NEWS: New Shovel Knight Trailer Released

The 2nd trailer for the NES-inspired game also reveals its release date.

Originally starting as a kickstarter project, developer Yacht Club Games reached well over there goal of $75,000 with a final figure standing at $311,000. 

Today, a new trailer simply titled 'Trailer 2' revealed much of what players can expect in the final release, including various nods to classic NES titles such as Castlevania, Duck Tales, Mega Man, and Super Mario Bros.

The game features tons of gameplay mechanics gamers will find similar to the already mentioned NES games, for example the Knight has the ability to bounce on enemies using his shovel much like Scrooge did in Duck Tales: The Quest For Gold but with his walking stick. 

Noticable graphical influences include the rotating cogs in the background much like the ones in Castlevania III.

Shovel Knight is to be released March 31 on Wii U, 3DS, and Steam - check out the latest trailer below.

NEWS: MegaDrive History Book Exceeds Kickstarter Goal

A comprehensive look into the MegaDrive's complete history has been set for a 2014 release.

After reaching its initial goal of £30,000 on the Kickstarter website, Darren Wall has confirmed the project will be going ahead, whilst offering massive amounts of insight into what the book will offer.

Although the goal has been reached, the current total stands at £79,324 with almost 1,800 backers supporting the project. Depending on the amount pledged, certain people will get special versions of the book.

Wall claims the book, titled 'SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works [[ セガ メガド ライブ／ジェネシス：作品集成 ] will "be the definitive volume on the landmark console", going on to say "the book is officially licensed by SEGA and celebrates the 25^th anniversary of the console's release"

Over 20 interviews with the original SEGA team members will be included, in which some have "never been interviewed before", as well as a 10,000 word piece focusing on how the console changed gaming, which will be written by Keith Stuart, the Games Editor for Guardian, who also contributes to Edge magazine from time to time.

Noticable interviews will include the likes of Naoto Oshima (Sonic the Hedgehog), Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage), and Toru Yoshida (Phantasy Star II).

Expect practically every game to be covered in the book, as it will "showcase a wealth of SEGA's 16-bit titles, from blockbuster games such as Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star, Gunstar Heroes, The Super Shinobi/Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe through to cult gems such as Rent-a-Hero, Vectorman and DecapAttack."

The book itself will be published June 2014. This seems like an extremely interesting read and a must for any gamer out there. Will you buy a copy? Leave your comments below.

PREVIEW: Octodad: Dadliest Catch - "Wedding Bells" Gameplay

After receiving well more funding than needed back in 2011, Young Horses Inc. have released brand new gameplay.

The funding for third-person interactive adventure Octodad: Dadliest Catch ended in August 2011, with the developers receiving $24,320 - surpassing the goal of $20,000. It's known as one of the first games to take part in the Steam Greenlight programme, enabling huge promotion opportunities.

The video shows main character Octodad attempting to get ready for his wedding (this game already got weird) - the player must perform certain tasks from first-person view using the mouse as his arms movements.

You might notice moving around the place proves very difficult to Octodad - constantly knocking stuff over and bumping into his surroundings, but it proves for interesting gameplay.

Unique is the best way to describe this game so far, and it looks a lot of fun. Expect a PS4, Mac, and PC release in 2014 - no specific date quite yet. Check out the gameplay below, as well as other videos on the channel.

NEWS: James Pond 4 Kickstarter Cancelled

Popular 90's character James Pond was set for a new game, but funding is nowhere near enough.

Earlier in September, it emerged that Gameware were planning on creating a brand-new James Pond game. 

However, in order to get the project up and running, they would need a total of £100,000 - an amount the company came to realise they wouldn't be able to get in time for October 10, the end of the funding period over at Kickstarter.

The team have said the following in terms of reasons the project had to be cancelled:

"We came into this with little game to show. We appreciate we were asking for a lot of faith from you guys, and our mantra from the start has always been to keep the game design as open as possible, with the fans calling the shots. This was a risk, and it didn't work out, but I will say a huge thank you to everyone who pledged."

A total of 336 pledges made up the amount of £16,000, just over a quarter of the actual goal, but the team are still enthusiastic about the prospects of James Pond 4:

"But is this the end for Pond? We sure hope not! If there's one thing we've learned from running this campaign it's that there sure is still a lot of love for this plucky secret agent fish and we believe it'll only take the right game and the right campaign to make James Pond 4 a reality. So stay tuned and we will be back with more news soon."

If you're a fan of the Pond games, don't expect a new game any time soon but keep in mind these guys are still very enthusiastic about the idea, and I'm sure will keep on trying.