Indie Site No A

With the eShop platforms increasingly becoming integral parts of the Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo is likely to continue to increase its support for the stores. Much has been done to ease entry requirements, a process that began on the 3DS, while the Wii U store has opened up new avenues with development tools and access through the likes of Unity and the Nintendo Web Framework.

Marketing will also be important, of course, with the store-fronts themselves likely to continue to evolve. Nintendo of America is stepping up its efforts away from the big N's hardware, too, with a freshly launched 'Indie' web portal, which is dedicated to pointing intrigued consumers towards all of the information they need to make the most of the download platforms. The new page has information and links on notable games, the process for buying downloads, where to buy eShop funds and plenty of attractive artwork. At this stage the featured games — aside from NES Remix — are mostly for the 3DS and are a mix of current and upcoming releases, with Unepic also sneaking in to represent the Wii U.

We'd hope that web portals like these — an equivalent in Europe and other territories will hopefully arrive — lay the groundwork for future connectivity between the stores and Nintendo Network IDs. Nintendo has stated that it's looking to improve the access we have to its content, so options to use websites such as this to buy a game — with our system of choice automatically downloading the product in standby mode — while away from our hardware would be most welcome. As a source of information this seems like a solid start, however, even if we'd substitute the Mario Party: Island Tour 3DS graphic at the top for an eShop-only game.

Check out the Indie website and let us know what you think.

Thanks to babyguess for the tip.

[source nintendo.com]