An Earthbound-inspired RPG adventure by William Kage, the creator of Fragrant Story. Being released digitally as “the world's first 10-second 3DS game”, Otosan: Nintendo 3DS Edition launches on March 2023, the same month Nintendo’s eShop service is being discontinued, as a bite-sized microgame which will further be updated into the full product.
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Otosan: Nintendo 3DS Edition isn't essentially an amazing game or, at first glance, a genius purpose, but it does reflect how we view video games as consumers.
Video Games are, and maybe will always be, a disposable product for the corporations that produce them. The time we spend at what we buy only really matters for companies to receive the money and make statistics, and the end of the digital stores of the last console generations shows how much they really don't care about those products.
The point is: if we consumers continue to find this somehow correct to the point of defending companies and accusing those who try to escape the shackles of the bizarre concept of "intellectual property," video game media will increasingly be buried once and for all.
Of course, Super Mario's and The Legend of Zelda's will definitely be released and re-released, but games like Otosan? They will be buried and erased from our history.
Video Games are, and maybe will always be, a disposable product for the corporations that produce them. The time we spend at what we buy only really matters for companies to receive the money and make statistics, and the end of the digital stores of the last console generations shows how much they really don't care about those products.
The point is: if we consumers continue to find this somehow correct to the point of defending companies and accusing those who try to escape the shackles of the bizarre concept of "intellectual property," video game media will increasingly be buried once and for all.
Of course, Super Mario's and The Legend of Zelda's will definitely be released and re-released, but games like Otosan? They will be buried and erased from our history.
So, there I was, buying every last thing on the 3DS' eShop that interests me enough before the store goes away by the end of this month (March 2023), until I found myself with just a couple of bucks to spend.
I was mainly browsing through the section with games on sale, and I was almost buying Mighty Switch Force... and, OK, I guess that's a great game, but I admit I wasn't too inclined to spend my last few pennies on that particular game.
I was specifically looking for strange and unique 3DS games, especially eShop exclusives, and didn't want to """waste""" my last moments with the thing with a game I can get elsewhere.
Then, I went to another section within the shop, the one that displays games with lower prices (not necessarily on sale), and the first one that pops up on that list was this thing here.
This happened yesterday, March 9th; it absolutely shocked me when I saw that the game was released just A DAY BEFORE, on the 8th.
Seeing that happening, in the same month the Wii U and 3DS eShop services are being discontinued, easily and immediately amused me; not only that, but the game was being sold for just $1 USD (or R$ 5 BRL here in Brazil, and I had exactly R$ 7,03 to spend).
All of that was already pumping up my interests in making this my final eShop purchase, but it didn't stop there.
I googled up some info about the game, and found out it is an Earthbound-inspired RPG, still in development, made by the same guy behind Fragrant Story, a non-profit endeavour launched as a very short game, which then began receiveing updates that would come to increase the experience to a full game. It also got some attention last year, being known as the last physical game released for the 3DS (bonkers!).
Well, the story repeats itself here: Otosan, as of now, is a stupidly short, 10-second microgame. Yeah, you collect some food items throughout three of the game's screenshots, and after only effing 10 seconds, it's done. It keeps records of your scores, but that's it.
With the game being released in this state, it astounded me. I bought it immediately.
Yeah, that may sound dumb, but after checking out what this thing was about, the author's background and his insane ambition to have a game released on the 3DS' eShop on f*cking March 2023, Otosan seemed like a very special thing. It WILL be updated into a "full" game (and, as it seems, even after the eShop shuts down), and with it also being an Earthbound-inspired RPG, it was reason enough for me to take a shot and hope for the best.
As of now, I won't be giving this title any rating, as it really doesn't deserve one, giving it's current state and development history; I just really wanted to raise some awareness towards it, since I truly believe this, one of the last 3DS eShop games to be ever released, is indeed a special thing. I even registered the game on IGDB, only for it to be shown here and more places.
There is a bigger demo available on the game's website, playable on web browsers, which may give you a taste of what the thing will turn up to be on the 3DS.
The author wanted to release this as freeware. Because of restrictions by Nintendo, he had to release it with the asking price of one dollar.
A single dollar to fund one of the last 3DS eShop games was, for me, a dollar well spent. I hope it pays off in the end!
I was mainly browsing through the section with games on sale, and I was almost buying Mighty Switch Force... and, OK, I guess that's a great game, but I admit I wasn't too inclined to spend my last few pennies on that particular game.
I was specifically looking for strange and unique 3DS games, especially eShop exclusives, and didn't want to """waste""" my last moments with the thing with a game I can get elsewhere.
Then, I went to another section within the shop, the one that displays games with lower prices (not necessarily on sale), and the first one that pops up on that list was this thing here.
This happened yesterday, March 9th; it absolutely shocked me when I saw that the game was released just A DAY BEFORE, on the 8th.
Seeing that happening, in the same month the Wii U and 3DS eShop services are being discontinued, easily and immediately amused me; not only that, but the game was being sold for just $1 USD (or R$ 5 BRL here in Brazil, and I had exactly R$ 7,03 to spend).
All of that was already pumping up my interests in making this my final eShop purchase, but it didn't stop there.
I googled up some info about the game, and found out it is an Earthbound-inspired RPG, still in development, made by the same guy behind Fragrant Story, a non-profit endeavour launched as a very short game, which then began receiveing updates that would come to increase the experience to a full game. It also got some attention last year, being known as the last physical game released for the 3DS (bonkers!).
Well, the story repeats itself here: Otosan, as of now, is a stupidly short, 10-second microgame. Yeah, you collect some food items throughout three of the game's screenshots, and after only effing 10 seconds, it's done. It keeps records of your scores, but that's it.
With the game being released in this state, it astounded me. I bought it immediately.
Yeah, that may sound dumb, but after checking out what this thing was about, the author's background and his insane ambition to have a game released on the 3DS' eShop on f*cking March 2023, Otosan seemed like a very special thing. It WILL be updated into a "full" game (and, as it seems, even after the eShop shuts down), and with it also being an Earthbound-inspired RPG, it was reason enough for me to take a shot and hope for the best.
As of now, I won't be giving this title any rating, as it really doesn't deserve one, giving it's current state and development history; I just really wanted to raise some awareness towards it, since I truly believe this, one of the last 3DS eShop games to be ever released, is indeed a special thing. I even registered the game on IGDB, only for it to be shown here and more places.
There is a bigger demo available on the game's website, playable on web browsers, which may give you a taste of what the thing will turn up to be on the 3DS.
The author wanted to release this as freeware. Because of restrictions by Nintendo, he had to release it with the asking price of one dollar.
A single dollar to fund one of the last 3DS eShop games was, for me, a dollar well spent. I hope it pays off in the end!