#41. Switch Retrospective: Nintendo's Greatest Indie Machine?

Long-time listeners or observant newcomers will already know that Indiventure is a fortnightly podcast, which comes with its own benefits and drawbacks. One major plus is that it allows us to keep making this show as an extracurricular hobby without getting burned out; but the downsides include sometimes not being especially timely with our topic, if the latest big release happened to drop during our week off.   Knowing that, due to the quirks of our schedule, we'd be recording this a few days before the Switch 2 launched but releasing a week after, we decided to lean all-in to that lack of timeliness and dedicate this episode to a discussion of the Nintendo Switch. Like, the original one, that you've been able to get your hands on since 2017. Talk about keeping a finger on the pulse of pop culture, right?   In all seriousness, what better time is there to assess the old Switch's legacy than when its successor has recently taken centre-stage? In particular, with the benefit of eight years' hindsight, we really get into whether the Switch deserves to be remembered as the natural home of indie games in the late-2010s to mid-2020s.   Some indies certainly shone on the platform — there was surely a symbiotically beneficial relationship between the Switch and say, Stardew Valley, Hades, Hollow Knight, Celeste, Undertale, Untitled Goose Game, and loads more that we mention but I'm not going to list here because it's not really that kind of episode — but did that reputation built in the console's early days persist through the latter years, which saw upsets like the advent of the Steam Deck coming to eat Nintendo's lunch?   As is often the case on Indiventure, the debate gets spirited but not at all heated: Liam literally used to host a YouTube fan channel dedicated to the Switch, so his affection for the platform is evident; it's fair to say that Rachel's love for consoles generally dissipated after the DS era (she's willing to be convinced but only if they ever bring back Nintendogs!); and Rebecca makes the case for the Switch as the enduring home of niche Japanese titles that may not always be true indies but certainly get marketed like them in the west.   In this week's hyperfixations, Rachel has enjoyed sci-fi survival game The Alters very much and thinks you should check out her review on GamesRadar to find out why you probably would too. After a year away, Rebecca is once again locked in on a new playthrough of the little indie that could, a.k.a. Baldur's Gate 3. And Liam has recently resubscribed to NowTV and so finds himself finally able to catch up on all the prestige TV he's been missing out on due to not having access to that particular streaming service, like White Lotus, Succession, and The Rehearsal. Plus: Conclave (Liam discovered his hyperfixation in his own, unique, rambling way).   Our music was written and performed by Ollie Newbury! Find him on Instagram at @newbsmusic. Meanwhile, you can find us at indieventurepodcast.co.uk or wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget that you can now join our dedicated Discord too, and be sure to check out our new Steam Curator page if you simply still can't get enough of us!