This week GameTap hadoukens the Dreamcast version of Street Fighter III: Third Strike onto the service. The game considered by many hardcore gamers as the last great 2D fighter is accessible for both PC and Mac users. The new GameTap titles this week (other than SFIII) are the remains of the year.

• Metal Combat (PC) - Just say no. Check out Mr. Robot.
  
• Mr. Robot (PC) - A little-known independent action RPG from a couple years ago that was well received. Check it out for something a little different.
• Putter Golf (Genesis) - Hardcore mini-golf.
  
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Covert Ops Essential (PC) - Plan out the mission and repeat it a billion times 'til you don't get your whole squad killed. Classic Rainbow Six game.
  
• Sub Hunt (Intellivision) - A submarine game from 1981. Seriously.
  
• Street Fighter 3: Third Strike (Dreamcast) - We've gone over this.

After the break we have GameTap's list of free games. The new free game this week is Texas Hold 'em and is bolded for easy reference. There will be no GameTap update next week due to the holiday, with the next update on Jan. 3rd.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike -- the greatest fighting game hardly anyone played -- makes its way to GameTap on Dec. 20. To the many who know the fine, detailed, beyond-minutia intricacies of fighting games, SFIII: Third Strike represents the last great 2D fighter. GameTap has gotten hold of the Dreamcast version of the game, which means that both PC and Mac users will have access.

For those with specialty fighting sticks, GameTap supports a wide range of controllers and there's an official list available, but many more work that aren't listed. The game will not support online play because neither did the Dreamcast version. So check out SFIII: Third Strike and join fighter aficionados everywhere in enjoying a vintage treat.

Thanks to the folks at the Gamerscore Blog, we've learned that the next Xbox back compat update "should be out in the next few weeks."

In his earlier blast against BC, Peter Moore proclaimed that nobody is concerned about it anymore, but thankfully the gentler Gamerscore peeps have set the record straight, stating: "We know for a fact that there are lots of people who continue to care about backwards compatibility, including the 'Emulation Ninjas' who are working full time on the updates. And those of us posting on this blog. And, of course, many of you."

We suppose quarterly updates to the BC list aren't TOO bad (hey, they sure beat semiannual dashboard updates), but getting more than a dozen titles to work each time would definitely help a lot more for those with original Xbox favorites they'd prefer to play on their new machines. Personally, this blogger would like to see the following titles added to the list: Dead or Alive Ultimate, Doom 3, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, LEGO Star Wars, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Soul Calibur II, and Capcom Classics Collection. It may not be realistic to expect Street Fighter support when Hyper Fighting is set to hit Live Arcade sometime in the near future, but one can (vainly) hope.

[Via Major Nelson's blog]

See also:

• Xbox BC not a priority, says Moore
• No Black on 360 till MS makes it so... or a sequel comes out
• US 360 backward-compatibility list shrinks
• A video tour of the Xbox Live Spring update
• SFII on Xbox Live: what's taking so long?