So on the Monday Freeview, we have brought you some examples of free shows or games you’ve been able to get a hold of. Up until this point though we have ignored two very important “free” options in the gaming world. These are the downloadable gaming libraries available to those subscribed to the XBox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus services.

While these services are technically not free, the inclusion of downloadable titles has been added to them as an added value while both primarily serve as a way for gamers to play online for the XBox 360, XBox One and PlayStation 4.

First, let’s take a look at the PlayStation Plus service. Originally a waning service as it wasn’t required for online play, the Instant Game Collection was one of the features that had not been fully exploited. It wasn’t until about two years after the service launched in June of 2010 that they began offering full PlayStation 3 titles to the roster as opposed to mainly retro games or PSN titles.

Last year, players got to experience a Walking Dead experience that rivaled the comics with Telltale’s The Walking Dead. Sticking to a traditional point and click adventure style of storytelling rather than an action game or shooter (like AMC’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct).

Last week on Tuesday for PSN users and Friday for XBLA users, Telltale released a special episode for The Walking Dead. Meant to act as a bridge between season 1 and the upcoming season 2, there is a departure from part of what people loved so much of the first season for. But, the new aspects of the game and its storytelling keeps the hook there for players for the next season.

The Long

The first thing players will note in The Walking Dead: 400 Days is the separation from the main characters in the first season. Where there is an appearance from some periphery characters, the majority of those seen in the game are new to both the game and the comics. There is also a group of six characters players take the role of (five characters with their own chapter and then one epilogue) as opposed to only playing for Lee in the previous title.

This is where things start to feel starkly different. Part of what was so addictive in the first season of The Walking Dead was following the relationship between Lee and Clementine. In 400 Days though, before you can get too invested in a single character, you move onto the next. The long term results of these actions also remain to be seen as to how these characters will play a role in the second season alongside those who made it through the first.

When I was younger, like most kids, I had Michelangelo pegged as my favorite Ninja Turtle. He was the fun one, the cool one, the one that everyone wanted to be. But as I matured (as mature as you can get when still being a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that is), I began to lean more and more towards Leonardo.

Of the four brothers he is the one who had to balance a father’s expectations along with brothers who were either immature, socially outcast or rebellious. He also has the most badass of any of the weapons.

In this new darker TMNT game coming to the PlayStation Network and XBLA this summer, Leonardo may very well be the first turtle I choose to be. In the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game his swords were second only to Donatello’s bo for range and damage and later iterations put in him the role as team leader amongst his band of brothers.

Yesterday, a video surfaced on a random YouTube page titled REVEAL PLAYSTATION 4 PS4 E3 2013 新しいプレイステーションE3プレゼ. Since most people over here in the US don’t read Japanese, they just assumed this as a mark of authenticity and speculation began running wild. Although later disproven when Sony, the king of “no comment”, actually remarked to Kotaku that the ad was a fake, the damage had been done and arguments had already began, friendships were ended and wars were started.

But why the debate? We have already seen what is arguably the most important aspect of the PlayStation 4 with the reveal and that was the gameplay. The only thing of significance “revealed” for the first time was the actual PS4 console. Does what the box itself looks like really matter? I don’t know about you but the box itself isn’t the visible focal point of my entertainment setup. While everything is either going into the XBox 360 or PlayStation 3, I never actually care to look at it as I am playing.

In two weeks, EVE Online takes the next step into cross-platform play when it will officially be launching DUST 514 on to the PlayStation Network. On May 14th, CCP Games will be releasing DUST 514 for free to the PSN as a part of EVE Online’s extended universe. After ten years of building the world of EVE Online in the half spreadsheet economic simulator / half space combat genre, the PC based game world is going to expand to the PlayStation 3 console with FPS combat.

To help explain how the connection of the two titles, CCP Games has put together an amazing trailer explaining the back-story of the Immortals. Make sure to check it out after the jump. In addition, CCP announced a Collector’s Edition entitled EVE: The Second Decade which boasts in game and physical items to help contribute to the full EVE Online and DUST 514 experience.