[Mista]

Nintendo will host an Indie World Showcase live stream featuring roughly 20 minutes new indie games coming to Switch on April 14 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET, the company announced. You will be able to watch it on YouTube (North America, Europe)

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I'm there. Maybe they'll announce a sequel to Ape Out.

 

[Nicktendo]

SHOW HOLLOW KNIGHT YOU COWARDS

 

[Rock And Roll]

In for Hollow Knight, Golf Story 2 and Dusk.

 

[ExpandKong]

Kojima Productions to show up out of nowhere? My sources close to the matter say "shut the fuck up, idiot."

 

[Stilton Disco]

Awesome, hopefully they'll have some cool new reveals.

 

[Stouffers]

I bought hollow knight when it came to switch, but I've only played it like 30 sec.. just hasn't grabbed me.

 

[ExpandKong]

I bought hollow knight when it came to switch, but I've only played it like 30 sec.. just hasn't grabbed me.

I put about three hours in maybe and I just don't get the hype. It's fine I guess and the art style is nice but I don't really see what sets it apart from the dozens upon dozens of other indie Metroidvanias.

 

[Mista]

Starts in 10 minutes

 

[Nicktendo]

Decent enough. Can't remember the names but some games look good and indie devs are really going bold with their artstyle, good to see.

No Sports Story or Hollow Knight is meh, but I feel they'd save both of those for a main direct.

 

[Rock And Roll]

Can't believe they just slipped House of the Dead remake into the sizzle reel at the end. Would have been better to feature that than half of the other games they showed.

 

[Nicktendo]

Can't believe they just slipped House of the Dead remake into the sizzle reel at the end. Would have been better to feature that than half of the other games they showed.

Full trailer.

 

[Arc]

Really glad I skipped. These have been notoriously poor, and this was no different.

Having caught up via watching the individual trailers, most of these games I would never, ever play or don't even understand. That's a repeated problem, the trailers being so far up their ass, that they don't even show gameplay or what the actual concept is about. Many of the comment sections themselves are just saying '...What?'.

I don't know if this is a general problem with indies, or if Nintendo spotlights questionable choices, but nothing here got me excited to play indie games on Switch. It makes me want to avoid them.

I really think these shows should be reserved for the Hollow Knight/Sports Story/Stardew Valley caliber hits.

 

[ExpandKong]

Really glad I skipped. These have been notoriously poor, and this was no different.

Having caught up via watching the individual trailers, most of these games I would never, ever play or don't even understand. That's a repeated problem, the trailers being so far up their ass, that they don't even show gameplay or what the actual concept is about. Many of the comment sections themselves are just saying '...What?'.

I don't know if this is a general problem with indies, or if Nintendo spotlights questionable choices, but nothing here got me excited to play indie games on Switch. It makes me want to avoid them.

I really think these shows should be reserved for the Hollow Knight/Sports Story/Stardew Valley caliber hits.

Definitely lacked a heavy hitter. Saw stuff that looked cool that I'll probably see a price for at launch, wait for a sale, and then never buy it when it's on sale (see: Raji from last year's indie direct).

Oh well. It's usually not too long after these that they do a more traditional direct. Will probably get one a few days after Pokemon Snap launches.

 

[Arc]

Definitely lacked a heavy hitter. Saw stuff that looked cool that I'll probably see a price for at launch, wait for a sale, and then never buy it when it's on sale (see: Raji from last year's indie direct).

Oh well. It's usually not too long after these that they do a more traditional direct. Will probably get one a few days after Pokemon Snap launches.

I just question what Nintendo is spotlighting. I'm not super into the field, but I've played indies, particularly on Switch, that were just as fulfilling as full games if not moreso.

The last year or so of these shows... I keep asking myself, 'Who is this for? Who is actually interested in these games?'. One or two games aside. A similar problem occurred in their last real direct, where a large amount of the third party games looked completely awful or mediocre.

I get the feeling that Nintendo is just showing games to fulfill marketing contracts and deals, regardless of if they're anything the audience wants to see. And/or whichever NoA employees handle the promotion of indies, are some twee, artsy type that thinks whatever their bubble gets excited about is the height of gaming.

 

[Stilton Disco]

I just question what Nintendo is spotlighting. I'm not super into the field, but I've played indies, particularly on Switch, that were just as fulfilling as full games if not moreso.

The last year or so of these shows... I keep asking myself, 'Who is this for? Who is actually interested in these games?'. One or two games aside. A similar problem occurred in their last real direct, where a large amount of the third party games looked completely awful or mediocre.

