Topic: Splatoon!! WELCOME - TO DYE!

[Enner]

What a surprise to see the game updated after its first weekend.

The update didn't require any additional data to be downloaded or for the player to exit the game. This gives great credence to the theory that the content-specific "update" is data that is already on the disc or base installation. Adding to the theory are some very Turf-War-looking levels in the single-player that are not in the multiplayer at all (yet).Whatever free maps and gear there is between now and the August update, it might be safe to assume that we all have it and are just waiting for Nintendo to unlock them.

Between this and the daily store refreshes, the influence of the Animal Crossing developers is showing largely.

[Soren]

The matchmaking is really, really bad. During ranked battles all level 20s were consistently put in a group and the resulting minute long 100-0 routs were not fun at all. Also, there are two stages to pick from, it's insane that I have to play Walleye Warehouse 8 times in a row!

The NES Zapper is a really fun weapon. I think it might eventually replace the Tentatek Splattershot in my main loadouts.

Ranked battles are ok, but the issues above put a bit of a damper on it. I'm right now at "C" level, but I feel I'm more at the mercy of the higher level players with their superiors weapons than I am of my own ability. The splat zones in Urchin Underpass and Walleye Warehouse call for more close quarters combat with just a one or two spots to snipe, while Saltspray Rig is all about having control of the high ground, so there's a bit of variety. I do hope the splat zones themselves change over time though so the strategy changes as well.

Whatever free maps and gear there is between now and the August update, it might be safe to assume that we all have it and are just waiting for Nintendo to unlock them.

And that is total BS.

[Evan_B]

I think, for Nintendo to have this much of a smooth time unlocking content for all the people who own Splatoon within the first weekend of release, there has to be content on the disc that is locked out. We're talking about a developer that could barely figure out online before the Wii's life ended.

[broodwars]

I think, for Nintendo to have this much of a smooth time unlocking content for all the people who own Splatoon within the first weekend of release, there has to be content on the disc that is locked out. We're talking about a developer that could barely figure out online before the Wii's life ended.

People on Twitter seem to have confirmed that this content's a timed unlock on the disc, because it's unlocking without a patch or DLC download. To me, this is even more damning than it looked before because that means Nintendo could have had a complete game at launch and chose not to.

[azeke]

Nintendo has said that they will unlock ranked mode after enough people reach level 10.

Nintendo unlocked new mode once enough prople reached level 10.

[Evan_B]

Let's be honest, Broody, it's just Nintendo's way of adapting to a market that is continually satisfied with screwing the modern gamer over.

I had hoped they would be a bastion. I had hoped wrong. The fact that Splatoon is doing well generally everywhere (for a Wii U title, at least, LOL) just further accentuates the fact that Nintendo will be okay with doing the same thing in the future. Hell, Pikmin 3 was already a sign, with Nintendo locking out challenge stages at certain point a even though they were free. And that was made by Miyamoto.

Once they see the profitability of the smartphone market, we can kiss Nintendo's consumer-friendly ass goodbye. It's surprising, because in terms of the 3DS they still seem to be attempting to test the limits of free-to-play, freed to start, etc. but with the Wii U, they have hit their market solidly because the library is utter ****. People are desperate for games and will settle with shady business practices as long as they get their fix. The only thing I can praise Nintendo for is that said content is free- but who knows how long that will last? Watters himself said for the longest time that Nintendo wouldn't go mobile, and yet, look at them now.

In some ways, I believe being a developer exclusively is the best way to go, because then, you just need to make games for the audience that will give you profit, rather than become the evil that is a publisher.

[azeke]

Wii U, they have hit their market solidly because the library is utter ****

Wii U has the best console library out of all on the market and it's not even close.

Obviously, PC is the way to go for multiplatform ****. But outside of that no other console can justify it's existance.

[Evan_B]

That is true if you are a fan of 2D platformers and Nintendo games, which, judging by sales,
is a ridiculously small portion of the consumer market.

Hell, I own a Wii U and I'm not happy with it.

[Phil]

Wii U, they have hit their market solidly because the library is utter ****

Wii U has the best console library out of all on the market and it's not even close.

Obviously, PC is the way to go for multiplatform ****. But outside of that no other console can justify it's existance.

Agreed.

That is true if you are a fan of 2D platformers and Nintendo games, which, judging by sales,
is a ridiculously small portion of the consumer market.

Hell, I own a Wii U and I'm not happy with it.

The Nintendo DS, Wii, and 3DS would say differently, if we're going by the sales argument. I don't think sales = quality. If anything, it says how badly Nintendo got the message out about the Wii U's worth and how badly the marketing was done, which I thought was common knowledge.


At least, it didn't matter when the Wii was winning the console war. It was a fad or whatever, despite the attach rate being competitive with the competition. Instead, people jumped through hoops to explain why the Wii's sales didn't mean anything. It only matters now that the Wii U is not selling well, and that's pretty lame.

