We’re getting closer people, today is Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve. That gives us just eight more downloading days until the big day, and clearly the publishers are very aware of this. So before the big food shop, let’s take a quick browse of those online windows, where snow and rain can’t spoil our fun. Just silly prices.
Xbox 360
Released last week for PS3, the Back to Karkand pack arrives for Battlefield 3 this week, priced at 1200 for normal peeps and free to those who redeemed their Limited Edition code. There’s also a free update to download that promises fixes for single and multiplayer issues. Gears of War 3 provides its second slice of premium content, Raam’s Shadow, for the same price of 1200. Again, those who paid up front for their DLC can now grab this at no extra cost. Then there’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, which adds the Ancestors Character Pack for the much lower price of 320 points.
Making a last-minute comeback is Duke Nukem Forever, with brand new add-on The Doctor Who Cloned Me. 800 points will grab you this additional spot of time with the muscle-bound hero. For the younger players, there’s additional characters for Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 at 240 points, and a Nightmare Before Christmas level pack for Disney Universe at 400. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon flies in with a Skin Pack for 960 points and a Skill Set Pack for 560 (the individual pieces of which can also be purchased). There’s also a new Terminator plane for 480, and a free compatibility pack for anyone who doesn’t want to buy new stuff. Tropico 4 also adds the Plantador pack for 400.
The new XBLA games this week are the legendary Sonic CD for 400 points, and Joe Danger: Special Edition for three times that at 1200. XBLA DLC features a free update for Fruit Ninja Kinect, the Stranger’s Dream pack for Bastion at 80 points, the Marvel Vengeance and Virtue tables for Pinball FX 2 at 800, and the second deck pack for Magic: The Gathering – Duals of the Planeswalkers 2012 at 240. Over at Games on Demand, there’s Red Faction: Armageddon for £17.99 (that’s how you price it, Sony), DiRT 3 for £29.99, Alice: Madness Returns for the same price (despite being available on disc for £10 at one point this week), and both Toy Story 3 and Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires for £19.99 each.
Finishing off in the casual world, there are Kinect add-ons for The Gunstringer (Real Big Shootin’ for 240 points), MotionSports Adrenaline (Urban Jungle pack for 400) and The Black Eyed Peas Experience (Dance Pack at 560, individual portions available).Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 adds the Lose It and Jump Rope: Survival packs for 320 and 400 points each, or 560 together, and there’s a load of new bits for YooStar on MTV. Then there’s Rock Band 3, with a Rush track pack for 440, as well as individual songs from Volbeat and Black Veil Brides at 80 points each.
PS3
Would you like to play £49.99 for Need for Speed: The Run? Because now you can. You know, if you’re insane. Or you could pay £35.99 for Dead Island, £31.99 for Alice: Madness Returns (remember our little £10 talk?) and £23.99 for Jurassic Park. The latter is available for £17.99 to Playstation Plus subscribers. Also up this week are Sonic CD for £3.59 and Rainbow Six: Vegas for £15.99, as well as a free demo for Goldeneye: Reloaded.
There’s a free Physical Warfare pack for Battlefield 3 this week, alongside the Ancestors Character Pack for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations at £3.19, and the Doctor Who Cloned Me add-on for Duke Nukem Forever at £6.29. That’s not to mention Resistance 3‘s Brutality Pack for £3.19, Disney Universe‘s Nightmare Before Christmas level pack for £3.99 and Zen Pinball‘s Marvel Vengeance and Virtue tables for £6.29.
The Arkham City Skins Pack for Batman: Arkham City comes to PS3 this week for £3.99, the same price that will net you the Urban Jungle pack for MotionSports Adrenaline and the Pure Pwnage pack for Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone. Then there’s Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, with the Skins pack for £5.49, Skills for £3.99 and Su-37 Terminator aircraft for £3.19. Don’t forget the individual pieces and free compatibility pack too!
The Muppets are back with a second Little Big Planet 2 costume pack for £4.75, while Dance Star Party gets another couple of Mix Packs for £5.49 each. Finishing off, we have the Rock Band 3 updates in the form of the Rush pack for £2.49, the cheap tracks from Volbeat and Black Veil Brides for 59p, and a Stevie Wonder track for 99p. Bet you didn’t see that one coming.
PSP
Lesbians. Now I’ve got your attention, Fear Effect has been added to the PS1 Classics range for £5.49. Funny enough, they did the same thing to advertise the sequel. Also joining the range are Mickey’s Wild Adventure for £4.79 and Rally Cross for £3.99. If you’d rather have a real PSP game, then there’s Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Trails in the Sky for £27.99 each or together in a double pack for £47.99, Naruto Shippuden: UN Impact for £31.99 and Corpse Party for £11.99. If that weren’t enough, there’s also a new minis title called Ambassador Kane for £2.49.
3DS
Ambassadors can now help themselves to 10 free Game Boy Advance games, with the only other new 3DS software download this week being the free Eurosport app, giving you access to 3D sports footage.
Wii
If you’re looking to show off your artistic side, then WiiWare can help. The arrival of Paint Splash for 500 points lets you scribble, doodle and colour with your Wii Remote until you’ve created a masterpiece. Or just drawn something inappropriate and had your console privileges taken away for a month.
DSi
The DSi finishes things off this week with a trio of new titles to get your thumbs moving. Cake Ninja for 500 points (£4.50) is not about a fat woman with a sword, instead it’s more stylus chopping action. Joining it are Elite Forces: Unit 77 at 800 points (£7.20), and GO Series: Escape Trick – Ninja Castle for 500 (£4.50).
With that, we bring another downloading week to a close. Will we see many new downloads in the final week before the big day? Probably. Will I be writing about them on Christmas Eve? Probably not, so be prepared for a potential Friday return for TDR next week. And then don’t be disappointed if I can’t be bothered and it winds up on Saturday morning anyway.
