Earlier this month, Nintendo became a YouTube partner and they’ve now begun filing “content ID match” claims on several Let’s Play and fan-produced videos featuring Nintendo games and franchises. The claims allow Nintendo to monetize these videos by inserting ads for the company before, next to or at the end of videos.

By doing this, Nintendo is preventing possible ad revenue for Let’s Players and the owners of Nintendo fan video, some of whom make a living producing these videos.

These content claims should only be for ad purposes, but according to sources speaking to Gamasutra, Nintendo has gone so far as to have certain videos removed from YouTube entirely.

“So far it’s mostly been affecting bigger channels and mostly videos posted recently,” said their source. “The main problem is that no one seems to know why they’re doing it or what their eventual goal is.”

In an official statement to the press, Nintendo denies the accusations of shutting down videos, even saying they do not want to block people using their intellectual properties.

“As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database. For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.

For more information please visit http://www.youtube.com/yt/copyright/faq.html“

Many in the fan gaming community are seeing this as a very negative move from Nintendo. They feel that these videos are practically free advertising and praise for Nintendo and their games, and by going after them, the company is cutting off the nose to spite the face for no good reason.

Source: Gamasutra, Game Front

Kirby’s Adventure goes on sale tomorrow in the Wii U eShop for 30 cents as part of Nintendo’s continuing Virtual Console Trial Campaign.

The version of the game coming to Europe is the PAL version, but according to Nintendo, the music and gameplay have been optimized to run similar to the NTSC version. Animations, however, may run at PAL speeds.

In addition to all of that, the game’s aspect ratio has been corrected.

Source: Nintendo.co.uk

The NES DuckTales game (Yes. That one) is getting a HD remake for the Wii U, 360 and PS3 this summer.

Capcom has enlisted the help of WayForward to help make the 8-bit classic shine, and the developers of Shantae are doing just that, working their 2D expertise to replicate the cartoon’s style with hand-drawn environments and character sprites.

If just the thought of this remake wasn’t enough to get your nostalgia going, the trailer for the game absolutely knocks things out of the park. Woo-OO!

Source: Capcom-Unity

Punch-Out!! for the NES is now out on the Wii U as part of Nintendo’s Virtual Console Trial Campaign. The game will only cost 30 cents for the next 30 days.

The next game in the campaign, Kirby’s Adventure, comes out April 17.

Punch-Out!! for the NES is the game coming to the Wii U Virtual Console as part of Nintendo’s promotional Trial Campaign and unlike the European re-release of Balloon Fight, this version will run at 60Hz.

Nintendo’s European community voiced its disappointment after learning that their version Balloon Fight ran at 50Hz, which resulted in Wii U owners playing a noticably slower version of the game. But it seems that Nintendo has gotten the message.

The previous Virtual Console game, F-Zero, was also released at 60Hz.

Source: Chris Scullion

Jakob Schaefer has created a mod that essentially turns classic controllers into WaveBirds for the consoles of yesteryear.

So far, the NES, SNES, N64 and Sega Saturn are supported, but they are all cross-console compatible. So, you can live the dream and play Street Fighter II Turbo with the Saturn controller.

The mod doesn’t exactly look beginner friendly, especially if you have little to no experience soldering, but if you want to try it out, Schaefer has all the schematics and instructions for building your own controller and receiver bundled up neatly in a convenient .zip file.

Source: YouTube

It’s not April yet, but Google is getting in on the April Fool’s festivities early with a very Dragon Quest-like rendition of Google Maps.

Even Street View has gotten the retro treatment. Be warned: The colors are a bit nauseating.

After what seems like an eternity since they were announced, Game Gear games will finally be coming to the eShop.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Shinobi and Dragon Crystal will be the first titles to go on sale on March 15.

Nintendo hasn’t announced a price for Game Gear games just yet. They did, however, announce some new games heading down the pipeline.

• Punch-Out!!™ Featuring Mr. Dream (March 8) – The classic boxing game from the NES™ returns, featuring fan-favorite characters like Little Mac and Bald Bull.
• Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! from Shin’en (March 8) – Use your personalized Mii™ character to play 81 challenging holes in exotic locations around the globe.
• Zombie Slayer Diox™ from UFO Interactive (March 22) – A samurai guitarist must use his superior musical chops to defeat zombies in this unique rhythm-action game.
• Arc Style Soccer!! 3D from ArcSystem Works (March/April) – This easy-to-learn, customizable soccer game lets players use photos of their own faces and play wirelessly with friends.
• Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure™ from SEGA (free demo version, April 19) – Download a demo version to feel the rhythm and beat of the mystery in this spellbinding adventure game.
• Crush™3D from SEGA (free demo version, available now) – This unique platform game gives you the ability to change perspective from 2D to 3D as you try to solve brain-teasing puzzles.

Source: Press Release

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An update for Super Mario Bros. on the 3DS Virtual Console is now available.

The update adds Virtual Console features that were omitted when the game launched for Ambassadors last August. Players now have access to save states and a fleshed-out instruction manual. The update also changes the game’s menu icon to a cool floating NES and TV.

Ambassadors will be prompted to update their game the next time they log into the eShop.

Nintendo mentioned that the NES Ambassador games would eventually go on sale to the general public, and now the original Legend of Zelda has appeared in the Japanese eShop.

The paid version features some notable changes from the Ambassador version, like a revised icon that shows the actual console and the ability to create restore points like in current Virtual Console games.

Ambassadors need not worry that their version of the game is inferior. Nintendo has promised that they will be able to download the updated versions free of charge.

Source: Tiny Cartridge