I like action games, I like indie games (which isn't a genre), I like Nintendo games (which also isn't a genre, as there are a variety of franchises for a variety of people, so putting a blanket "Nintendo games" description is very disingenuous), I like platformers, I like puzzle games, and the Wii U has given me all of that.

You're free to not be happy with the Wii U. That's more than fine and it's understandable. But saying the system is just platformers and Nintendo games is again, disingenuous.

[Soren]

Nintendo has said that they will unlock ranked mode after enough people reach level 10.

Nintendo unlocked new mode once enough prople reached level 10.

That's PR drivel. The mode was ready to go at launch and you're already putting an arbitrary cap on it by limiting it to people levels 10-20 only. There was no need to withhold it further, specially when there was already a dearth of content at launch.

[azeke]

The mode was ready to go at launch and you're already putting an arbitrary cap on it by limiting it to people levels 10-20 only.

That's exactly what Nintendo said.

Nintendo has said that they will unlock ranked mode after enough people reach level 10.

Nintendo unlocked new mode once enough prople reached level 10.

There is a very simple reason to allow only level 10 people in ranked mode -- ranked Splat Zone is extremely, extremely intense. Much, much more so than regular battles. They gave people some time to learn the game and then opened this extremely mode for those who are confident in their skills.

I played like five Splat Zone matches today and only managed to win once. It's wild out there.

[Soren]

My argument is ranked battles should have been open from the start. They're already automatically locked to those under level 10. Splat Zones battles are fundamentally different than regular battles and there's very little in terms of strategy you can take from one to the other, outside of the fundamentals which you should've already mastered by the time you hit level 10.

Plenty of people were ready for ranked battles during the weekend without having to wait for Nintendo to deem that enough people had achieved level 10.

[azeke]

Plenty of people were ready for ranked battles during the weekend without having to wait for Nintendo to deem that enough people had achieved level 10.

That's the thing they didn't know how the game will sell. They did this to ensure that there won't be dead lobbies in ranked mode because there aren't enough people.

[Enner]

The matchmaking is really, really bad. During ranked battles all level 20s were consistently put in a group and the resulting minute long 100-0 routs were not fun at all. Also, there are two stages to pick from, it's insane that I have to play Walleye Warehouse 8 times in a row!

If they were all C Rank, then this might be a consequence of the early days of Ranked Battle. Some time needs to pass before everyone can be placed correctly. Nintendo doesn't seem to be using any metrics to determine rank other than points gained and loss from Ranked Battles.

[People on Twitter seem to have confirmed that this content's a timed unlock on the disc, because it's unlocking without a patch or DLC download. To me, this is even more damning than it looked before because that means Nintendo could have had a complete game at launch and chose not to.

Nintendo got the memo from EA and Activision: Games are a service now! Aren't we all happy? Nintendo is finally adhering to video game industry standards.

All the ones we don't like.

[Soren]

That's the thing they didn't know how the game will sell. They did this to ensure that there won't be dead lobbies in ranked mode because there aren't enough people.

Does this happen with other shooters?

[azeke]

Does this happen with other shooters?

For most of the online shooters servers become tumbleweed town.

To prevent this you need regular updates, like TF2 did for years.

[Enner]

Does this happen with other shooters?

For most of the online shooters servers become tumbleweed town.

To prevent this you need regular updates, like TF2 did for years.

Adding to this, an anecdote:
Battlefield 3's first expansion, Back to Karkand (I think), had a new weapon that is unlocked by winning two matches in the Squad Deathmatch mode. On the PC version, barely any dedicated server was running Squad Deathmatch even at the time around the expansion's release and even fewer players were in them. Alot of PC players pretty much banded with their friends to get their two wins in and never touch Squad Deathmatch again.

[Evan_B]

That is true if you are a fan of 2D platformers and Nintendo games, which, judging by sales,
is a ridiculously small portion of the consumer market.

Hell, I own a Wii U and I'm not happy with it.

The Nintendo DS, Wii, and 3DS would say differently, if we're going by the sales argument. I don't think sales = quality. If anything, it says how badly Nintendo got the message out about the Wii U's worth and how badly the marketing was done, which I thought was common knowledge.


At least, it didn't matter when the Wii was winning the console war. It was a fad or whatever, despite the attach rate being competitive with the competition. Instead, people jumped through hoops to explain why the Wii's sales didn't mean anything. It only matters now that the Wii U is not selling well, and that's pretty lame.

I like action games, I like indie games (which isn't a genre), I like Nintendo games (which also isn't a genre, as there are a variety of franchises for a variety of people, so putting a blanket "Nintendo games" description is very disingenuous), I like platformers, I like puzzle games, and the Wii U has given me all of that.

You're free to not be happy with the Wii U. That's more than fine and it's understandable. But saying the system is just platformers and Nintendo games is again, disingenuous.

