Topic: What happened to Nintendo eShop exclusives?

You know, those smaller games that were published by Nintendo would end up as eShop exclusives. Examples include the Pushmo/Pullblox series, BOXBOY, those smaller Mario & Donkey Kong games, Harmoknight, etc.

Really the only ones to appear on the eShop are Snipperclips and that one tile flipping game no one cared about. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these games were developed by smaller groups and in a shorter amount of time, so they wouldn't really affect major releases. What happened to these smaller eShop releases?

Well, you already listed two games that are on Switch and published by Nintendo. 3DS got Pushmo/Pullblox, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword and Dillon's Rolling Western during its first year. At least those are the only ones I can think of right now that were released during that time. I'd just wait. I'm sure there's more to come.

@Kiolu100 Let's go over the list:
BOXBOY: The series ended with Bye-Bye BoxBoy! last year. This series was developed by HAL, so we'll probably see something new from them to replace it on the Switch, but considering it's probably all hands on deck for the release of Kirby: Star Allies, I'd wager it'll be early next year.

Harmoknight: Developed by GameFreak, not Nintendo, only published by them. They've since published Tembo the Badass Elephant and Giga Wrecker along the same lines, but neither was on Nintendo hardware. Considering these games typically come out every two years, the one in 2019 might actually be on Switch, but not guaranteed.

Pushmo/Pullblox is developed by Intelligent Systems, typically appearing between major releases. As they have a major Fire Emblem title this year, it probably won't show up until after that releases.

Mario vs Donkey Kong: I have no idea what's up with this series, your guess is as good as mine. If any game is gonna have a suprise release this year of their many small IPs, it's probably this one.

Dillon's Rolling Western: There's a new title releasing this year... on the 3DS not the Switch.

Art Academy: Made by Headstrong Games, they probably have something in the works? I'd assume?

NES Remix: Again unknown, but we'll likely either see a NES Remix 1+2 rerelease or SNES Remix at some point in the future.

Dr. Mario series: Usually one per console generation, about midway through. I'd wager a 2020 release based on history.

I think that about covers everything? Any other series in question?

@Late @link3710 Yeah, that sounds about right.

Those little eShop games usually retained some form of charm and uniqueness, while not being too "baby's first video game", I just hope Nintendo's still considering getting their devs (HAL, GAMEFREAK, and those others that @link3710 mentioned) to get some smaller groups to make smaller eShop titles.

I'd love to see some sort of collection of the BOXBOY games on Switch, and maybe a higher quality collection of the NES Remixes, if they're considering porting over existing titles.

There's also the Picross e series, which also has it's first release on Switch, Picross eS.

If they released that online submarine game on Switch, I would consider buying the console. That was one of the most original things they did last generation. Criminally overlooked.

^ Yeah, if they dropped the F2P model, added a more intuitive control option, and added a beefy campaign (while still keeping the multiplayer), a more juicy sequel to Steel Diver: Sub Wars could be really good.

Played the original (which was already a step up from the original Steel Diver, if I remember correctly) for a few weeks when it came out. Good stuff.

@RR529 Ah, I didn't know they were specifically published by Nintendo.

Are they any good? The new ones look interesting and I don't have very many puzzle games on my Switch, but I'm not very familar with the Picross series.

@spizzamarozzi I've never really been all that interested in the Steel Diver series, but a sequel on the Switch would be pretty neat.

3DS IS getting that Sushi game they announced at E3, so there's that.
Personally, I would love to see SNES Remix on the Switch.

@Kiolu100 Picross is way too addicting but really fun. I would recommend the 3DS versions over the Switch game though as the latter does not have touch controls.

@LegendOfPokemon Almost forgot that sushi game existed. Have they said anything about it since E3?

I'll be sure to pick up a Picross game on 3DS somewhere down the line, I've got way too much of a backlog right now and I've still got Owlboy, Bayonetta 1+2, and Kirby in the coming months.

eShop isn’t so new anymore and doesn’t need first party to bring attention to it.

Is the small game experience from Nintendo gone? I think DLC and mobile has sucked up those kinds of resources so I expect to see less Pushmos and Sakura Samurais

@NinChocolate Huh. I never really thought of it that way.

Ah well, the vast majority of Switch Indies doesn't really make the lack of smaller Nintendo eShop games a problem.

@Kiolu100 I don’t think so. I would like to know more about it though as it does seem interesting 🤔

@LegendOfPokemon It looked interesting, I wasn't really the biggest fan of the art style though. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it though.