In a post on the PS blog Sony today revealed that from next month, the way the Playstation Plus Instant Games collection works in Europe and North America is going to change in two ways.

The first change is that starting from June there will be two free games offered to owners of the Playstation 4 per month instead of just the one. In both regions the games lined up for offer on the PS4 in June are Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate and Trine 2: The Complete Story both games with some puzzling elements to them, even if the first is a shooter and the second an adventure-puzzle game. European PS3 owners can get hold of NBA 2k14 and Lone Survivor, while North American owners can pick up NBA 2k14 as well, but the other game is Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

The other change counters the first though by adjusting the times each free game is being offered to a shorter time period. From now on the games will be offered free starting from the first Wednesday of the month and will remain that way until the first Wednesday of the next month. A few games that have been long available in the Instant Games collection will also be cycled out. Sony have justified this change by saying that most players are getting hold of their free copies of games towards the start of the free period anyway.

The reasons behind the changes were not alluded to in the post, but some speculate it might be because of recent changes to Xbox’s Gold program. Overall, the changes mean more free content for Playstation gamers to get hold of, but a shorter time window to do so.

PS blog post is here.

Mario Kart 8 has launched, and leaving aside a few quibbles (looking at you, totally ruined battle mode), the game is quite good. One of the standout new features that many were excited about is Mario kart TV. Allowing gamers to upload clips of their favorite moments in highlight reel form for all to see seems like a no brainer for the mascot kart racer. The function is handled directly in the game. Simply complete a race, and the game will prompt you to view the highlight reel. You then have the option to upload it directly to YouTube, all without leaving the game.

I want to be very clear here. The Mario Mart TV function is not a third party app, or some outside capture device. It is handled in the game, and was placed there by Nintendo themselves for the express purpose of sharing Mario Kart 8 footage on YouTube. Many of us hoped that this feature would signal a sea change in the way Nintendo interacted with YouTubers. The company has been notoriously hardnosed about footage of ANY of it’s games appearing online. In recent months, they have settled for co-opting all revenue earned by a video rather than banning it outright. 

Naturally, I was happy to test out the feature. It’s easy to use, though I do have a few complaints with the time limit and resolution (720P max? REALLY?!). Those pale in comparison to my newest complaint though. After completing the new Rainbow Road, I eagerly uploaded my highlight reel of the race, ready to share it with my fellow staffers at Sanitarium.FM.

Imagine my surprise when moments later I found THIS in my video manager:

Let’s recap. Using a tool that Nintendo provided me, while playing a game that they built this tool for, and expressly encouraged me to use at the end of every single race got me….a copyright strike. Now, the more astute among you will note that it is a Third Party Copyright Notice, and is directly connected to the music and not the video footage. However, that doesn’t excuse the issue here. As demonstrated by the total lack of issues I have had with my other test of this service (footage of the Sunshine Airport track- WITH music), YouTube’s automated system can be directed NOT to place claims on certain material. While I certainly don’t think this is a malicious act on Nintendo’s part, at a minimum it’s incredibly lazy. And frustrating. 

It’s also further proof that whatever they might say, Nintendo just doesn’t have a clue how online gaming or the internet actually work. As for me, until (or if) this ceases to be a problem, I will not be uploading any more clips of Mario Kart 8, despite what the game might prompt me to do at the end of every race.

Many hardcore players of Nintendo’s long-running, franchise-merging beat-em-up, Super Smash Bros, will attest that the only way to properly play the games is with a proper, chunky controller with plenty of buttons to enable the widest range of moves and tactics. It’s no surprise really: having started on the N64 and then moved on to the GameCube for the subsequent sequel, Melee – both consoles whose controllers could be described as chunky and button filled – Smash Bros. was a game that took advantage of every single button to provide plenty of attacks, taunt options, grabs and – for the wusses – defensive moves. That Nintendo had to simply every character’s movesets for the Wii follow-up, Brawl, due to the Wii Remote having just four buttons and a D-Pad was seen as sacrilege to many fans of the previous two titles, who felt reducing the immediately available attacks and using two-button combinations for most moves just didn’t offer the level of control they were used to.

