Dec 17 – Dec 21

Section: 

This week is all about downloadable stuff, sort of. Actually there's not even all that much to get excited about from a download side of things. No, the next couple of weeks will be almost painfully quiet for new releases, and honestly if you didn't look again until mid-January, you'd be unlikely to miss much.

Out of everything on this anemic list, I do have at least a casual interest in getting Kinect Party for my kids. Free from launch until 2013, Double Fine's Kinect Party seems far less a game than a toy. A follow up of sorts to Double Fine's Happy Action Theater, Kinect Party presents you with a variety of channels that take creative advantage of the Kinect system to present you with various fun explorations of the concept of watching yourself move around on tv. Like, for example, what if the room were made from lava and you could shoot fire out of your hands? Or what if you were Daft Punk?

It's not the sort of thing likely to keep the mature and sober engaged for long, but honestly I could see my kids running around like insane people for hours. And hours of entertaining my boys for the reasonable cost of free is more than enough to pique my interest. So, let's call Kinect Party my pick of the week.

PC
- Grimind
- Street Fighter X Mega Man
- Vektropolis

Xbox 360
- Kinect Party (XBLA)

PS3
- Dogfight 1942 (PSN)
- Karateka (PSN)
- Knytt Underground (PSN)
- Labyrinth Legends (PSN)
- Zombie Driver HD (PSN)

Wii
- We Sing Pop

Vita
- Burn the Rope (PSN)
- Knytt Underground (PSN)
- Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (PSN)
- Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

3DS
- 3D Game Collection (eShop)
- escapeVektor (eShop)
- Johnny Impossible (eShop)
- Pix3D (eShop)
- Riding Stables 3D (eShop)

DS
- Anonymous Notes Chapter 3: From The Abyss (DSiWare)
- Cake Ninja: Xmas (DSiWare)
- Castle Conqueror - Heroes 2 (DSiWare)

Comments

A Kinect game as game of the week.

*looks at calendar*

Seems legit.

Free from launch until 2013...

Does this mean that if you download it this year it's yours forever, or is this like a PS+ thing where it'll lock up Jan. 1 and you have to buy it for real, like some extended demo?

It's not the sort of thing likely to keep the mature and sober engaged for long

I am at least one of those things.

- Anonymous Notes Chapter 3: From The Abyss (DSiWare)

Anonymous notes from the abyss? Sounds like junior high all over again.

Looks like I picked the right week to start up a new Baldurs Gate 2 playthrough...

Vita
- Burn the Rope (PSN)

I was disappointed to learn that this is not a port of You Have to Burn the Rope.

Kareteka on PS3's the only one that might grab me.

Wait, was Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath released on PS3's PSN and I didn't notice/remember? Because...man I loved that game.

Otherwise, I'm with Tanglebones.

Street Fighter x Mega Man is downloading as I speak

Don't knock Kinect Party, special education teachers have had some successes with Happy Action Theatre with Autism spectrum kids.

ccesarano wrote:

Wait, was Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath released on PS3's PSN and I didn't notice/remember? Because...man I loved that game.

Otherwise, I'm with Tanglebones.

Yeah, a while ago. I fired it up last week, but decided to wait for the Vita version. It plays the same (a touch clunky control wise) but looks great with that shiny HD coat of paint.

Hate Kinect, but Kinect Party is good. For free, its a no brainer to download.

Not a stand-alone release, but this week's Forizon Rally DLC looks weighty enough in content to warrant a look.

Kinect Party was pretty fun with my 5 year old daughter.

Grimind

Someone help me with the pronunciation here.