On the Download: Week of November 23rd

Happy Thanksgiving from the RunDLC crew.  We’ll be off tomorrow and Black Friday so we can spend time with our loved ones (and of course, games).  But while we’re away, feel free to gorge yourself on this week’s downloads.

Wii Shop Channel

There are six games available this week, and that should keep you busy until the beginning of December.  On the WiiWare front, Harvest Moon: My Little Shop from Natsume and Bit.Trip Void lead the pack.  Harvest Moon will no doubt appeal to fans of simulated farm life, while Bit.Trip will rock your world with musical dot-collecting goodness.  Gevo Entertainment’s Little Tournament Over Yonder looks like a peculiar real-time strategy game, while Learning With the PooYoos: Episode 1 should be a decent download for kids.  Seriously, though, who are these PooYoos?

If it’s Virtual Console stuff you’re after, one game you won’t want to miss is Super Mario Kart.  This SNES classic is the one that started it all, and it’s still wonderful after all these years.  Two players can race around a number of tracks, all powered by Mode 7 effects. 

In addition, the original A Boy and His Blob for NES arrived.  In this game, you walk around with a friendly blob, changing his shape by feeding him jellybeans.  Huh, that’s weird.  We ate a bunch of Jelly Bellies and nothing happened.  Maybe if we eat the red ones…

Xbox Live

1 Versus 100 is back in full swing and better than ever.  In addition, Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and Saints Row 2 are now available on Games On Demand.  Finally, Madden NFL Arcade will knock you out with crazy football action.  (We’ll review that one later this week)

As far as downloadable content goes, there’s a lot.  A David Guetta DJ Hero pack is now available for your remixing pleasure, along with a free six-pack of songs for Guitar Hero 5 and a Tom Petty pack for the Rock Band games.  A Lips update should be available later this week, and don’t be surprised if a few holiday songs show up for Black Friday. Finally, a new side chapter for Borderlands, the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, is available for 800 Microsoft points. 

Rounding out this week’s Xbox Live action is a demo for RTL’s Winter Sports 2010 and the Xbox Live Indie game, Platypus, which originally appeared on the Sony PSP.  For a Claymation shooter, it’s actually not half bad.  (Plus, it’s only five bucks.)

Hopefully next week will bring Serious Sam HD, since it’s already out on Steam.

PlayStation Network

On top of the free Guitar Hero 5 pack, Rock Band music by Tom Petty and the DJ Hero tracks, the PlayStation Network has no shortage of games this week.  Even though Revenge of the Wounded Dragons didn’t arrive as promised, there’s still plenty to choose from.  The enjoyable Diner Dash is now ready to order from Hudson Soft, along with EA Sports’ Madden NFL Arcade and Sony’s Gravity Crash, a groovy retro shooter that we’ll review next week.  If you like PSOne games, you’ll find six to choose from.  The original Command and Conquer, Capcom’s awesome Dino Crisis, Reel Fishing, Fighting Force, Backstreet Billiards and International Track and Field can be yours for $5.99 a pop.  We definitely recommend going with Dino, and if you have money left over, Fighting Force.

The Borderlands Zombie Island DLC is also available, along with demos for Comet Crash and Gravity Crash.  You’ll also find a new LittleBigPlanet SuperStar shirt to dress your Sackboy in (for $4.99), along with a Dragon Ball Warriors on Earth Pack for the Raging Blast fighting game.  Last but not least, the second chapter of the Uncharted 2 motion comic, Eye of Indra 2, is ready for viewing, and will only set you back a dollar.  Well worth it, if you ask us.

Finally, if you like cheap games, Sony’s got a bunch on sale through December 2nd.  Flower, The Last Guy, Prince of Persia Classic, Comet Crash and Bomberman Ultra are now five bucks each, while Smash Cars and Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao go for $7.49 apiece.  The Killzone 2 downloadable content is also marked down.  Pull out your wallet and treat yourself to some holiday joy.

Again, happy turkey day. We’ll see you later this week with our Madden review.