s the full list, and we’ll see you next week.

Dan’s Picks: PixelJunk Monsters Demo (PS3), God of War demo (PSP), N+ (Live Arcade 360)

Wii Virtual Console

  • Game: Ninja Gaiden™ III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (NES) (500 Wii Points or $5)
  • Game: Phantasy Star II (Genesis) (800 Wii Points or $8)
  • Chocobo's Dungeon Review
    For those who like the taste (or are willing to give it a shot), Chocobo’s Dungeon is the best dungeon-crawling experience you can have on the Wii.
    Little League World Series Baseball 2008 Review
    Little League World Series Baseball is a surprisingly delightful baseball game and is perfect for Wii little leaguers.
    Hacking enemies over and over and over..........
    You’d be hard pressed to find better source material for your mystery game than Agatha Christie, and None’s story is chock full of delicious intrigue.
    Samurai Fight Fever Falls Short.
    Behind the scenes of Guitar Hero 4 with Sting.
    The latest additions to the upcoming rock game.
    Loads of missions and planes in the futuristic flyer.
    A look at Billy Corgan, in and out of the game.
    SimCity Creator Preview
    Get your SimCity on with the upcoming Wii version.
    FIFA Soccer 09 Preview
    250+ improvements hit the pitch in this steady new iteration to the franchise.
    It’s like Rock Band for kindergarteners
    It’s not every day that one gets to play a game using one’s butt.
    It's on--Activision unveils it's answer to Rock Band with this fourth installment packed with features.