Nintendo's View on the possibility of Ultra-competitive Splatoon

[Flying_Tortoise]

This was actually a great read.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/splatoon-origins-and-esports-potential-of-nintendo/1100-6426789/

Gamespot includes part of their interview with Splatoon's producer Hisashi Nogami.

I know its waaay too early to talk eSports but its nice that Nintendo actually meant to make this game competitive "wanting to make a strategic, team-based game, exploring the game logic that arose from that desire, the ink was just sort of the medium that naturally arose from that exploration that they made on the team."
So that means it'll be easier to make this game esports, a lot easier than how long melee and smash had to endure.

 

[FunkyLobster]

they've been talking about the game like that for a while, saying how they feel the game will appeal to both a casual userbase and a more competitive one. it's exciting to see them like this, so i hope they include features that makes competitive players lives easier

 

[TheGentlebro]

This is actually really cool! I hope it means that they were also very careful in the weapons balancing, I'd love to see all sorts of loadouts in an actual big tournament!

 

[Lyn]

Very interesting. I'm hoping it means they add some competitive orientation to the game eventually.

 

[FunkyLobster]

Very interesting. I'm hoping it means they add some competitive orientation to the game eventually.

i feel like they're trying to appeal to a broad audience in the GOOD way. appealing to casual and competitive players with the creativity that goes into playing the game, instead of dumbing down the game into getting more well off white guys to buy and play the game and its dozens of DLC :P

 

[Lyn]

i feel like they're trying to appeal to a broad audience in the GOOD way. appealing to casual and competitive players with the creativity that goes into playing the game, instead of dumbing down the game into getting more well off white guys to buy and play the game and its dozens of DLC :p

Yeah it does seem like that, luckily. I'm just hoping they put in some things for the comp. players. ^^

 

[FunkyLobster]

Yeah it does seem like that, luckily. I'm just hoping they put in some things for the comp. players. ^^

me too.. hopefully they continue to support the game in the form of balance patches (with REAL patch notes) and conveniences like LAN and tournament mode if they're not in the base game

 

[theblackbird]

I honestly don't think they mean 'competitive' the same way we do. They're not looking for it to be an eSport or anything like that, it seems like. By 'competitive' they simply mean 'challenging'. Competitive in the old-school definition, not the modern definition.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

I certainly hope it ends up being competitive. Would certainly increase the replay value.

I honestly don't think they mean 'competitive' the same way we do. They're not looking for it to be an eSport or anything like that, it seems like. By 'competitive' they simply mean 'challenging'. Competitive in the old-school definition, not the modern definition.

What makes you think that? After smash bros, I would assume they would know what competitive would mean by now personally.

 

[FunkyLobster]

I certainly hope it ends up being competitive. Would certainly increase the replay value.

oh, it's definitely going to be competitive, don't worry

the game already has a foundation of players looking to play it at a higher level, and it's not even out yet. games like mario kart have a competitive community and they don't even have any real competitive support from nintendo, either. let's not forget that competitive melee has survived for 14 years, through a new smash game with a considerably slower pace, and through nintendo trying to force it out of EVO 2013. if nintendo is even indifferent to splatoon, i'm sure it'll be just fine :P

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

oh, it's definitely going to be competitive, don't worry

the game already has a foundation of players looking to play it at a higher level, and it's not even out yet. games like mario kart have a competitive community and they don't even have any real competitive support from nintendo, either. let's not forget that competitive melee has survived for 14 years, through a new smash game with a considerably slower pace, and through nintendo trying to force it out of EVO 2013. if nintendo is even indifferent to splatoon, i'm sure it'll be just fine :p

Yeah, it is really exciting how passionate the developers seem to be about this game.

I really do hope it ends up being "What Mario kart is to racing games, to shooters."

Hopefully with enough support, this game can be amazing. <3

 

[theblackbird]

I certainly hope it ends up being competitive. Would certainly increase the replay value.



What makes you think that? After smash bros, I would assume they would know what competitive would mean by now personally.

A couple of things. One, Smash Bros was a 100% accident. They meant for it to be a party fighter game, and always mean for it to be a party fighter. Also, Nintendo themselves didn't 'try to force Melee out of EVO'. That was mostly Nintendo's lawyers acting overzealously and without general knowledge of the situation- once the proper higher ups got wind of what was going on, they called the legal hounds off rather quickly. It was a large misunderstanding that people like to point at. Secondly, Mario Kart 8's competitive community is a ghost of itself. Not the best example.

