One question raised is whether PlayStation music will operate like the Spotify program for the PC, or if it will act similar to the mobile app. In the mobile app, the service takes similarities to common radio apps, in which you may listen to radio stations based off of songs or artists, or you can listen to your personal playlists on shuffle. Many people may bedisappointed if PlayStation music is simply Pandora radio for your PlayStation. Do you believe the fusion of music and video games will be beneficial? Or will it lead to more price tags andhassle?

View the official announcement here.

I recommend downloading Spotify if you have a stable internet connection, and want free music.

#1: Add Optional Premium and/or Paid Accounts

Microsoft's XBox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 both have one thing in common that seem to keep drawing in more consumers, and that is XBox Live's Silver and Gold Memberships and PlayStation Network's PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now accounts. They are paid subscription accounts that have special features available only to those that have them. This usually includes improved internet stability and security, cloud service, special discounts for certain games, and early access for some games still in BETA, and with PlayStation Now, streaming games from earlier systems at no extra charge. If Nintendo did something similar with their Nintendo Network, they could add something like a "Nintendo Network Premium Account" that have features similar to this.

#2: Unlock the Region Lock

There are many gamers (like myself) that like to import games from other countries. This could be because some games aren't available in the country where you live, or certain games are heavily censored when they were localized for your country of residence. This however can be an inconvenient problem if the console isn't region free. Ever since Nintendo had started making games, they have always tried to implement a form of region locking on all of their home consoles, and now it has spread to their portable systems starting with the 3DS. This makes it expensive if you want to import games because it now requires you to buy a system that matches the region the game is in as well. Now, we have seen hackers exploit the 3DS to make it region free before, so I propose that Nintendo can do either one of two options with this one. Either A: Make their next set of systems region free from the start; or B: Offer a paid digital "Passport" on the eShops that unlocks the system for use with imported games. If Microsoft can do it with an update to their XBox One, Nintendo should have no excuse to not do it to the Wii U, 3DS or the yet to be released NX.

#3: Match their Competitors' Specs

While Nintendo has been absolutely fantastic when it comes to gameplay, they have been shown to sometimes be "behind the times" with their system's tech. This has spawned some issues that could be the cause to why so many games haven't been ported to their systems. It's probably also the reason why so many of Nintendo's old 3rd Party stand-by games went to PlayStation when Nintendo showed that they would continue to use cartridges. If Nintendo is to step up their game and give players a reason to pick them over their competitors, they need to either match, or surpass the graphical and computing power of their rivals if they are to get more games ported to their systems. This can be a challenge however as Nintendo usually goes lower to save on money and to make their systems for affordable, but I'm sure that if they tried, then they can pull it off.

#4: Make More amiibo Compatible Games

Thanks to Skylanders and Disney Infinity, amiibo has grown to be quite the phenomenon with collectors, and for good reason. They are really well designed, sturdy, fairly priced, and can do a variety of things in games that support their use, that is if you can find a game that uses them well. So far Splatoon, Super Smash Bros 4 and Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash are the only games I've seen that use the amiibo well enough to warrant a purchase of one, assuming you aren't a collector. As such, Nintendo needs to make more games in which amiibo have more compelling uses and more free titles that can only be played with amiibo. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival is a good start, but it isn't good enough. We need a Skylanders styled game that use these things, or some kind of digital trophy case app that gives a little bit of flavor text and a small mini game specifically for that amiibo when it is scanned.

#5: Make a New Loyalty Program

When it was still active, Club Nintendo was great. I ended up getting a lot of really cool stuff from there and it is partially the reason why I started pre-ordering my games instead of getting them a few weeks after they came out (registering games early netted you more spendable points). This was an ingenious way to get people to buy their games early, and it was also a great way to get exclusive rewards that you wouldn't be able to buy normally like a special Mario cap or a re-issued Ball Game & Watch. However, it kinda fell to the wayside when the rewards started to become a little...lackluster, and as such the program was canned. I thought the idea of cool exclusive rewards should be brought back in some way with a new loyalty program, but since physical rewards are expensive to produce (and probably the reason why Club Nintendo stopped offering them), I propose a digital program that can offer exclusive digital themes, games, and gift cards to loyal buyers.

