Editorial: How kids and squids changed gaming: One year of Splatoon

How kids and squids changed gaming: One year of Splatoon

          In the years after Call of Duty hit it big, the shooter genre kind of hit a weird speedbump. Everyone was trying to beat CoD, and to do this, they seemed to think that copying CoD was the best idea. This led to a revolution of sorts of the first-person shooter, as with the graphical advances, everyone was able to put their two cents into the pot of which game is the most realistic looking. The problem here was that they often felt like carbon copies of each other, so you were kind of stuck if you wanted an original, creative shooter.

          When this happened, I was certain that we’d seen the end of third-person shooters. Aside from games like Uncharted and what’s left of the Resident Evil franchise, there weren’t many coming out. You still don’t see that many today, to be honest, compared to their first-person cousins.

          Enter Splatoon. First seen at Nintendo’s E3 presentation in 2014, this game was huge when it was coming out. If you were there for the marketing campaign, you know what I’m talking about. It’s clear Nintendo of America knew that they had a winner on their hands, because the advertising was all over the place. Commercials played constantly (including the now infamous “You’re a kid now you’re a squid now” ad), posters and billboards lined the walls of anywhere that sold video games, and one company even introduced two flavours of Splatoon themed frozen yogurt. It was crazy.

          Ironically, one year later we’re seeing another creatively designed shooter being advertised all over the place. Though instead of themed ice cream, we're getting giant action figures.

          With marketing like this, one had to wonder if the game would live up to the hype. Could this game about squid kids playing paintball be the rejuvenation the shooter genre needed? Or would it just be another cash-in for the pile?

          Well, as I’m sure you’re all aware, the game was a huge success. Not only was the gameplay fantastic, earning itself several awards, including Best Multiplayer and Best Shooter at The Game Awards, but to this day, I still maintain that Splatoon’s content release system is one of the best ideas modern gaming has had to date.

          In case you missed it, here’s how it worked. When Splatoon launched, it had one online mode (Turf War), five different maps, several different weapons and gear, a full single player campaign, couch co-op, and a promise that more was on the way. After this, for nearly every week from June to January, new content was given bit by bit. Some weeks there would be new weapons, or maybe a new stage, or even a new game mode. And the best part? It was all included on the disc for free. If you paid for the game, you got the goods, no extra fees necessary.

          While people complained at first about the lack of content, as it was slowly given to us, they kept coming back to see what was new. This ensured that the game wouldn’t be left collecting dust, as so many other shooters do when they stop being fun. Instead, you kept checking back to see what was new. The occasional Splatfest events, where you choose a team to represent and try to win as many games as possible, still happen every month or so. Plus, the long-awaited Squid Sisters amiibo are coming in July, and rumours abound about an NX version of the game being available at launch. Nintendo is clearly not stopping the Splatoon train anytime soon.

          Compare this to games like Star Wars Battlefront or Evolve, both shooters that launched last year with minimal content, with the promise of more…for a fee. If you wanted the new weapon packs or gear, you had to fork over real money to get them, and as a result, those games were dropped like hot coffee shortly after launch, and quickly forgotten about. Because Splatoon included everything on the disc right away, and you just had to be patient, people were more than happy to wait for the content to come out.

          For a company that has made several mistakes in recent years, Splatoon really feels like the breath of fresh air Nintendo needed. It shows that they still know how to make a creative, original, and fun game. They know how to please their customers, and they can still take an established genre and put their own personal touch on it. There’s a reason Splatoon is still being played around the world one year later. It’s because it showed the world that sometimes to be successful, you have to do something a little different from the norm.