Third, I'm not a fan of Melee and prefer Smash 4. I say this having spent two solid years in the competitive Melee scene. Stopped being fun, started being work. This has little to no bearing on Splatoon's competitive possibility, I'm just noting it for context for you guys.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

A couple of things. One, Smash Bros was a 100% accident. They meant for it to be a party fighter game, and always mean for it to be a party fighter. Also, Nintendo themselves didn't 'try to force Melee out of EVO'. That was mostly Nintendo's lawyers acting overzealously and without general knowledge of the situation- once the proper higher ups got wind of what was going on, they called the legal hounds off rather quickly. It was a large misunderstanding that people like to point at. Secondly, Mario Kart 8's competitive community is a ghost of itself. Not the best example.

Third, I'm not a fan of Melee and prefer Smash 4. I say this having spent two solid years in the competitive Melee scene. Stopped being fun, started being work. This has little to no bearing on Splatoon's competitive possibility, I'm just noting it for context for you guys.

When it comes down to it, what I meant was after a decade or so of dealing with Smash and interacting with smash, they should of course know by now what a "competitive" thing is. Especially when they sponsor things like Apex and EVO and even talk about it in interviews.

 

[theblackbird]

I suppose. I just don't think it's going to be as big a priority for them as everyone else is, and that's the lens through which I'm saying all this.

Also, I should disclaim: I am actually indifferent as to whether it gets a competitive community or not (leaning towards impressed more than anything), I'm just stating what I think the situation is likely to be.

 

[Lozjam]

Many interviews have stated that Splatoon's developers are actually the newer developers that Nintendo has enlisted. So of course they are going to add modern things such as competitive gaming. This really does go a long way into the series, as we have seen time and time again. Best of all, is Nogami is not Sakurai, and is quite open to competitive games, he just wants to make a game where casual players can be interested into getting into that hardcore level. Just look at the neat stuff you can do with the Inklings themselves. Turning into Squidform and squidhopping looks very cool and visually appealing. This makes casual players want to know how to do that, and use it in the future.
Next thing you know, these players will be amazing at Splatoon, and also totally hardcore. I am really loving this design philosophy. Especially since the Single player missions teach you a lot of these advanced techniques for casual players as well. It's just really excellent overall.

 

[theblackbird]

Will be interesting. I just hope the hardcore don't take over online like other competitive games. xD

 

[DigDeep]

The developers are definitely open to it being a competitive game, but that's different from Nintendo as a whole being behind it. Nintendo could still screw up by not letting the game have LAN for whatever reason or restricting what the developers can do towards that goal. I think that'd be a worst case scenario though and there's really nothing to worry about. It just comes down to how balanced weapons and perks are for now.

When it comes down to it, what I meant was after a decade or so of dealing with Smash and interacting with smash, they should of course know by now what a "competitive" thing is. Especially when they sponsor things like Apex and EVO and even talk about it in interviews.

That's assuming there's a large cross over from the Smash dev team, which has changed a lot with each entry anyways. The majority of the Splatooon development team came from their work on AC: New Leaf. Smash was never meant to be competitive either, Sakurai actively stating that he doesn't care for competitive play. Smash 4 is well balanced, but they also had Bandai Namco help them develop the game. I doubt it would have been as well balanced in time for release without them.

 

[thefro]

This is a similar interview from US Gamer
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/hisashi-nogami-interview-

 

[Lyn]

Yeah, it is really exciting how passionate the developers seem to be about this game.

I really do hope it ends up being "What Mario kart is to racing games, to shooters."

Hopefully with enough support, this game can be amazing. <3

If that happens, I will be very happy. Just the title sounds great.

 

[Kat]

eSports is growing way too quickly for it to be completely off of Nintendo's radar. Even for a dev team based in Japan, a country that doesn't see too heavy of an influence on eSport games outside of the Fighting Game community. Nintendo have always been a little slow to catch up with trends but even if it's not a base plan it's clear Nintendo have begun to adapt to modern gaming trends with a bigger inclusion of DLC outside of Amiibos to their games and with the competitive scene blowing up for Smash.

Even if they don't go full blown eSports on Splatoon I'm definitely anticipating some content or additions geared towards more comp orientated players for sure.

If it's not already in the pipeline I would hope Nintendo see the potential and act on it, games with competitive support from the developers have histories of great scenes and longevity of the comp communities for obvious reasons.