Just stop
It’s no secret that the Switch eShop is home to a ridiculous amount of utter slop alongside the genuinely good games, but what’s baffling us is just how unwilling Nintendo seems to be to improve anything.
Just this week, we highlighted a game that blatantly copied Witch Beam’s homework with Unpacking, and now it seems as though Pokémon is once again in the firing line. Specifically, following the success of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket on mobile, a new game has cropped up for pre-order on the eShop called TCG Card Shop Master.
Published by ‘DEMENCI Games’ (who, if you check out its official website, prides itself on “the meticulous crafting of original titles” – guffaw!), the obvious connection here is that ‘Pokémon Trading Card Game’ is often abbreviated to ‘Pokémon TCG’, and we’ve no doubt that this is what players are typing into search engines online or via the eShop itself. There’s also another title simply called ‘TCG Card Shop Simulator‘ on Steam that seems to be a heavy influence on DEMENCI’s title, though this one seems to be getting some reasonably positive reception.
As such, TCG Card Shop Master is yet another rip-off looking to capitalise on a popular search term while seemingly offering little to no substance of its own. The key art is another AI-created abomination (look at those hands!), the in-game visuals are a mess, and some of the creatures seen on the card boxes look like blatant copies of Pokémon such as Eevee and Victini.
It’s gotta stop, man. Enough. If you’re like us, chances are you don’t stumble across this stuff all that much, because at the very least, we know what we’re looking for when we wade into the murky swamp that is the Switch eShop. Not everybody does, though. And it’s when publishers take popular search terms for their own gain that people fall fowl of some truly horrifying games. If anyone at Nintendo reads this, you gotta get the ball rolling and start purging some of this nonsense.
Also, why are some of the in-game characters surrounded by green mist? What kind of message does that send? Strewth…
TCG Card Shop Master will cost £7.19 and launches on 25th December 2024 – Christmas Day! What a gift.
What are your thoughts on this latest eShop rip-off? Leave a comment down below and let us know.
Nintendo Life’s resident horror fanatic, when he’s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry.
