When the eShop came out I had a few concerns. "Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!" quickly dispelled my fears. I downloaded this shortly. While it could be viewed as an expansion of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis it had a lot of content as the original with a few different mechanics. It still came with a Construction Zone. The $8 price point was fully justified. They still came out with another retail package after. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! was a nice edition. With the 3DS eShop came Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move for $10 with a completely revamped system. This series really showed the value of what you can get on the eShop.
Other games make sense to be put on the eShop. Dr. Mario hasn't changed much since it was released on the NES. While that core game play is fun once you have it on your system there is no reason to re-buy it. The last standalone retail release of this game was on the N64. It only made an appearance on the Gamecube in japan when paired with other games in "Nintendo Puzzle Collection". On the Wii it went strait to WiiWare and DSiWare. The DsiWare is $5 or you can pay $4 if you don't want color for the gba vc port.
While I feel Tetris belongs in the eShop too, at least the retail packages do try to push the game a bit to make it worth while. "Tetris DS" was a perfect example of fan service and 12 player multiplayer which was never possible on the NES. If a puzzle game can do that then yes full retail price is acceptable.
After saying that these games should be in the shop channel only is where problems arise. This is where the Puzzle league series starts to show why this can be a bad thing. To me the definitive version was "Pokemon Puzzle League" on the N64. This wasn't the first entry for this game. "Tetris Attack" was good but "Pokemon Puzzle League" pushed it with new modes including the 3D mode where the pieces where in a giant cylinder. The 3D mode never appeared after. "Planet Puzzle League" stayed with the 2D model and featured a few new modes. It was justified as a full retail release as the DSi was not launched and therefor no DSiWare. They also added modes. This then got stripped down further to "Puzzle League Express" in the eShop for $5 with Dr. Mario.
I know I said that $5 for the core puzzle like for Dr. Mario is good enough but with out retail the Puzzle league series would have never pushed itself farther to the point where "Pokemon Puzzle league" achieved.
This is where Picross Comes into play. It is a good series. I still enjoy it. Picross DS was good and while it would not justify a retail price now days at the time it was the first one since 1995 made new with touch controls before the DSi existed. Picross 3D then came out pushing the series into making 3D Models. Currently we are now onto our 5th eShop title on the 3DS. While each version has more puzzles then Picross DS they haven't pushed the series at this point. It has turned into a semi-annual puzzle pack. It is still worth the $6. The puzzle are good but they are not pushing the series. They also have not issued more 3d puzzle. I can accept the fact that all the 2d puzzles are made by Jupiter and the 3d version was made by Hal, I would just like a bit more.
I think out of all of these I would like to see eShop titles supplement game play and not replace them with stripped down versions. The Mario Vs. Donkey Kong series did this well by still putting out a retail version after they had a DSiWare entry.
It wasn't their first ones though. The Brain Age titles were among the first. They were mainly per-installed so no one probably looked for them. They were still stripped down version of the retail package though. Dr. Mario Express and Clubhouse games Express came out before that. Club house games express was another strip down. The only reason why Dr. Mario Express was not a strip down was because there was no Dr. Mario sold in retail for years. They haven't done too much with the franchise.
I'm ok with strip down games that focus on the core mechanics I just feel they need to either add more robust version over time for those who want more or release a full retail package every now and then.
When I look at Puzzle league express for the eShop I see it listed for $5 and that is fair. For the Wii VC I see Pokemon Puzzle League for $10. Again that is fair. When I think about the 3D in the latter I think it would look good on the 3DS. The 3D display could be an advantage in that mode. If they were to remaster is for the 3DS I could see it being worth while and if they could adapt new modes to it it could justify a retail price. Doesn't need to be Pokemon based.
The problem with leaving it at the core mechanic only at $5 after all these years is that it is hard to drum up interest or it is hard to reintroduce a newer version. If they were to release Dr. Mario for the 3DS when I already have the DSiWare version that is already compatible it is hard to justify. This is where I think retail can make a difference.
I just came here to say that I love your Reboot pic... Guardian.
My game library ranges from Mario Kart to Call of Duty to Tales of Xillia to Diablo 3 to Forza. To me gaming is about having fun - not blindly supporting only one company while thumbing your nose at "the evil other systems."