Luckily, the Wii offered something that catered to those fans: Gamecube backwards-compatibility. Realising that there would be those craving the greater control of the previous games, Nintendo allowed people who had plugged Gamecube controllers into the Wii to use them as controllers for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, letting them play the new game with their old, familiar controllers even though they’d still be subject to the simplified move sets. That players familiar with the previous generation could fight again using the ergonomic, full-featured controllers they’d gotten accustomed to was a godsend; and so, when the Wii U removed Gamecube compatibility and the Gamecube ports, many weeped that they’d not get the same option in the next Super Smash Bros. title.

Well, dear fans, weep no longer:

It’s official: The #WiiU version of #SmashBros. will be playable with GameCube controllers! pic.twitter.com/JMWqTgyM3Y

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) May 30, 2014

That’s right! Nintendo UK and Nintendo of Europe took to Twitter today to announce that Gamecube Controller support will be hitting the Wii U; and will feature in the next Smash Bros. title! From the picture posted, it appears the support will be added via a new accessory which will plug in to the Wii U via USB and offer the standard four Gamecube controller ports like on the original ‘Cube and the Wii. Given the nature of the accessory, it seems unlikely this will be used ONLY for Smash Bros. – many Wii games and WiiWare / Wii Virtual Console titles supported the Gamecube and the Wii U is backwards-compatible with those, so we may see Gamecube controls returned to those games; but what’s stopping Nintendo also baking Gamecube controller support back into the Wii U Virtual Console or even into future Wii U titles? The prospect is tantalising.

Interestingly, the picture appears to show the Wii U with both front USB ports in use, though the connectors are different colours. This begs the question as to whether the Gamecube add-on will require one or two USB ports to use. What’s more, the plugged-in Gamecube controller in the picture features a Smash Ball decal – just a decorative touch, or will whole new, special-edition Gamecube controllers hit the stores once again? There’s a lot of questions still to be answered; but one thing’s for sure. Those of you who’ve kept hold of your Gamecube controllers for the last couple of years or more, now have even more reason to feel smug.

Gg Nintendo. Now people can’t tell me I’m crazy for keeping four new gcn controllers all these years!

— Digmbot, via Facebook

The last week seems to have brought a lot of game developers out of their trance as far as the question of what will happen to the multiplayer servers of many games after Gamespy is shut down on the 31^st of the month. Quite a few games have already had solutions either announced or already put into place. The latest are Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Dawn of War II.

Relic have swooped in at the last moment seemingly (although the process actually started last week) to save the original Dawn of War from Gamespy and while Dawn of War II is not supported by Gamespy (rather the Games for Windows system) they’ve decided to set it up with the same new system. In short it means that these games, noted for being progressive games in the RTS genre, will continue to offer multiplayer games after the end of May. And that means all seven titles as well.

Dawn of War’s multiplayer has already been updated to work through Steam instead via a patch offered on May 22^nd, but Dawn of War 2’s new system is still a work in progress. Relic say that they expect it to be buggy for a little while, but they couldn’t fathom leaving the players without any sort of multiplayer system for a length of time so release it mostly-finished so they can patch the bugs while still offering players the chance to connect and compete.

Sega have released the details of a new Sonic character today via their online Sega blog. The character will be important to the events of the new Sonic Boom franchise, appearing in the show, games and merchandise as part of the ‘core ensemble’.

The character is an orange and brown ‘jungle badger’ named ‘Sticks’, who has lived in the wilds all her life. The blog describes her as “the most primal character in the Sonic franchise” and as a “force of nature”. She’s listed as being a strong hunter, survivalist and having a strong animal instinct, using hand-crafted weaponry (most notably a boomerang) to take on foes. However the wildness of her character makes it hard for her to trust others, as well as having negatively affected her social skills.

In terms of relationships, the blog says that she and Amy will become close, Amy helping the badger to adjust to social situations and more urban settings, while Sticks will protect Amy from greater threats. This could potentially be seen as the Sonic Boom’s way of developing Amy’s character beyond the constantly following fangirl of Sonic she is often depicted as, and maybe giving her an opportunity to mature slightly.

Beyond this, not too much more is known of her so we’ll have to wait and see how the games and tie-in show do with handling her character and role.

Sega blog post is here.