New Releases February 27 Through March 5, 2011

After last week's extensive batch of high-profile retail offerings, it makes sense that this week's class of new games leans decidedly towards the downloadable end of the spectrum. A ton of great games are going to be available this week, and we're here to make sure you don't miss any of them.

This is one of those rare weeks when every single console download service is getting an undeniably important title. WiiWare fans can look forward to the last of the Bit.Trip games when Commander Video returns in Bit.Trip Flux. Xbox 360 owners are the lucky recipients of the third XBLA House Party game, Beyond Good & Evil HD. The PS3 faithful can celebrate the long anticipated release of PixelJunk Shooter 2. And hey, is that a Necromorph I see? That's right -- Dead Space 2: Severed brings the horror back to Xbox 360 and PS3.

Of course, there is much more than that on offer this week. Take a look at the new releases for February 27 through March 5, 2011, broken out by category and date.

Microsoft Xbox 360

Nintendo DS

  • My Little Restaurant 2/28
  • Rango: The Video Game 3/1
  • Busy Scissors 3/4

Nintendo Wii

  • Bit.Trip Flux 2/28
  • Chuck E. Cheese's Sports Games 3/1
  • Rango: The Video Game 3/1

PC

  • Fate of the World 2/28
  • Martial Empires: The Catastrophe of Babylon 2/28
  • The Flying Dutchman 3/1
  • Rift 3/1
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution 3/1
  • Perfect World International: Genesis 3/2

Sony PlayStation 3

Sony PSP

  • MiniSquadron 2/28

The PixelJunk games are synonymous with PlayStation Network. As a follow-up to the esoteric PixelJunk Eden, the original PixelJunk Shooter was refreshingly straight-forward. It was also a ton of fun. Players who completed the original game will know what to expect the second time around -- the elemental interactions of the original will be replaced with more... organic materials. And don't forget to bring a friend along for the game's excellent multiplayer. PixelJunk Shooter 2 comes to PSN Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

Though it's not a new game, it might as well be. Instantly celebrated as Michel Ancel's masterpiece (which is saying something, as he'd already made Rayman 2: The Great Escape, one of the best-ever 3D platformers), and almost as promptly ignored by masses of gamers, Beyond Good & Evil gets a second chance this week, with a shiny new high definition look. An Ubisoft producer recently pointed out that fans of the game should "keep the faith" for a sequel, but great sales for BG&E HD certainly aren't going to hurt, either. Xbox 360 owners get a chance to vote with their wallets when Beyond Good & Evil HD comes to Xbox Live Arcade March 2, 2011.

Also shambling onto XBLA and PSN this week, Dead Space 2: Severed brings an all new batch of scares to fans of Visceral's horror-shooter. Gameplay videos of the DLC in action have been issued to show what players can expect, but I was too frightened to watch them. Definitely not scary is Severed's price: at just 560 MS Points on XBLA and $6.99 on PSN, Severed is the most affordable DLC in recent memory. Perhaps if the gambit pays off for EA, more publishers will follow suit. Dead Space 2: Severed will be available March 1, 2011.

Nintendo's WiiWare service hasn't produced many (any?) breakout hits, but by now nearly everyone has at least heard of the Bit.Trip games. Gloriously retro slabs of gameplay with a postmodern sensibility, there is a reason why series protagonist Commander Video is an unlockable character in Super Meat Boy. Flux, the final game in the series, apparently breaks with its predecessors by not being impossibly difficult. Bit.Trip Flux sends the series off in style February 28, 2011.

As a final note, there's this little game, Call of Duty: Black Ops. You may have heard of it. Some DLC came out a while back on the Xbox 360. Well, that same DLC, titled First Strike, hits PlayStation 3 this week, on March 3, 2011. Probably not a big deal, but we thought you should know.

As always, we want to hear from you. What games are you planning to pick up this week? What did you end up buying last week?