Nicalis was a familiar name to Nintendo gamers in the Wii, Wii U and 3DS eras, but it's risen to prominence in the short lifespan of the Switch. It's been active in bringing out budget retail titles in particular, with the physical editions for the likes of Cave Story+ and The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ including some charming extra goodies in early runs. The publisher has also been working with Headup Games to bring some of these releases to Europe, due to Nicalis traditionally being focused on the North American market.
The publisher / developer is currently celebrating its 10th Anniversary year, and has unveiled a snazzy new website to celebrate. It's pretty impressive, with an opening page being a pixel-based animation featuring the various characters and IPs from the company's published games. As a sign of the Switch focus we've seen in 2017, the 'Games' section makes a point of showing the library mostly running off Switch consoles.
There's also a new logo to celebrate the landmark.
The press release outlines the first event for the anniversary year, while company President Tyrone Rodriguez promises "some very cool announcements".
The first event in Nicalis’ 10th anniversary celebration is BICFest 2017, the annual global independent games conference in Busan, South Korea on September 15-17. Nicalis is a platinum sponsor of the expo, which will feature many of the company’s upcoming games in a large, designated “Nicalis Zone.” The new Nicalis logo will be displayed in public for the first time at BICFest.
“You’re going to see some very cool announcements from Nicalis over the next few months,” says Nicalis President Tyrone Rodriguez. “I can’t wait to reveal some of the 10th Anniversary surprises we have planned for fans of our games, and fans of classic video games in general.”
Nicalis has certainly established itself early on with the Nintendo Switch, and it'll be fascinating to see what comes next.
[source nicalis.com]
Comments 32
Looks like Mother
Mother 3 port confirmed
But seriously... NiCAliS should be in charge of Switch packaging for real. Love their Switch games.
Strong Earthbound vibes off that first picture. Which is a cool thing.
Since this is Nicalis, I assume this was actually meant to be their company launch website but it took them this long to put it out
As much as I want to wildly speculate that theres some vague connection to the Mother series in some official capacity, I've got to calm my nerdiness and just accept it for the cute Earthbound reference that it is. Which is still pretty great.
@Samus7Killer @SLIGEACH_EIRE It would be insane if in the direct told us Nintendo is letting Nicalis publish a Mother game. The chance of that happening though is probably 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000...% though.
So you're telling me there is a chance.
Yay!
@NapalmPsalm You forgot a couple of 00's.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Ahhhhh, I think you're right. A few more zeros before my ellipsis really would have driven my point home. I'll be more careful next time.
How is the end is nigh?
Gotta get this off my chest: I didn't like either Cave Story or Binding. I'm sorry.
The Binding of Isaac is the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Nicalis should be a role model to other indie devs. Digital version and physical version (with cool added value gumph for first run).
Runaway 5 sold their van to Tom's Tacos?
That rumor of cave story 2 hasn't left my mind since that folder was found... I still have hopes and I will loose my shi if it gets announced which is still very unlikely. I will be hypest of hype!!
I thought they had the revamped the website a while ago?
@GrailUK Yeah, overcharge for a freeware game, after a long string of ports, leave games in buggy states (1001 Spikes for Wii U), and made BS reasons as to why Binding of Isaac Rebirth couldn't come to Wii U. I once tried to contact them like 3 years ago for an interview for a school paper, and also contacted Wayforward and Yacht Club Games. Both Wayforward and Yacht Club Games immediately replied....Nicalis never even left a reply....
Can't wait. I'm a big fan of their games.
@FlameRunnerFast Eek drama!
Nice. I'm a huge fan of Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+ on the Switch.
Still....holding.....breath...for.....Red....Out........and gasp.....90s....Arcade....Racer.......
Coincidentally, I'm picking up Cave Story+ later this week. Love the new site, super curious about upcoming announcements.
Binding of Isaac is my #2 most played game over the last 18 months or so. I limit myself to 3 attempts a day that way I can play other games as well.
@GrailUK Nicalis isn't an indie developer.
I immediately thought of EarthBound/Mother 3 when I saw the image too. I would die if Nicalis published the port of Mother 3.
@jariw Well, it would still be nice if more indie titles received a physical version
They've had this website for a while. I've looked at it many times when I umm and ah about pre-ordering one of their switch games (I always do).
I love their physical editions, but I acknowledge that they are basically rinsing collector nerds and their digital prices should be a bit lower.
@bluedogrulez Even after 4 years of delays and nearly 2 years of radio silence from the original Kickstarter creator, I still hold out hope for 90's Arcade Racer (now 90's Super GP). If it ever does come and it's even half as good as it looks, I'll put countless hours into it.
@Mart1ndo really? They publish binding of issac, cave story, 1001 spikes, vvvvvv, grisna, ittle dew, and tons of other titles
What a cool website! I love how all the characters are interactive and how different buildings offer up various part of the site. Well done, Nicalis, well done!
I cant believe there are people in this comment section that have never heard of Nicalis, it's saddening
@whitemaskedhero they did, I've been on their site a few times the past couple of months, and it has looked like this for a little while now.
What about Spelunky then?
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