The Nintendo Direct News And Discussion Thread

[thePlinko]

What's the difference between Nintendo releasing a Zelda game that does the same thing for the twelfth time and a Splatoon game that does the same thing for the third time?

At least one of them hasn't been going on for forty years.

The actual difference is that Zelda doing the same thing only happens in your mind and not in reality.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

The actual difference is that Zelda doing the same thing only happens in your mind and not in reality.

Really? How many Ganon deaths and banishments are we up to now?

 

[Morbid Minish]

as far as thinner spread coverage goes, i think we can see that that's not something unique to splatoon 3 and its an ongoing problem with nintendo right now. smash ultimate's abundant coverage was from a time before the pandemic hit, back when we had frequent nintendo directs. that they're doing a splatoon 3 direct is at least something of a step better than them being secretive about botw2. but these games all have different teams working on them too so they will only share as much information as they're comfortable sharing and different teams may be more willing to share more details than others, regardless of how much the pandemic may still be affecting their work or not.

The Splatoon twitter has actually been pretty active with providing some updates, but it gets overlooked pretty easily since a lot of people don't follow their twitter. But ya, I feel like a big part of it is Nintendo, since the Splatoon team seems to be pretty on top of things usually.

To a much, much lesser extent, yes. Thats a reason to buy the game, sure, but thats not exactly the games main selling point. It’s not like Zelda where theres a massive emphasis on the changes implemented in the singleplayer aspect, and even then Zelda has always sold significantly worse when it was the 2nd title on its console, even when the first title was a port like with LttP+FS and MC.

Tbh, I don't really care about the numbers of it selling that much. My arguments were about why we needed Splatoon 3, which sales numbers and console don't factor into a ton. Sure I hope it sells well, but even if it does worse than 2 that doesn't mean that it wasn't needed/wanted. They set up a story that began with the final Splatfest of 2. It's more Nintendo's fault of not releasing a new console than it is the Splatoon team's. They shouldn't be limited by waiting for a new console to release their game, especially when Nintendo has said that the Switch is only about halfway through its lifespan.

Ok, but imagine that you’re just an ordinary consumer who already owns Splatoon 2. You enjoy playing, but you’re not some Splatoon mega-fan. Do you really think that all of that is going to be enough to convince you to spend an entire $60 on a brand new game?

That’s the thing you have to remember. Sure, maybe you’re convinced, but Nintendo doesn’t need to make this appeal to you to sell well. They already know that most people who are huge fans of Splatoon are pretty much guaranteed to buy it, and thats a tiny fraction of their install base. Over twice as many people bought Splatoon 2 as 1. That means the majority of people who bought it had never played splatoon before. Splatoon 2 wasn’t a massive hit because of the people who actively understand what makes 3 different from 2, it was a massive hit because of the people who just saw splatoon on the switch and thought it looked fun.

Splatoon 2 did better than one because the WiiU wasn't as popular. They usually hold testfires as well which allow people who have never played the game/haven't bought it to try it out and see how they like it. Which is something that other Nintendo games don't do. There are also the people who got a Switch late/discovered Splatoon late who missed out on all the Splatfests and everything who will be more willing to jump in with a new game than to stick to 2.

And how many new Mario Kart releases are on each system? Excluding spin-offs and virtual

That doesn't change the fact that it's still the same game and people still keep buying it. And tons of people want a Mario Kart for the Switch even with Deluxe on it.

 

[A Link In Time]

Honestly, one other thing I'm looking forward to that isn't new, but that's one of the main draws of the franchise to me, is the return of Splatfests. It's always amazing to play stages at night, and I like how Splatoon 2 introduced Splatfest exclusive stages, so I'm wondering what 3 does with the feature.

Also, I think it's time to tweak how the map rotation system works. If memory serves correct, there have always been two maps per mode. Rotations were once every 3 hours in the original and once every 2 hours in 2. If the map rotation system is kept, then bring down the time to once every hour. Or expand the selection and gives us 3-4 maps per mode per rotation.

 

[A Link In Time]

Tricolor turf wars appearing in the second half (from what I understood) of Splatfests in Splatoon 3 is huge. What a fun little twist.

The new idol group, Deep Cut, with Frye and Shiver is pretty neat too.

Aside from that, I'm glad we got more details on Salmon Run The Next Wave and new game mechanics like the squid roll and squid surge. Anarchy Battles seem pretty fresh too.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but I thought I saw Pearl and Marina's outlines in the paid DLC when they mentioned it, so perhaps they'll guide you across that campaign when the time comes.

 

[Fraxinus]

big man is the best i love him

little sad about there not being a free roam mode though, cuz the original teaser kind of gave that vibe

 

[Ronin]

Splatoon 2.5 is the more accurate title here. There's still not that much to make it stand apart from the second game aside from some incremental additions. One of the things they could have improved is the hub world, but it's still small in scope and lacking depth. Inklings have all these cool abilities but can't use them to navigate the world, which is a major missed opportunity. I guess it's only natural that multi-player remains the central focus here but it's still missing out. Maybe the Large-Scale Paid DLC will change things?

 

[Morbid Minish]

Splatoon 2.5 is the more accurate title here. There's still not that much to make it stand apart from the second game aside from some incremental additions. One of the things they could have improved is the hub world, but it's still small in scope and lacking depth. Inklings have all these cool abilities but can't use them to navigate the world, which is a major missed opportunity. I guess it's only natural that multi-player remains the central focus here but it's still missing out. Maybe the Large-Scale Paid DLC will change things?

Did we watch the same direct? There were a ton of differences. You had the gameplay differences with the squid surge and squid roll. Which honestly the roll sounds super handy. The new weapon classes with the Splatana and the Stringer. The new specials. Splatfests having 3 teams and two different phases, one including three teams playing at the same time. The match replay, friend ghosts in the hub allowing you to set up and join in on their matches, the lockers you can decorate and see others gear in. The weapon buying system has changed. New maps, as well as Hammerhead Bridge returning and having its construction completed. The Tabletop Turf game, which looks ****ing awesome. Being able to do stuff while the news is playing. Saving outfit sets. Being able to change our winning animations. Salmon Run getting new bosses, the ability to throw eggs, the occasional special mega boss, and the over run feature of it taking over the hub world on special occasions. Being able to mess around in the test room while waiting in match lobbies. I'm sure there's more I'm even forgetting about at the moment. What more do people want to make it seem like a new game, other than completely changing what Splatoon is? There are also going to be constant updates, so we may get a new ranked mode. Seeing as Clam Blitz came in an update and not with the release of the game.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I'm not sure what I even expect from this, but I'm just excited we are getting a full direct. Not sure if BotW 2 makes it in either because of the statement they are focusing only on games releasing winter of this year.

 

[DJ Twitch]

The title... Just the title...

Surely this time...

 

[twilitfalchion]

The only thing I care about at this point is Zelda ports.
Anything else is bonus points.

 

[thePlinko]

Took them long enough.

Its just gonna be the same crap as usual. You know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s hard to ever get excited anymore when every direct is as garbage as the last few have been.

 

[Link&Midna]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWOOOOGA

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

Whether we get any Botw news I think fully depends on whether they're planning for a spring release. Because if it's coming out in the spring, that's only like half a yearish and you have to tell us something. I can't see pre-orders opening until next year but not giving us any info until the literal last second seems like it'd make for a poor decision.

 

[Ronin]

Gimme that sweet, sweet etherrrrrr.