You know, there's this incredibly popular idea that the Switch is full of crap and nothing else down the lower end and that's not entirely true. Certainly not to the degree the press likes to project.
There's definitely been an uptick (as with every open-ish store this past twelve months) in generic keyword spam games that clog up the search and that's really grim. I don't think anything at the level of "stroke the hedgehog" or the weekly PSN religious game is on there but yeah, some of it is not good and a bit irritating. Not the end of the world or anything.
And that has been getting more of a thing recently, now browsing new releases is often wading through a bunch of barely games called stuff like Crime Car Theft Prison Suitcase Penguin Grand Auto. I don't mind that this guff exists or is on the store, really. It's grim but it's part the deal with an open store.
Except the eShop isn't an open store. So folks are getting rejected or unable to publish there whilst the spammy stuff carries on regardless.
Not a big fan of that.
And developing for the thing just isn't within reach for a bunch of people, because Nintendo but also because console dev is sort of regressing in regards to smaller devs. Without a very public policy to encourage folk and assist them, without a very public cheerleader on team to wade in and lift people up, this is where you end up. The financial barrier is basically a permit for keyword spammers and their ilk.
(Not to "I told you so" but a bunch of us were telling the stores this is what happens a long while back but the belief that a cost barrier is the best defence against spammy work is not really true. It's just a permit for monied businesses. Example: nearly every store in 2023)
I'm very fortunate to have had a publisher who is kinda more in the boutique range of publishers - small, understanding, kind and very much on the same vibes level as me. I'm fortunate that even though I'm struggling recently for cash, I can still make a choice to go with a DIY in the good way ethic. It's a ten year old game, it's not survival for me.
But this store stuff pushes people into more unscrupulous deals as dodgy publishers can buy their way in with the upfront costs and off they go. Too many people risk this one. Understandably, but still.
Folks like to say "game dev is small, everyone knows someone who knows someone else" and that's true above a certain threshold but largely, it's really atomised and folk don't have access to backchannels, advice, knowledge or have people around to guide them. Especially considering the amount of ahem marketing experts cough cough that gained prominence through the hellsite with their crass wrongness. That's not a good situation to be in starting out.
Doubly so when a number of people who do have access to backchannels etc... will quite happily blame the mess we get in on "too many games" and okay, look, I'm not doing that again because I'm actually quite chill right this second and don't fancy annoying myself right now. It's not true, anyway. It's a crock but a fairly convincing one because selling games is hard and wading through why it's a mess is a lot. An easy answer over the messier one.
Anyway. I don't have a clue or the energy to go head on with this fight anymore, I'm only just keeping my head above water and still fighting on multiple fronts to keep the kids going after everything. I'm trying to talk about these smaller games that get lost, even if it's a toot or tweet instead of a post but these days to a readership of about 50 instead of like the olden days! Still worth doing but you know, limited
For now, aside from advocating for devs making smaller stuff, talking about and sharing the word about smaller games to your chums is a disproportionately huge help. Not going to lie and pretend it's The Answer but it's a low key easy thing anyone can do.
Twitter being no use to anyone is going to make stuff harder to be seen and it's already hard. If you can offer even a slight leg up, if a screen or a gif or whatever hits the spot, giving it a boost hurts no-one but might make someone's day.
And it is tiresome but if you've got the energy to rummage through the eShop or whatever, there's a lot of lovely games that deserve better than they get and there's gold in them thar hills if you can find it. I'd say don't let the keyword spam put you off but it is offputting and I totally understand not having the patience to go wading in. But, y'know, if you can.