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All Articles: Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight will break ground in 2014
I am very thankful for Shovel Knight, the upcoming NES-styled platformer from Yacht Club Games. You might even say (bad pun incoming) that I dug the time I got to spend with the game at this year’s PAX East expo. But sadly, it looks like the game’s release (on the PC, Wii U, and 3DS) has been pushed into 2014.
Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco has informed us that Shovel Knight will definitely be released in 2014. While he couldn’t pinpoint an exact release date, the development team is hoping to release their first game in the Winter months.
Winter… snow… Shovel Knight. It all makes perfect sense to me.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight
New Shovel Knight trailer heralds Winter 2013 release
Yacht Club Games has released a new trailer for Shovel Knight, their upcoming side-scrolling action title that features a level select style similar to Mega Man. The trailer is very similar to the game’s reveal trailer, which was released a few months ago, but I’m happy whenever we get new Shovel Knight information.
The developer has also confirmed that the game’s official release date is “Winter 2013” and a pre-order page for the PC/Steam version is now available at their official website. The game will also be released for the 3DS and Wii U but, obviously, you can’t pre-order it yet.
And if you’re at this year’s IndieCade, which concludes today, be on the lookout for Shovel Knight at the Nintendo booth.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight quadruples Kickstarter goal
Shovel Knight has reached the end of its Kickstarter odyssey and the retro platformer from Yacht Club Games has surpassed the developer’s wildest expectations.
Yacht Club Games, which is made up of several former members of WayForward Technologies, was asking for $75,000 to complete development on the PC, 3DS, and Wii U game. 14,749 backers responded with four times that amount and pledged a total of $311,502. The developer has set up a PayPal account for fans who missed out on the Kickstarter drive and still wish to donate and/or pre-order the game.
This outpouring of support has ensured that every stretch goal Yacht Club set for Shovel Knight will make its way into the final game including:
- Music Player
- Achievements
- New Game+
- 3 Playable Boss Knights
- Linux/Mac Versions
- Gender Swap Mode
- Challenge Mode
- 4 Player Battle Mode With All Boss Knights
- Real, Physical Box
Congratulations to the team at Yacht Club Games. Shovel Knight is currently expected to be released in September.
Shovel Knight Hands-On Preview: I’m Diggin’ It
Being in the vicinity of Shovel Knight, the first project from Yacht Club Games, seems to make horrible puns just emerge from the ether. During my PAX East playtime, a nearby developer assured me that while the current build was only ten percent complete, the team was beginning to “dig in” towards the game’s full potential. The developer actually hadn’t realized the double meaning of his words until someone else pointed them out to him. He apologized for the terrible wordplay and admitted that it had been happening all morning.
But a game like Shovel Knight requires this kind of pun-tastic sense of humor. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, PC, Previews, Top Story, Wii U
Tagged PAX East 2013, Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight Interview: Sailing the PAX East Seas With Sean Velasco
Sean Velasco knows retro games. As the former Director of WayForward Technologies, he was the driving force behind Contra 4, A Boy and His Blob, and Double Dragon: Neon. And as the “Captain” of Yacht Club Games, Velasco is sailing off into the uncharted waters of an original property, Shovel Knight.
You can read all about Shovel Knight in our PAX East playthrough, which will be posted later today (UPDATE: Here it is!). But for now, let Captain Velasco guide you through his love of classic games, his thoughts on Kickstarter, Shovel Knight’s future, and the possibility of a PSN/XBLA version of the game. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Features, Interviews, PC, Previews, Top Story, Wii U
Tagged PAX East 2013, Shovel Knight
The PAXpocalypse List: The Best of PAX East 2013
We don’t have the PAX pox, but what if the entire convention center was put under quarantine because of some mystery illness? What would you do? What would you see? We’d endure the PAXpocalypse by spending all of our time with the 13 games (nine playable, three developer-guided demos, and one board game) below. Though it would have to be after pushing the hordes of undead off our doorstep. Because any pox affecting PAXgoers would almost certainly have to lead to a zombie uprising. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, Delver's Drop, Diablo III, Legend of Dungeon, LocoCycle, Luftrausers, PAX East 2013, Saints Row IV, Secret Ponchos, Shovel Knight, Tabletop Games, Transistor, Watch Dogs
Kickstart This! The Post-Veronica Mars Edition
Kickstarter has been receiving a lot of attention in the press this week, mostly due to cult TV show Veronica Mars. Rob Thomas’ 24-hour success story (currently sitting at 175% funded) has been perceived by some as a wake-up call to the film industry, and by others as the end of Kickstarter’s indie innocence. The latter group highlighted the fact that Warner Bros. still owns the rights to the franchise, and that the multi-million dollar company will reap the benefits of the charitable donation of others. Those who have donated will have unprecedented access to information on the film during production, and fans donating over $35 will receive a digital copy of the film. While my own opinion on the positives and negatives of this project fluctuate, there was one detail that seemed very worrying. All of the reward levels come with a disclaimer saying “AVAILABLE TO US AND CANADA (NEW!) BACKERS ONLY.”
Thomas does acknowledge the fact, saying “there are hoops to jump through” in order to include other territories. It could be this is inherent in the dangers of crowdfunding a project where the rights are held by an entity whose aims are not wholly aligned with the spirit of Kickstarter. We have seen this in the past with rewards that required attendance to an event, but even then, people were still allowed to donate, and had the option to travel. For a show that aired globally, this seems like a worrying, xenophobic trend, one that I hope does not translate to other industries.
In light of this, I thought this month I would focus more on smaller indie projects, including classic side-scrolling action-adventure Shovel Knight, euphoric exploration game SoundSelf, first-person survival horror Pulse, retro pixel-art adventure Bik, surfing sim Kahuna Surfer, and last but not least, sci-fi RPG Reflux: The New World. (more…)
Shovel Knight confirmed for Wii U, 3DS
With the help of Kickstarter, the group at Yacht Club Games has announced they’ll officially be able to bring Shovel Knight to the Wii U and 3DS. The game had been previously only been announced for Windows PC with the Nintendo versions coming later if all went well. Now, all three versions of the classic 8-bit action-adventure game will be released in September 2013 (UPDATE: Yacht Club has commented on their Kickstarter page that the Wii U/3DS versions might lag slightly behind the PC release).
To receive a copy of the game on the Wii U or 3DS one must pledge $15 or more, while those seeking the PC version only have to pledge $10. Over $39,000 has been pledged at the time of this writing, and Yacht Club Games still has 25 more days to reach their goal of $75,000. So, if you’re looking for a great opportunity to help out an awesome indie company, pledge today!
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight