Nintendo has announced a showcase of upcoming Nindie titles, and there are a few things we hope the company has at the top of their priority list.
Scheduled for Mar. 20 at 9 a.m. PST, the showcase coincides with this year’s Game Developer’s Conference and aims to put some of the upcoming indie titles for the Nintendo Switch in the spotlight. The showcase will offer a stream that will be viewable via Nintendo’s live video site and YouTube.
This follows a stellar first year of indie releases for the Nintendo Switch, with indie titles new and old finding a home on a platform which fans have proven surprisingly receptive to as a go-to platform for playing indie content on. As a result though, it is now more important than ever for Nintendo to cement itself as the defacto publisher for indie developers, providing a diverse selection of titles from a variety of developers. With that in mind, here are four things we want to see from next week’s Nindie showcase.
More Variety
While the number of indie titles available on the Switch continues to grow, a large number of the games available could be classified as platformers, RPGs or adventure titles. Though there’s nothing wrong with any of these titles, and many are more than worthy of any gamer’s time, one of the best qualities of indies is the sheer variety in what they can offer. From guiding laser-armed fish to victory in the undersea action title Ace of Seafood, to enigmatic horror titles like Layers of Fear: Legacy, some of the Switch’s most interesting new additions have strayed from the usual Nindie fare and been better for it. Moving forward, it would be great to see games from other genres not only to flesh out what Switch owners have to choose from, but also to help give exposure to those games which are breaking the mold.
More Ports of Older Indie Hits
Whether they were released years ago or as recently as last year on other consoles, some of the biggest games in indie gaming haven’t yet found there way to the Switch. While there could be a variety of reasons for this – chief among them being whether the developer has the time to develop a new port of the game for a new console – Nintendo has the means to help alleviate some of these issues by agreeing to publish the game for release on the Switch, and that’s to say nothing of the benefits rereleasing an older title on a new console brings. Plus, going by the warm receptions the ports of both Night in the Woods and Owlboy have received, there are few who aren’t open to the idea of seeing past indie hits come to Nintendo’s latest console.
More Collaborations With Established Creators
One of the coolest announcements made by Nintendo last year was that No More Heroes creator Suda51 would be working with several indie developers to create segments based off of their own titles for his upcoming game Travis Strikes Again. Not only did this acknowledge the success of said indies, but it also provided the opportunity for these creators to learn and create alongside an established creator from the AAA market.
By offering more collaborative projects, Nintendo can establish themselves not only as a company dedicated to providing new and entertaining indie experiences to gamers, but also as a publisher willing to create interaction between both ends of the gaming market, fostering learning between both sides on how to make games even better.
More New Exclusive Titles
While seeing a slew of ports for older indies released on the Switch this past year has been great, having new indie titles made specifically for the Switch would be even better. Fresh new concepts tailor made for the hardware, like last year’s sport and RPG hybrid Golf Story, help to show that the console is not only a good home for indies, but a great place for them to begin their life before being ported to other consoles. If Nintendo could show this with some big exclusives lined up for release throughout 2018, it could go a long way toward enticing gamers looking for something new as well as developers looking for the best home for their future games.
What do you want to see during next week’s Nindie showcase? Let us know in the comments section below, and check out some of our past coverage of Nindies for more information on the subject.
