Indies target Nintendo consoles in September with 'Axiom Verge' and much more

By Danny Cowan August 26, 2016

Nindies Summer Jam

Nintendo has a slate of independently produced games launching for the Wii U next month — including acclaimed titles like Axiom Verge, Severed, and Noitu Love: Devolution — as part of its Nindies Summer Jam event.

Nintendo 3DS owners can also look forward to a collection of indie games premiering over the next several months from developers such as Tiny Build Games, Drinkbox Studios, and Inti Creates.

The Nindies Summer Jam kicks off on September 1 with the digital Wii U launch of Axiom Verge. Released for PCs and PlayStation platforms in 2015, Axiom Verge is an exploration-driven platformer that channels Nintendo’s Metroid series, making it a solid fit for the Wii U’s eShop.

Thunder Lotus Games’ Jotun: Valhalla Edition will deliver Norse mythology-inspired action to the Wii U on September 8, while September 15 marks the multiplatform launch of Konjak’s run-and-gun shooter Noitu Love: Devolution for the Wii U and 3DS.

Guacamelee! creator Drinkbox Studios will return to the Wii U eShop on September 22 with a port of Severed, a unique, gesture-driven dungeon crawler. Severed is also due for a 3DS release this fall, though a firm release date for the upcoming portable edition has not yet been announced.

Mega Man 9 developer Inti Creates will bring the Nindies Summer Jam event to a close September 29 with Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, a side-scrolling platformer in which players manipulate electrical fields to take down their enemy targets. Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 will also hit retail on October 9 as part of the series-spanning cartridge compilation Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack.

Nintendo’s Wii U indie release schedule will continue through the end of the year, with WayForward’s Shantae: Half-Genie Hero launching in October and Stardew Valley premiering in December. Upcoming 3DS indies include highlights like Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure, Forma.8, and Punch Club.

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Nintendo’s eShop closures are a necessary, but messy move

A Nintendo Wii U gamepad flat on a table.

Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
“While Omdia expects the number of Switch consoles in active use to exceed 90 million on a global basis this year, the Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022,” he explains. “Even when you include the more enduring 3DS family of consoles into the equation, the Switch still comfortably accounts for over 90% of Nintendo’s total active console install base.”
If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t see that as possible due to cost and security issues. Game Over Thrity, a Twitter user with over 20 years of experience working on IT projects and infrastructure, shed some light on what might have influenced Nintendo’s decision-making in a thread.
“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

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Nintendo is ending Wii U and 3DS eShop service

nintendo shuts down wiiu 3ds eshop

Nintendo has announced the end of its eShop service for the Wii U console and 3DS handheld. The eShop will stay live on those devices until late March 2023, after which players will no longer be able to purchase games or download eShop apps and services for those devices.

After the closure, players will still be able to redownload games and DLC that they already own, use online play, and download software updates.

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Nintendo Direct - 9.23.2021