Wii U eShop and indie games

[Lawnachaun]

I keep reading lots and lots of things about the indie games for the Wii U. So many good things are being talked about the future content of the Wii U's eShop. And more just keeps coming in. So, with all of the positive chatter about the Wii U's eShop, I've decided to compile of list of all of the upcoming games, that we know about. However, since there are so many, feel free to add more to the list, as I may miss some here and there. But first, I'll start with the games are already on the eShop.

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Currently on the Wii U eShop:


Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition
Trine 2: Director's Cut
Nano Assault Neo
Chasing Aurora
Little Inferno
The Cave
Puddle
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 (no retail copy released)
Bit.Trip Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
Zen Pinball 2
Toki Tori 2+
Kung Fu Rabbit
Mutant Mudds Deluxe
Star Wars Pinball
Cloudberry Kingdom
Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party
Art Academy: Sketchpad
DuckTales: Remastered
Pokemon Rumble U
Spot the Difference: Party!
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
TNT Racers - Nitro Machines Edition

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That's what's already available on the eShop. Here is a list of the known games that are confirmed for a Wii U eShop release.

8-Bit Boy
A World of Keflings
Aban Hawkins & the 1,001 Spike
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures
Anima: Gate of Memories
Another Castle
A.N.N.E
Armillo
Assault Android Cactus
Ballpoint Universe
Biker Bash
Blood of the Werewolf
C-Wars
CastleStorm
Child of Light
Chompy Chomp Chomp Party
Citizens of Earth
Coaster Crazy Deluxe
Cosmic Highway
Cryamore
Cubemen 2
Darkened Light
Days of Dawn
Demon Tribe
Dusty Raging Fist
Fade into Darkness
Festival of Magic
Firefighter
Forgotten Memories
Get Off My Lawn
iDEAME U
Ittle Dew
Karateka
Knytt Underground
Mighty No. 9
Noctemis
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty
Oliver and Spike: Dimension Jumpers
Percy's Predicament
Pier Solar and the Great Architects HD
Project Y2k
QUBE
Road Redemption
Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Shovel Knight
Squids
Star Beast: The Stellar War
Super Ubie Land
Tengami
Terra Incognita
Teslagrad
The Mystery Cities of Gold
The Pinball Arcade
The 90's Arcade Racer
The Unlikely Legend of Rusty Pup
Triboo
Two Brothers
Unepic
Wii Sports Club
Wooden Sen'Sey
The Fall
Hyper Light Drifter

*** List edited on 10/13/13

I haven't finished going through all of the Kickstarter games lists, so I'm sure that there are more titles to add to this list. However, like I said, if I've missed any, feel free to 'shout' them out. I'll add them to the list. But, as you can see, that is already a lot of confirmed titles. And that's just what we know about... mostly. I'm sure that there are a lot more that I have over looked, and can be added to this list. Also, I'm sure that there are unannounced titles that still haven't been made public yet. However, the Wii U eShop looks to be a great thing, filled with so, so many games to choose from. I better start saving, there are already a good number games that I want off of this list alone.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on the Wii U's eShop and all of the Indie "Love" that it's getting. There are tons of titles in the work already. However, Nintendo is making it easier and easier for developers to port over their games from not only other consoles, but also, from other platforms, like smartphones and tablets and browser games. So the Wii U's eShop could end up growing really huge. There is so much potential for the Wii U's eShop. The Virtual Console will keep a steady and constant flow of older games. But the eShop will have a steady and constant flow of games for the foreseeable future as well.

Again, what are your thoughts on the Wii U's eShop. Are you excited about it. Do you want to see more. Do you think it will continue to attract more and more developers. What do you think of it.

 

[Lawnachaun]

Today, the indie game.. "The Fall", has reached it's Wii U Kickstarter goal, and the developer of the game "Over the Moon", has officially become a 'registered Nintendo developer". Therefore, The Fall will officially be coming to the Wii U eshop. Estimated time of arrival.. April 2014.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_t72x_9pik&feature=player_detailpage

Here is the kickstarter trailer for the game. It's a "Metroid-inspired" game, with more interactions with the environment. Looks interesting. I usually don't go for "episodic" games. But I might try this game out once it comes out. In the meantime, I'll add it to the list above now.

Also, I'll try to get more trailers for more of the games listed above, so you'll have a better idea of what's actually coming, and not just arbitrary names that could turn out to be anything.