So you essentially say that you enjoy the least variable and accessible products in the market, and you're trying to prove that the Wii U has the best library with that statement? 2D platformers ultimately boil down to "story" or gameplay choices, otherwise they perform similar to games that already exist. The most excited I was about a Wii U 2D platformer was Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails, which is an amazing and underrated game... that is also on other consoles. Nintendo's exclusive platformers are honestly nothing to get excited about, either.

Also, I religiously follow the Wii U eShop updates and I have no idea what you're referring to in the vein of "puzzle games".

[Phil]

That is true if you are a fan of 2D platformers and Nintendo games, which, judging by sales,
is a ridiculously small portion of the consumer market.

Hell, I own a Wii U and I'm not happy with it.

The Nintendo DS, Wii, and 3DS would say differently, if we're going by the sales argument. I don't think sales = quality. If anything, it says how badly Nintendo got the message out about the Wii U's worth and how badly the marketing was done, which I thought was common knowledge.


At least, it didn't matter when the Wii was winning the console war. It was a fad or whatever, despite the attach rate being competitive with the competition. Instead, people jumped through hoops to explain why the Wii's sales didn't mean anything. It only matters now that the Wii U is not selling well, and that's pretty lame.

I like action games, I like indie games (which isn't a genre), I like Nintendo games (which also isn't a genre, as there are a variety of franchises for a variety of people, so putting a blanket "Nintendo games" description is very disingenuous), I like platformers, I like puzzle games, and the Wii U has given me all of that.

You're free to not be happy with the Wii U. That's more than fine and it's understandable. But saying the system is just platformers and Nintendo games is again, disingenuous.

So you essentially say that you enjoy the least variable and accessible products in the market, and you're trying to prove that the Wii U has the best library with that statement? 2D platformers ultimately boil down to "story" or gameplay choices, otherwise they perform similar to games that already exist. The most excited I was about a Wii U 2D platformer was Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails, which is an amazing and underrated game... that is also on other consoles. Nintendo's exclusive platformers are honestly nothing to get excited about, either.

Also, I religiously follow the Wii U eShop updates and I have no idea what you're referring to in the vein of "puzzle games".

One, I don't know if you're trying to downplay my tastes in games, but if you are, please do not do that.

Two, no, I'm simply disagreeing with you that the Wii U is nothing but "platformers and Nintendo games". Nothing more, nothing less. You drew your own conclusion and it was incorrect. I'd continue, but it seems you would simply write off any other game I would name with some generic "honestly nothing to get excited about, either" line like you did with all of Nintendo's platformers. We get your routine and your stance on the Wii U already. You don't have to reiterate it to the point of parody. There's a difference between being overly negative with a stick up your ass, repeating the same talking points only in different topics, and being overly negative and having something new to say once in a blue moon.

[ymeegod]

Not sure what to make out of it, one hand getting more content later keeps the players interested but one the other hand, withholding content killed Splatoon's metacritic score.  Game could have easily been a 9.0 AAA title but certain moves on Nintendo's part has this "gamer" head shaking.

----------------------
Splatoon is selling quite nice around me, a few places have sold out while other ones are down to their last copy.  Hardware wise, the WII U continue to sit on shelves unmoved. 

Nintendo really didn't play it's card right IMO, first off it gave BB the exclusive Splatoon/WII U bundle deal when I would have done a REAL bundle and include the three-amiibo splatton characters with physical game for $250. 

[azeke]

Wanted to catch a match or two before i go to work, but nope -- a new update. By the time it finished, i had to go.

Apparently, it fixes framerate in the hub area.

Hopefully they will add more controls option next: off tv play and wiimote controls.

[Evan_B]

I'm sorry Phil. I wrote a much longer response, but I just wanted to say I didn't realize my routine had become so repetitive.

[lolmonade]

I've had some connectivity issues tonight, anyone else?


Only at level 5 here, having some good fun, it really seems like a game can swing wildly between winning and losing pretty quick.  Makes it where you need to stay engaged in the game.

[broodwars]

I was playing some Turf Wars earlier today when I noticed something odd: with 30 seconds left to go, my side was leading probably around 70-30. Then I look down with 10 seconds to go & suddenly it was 70-30 against us. I tried to do some cleanup, but I noticed that after the click hit 0 a big white circle appeared on the gamepad in an area we had all our color. It blinked for about a second and then suddenly that ENTIRE AREA was the opposing color. WTF was that? Is there a weapon perk or something that just projects a bunch of your colored ink around you in a wide area when the game is over?

[Soren]

I was playing some Turf Wars earlier today when I noticed something odd: with 30 seconds left to go, my side was leading probably around 70-30. Then I look down with 10 seconds to go & suddenly it was 70-30 against us. I tried to do some cleanup, but I noticed that after the click hit 0 a big white circle appeared on the gamepad in an area we had all our color. It blinked for about a second and then suddenly that ENTIRE AREA was the opposing color. WTF was that? Is there a weapon perk or something that just projects a bunch of your colored ink around you in a wide area when the game is over?

That was probably a last second Inkstrike. Inkstrikes launched before the timer runs out still count.