Who packs a girl instead of a parachute?

This issue of On The Download gets to me so much I made up a word to best illustrate how this makes gamers feel. Have you noticed that when a game comes out on one system but doesn’t hit the other systems at the same time, the later port of the game often comes with different, improved features?

Pon-pon-patapon!  The quirky strategy/rhythm hybrid series' third installment, aptly titled Patapon 3, has had a demo available since last summer, believe it or not.  It appears the long wait for the full release of the game is nearly over.  Patapon 3 will finally hit retail shelves and the PSN next month, on April 12.  Multiplayer, including a four-player co-op mode, will be returning, in addition to the standard single player campaign.  I can't recall the last time there was such a long stretch between the demo and the game's release; I guess that's one more little quirk in a game full of unique stuff.

Moonshot Games is a brand new developer on the scene,  a studio formed by folks from Bungie studios that worked on Halo titles - including Michel Bastien the lead producer of Halo 3.  Today they've announced their first project called Fallen Frontier.  It's a 2D platform shooter set on a colony on Alpha Centauri with a beautiful hand drawn style.

We have three new videos for Operation Flashpoint: Red River.  The realistic first person shooter will be more taxing than your average military shooter.  One or two hits and it's game over.  The first video is just a snippet of taking damage.  Rushing into battle will be hazardous to your health.  The second video focuses on calling in an air strike, with spectacular results.  The final vid is a preview of the upcoming story and conflict at the focus of the game, set in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan.

Awards season is over... or starting... or we're in the middle of it.  No one really knows, and no one really cares. We do care about the PlayStation Network Gamer's Choice Awards 2011, though. Why, you ask?  We'll tell you why.  The titles that win these awards go on sale to kick off Sony's Spring Fever Event.  So if you don't have Dead Nation, Castle Crashers, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, or Age of Zombies, now is your chance to pick them up for 30-50% off.  

Hard Corps: Uprising came out a few weeks back on Xbox Live Arcade, complete with two player local and online co-op play.  Its Contra with really, REALLY, pretty graphics.  While that sounds great, our review shed some light on the title - we liked it, but were generally annoyed by some nagging issues.

Blizzard has just released a new video retrospective that looks at the 20 year history of the company.  The beefy video that weighs in at almost an hour long shows the company history from Silicon & Synapse after founders Mike Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham met at UCLA up until modern day.  Its incredibly facinating to see the work that went into early Blizzard titles like Lost Vikings and Rock & Roll Racing - a small team in a 600 square foot office coding, creating and goofing off.  Honestly the video is way more entertaining than it should be.

This month in MMO Co-Opportunities we take a look at one of the superhero MMOs for a change a pace: Champions Online. A deep character customization system and a personalized Nemesis experience offer some unique ways to play with others.

It's the lovable monster Marco's birthday, and no one showed up for the party. Well, that was before co-op was confirmed - now everyone should show up at his party. Or, everyone that fits in front of your Kinect anyway. Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster is now officially co-op through the most adorable Sesame Street storyline imaginable - no strings attached.

We've waited and waited for the release date of sci-fi FPS Interstellar Marines to be officially announced, in spite of quite a bit of turbulence surrounding its development. To tide us over until the full games releases, it looks like Zero Point Software is giving us a prequel story to the full game. This story will be released on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Steam, and Playstation Network long before the full title is released.

In a somewhat early form of a co-op release alert, we're letting you know that Slam Bolt Scrappers is out March 15th. Why the early notification? It's out right after PAX East, and we'll be bombarding you with news and hands-on previews until the 15th. We're definitely hoping for some hands-on time with this puzzle/tower defense/brawler at PAX East, but if we don't get any, it won't be long before we'll be reviewing it (after March 15. Got that? March 15th).