Windzen and the Nintendo Switch.

So Entertainment Hero 2 is known and out in the open. It's been in the works since November of 2017 and it's been tough keeping it under wraps. When the original game was still in active development I enjoyed posting the "Daily Entertainment Hero Preview" to my social media pages. That's something I plan to pick back up once I feel confident that I have enough interesting things to show.

While we're on the topic of the original Entertainment Hero, I want to address something that I repeatedly stated while it was in development; That it would release on the Nintendo Switch.

I announced Entertainment Hero on October 20th, the day Nintendo finally revealed the NX as the Nintendo Switch. This was a deliberate move on my part as I fully intended for the game to release on the platform. I thought I would have the game done by March 2017 and that I would have the game on the platform shortly after that, making it a "launch window" game.

A lot of people were excited for the game hitting Switch and some even expressed gratitude for the game being there to represent the action-platformer genre on the platform so early in it's life in a seemingly post-Mega Man world. I even got interviewed by Nintendo Switch Network and Entertainment Hero landed on the cover of their magazine's first issue. I'm very proud that they thought the game was worth covering at all but I also feel immense guilt because the game still isn't available on the platform while the promise of it being there was the only reason they reached out to me.

To clarify on all of this, I wasn't talking out of nowhere. I was confident that I could pull this off for several reasons. First and foremost was that the game is built in Unity which had already announced its full support of the Nintendo Switch. They had gone on record saying that Unity projects would be simple to get running on Switch.

Secondly, and without going into too much detail, I am a licensed Nintendo Developer and I had simply assumed that Nintendo Switch Development Kits would be available to purchase like every other Nintendo Development Kit. Unfortunately for my plans Nintendo decided to go a different route and they set up a pitching process of sorts. Entertainment Hero failed that process and the game never landed on Switch.

I spoke entirely too soon when stating my own plans and I regret that very much. The game obviously still hasn't released anywhere but PC and I've been afraid to give updates on the situation because of the whole Nintendo confidentiality thing. I feel that everyone interested in the game deserves an answer though, so I wanted to give one.

Hero looked pretty rough at the time and we're nobodies so I can't blame Nintendo for passing on it. I had every intention to pitch the game again once it was complete but by then I had learned so much more about game development that I was no longer quite content with little old Hero. Everything else available on the Nintendo Switch outclassed our game by miles.

This is no longer the case, to put it rather bluntly. I'm certainly not going to name names or point to anything in particular but there's some pretty low-effort stuff on the Switch eShop these days. Entertainment Hero 2 more than stands on it's own against some of that stuff. I'm not trying to be confrontational or insult anyone's work I just mean to say that my confidence issues are no longer present like they were last year. Our games don't have to stand right next to Zelda, Bomberman and Blaster Master anymore.

Onto the good news: Entertainment Hero 2 is officially being considered for a release on Nintendo Switch. I'm waiting to hear back and it can still be turned down but this is much farther than the first game ever got.

I will now prove that I have learned nothing from my mistakes by sharing what my plans are.

If the game is approved:

I'll be updating the original Entertainment Hero to fix a few bugs, clean up the visuals and change up a few stage layouts after player feedback. We'll be giving the original game a subtitle to signify that the game has been updated (think Final Mix) and this new version of the game will be included with Entertainment Hero 2 (on Switch) at no additional charge.

If the game is not approved:

I may still go through with updating Entertainment Hero and we'll be evaluating other release options for Entertainment Hero 2.

As I said about the original game, Nintendo Switch is our first priority. We'll do everything we can to get these two games released on Switch. Hero 2 will continue active development until it's done, no matter where it releases. We'll be giving frequent previews into the game's status and progress.

This is all we can say for now but we'll give updates on the Nintendo Switch situation as frequently as we're able and allowed. If you've been with us long, thanks for sticking around through all of this. We appreciate it more than we can express.

- Nathan