Despite all the troubles Nintendo has had in attracting third-party support for its beleaguered Wii U, eShop has become quite the attractive space for indie developers. Sadly, many folks are still under the mistaken impression that Nintendo has in place the same restrictive policies that made publishing on the WiiWare and DSiWare stores such a chore. Rest assured that Nintendo learned its lesson during the generational transition.
If you want to become an eShop developer today, you no longer need an office separate from your home address, nor do your games need to meet a certain sales threshold before you get paid. All developers can now self-publish and set their own prices and discounts. Upon purchasing a development kit, you'll gain access to a free tool called "Nintendo Web Framework" that can easily port Javascript and HTML5 applications to Wii U. And in a surprisingly proactive move, Nintendo was the first of the big three console manufactures to provide a free license for the 3D game engine Unity with each dev kit.
To demonstrate its commitment to serving indie developers, Nintendo frequently showcases choice indie games at major trade shows like E3 and supports events like IndieCade and the upcoming Indie Game Revolution exhibit at Seattle's EMP Museum. This is most certainly a different Nintendo — one that wants the little guys to have as painless an experience in sharing their creations with the world as possible.
As a result, a number of eye-catching games have arrived on eShop with many more still under construction. Titles like Renegade Kid's Mutant Mudds and Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight have already become contemporary classics, but what else is in the pipeline? What can gamers hungry for digital Wii U and 3DS delights expect in the coming year?
On the following pages are 20 of the most promising upcoming eShop games from indie studios. Some are exclusive to Nintendo platforms, while other are multiplats that further serve to highlight the open ecosystem that Nintendo has cultivated.
