We love Nintendo because they're the company behind Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and Smash Bros. With these big headliners it's easy to forget that the gaming giant is still creating new franchises to this day.
Detractors of the big N like to point the company's reliance on tried and true mainstays. While it is true that Nintendo has heavily relied on Mario and Pokemon for the past two decades, the company is also constantly producing new titles. These include big-budget titles such as "Splatoon" and "Xenoblade," but also many smaller titles that are easily overlooked.
Thankfully, the Nintendo 3DS eshop has served as a fantastic home for these smaller titles. Digital-only games are saved the cost of producing physical cartridges/discs so they can achieve greater profit with less sales. This system has allowed Nintendo to fund several new games that keep up the company's trademark style while also breaking new ground.
Probably the greatest success of the 3DS eshop is "Pushmo." A puzzle game rom the minds behind "Fire Emblem" and "Paper Mario," "Pushmo" screams Nintendo. It features a memorable protagonist in the miniature sumo wrestler, Mallo, who traverses colorful puzzles as part of pleasantly simple plot. The success of the originall Pushmo games spawned a 3DS sequel, "Crashmo," as well as a Wii U entry, "Pushmo World." With each of the game landing amongst the top sellers on the eshop, Pushmo is a success story that best highlights Nintendo's continued ability to create charming and creative games.
Another eshop success story is the story of Boxboy. "Boxboy!" released in 2015. The unique puzzle platformer came from "Kirby" and "Super Smash Bros." developer Hal Laboratory and thrives off of simplicity. The black and white world of "Boxboy!" features characters of basic geometric shapes and straighforward yet clever puzzles. "Boxboy!" found success on the eshop too, leading to a sequel "Boxboxboy!" and a recently announced third game that will represent a major step for an eshop franchise: a physical release. A compilation of all three Boxboy games will have a physical release bundled with an Amiibo of series protagonist Qbby.
Pushmo's transition to the Wii U and Boxboy's transition to physical release highlight the heights the eshop can help games to reach. Both franchises were able to start thanks to the eshop and to expand from there. Without the option of a digital release, it's quite possible the world would have never gotten to enjoy both Pushmo and Boxboy, and fans never would have been able to support these ideas enough to see them transform into the respectable franchises they are becoming. It might only be a matter of time before the eshop produces Nintendo's next Mario or Zelda.
