Smile, smile, smile! It's almost the weekend, and you know what that means! Who needs responsibilities like paying bills or doing homework/housework or putting on pants when you can spend your time enjoying the digital fruits of someone else's very real labor? March is turning out to be an amazing month for fans of both browser and indie download games, and here's a bunch of things worth watching.

A Cat, a Mask, and a Gun Surprise! Jasper Byrne's gorgeous looking pixel-style psychological survival-horror game, Lone Survivor, about one man left standing after a disease decimates the world hits Tuesday, March 27th of this year! That's so soon I can taste it, and it tastes like monster-infested adventuring goodness! Mmm! The game will be available for $10.00 USD, with a demo to play in your browser so you can try before you buy. Check out Jasper's blog entries to learn more (official site coming soon!) and give the debut trailer a gander so you can start getting excited. In the immortal words of Fry, "Shut up and take my money!"

And Now For Something Completely Different So you know Capcom's Onimusha series, right? It's an action-adventure series that focuses on telling the stories of famous historical figures with supernatural elements sprinkled in! The series has primarily been at home on the Playstation and XBOX, but fans were no doubt surprised to hear that later this year it's going to make the jump to... your smartphone and your browser! Dun-dun-dun! Dubbed Onimusha Soul, details are somewhat vague at this point, but the allusion to online multiplayer as well as in-game paid content is a bit worrisome, since it could imply the series is straying from the action everyone loves into a more commercialised Facebook game style of play. It seems like more and more developers are realising there's money to be made online. What do you guys think... do you prefer the games you love stay on the consoles they were born on, or is it worth getting another installment in any incarnation? (And is it just plain greedy?)

An Update is Better Than No Date At All Picobots has heard your plea, and the answer is... an update! Ms. Particle Man, the Silverlight-made arcade game has now been tweaked a little to reflect not only the feedback of the original review but the issues most players had with the difficulty. Players now start with an additional life, and they have unlimited continues to start/restart at the beginning of each collider. If you've already tried Ms. Particle Man but found she was too challenging a woman to woo, you might want to give her another shot. It's always great when a developer takes on community feedback, and this is just another great example of how valuable constructive criticism can be from players just like you. Aw!

That Was Fast Just a week after we started getting really excited about the upcoming PSN/PC/Mac re-release/remake of Tyler Glaiel's puzzle platformer Closure, a release date for the Playstation Network version has finally been announced! On March 27th of this year, you can play the stunning and atmospheric game right on your PS3, with a PC release to follow later this year. Congratulations, Tyler and Team! It's always exciting when an indie crew starts getting the recognition they deserve. Play the browser version if you haven't already, have a peek at the launch trailer, and keep your eye on the official site for more news!

The Company of Prequels If you loved Eli Piilonen's thoughtful and surreal puzzle platformer The Company of Myself (which, considering it took home best of 2009, you probably did) get ready to get fired up all over again. The fine folks over at Nocturnal Blog have just gotten an in-depth look at the upcoming prequel, Fixation, to be released on March 20th over at Armor Games, which you can check out here. The game will focus on Kathryn, who uses smoking as a stress release (and to solve puzzles), and promises to feature more characters, 41 levels, and new abilities. (You can check out a tiny demo here.) Eli has always been known for his sneakily thought-provoking and surprisingly emotional games (such as Viricide), so if you're a fan you're definitely going to want to set aside some time on the 20th to play this one!

I HEAR YOU LIEK PONIES Well, I guess their hooves are perfectly shaped for working the pedals, but you try explaining that to the officer who pulls you over. In case you didn't know, Mario Kart is just about the best game ever (even though I've only played the SNES version), and a group of talented bronies are about to ponify it professionally! Pony Kart will be a free downloadable (Windows only :( ) racing game that will initially feature all of the mane six, four unique tracks, and of course a whole bunch of items to be used in the traditional Mario Kart fashion! Not only does the game look amazing, rendered in gorgeous, colourful 3D, but it looks just as bouncy and fun as you'd expect. Plus, after a rather staggering outpouring of comments from the community, the developers have also gone ahead and make sure Lyra sits properly. You know what I mean. There's no release date yet, but you can check out a ton of music tracks, screenshots, and even some videos over at the official site. Hooray! (I demand a future installment allow you to race as all three Cutie Mark Crusaders driving one homemade kart.)