We’re back with the Top Five Stories of the Week. We have some great stories for you below. There you will find articles about GDC 2015 GOTY, Metal Gear Solid V and Unreal Engine 4 and much more. As always, for the full article, simple click on the hyperlink. Get in, sit down and hold on because here we go!
Number 5
Square Enix Confirms New DLC for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Publisher Square Enix has announced today that Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call has received brand-new DLC.
The DLC, which is now available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, is comprised of songs from Square Enix games across multiple console generations, including Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy Tactics, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger.
With the DLC introducing six songs to Curtain Call, each individual track will be retailing at £0.89 (€0.99), Square Enix has confirmed.
For a full list of songs, check the original article.
Number 4
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power Announced
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power announced
March 2, 2015
The award winning series Trine will receive a 3rd installment to the franchise this year (2015) which was announced by Frozenbyte, the developer, with quite a colorful announcement trailer. The game will be called “Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power“.
The official blurb for the game is on the developer’s website which states.
“The Three Heroes embark on a new adventure through an enchanting fairytale world full of wonders, puzzles, dangerous foes and strange magic – coming 2015!”
Number 3
Epic Games Announces Unreal Engine 4 is Now Free
The Unreal Engine 4 is now available for the public to download for free, Epic Games has announced today.
Unreal Engine 4, which is capable of being used in game development, film, VR and animation, was previously priced at $19.00 per month in 2014.
According to Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney, the new free-to-download model for Unreal Engine 4 allows the company to take “a 5% royalty on gross revenue after the first $3,000 per product, per quarter.”
“The past year has been a whirlwind for everyone at Epic Games,” he said in a blog post. “Our community has grown massively. The quality and variety of creative work being done has been breathtaking.
“When we asked people to submit their projects to be shown this year at GDC, we had the challenge of picking just eight from over 100 finalists that were all good enough to show.”
Number 2
New Leak Dates Metal Gear Solid V For a September Release
Just hours ahead of its intended announcement, Metal Gear Solid V‘s release date has wandered into the wilds of the Internet. According to reports across multiple sources, designer Hideo Kojima’s stealth-action epic is set for a Sep. 1st release.
The news was originally leaked via an IGN video interview that’s now been taken down. If true – and true it might be by all accounts – the release date is only a bit surprising given the game’s rumored Q2 release for 2015.
Recent fan theories have purported that a t-shirt donned by Kojima himself at last year’s The Game Awards implicated a summer release for the fifth numbered installment of the Metal Gear Solid series. If Metal Gear Solid V is indeed a September release, that’ll just be shy of the truth.
Though Konami’s big announcement may be inevitably relegated to far smaller news than planned, IGN’s video allegedly featured Kojima discussing the game’s lead of Big Boss/Solid Snake. The character will be more of a strong, silent type this time around, instead letting his friends tell more of the story than he. Big Boss is voiced by TV’s Kiefer Sutherland (24, Touch) who further performed motion-capture for the character.
When Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain does release, it will be for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and 3, Xbox 360, and Windows for PC.
Number 1
Shadow of Mordor Wins GOTY at GDC 2015
A lot of indie love characterized this year’s conference, with Ustwo’s mobile darling Monument Valley took home three prizes, for best visual art, the innovation award, and best handheld/mobile game. The Game of the Year award however, went to Monolith’s Productions’ Shadow of Mordor which we were rather fond of too.
Wizardry designer Brenda Romero took home an Ambassador Award and the annual Pioneer Award went to Dave Braben. Final Fantasy creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, meanwhile, took home a Lifetime Achievement Award as was announced last month.
The full list of game winners can be found below.
- Best Technology: Destiny • Best Audio: Alien: Isolation • Best Narrative: Kentucky Route Zero • Best Visual Art: Monument Valley • Best Handheld/Mobile Game: Monument Valley Best Game Design: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft • Best Debut: The Banner Saga Innovation Award: Monument Valley • Audience Award: Elite: Dangerous • Game of the Year: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Honorable Mentions
This week had a lot of big news and the news staff and I found it hard to narrow it down to the usual five stories:
If you have suggestions for future entries, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com