Finally, Nintendo‘s answer to the original game experiences in the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network has arrived in the form of WiiWare. Unlike the Virtual Console titles we are used to from Nintendo on the Wii, all WiiWare titles are original games. Small developers can get to work on creating some of these smaller casual games. WiiWare titles cost between $5 and $15, and as of today, you have six to choose from. We have full descriptions of each after the break.

Oh, happy day, echochrome has arrived. In case you’ve been under a rock, echochrome is a delicious puzzle perspective game, which is simple and deceptive all at the same time. The graphics are simple, the concept is amazing, and we’ve been waiting for it since last year’s E3. It is now here, along with a few other pieces of content - like new Rock Band tracks - on this weeks PlayStation Store update.

Games and Demos
echochrome ($9.99) for PS3
echochrome ($9.99) for PSP
Dark Sector demo (free)

Expansions and Add-ons
Rock Band tracks ($1.99 per track) - “Zero” by Smashing Pumpkins, “Time-Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear” and “Red Tandy” The Mother Hips
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore tracks ($1.49 per track)

Videos
Battlefield: Bad Company “Redford Blog” video
echochrome trailer
Dead Space “Announcement” trailer
Dead Space “Ship Date” trailer
Kung Fu Panda trailer
NBA Ballers: Chosen One TV spot
Turok “Kane Gameplay” trailer
Turok “Bring It” trailer

Themes and Wallpapers
4 echochrome wallpapers
3 Kung Fu Panda wallpapers

I’ve recently been playing the hell out of PixelJunk Monsters, a game that we feel is one of the shining stars of the Playstation Store. If you haven’t yet tried it, seriously, go download it. The 2D strategy game is something that we almost can’t stop playing once we start. This is why we are happy to hear that Q Games has made it known that the first expansion pack for the game, titled PixelJunk Monsters Encore, is set to drop on May 1. We can expect a new island, called “Toki,” which will feature an additional 15 levels, as well as a little bit of housecleaning behind the scenes to the overall game mechanics. Even better still, the expansion will include five new songs by Otograph.

Visually, there are a few tweaks here and there that we can expect - weather effects, new tree shapes, and a few other small upgrades. Nothing over the top.

No word yet on pricing details, but this is DLC for a fairly inexpensive game, so it shouldn’t cost much.

Looks like artist music is going to start becoming exclusive to specific brands, as it has been made public through Activision PR that all Aerosmith tracks are going to be exclusive to Guitar Hero. What this means is that, no matter how good the Rock Band Store gets (and it is very good), you will never see any more Aerosmith tracks appearing in that franchise. Sure, Rock Band owners do get one Aerosmith track, that being “Train Kept a Rollin,” but seriously, that is just a drop in the bucket.

What we are wondering is, as these music/rhythm-based games continue to flourish, how many other artists are going to sign on for the exclusive? What do you guys think?

Now, we’ve seen custom wedding cake toppers before, but these Mii cake toppers are just...fantastic. I mean, who wouldn’t want a pair of Mii characters - which look vaguely like you - standing atop their cake on one of the most important days of their lives? The best part, to us at least, is that this is a way of geeking out a bit at your wedding, without going way over the top. Those who have no clue what a Mii - or even Wii - even is, will still “get” that you were simply putting a visual representation of yourself on your cake. They run for $140 USD and are available from MiiSculptures.

The question is, would you do it?

Okay, so, you know how in Halo accidents happen? You overzealously start chucking grenades, only to kill one enemy and two fellow teammates? Well, casualties are a part of battle, but this one takes the cake. Check out the video above to see what, in our opinion, has to be the most innocent Halo betrayal in known history.

Yeah. Got anything better than that?

Nintendo is keeping the hits coming with their announcement that the long-awaited Wii Fit will be launching here in North America on May 19. The game, which comes packaged with the Wii Balance Board, will be sold for $89.99 - about 1/3 the price of the Wii console itself. So yeah, a tad on the expensive side for a game, but it comes with a fairly unique peripheral, so what are ya gonna do? If you are one of the first 1,000 to pre-order the game at the Nintendo World Store in midtown Manhattan between April 18-20, you even get a free Wii Fit T-shirt. Here’s to fanboys playing balancing games in the hopes of getting in better shape!

If the video above is any indication, and it appears to be genuine, then some stores didn’t get the memo that Grand Theft Auto IV isn’t to go on sale until April 29. It seems that one Tony Warner was able to purchase his copy a couple of weeks early. In the video, Tony shows off the GTA IV case, the disc itself, as well as the game’s intro. If you are completely wanting to get your hands on the game early, we suggest getting out there and looking around. Skip the Gamestop’s of the world and head straight to places that are clueless about these things, like your local Wal-Mart. Let us know if you have any luck. Rockstar isn’t gonna be too happy about this one.

Okay, so first and foremost, the atrocious PLAYSTATION Store that the PS3 has been sporting is going to be replaced with PS3 firmware 2.30. That is a good thing, because compared to both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Wii Shopping Channel, the PLAYSTATION Store just performs horrible in our opinion. So good on Sony for changing that up. You can get a look at the new interface in the video above, which Sony put together. It looks a lot better.

Second thing, which is even better than the store upgrade if you ask us, is that the 2.30 firmware update is going to finally bring DTS-HD Master Audio to the Playstation 3, alongside DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. If you are a Blu-ray fan, then this means the world to you if you have a compatible receiver. Be prepared for perfect lossless audio to be read at an “incredible high variable rate of 24.5 mega-bits per second” in 7.1 surround sound. This is the one thing the PS3 was missing as a Blu-ray player (well, this, and Dolby-HD), and now makes it pretty much future-proof.

You get all this goodness on April 15th.