I get the feeling that Nintendo is just showing games to fulfill marketing contracts and deals, regardless of if they're anything the audience wants to see. And/or whichever NoA employees handle the promotion of indies, are some twee, artsy type that thinks whatever their bubble gets excited about is the height of gaming.

It's worse when they have the egotistical weirdo behind the games fellating themselves over their work before and after too.

These people act like what they've made is some groundbreaking shake up of the whole gaming industry, or something no one had done, or in some cases was allowed to do, until they bravely broke the mold.

And then it's the same dull, style over substance, artsy fartsy borefest we've seen a thousand times before, with the same tired, low talent bar artstyles, that are 10 a penny on every platform.

 

[Mista]

Definitely lacked a heavy hitter.

You can't expect a heavy hitter from an Indie Showcase bro

Its VERY rare to get a banger out of an indie game

 

[Stilton Disco]

You can't expect a heavy hitter from an Indie Showcase bro

Its VERY rare to get a banger out of an indie game

You really feel Nintendo, given how popular indies are on Switch and how relatively easy they are to make, even with the Wu Flu, would be investing in more of them though, and getting better and more varied titles in these showcases.

I mean Gris, Golf Story, The Tourist and Untitled Goose Game were all bangers that went over and sold well. It's not like they have zero feedback and sales data to base their choices off.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

If I never saw another "low poly 3D platformer in pastel colors" or "sidescrolling indie metroidventure" it would be too soon.

 

[Mista]

You really feel Nintendo, given how popular indies are on Switch and how relatively easy they are to make, even with the Wu Flu, would be investing in more of them though, and getting better and more varied titles in these showcases.

I mean Gris, Golf Story, The Tourist and Untitled Goose Game were all bangers that went over and sold well. It's not like they have zero feedback and sales data to base their choices off.

True. I loved Gris and Golf Story but the other two no

I used to hate indie games until I noticed that I enjoy them more than AAA games in the past 3-4 years

 

[Nicktendo]

True. I loved Gris and Golf Story but the other two no

I used to hate indie games until I noticed that I enjoy them more than AAA games in the past 3-4 years.

This is true for me too, there have been some fantastic indie games on the Switch and I feel Nintendo were doing a very decent job leveraging them and promoting them to fill the glaring third party gaps.

It is absolutely true though that for every excellent indie title, there are 10 that are complete wank. Once you open the floodgates, you've got every "egotistical weirdo fellating themselves" (Chad yes) thinking they'll be the next Miyamoto.

Nintendo did a good job in the first couple of years of brining attention to good indie games. That was reflected in their sales numbers. They've seemed to switch to a more hands-off approach now, bar the showcases, and it's telling. The eShop is a mess, discoverability is next to none, and they seem to be happy to let the free-for-all continue. Fine if you want the market to decide, but Nintendo were absolute bastards in the 80s and 90s with what they'd approve on their platform, and I personally would like them to take this approach again with indie games. Curation is not a terrible thing.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Fine if you want the market to decide, but Nintendo were absolute bastards in the 80s and 90s with what they'd approve on their platform, and I personally would like them to take this approach again with indie games. Curation is not a terrible thing.

I've stuck pretty faithfully to "physical only" on the Switch and PS4 -- though of course I do have some digital here and there.

This habit is a decent filter. Not perfect, but decent. Sure, there's tons of physical games I have no interest in, and there are digital-only indies that I wish went physical, but overall most of the games I want get a physical edition sooner or later, and I rarely see the utter crap (i.e. yet another $3.49 Kairosoft smartphone port) make it to physical.

All that said, curation can go in the wrong direction, and I don't exactly trust Nintendo to pick and choose nowadays (based on the indie showcase yesterday, to use a totally random example).

 

[Arc]

I feel like the indie discoverability problem is pretty bad on every platform, and cannot speak for Steam. There's a million of them every week, and if there's something actually good, it gets lost in that mess to all but those willing to trudge through it, or if word of mouth (Celeste) gets huge.

So, there's some measure of props to Nintendo for using their Direct brand to do a major show for these, as well as having YouTube showcases every month. It's how they're using the spotlight that's the problem — it feels like they're intentionally targeting the stereotypical stuff that makes people hate indies.

I do agree that some kind of proper Indie section, with good curation, on the shop would solve a lot. Something as simple as an Indie Spotlight section every week, with the best of the best from years past until now, would be hugely appreciated, as well as giving favorable presence to upcoming indie games that look really good.

 

[Zefah]

And/or whichever NoA employees handle the promotion of indies, are some twee, artsy type that thinks whatever their bubble gets excited about is the height of gaming.

This is pretty close to the reality, to be honest.