#6 More Physical Pre-Order Bonuses

If there is one thing I know about pre-ordering games, it is special bonuses make sells happen. Every time I've tried to pre-order a game in the Zero Escape series so I can get the special bonus watch that came with it, I was always too late and never managed to get one. Nintendo needs to do this more, especially in North America because I keep hearing that UK stores like GAME offer a ton of physical pre-order bonuses for the games that they sell while we only really get digital ones like exclusive DLC or a digital soundtrack or art book. I feel that this is incredibly unfair to American, Canadian, and Latin American consumers as they are missing out on some really cool stuff and it would get Nintendo the sales that they desperately need to survive in the gaming market.

#7: STOP WITH THE YOUTUBE COPYRIGHT CLAIMS!

Even though Nintendo has been pretty good on what they've put on their YouTube channel (specifically with their Nintendo Directs), this has caused nothing but trouble with Let's Players, Reviewers, and News channels on that site. Nintendo, for some reason, has been issuing copyright claims left and right for videos containing gameplay of games they've created and/or produced even though most of those videos technically count as free advertisement. From my experience, gameplay footage =/= playing the game first hand. I have actually ended up buying MORE games because of some Let's Plays I've seen on YouTube. Come on Nintendo, even though you are well within your legal rights, please just let your fans make their videos in peace. And while you're at it, you should drop the whole Nintendo Creators Program as well. That just spells nothing but trouble.

#8: Make ALL Virtual Console Games Cross-Buy

If you happen to own two or more game systems by the same company, you should expect to be able to buy the game once on your account and be able to use it across all platforms, right? Sony does this with their PS1 classics and Xbox with their XBox Live Arcade titles and they have had few complaints among their consumers, but Nintendo doesn't seem to grasp this very well. Nintendo has hundreds of games that would benefit greatly from being playable on all systems, but the thought of buying the same game again just to play it on another system is very deterring, especially when some of the games are exclusive to a certain platform. Make them work with all systems, including the N64 games, and I'm sure that would make a lot of consumers happy.

#9: More Cross Compatible and Cross Platform Games

I don't really know how to word what it is called exactly, but what I'm referring to are entirely different games that have the ability to unlock features in each other, and games that allow for multiplayer across different platforms. I remember when Metroid Prime had the ability to have special unlockables when it connected to the Game Boy Advance game Metroid Fusion. It gave a reason to buy and play through both games and it gave them reason to be replayed. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Animal Crossing both did something similar where if you connected a Game Boy Advance (without a game) to the console, it could download special extras to the handheld that added to the experience. Now for cross platform multiplayer games, I have only really seen two games that offer this on the Wii U and one of them has kind of an odd way of doing it. Let's just hope Nintendo gets better at this in the future.

#10: Universal Accounts

Now I'm sure this has irritated a lot of fans, but the Wii U and 3DS have a rather annoying form of linked accounts: Only one Wii U and one 3DS can be linked to a single Nintendo Network account at a time and you'll have to transfer all of the content on the system if you want to upgrade. Microsoft and Sony have a universal account system that works for all of their platforms and it allows them to re-download any and all compatible games and software onto a newer system at no additional cost. This is an excellent way to keep consumers and fans as long as possible and it helps buyers to save as much as possible while still enjoying their hobby.

If Nintendo does these things, I'm sure it can bring them back into relevance with their old consumers. If not, well at least they would be on equal footing with their competitors. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Daybreak Games (Formally games under Sony Online Entertainment) have today launched cross platform support on the EU servers of DC Universe Online (DCUO), meaning that players on the Playstation 3 and 4 version of the game will be sharing the game world with PC players. The US servers are also due to merged this week.

The announcement of cross platform play was originally made during DCUO’s 5 year celebration week. Other announcements include DCUO coming to XBox One in Spring 2016, Water as a new Healing powerset (All powersets have DPS trees as well), a 4^th colour pallet for costumes, access to unlock gear or costume styles for alternate characters and new signature characters for Legends PvE and PvP modes based off the recent debut of the “DC Legends of Tomorrow“ TV show on The CW Network.

1. Ghost of Yōtei Legends’ Raid gets a proper post-game spotlight

PlayStation and Sucker Punch gave us a lovely behind-the-scenes look at the endgame Raid for Ghost of Yōtei Legends, and it sounds like the studio learned a lot from Ghost of Tsushima Legends.