I think you make a good point when it comes to discussing retail vs. digital purchases, and how games designed specifically for non-PC digital services still have a long way to go. I think there are some AMAZING titles out there, and if we're talking the 3DS eShop alone we've got Minis March Again, Pushmo, Hazumi... I think the genre does very well on this venue, and certain developers are pushing the envelope.
That said though, I think a lot of developers do view the digital platform as a "lite" form of game releases. It seems as though they feel that since it isn't retail, or isn't on PC on Steam, they seem to feel they can be a bit more relaxed and release something smaller and less polished. I think this also happens on the PS Vita and on Mobile. What gives me hope is that there are GREAT games out there, but the reality is that it is still very much a niche market. I still frequently meet gamers who maybe bought a 3DS for Pokemon or Smash Bros, and still don't even know what the eShop IS. And people who I meet who are solely PC gamers or X Box gamers have even LESS idea that something like an eShop even exists. I can't tell you how many times I've told someone that I have a certain GameBoy or GameBoy Colour game on my 3DS, and they respond with "Oh yeah, I used to have an emulator on insert whatever system they had", and then I have to awkwardly explain to them that there's a service available where you can buy old games for the 3DS or Wii U.
As I said though, I think there are some really great games being developed for these smaller platforms, and I think as some of them are now starting to bridge the gap between systems and therefore between audiences (Renegade Kidd starting to have releases on Steam, for example). I think the stronger developers bridging those gaps is what will start putting more pressure on ALL eShop developers to start producing better, higher quality games, and using the platform as a legitimate method of producing quality content.
I think another key component of this is Nintendo themselves, who I honestly feel do a great job of treating their eShop services as legitimate game publication methods. Again, in the puzzle genre alone, the fact that they use both retail releases and the eShop to create and market Mario vs. Donkey Kong games is a really important example, where the series has been split up between platforms, and regardless of how you feel about each game in particular, you have to admit that they put a solid effort into it every time. Another great and important moment was Nintendo giving so much attention to Pushmo at this year's E3, and they really have been trying hard to put a lot of attention on the eShop, so I think if they continue to do that and OTHER companies start doing that, then that will also help apply that pressure. It's not just up to the developers, the companies too need to show that their digital platforms are important - that's what Steam does, and I think we can say it is a huge success!
In the meantime, I think something WE can do, is keep having these conversations, and keep engaging the developers that we really like and really feel are doing a great job. One of the great things about the eShop and indie developers, is that they are IN here, joining in on these conversations! They respond to our comments and thoughts, even right here on Nintendolife. That's why I always make sure to talk about what I enjoyed about a game, or what I feel could be done to improve it, because you never know when the developer may be listening. The creators of Hazumi are currently responding to things people post on a thread I started about their game. This is also something that Steam, again, is a great example of, as indie developers generally have their own profiles and if you post questions to the community forums they will respond. I think this is a really important part of improving the eShop in general.
Summary: I think it is up to developers, publishing companies, and us, to do what we can to make sure that the digital platforms start being treated like the legitimate and worthwhile publishing platforms that they are! Excellent topic, glad someone started it, I hope more people and maybe some developers join this conversation.
I think the issue comes up though when the developer makes no attempt to do anything different or new. I actually think from Pushmo to Crashmo was a very natural progression, but one that we weren't necessarily ready to take: when you think about it, the way the games function really IS the same, and the techniques are surprisingly similar. The main difference is that with Crashmo as you are trying to solve a puzzle, you are also disassembling it, meaning that even the rewind button isn't enough to make it easy to just backtrack and start back from an earlier point, so frequent restarts were required. I think there would have been a number of ways to get around this problem, even through just simply allowing for a longer amount of rewind time. Hopefully that's something they can figure out if they choose to make another sequel.
But at least they did TRY to do something new and create a new experience - while it is great to just get more levels of the same great puzzle game, that's something that can be built into the game with a level editor (as Pushmo demonstrates). And I think that experimentation with new ideas is HOW they come up with MORE ideas, so that by the time Pushmo World came out, they had new ideas to put into the game. Meanwhile Picross continues to be the same six "games" later...
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Topic: The eShop, How it impacts puzzle franchises. (Personal Opinion)
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