 

[Lawnachaun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOD7FzH9dhA&feature=player_detailpage

Hyper Light Drifter

Here is another game that is officially heading to the Wii U. I've added it to the list above. I'll try and get the trailers of the others games up and running soon. Been a little busy here. But don't worry, soon enough.

 

[Professor E. Gadd]

I am not impressed by indies that basically emulate older games, like Metroid or Zelda. Gameplay has evolved for the last 25 years for a reason. There is so much innovation in gameplay to be done that I feel these smaller developers are wasting their time by slapping new graphics and stories on old game mechanics. We need entirely new game styles instead of rehashes of old stuff.

 

[Lawnachaun]

I disagree. There are a lot of older gameplay mechanics that are better than some current "innovated" gameplay mechanics. From which, I'd rather go and play the older games than play the new ones. Of course, there are some newer ones that I enjoy too. However, as a gamer, I'm all for everything. Let them make a good amount of both old and new styles. I mean, the technology is better now than it was before, and thus, there is still a lot of potential that can be added to the older gameplay styles that could make them even better. Of course, they could just make them worse too. However, the potential is there to improve on the old mechanics and make even better classics. So I say let the indie's do their thing. It's great that the indie's are doing this, because it helps to drive the industry forward, by helping to "evolve" these gameplay mechanics in a different direction that could lead to even more and better gameplay mechanics. And that's a wonderful thing. So these indie's are doing a fantastic job of doing both the old and new styles, and adding too, or tweaking, this and that. And, that can, and will, lead to older gameplay mechanics to feel fresh and new, and help to drive us into a new golden age of gaming, where new ideas come out of these new takes on old gameplay mechanics. Also, some would argue that there's the whole "know your roots" and "learning from your mistakes". Besides, just because something is new, doesn't always mean that it's better.

So, I have to disagree with you, and wholeheartedly praise these indie's for all of their hard work on these, and other titles. I would rather have them redefine and modernize great games and gameplay mechanics to be new and fresh and fun, and help push the gaming industry forward, by helping to evolve the industry into more branching paths, leading to more and more innovation, than for them to be doing what they are doing now, and just re-releasing the same sports game or shooting game, with a new "number" in the title, all of the time. Because to a lot of companies these days, like EA, that is "NEW" to them. But again, new doesn't always mean better. Some new stuff sucks. But by having the indie's making all of these games, it's like a quasi-butterfly effect. Like, taking the best from the past, making it even better, and letting a new generation see these, play these, and then evolve the industry in new directions that wouldn't of otherwise have been created without these. Changing the future for the better. Of course, not every game is going to be good. But still, these developer's aren't "wasting their time", they are slowly making the industry better on a whole. And I praise them for that. Especially if it helps to open up the eyes of the current companies, and changes the status quo of only making things more powerful, which seems to be the direction most companies are taking. With the exception of a few. Plus, there are a lot of kids these days who don't know these games, and only see the constant stream of the same game every year, as they are happening now. So these developers are doing a great job of opening them up to the older style, in newer ways, and that can lead to them getting newer ideas on how to evolve them further. Making the industry grow and flourish, instead of growing stagnant, like it was starting to become with Sony and Microsoft's influence. So I say, bring on more indie developers like these. The more the merrier.

 

[Lawnachaun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1PcS8fmgKT4

How to Survive

Another eShop game that I have overlooked. It will be out soon. It's release date got pushed back a couple of times already. But its now going to be released on October 23. Over a month after it's original release date.

 

[Lawnachaun]

A company by the name of "Cypronia", has just recently announced that they have 4 Wii U eShop games in the works. 4. Cypronia has made several DSiWare games for the DSi in the past.

Those 4 new Wii U eShop games are going to be...

Angry Bunnies - Similar to Angry Birds, this will be a "challenging" physics-based demolition game with "addicting" gameplay, and 150 levels.

Color Zen - This is a new kind of puzzle game where you have to navigate through an "abstract world of colors and shapes".

My Style Studio: Notebook - A kid friendly "notebook" for kids to take notes, paint, or even make "flipbook" animations

My Style Studio: Hair Salon - Exactly what you'd expect it to be about. It teaches you how to 'treat' hair. Whether it be to wash it, color it, cut it, curl it, style it, and offers a variety of tools and options so you can create any kind of hair style that you want.

.. all of these games have a release date of "soon". So that could be any time. Tho, these clearly seem to all be aimed at the younger audience. Which is what Cypronia aimed for with the DSiWare titles too. So, these games should come as no surprise.

However, there are a bunch of other "great" indie eShop titles to look forward to, if none of these pique your interest.