Nintendo really hit on something big with its Directs, a showcase intended to bypass the usual way of announcing games at big conferences like E3, and now everyone wants a slice of that pie. Following in Nintendo's successful footsteps, we've seen multiple studios and groups do it themselves, from the Wholesome Direct and the Devolver Digital Showcase to the Draknek & Friends Direct that happened just last week.
The newest Direct on the block is The Indie Houses, formed of seven big indie publishers:
- Akupara Games (Mutazione, The Darkside Detective)
- Fellow Traveller (Genesis Noir, Paradise Killer)
- Neon Doctrine (Vigil: The Longest Night, Hazel Sky)
- Raw Fury (Dandara, Bad North)
- Those Awesome Guys (Monster Prom)
- Toge Productions (Coffee Talk, Ultra Space Battle Brawl)
- Whitethorn Games (Onsen Master, Calico)
The Indie Houses describe themselves as a "collective of publishers who believe in "indies-for-indies"," sharing their expertise across international borders in order to "elevate each other, not compete!"
The showcase will be known as The Indie Houses Direct (it's remarkable that Nintendo hasn't trademarked the word "Direct") and will take place on the 31st August on Steam, Twitch, and YouTube. No time has been announced, but the stream will be an hour long, including new game announcements, content updates, Q&A sessions, and an "African Developer Prototype Fund" which aims to support underrepresented developers.
On top of the Direct, there will also be a week-long Steam event, with demos, sales, developer chats, and Q&As. This event will take place from August 31st to September 7th.
Will you be tuning in to The Indie Houses, or are you all Directed-out? Let us know in the comments!
[source theindiehouses.org]
Comments 19
Some pretty great devs in there. I’d be interested to see what they’re working on next!
@nessisonett imagine if they announced the Switch Pro
We need more of these to keep Nintendo Innovations going.
@KateGray Paradise Killer 2 is actually the Switch Pro confirmed
Indie games are some of the best games these days. Meanwhile, everyone in the AAA space is trying to edge their battle royale, first person shooter, racing, sim sports, regurgitated, putrid, nonsense into an ever shrinking slice of the live service pie.
Who would've thought that Nintendo would set another industry trend in 2011 that other companies continue to copy to this day?
Are a lot of these expecting to be on switch, too?
Raw Fury also publishes the Kingdom games, which rock my butt
Good idea to separate themselves from the direct. I think that whenever Nintendo, Microsoft and PlayStation show off games there's unrealistic expectations thrust upon the devs so having a dedicated separate presentation for indies where they control the flow and announcements sounds better.
@KateGray ...Building Simulator
I love me a Direct. I think Nintendo have pretty much got their delivery nailed. I do iike developer dives into games and they do it without being overly pretentious, sentimental or what have you, unlike a lot of Western copycats. 'It's so imortant to us that we made a game.' type vibes make me vomit. So yeah, always nice to get announcements. Just don't start crying while you announce something.
I like to be shell shocked during a "Direct". Announcement after announcement without time to think. Shadow drop here and there for good measure. I want to come out stunned and wanting to watch it again... I just want a Nintendo Direct now!
@Pirate1 Hard to say, since we have zero information beyond the publishers involved, but I would expect at least some!
I hope the final smash reveal is there!
More indies coming to Switch is definitely a good thing - it's pretty much all I play on mine.
"it's remarkable that Nintendo hasn't trademarked the word 'Direct'"
Y'all forget about the Fine Brothers?
@GrailUK
I prefer the Iwata era directs. They had more soul and anticipation built in. The new directs are okay but can feel sterile
I like indie games, so was excited, but looked at the devs involved & have only been interested in 1 game that's been developed by that group, paradise killer. I'm not spending money on a walking simulator, tho. I may get it if it goes sub $5, but that's unlikely, so probably will never play it. Dandara was very underwhelming, as well as others i have played from all those devs, so i can't get terribly excited. Oh well, maybe they'll surprise me.
@eaglebob345 That one moment the original Nintendo direct was almost called "3DS New information Internet Presentation" before airing. It was a followup for the TGS conference. From a followup to a phenomenon. Go figure.
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