I wasn’t terribly interested in Splatoon prior to May 7, 2015. It seemed fun at E3 2014. The character designs are certainly unique and visually appealing. But the thing was, I worried it wasn’t for me. There didn’t seem to be a spark that really convinced me I had to have this on my Wii U day one. Then, I saw the Splatoon Nintendo Direct, and suddenly it was like I had to have this game. The Global Testfire announcement made it even sweeter, since I would have a Splatoon demo that would help me form a definitive opinion as to whether or not Nintendo deserved my $60 for this game.
Then, the other shoe fell. It seems like, lately, there’s a grey cloud to every one of Nintendo’s silver linings. There’s a Splatoon demo, sure, but you can’t go and play it whenever you want. No, it’s a combination demo and stress test, which means people can only play when Nintendo allows them to play.
I understand the importance of stress tests on servers. Really, I do. We’ve seen too many SimCity incidents to brush such things off. When a game is going to rely heavily on online multiplayer, a company has to be sure it will work as planned at launch. The problem stems from the fact that this isn’t just a stress test for people, as the Splatoon demo is also a means of convincing people to take a chance on a new IP.
In this instance, the Splatoon demo would have benefited from some sort of local multiplayer mode. It wouldn’t have had to be too complicated, as the full game is going to have a Battle Dojo where two people can face off, one on one. I doubt it would have been too difficult to implement, since said mode uses the Turf War maps, and would have given people something to do outside of the designated play times.
That would have been critical, because the sessions Nintendo set up aren’t super friendly. The company says it attempted to pick times convenient for everyone, but they really aren’t. The first period runs for an hour on May 8, 2015, starting at 8pm PT/10pm CT/11 pm ET. It’s really only convenient for those on the west coast. The second is for an hour at 4am ET/6am CT/7am ET on May 9, which doesn’t work for anybody. Finally, there’s a 12pm PT/2pm CT/3pm ET slot tomorrow. Given how busy people get on weekends and the fact that Nintendo only gave us one day’s notice, it’s difficult to see how the Splatoon demo could work as a demo experience, let alone an adequate stress test.
Splatoon looks like a promising game. It’s certainly the kind of title the Wii U needs. Something people can enjoy with their friends is great, especially since it will also have guaranteed free content updates throughout the summer. It’s just a shame Nintendo couldn’t have made the Splatoon demo a little friendlier. Or, at the very least, made it easier for people to participate in an online session. More than 24 hours notice would have been nice!