A classic RTS game is to return with an upgraded look and enhanced features next month. Set to be sold on Steam by new owners Skybox Labs, the new Rise of Nations hopes to capture the elements that made it originally a well-received game while providing a smooth updated feel.

Originally developed by Big Huge Games, Rise of Nations combined two of the other best-selling strategy games – Civilization and Age of Empires – into a game that made use of some of the best parts of each back in 2003. Big Huge Games was eventually acquired by 38 Studios and along with other properties, Rise of Nations was snapped up at auction by Skybox after 38 Studios went into liquidation. Skybox have also touched up other classic property Age of Mythology, so they’re not new to the game of enhancing older games.

The new Rise of Nations Enhanced Edition will include both the base game and the Thrones & Patriots expansion, and comes with upgraded graphics, fixes to allow the game to run better with newer hardware as well as Steamworks and Twitch integration to allow for easy multiplayer connection and streaming respectively. It’s also available with a 20 percent discount if pre-ordered.

Details have emerged of a new Sony studio set to reveal its first project at E3. The studio is named Pixel Opus and is partially the result of a program where Carnegie Mellon students were allowed to work with Sony Computer Entertainment America executive producer Alex Lee as part of their coursework.

The students produced prototype games for the Vita as part of their studies, which led to a number being taken on as interns with Sony and eventually hired. The studio, mainly made up of students who have now graduated Carnegie Mellon, have been working hard to get their first project finished in time. Lee says that although a number of programs like this one have been available at established universities for a while, they’ve been gaining in relevance and it’s only recently that their effect has begun to be felt by the industry.

We can only wait and see what the project they are presenting will be.

A small mod team have been working on a recreation of the original Metal Gear it seems. Cautiously at first because they didn’t wish to tread on the toes of original developers and owners Konami, lest they get into trouble with the company. However, Konami have heard of the project and have now given the team the go-ahead.

The mod team named Outer Haven are making their recreation in a version of Valve’s Alien Source engine and although they’ve started their work, they haven’t really made a lot of progress thus far as they’d been waiting for Konami’s go-ahead. Konami have now let the team ‘fill their boots’ and make their recreation on the condition that it isn’t used commercially (i.e. “you cannot use our copyrighted material to promote a product you are selling or making any profit from ”). As long as Outer Haven stick to that, they are free to proceed.

As they reach out to the wider Internet community to look for more team members to help bring their project to fruition, it’ll be interesting to see just how faithful a recreation they will make.

Project page is here.

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.