EastAsiaSoft: The black sheep in the Nintendo eShop

The Nintendo eShop is the only place in the whole world to get Switch games at amazing prices. Even eBay is holding onto the myth that used games still deserve $50 price tags. The Switch has countless offerings of indie and triple A games that can arrive on your console instantly.

With that comes the shovelware. What is shovelware? It is when a low-budget software developer wants to make a few bucks so they plop out a game and stick $5 on it. A lot of these games have more time spent on their SEO and screenshot doctoring than in the actual quality of the game. Very few of them are actually inspiring. We live in a world of entrepreneurship so more power to them for finding a way to get a smidgen of the market.

But then there is this elusive company that shows up near the top of the discounted games section of the Nintendo eShop. This company found a way to get into a gamer’s wallet faster. You can always find their games for a buck or two. EastAsiaSoft is a small gaming company that churns out games faster than 2K can churn out patches to fix their games. They have their wares in the PS5 and Switch, but the Nintendo eShop is the most alarming.

Why? Because of what they are marketing to teenagers.

EastAsiaSoft understands the hormonal teenager’s mind. They know that a young man will forgo gameplay and story if the game appeals to certain feminine assets. That is why they pump out as many softcore anime titles as they can and put them for sale cheap. The problem is that Nintendo likes to put these discounted games at the beginning of their discount scroll.

EastAsiaSoft is not shy about it. They brazenly name their games Hentai vs. Evil, Waifu, Pretty Girl Mahjong. They are hiding nothing and I strongly suggest you don’t Google half of those words. If the title isn’t enterprising then the cover picture leaves no doubt. These pictures feature in-your-face drawings of women. These women should all be going into surgery for excruciating back pain. I

The Nintendo eShop has no qualms with this despite having a reputation as a family console. One person could argue that a parental filter would be the best way to keep these games off the eShop. That is one possibility, but the parental controls on the Nintendo are an all-or-nothing deal. You can’t block a single company or a type of game, but you can get rid of all M-rated games. It does not leave gamers a lot of options.

I get it. Some will state that we live in America and that gives us the freedom to buy and consume whatever we want. You could make the case that it is art. But at least I hope we can agree that Nintendo should not be introducing twelve-year-olds to Anime hypersexuality when they are looking for Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. Yes, I understand the internet has much worse and it is impossible to keep your kids 100% safe, but at least Steam lets you ban certain words in their filter. With the Nintendo eShop it is all or nothing.

I have to assign shame to EastAsiaSoft because they are appealing to the base instinct of gamers and giving them cheap games in exchange for pocket change. It’s not in their whole game library, as some games are worth checking out. I just find this marketing a bit extreme. As a man who tries to find beauty and integrity in gaming, this is a cheap shot and an insult to men.

But…video games like pushing the envelope. That is nothing new. We are the only art form that has fatality moves the user can perform. I just wish the Nintendo eShop would be more careful with presenting it.