The Raid is built around four-player coordination, supernatural boss battles, and puzzle-style teamwork, but the interesting bit is how Sucker Punch tried to make it less punishing to return to. Teams can replay boss sections rather than committing to one huge session, which feels like a very sensible improvement.

My take: this is exactly the kind of support multiplayer modes need. Keep the challenge, but respect people’s time.

2. Subnautica 2 has had a monster Early Access launch

Subnautica 2 entered Early Access this week and, according to Unknown Worlds, sold 2 million copies in 12 hours, with a huge concurrent player peak across PC and Xbox.

That is a ridiculous start for an Early Access survival game, but not a surprising one. The original Subnautica built up years of goodwill, and the sequel’s promise of co-op exploration on a new alien world is clearly landing with players.

There are some Early Access caveats, of course, but the overall energy around this launch feels very positive. People wanted more Subnautica. They got more Subnautica. They immediately dived in.

3. Forza Horizon 6 is nearly here, and Game Pass is stacked

Xbox’s latest Game Pass wave is a busy one, with Forza Horizon 6, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Subnautica 2, Mixtape, Outbound, and more either live or imminent. The big one, obviously, is Forza Horizon 6, which starts early access today for Premium Upgrade players before its wider Game Pass arrival on May 19.

Source: Xbox Wire

A Japan-set Forza Horizon is such an easy win on paper that it almost feels unfair. If Playground gets the roads, cities, mountains, and night-time atmosphere right, this could be the “clear your weekend” game of the month.

4. Nintendo Switch 2 is getting a better-value bundle this summer

Nintendo announced a Switch 2: Choose Your Game Bundle launching in early June at participating retailers. It includes the console plus a download code for one of three games: Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Pokémon Pokopia.

Source: Nintendo

This is a smart bundle because it does not force everyone into the same pack-in. Mario Kart is the obvious crowd-pleaser, Donkey Kong is the big platforming pick, and Pokémon Pokopia gives cozy players something more relaxed. More choice at checkout is always welcome.

5. PlayStation Plus gets Star Wars Outlaws, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Time Crisis

May’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog is a strong one. Star Wars Outlaws, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Thaumaturge, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, Broken Sword: Reforged, and more arrive on May 19, while Premium players also get Time Crisis.

Time Crisis being back is the kind of thing that makes me instantly nostalgic. Star Wars Outlaws and Red Dead 2 are the headline names, but that arcade inclusion is a lovely little extra for anyone who still misses light-gun games.

6. Saros is showing more of its story side

Housemarque shared a new behind-the-scenes look at Saros, focusing on lead character Arjun Devraj and actor Rahul Kohli’s performance capture work.

Saros already had attention because it is Housemarque following up Returnal, but this update is a nice reminder that the studio is not just chasing bullet patterns and spectacle. It wants a stronger character-driven hook too.

I’m very into that. Returnal’s atmosphere was already incredible; if Saros can pair that level of action with a more front-facing cast, it could be something special.

7. Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is officially coming this summer

Daybreak and Cold Iron Studios announced Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, due this summer for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Epic Games Store, and Steam.

The sequel expands the squad size from three to four players and promises deeper customization, including mix-and-match weapons, abilities, and classes.

That already sounds like the right direction. The first game had a solid “squad vs xenomorph chaos” foundation, and a four-player sequel with more build depth could turn it into a proper co-op regular.

8. Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II finally has a date

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II launches on May 21 for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC, timed alongside the Warhammer Skulls showcase.

The sequel has two playable factions, two campaigns, and a much bigger strategic layer around controlling territory. More importantly, the first Mechanicus had one of the most memorable Warhammer game soundtracks ever, and composer Guillaume David is back.

That alone is enough to get tactical fans listening.

Bonus: Nintendo is still making the Virtual Boy weirdly relevant

Nintendo also added more Virtual Boy classics to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, including V-Tetris, Jack Bros., Space Invaders Virtual Collection, Virtual Bowling, and Vertical Force.

Source: Nintendo

I still cannot quite believe Virtual Boy support is a real part of the Switch 2 era, but I love that Nintendo is preserving odd corners of its history rather than pretending they never happened.