Splatoon - Timeline
Monday22nd Feb 2016
News We Squid You Not, Japan Really Is Getting Splatoon Candy
Dentists won't be happy
Those of you who value your tooth enamel, look away now - Japanese candy maker Nobel is releasing official Splatoon sweets. These will be available in two varieties. The squid-shaped gummy sweets are melon and orange-flavoured, with the occasional octopus making an appearance. The other sweets are hard candy in a wide range...
Sunday21st Feb 2016
News The Pokémon Splatfest Results Have Been Confirmed
And the winner is...
The Splatoon Splatfest events have often focused on fairly simple conflicts, only dipping into feisty brand-related tussles occasionally. The Transformers event in North America was one example, and this weekend we had the Pokémon generation one event worldwide. With the Virtual Console games arriving on 27th February fans have...
Friday19th Feb 2016
Reminder Register and Gear Up for the Pokémon Red & Blue Splatfest
Results to get a global airing
The Splatoon Splatfest events have been a fun regular addition to the outstanding shooter, though the upcoming Pokémon Red and Blue showdown is arguably the best yet. With the Pokémon anniversary around the corner it's perfectly timed and will also likely be extremely close - one Nintendo UK poll on Twitter for...
Monday15th Feb 2016
News New Splatoon Manga Series Coming to Bessatsu CoroCoro in Japan
The continuing rise of the IP
When reeling off Nintendo's biggest franchises the brand names are familiar - Mario, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda and so on. Yet Splatoon, having made such an impact on the Wii U in 2015, could potential evolve to join that list of big-hitters. The ink-splatting shooter has become a hit not just in terms of sales, but...
News Splatoon Action Figures Will Be Inking Their Way To A Toy Store Near You Soon
Jakks Pacific keen to add more to its World of Nintendo line
Nintendo has woken up to the massive merchandising potential of its library of brands in recent years, and one of the most welcome collaborations involves toy maker Jakks Pacific, which is responsible for the excellent World of Nintendo line. It would now seem that the company is keen to...
Sunday14th Feb 2016
News Splatoon Producer on Pre-Release Concerns and the Future of the Franchise
"I'd like to build on online gameplay even more."
Splatoon was, in many ways, a new step for Nintendo. The company has historically been a bit behind the times when it comes to online services, so it appeared to be quite a risk to not only release a game that was almost entirely focused on online multiplayer, but to do so with a brand new IP...
Friday12th Feb 2016
News Pokémon Splatfest Hitting Splatoon in February
A decision harder than choosing your starter
In continuing the celebration of Pokémon's 20th anniversary, the festivities have spread to another popular Nintendo franchise, Splatoon. A Pokémon themed Splatfest will take taking place the weekend of 20th February through 21st February in all regions pitting players against each other based on their...
Friday5th Feb 2016
Rumour New Splatoon Mini-Game Arriving Soon with Fresh amiibo Figures in Tow
And this time there's evidence
After the tide of free content updates in Splatoon was stemmed many fans of the game wondered whether there might yet be more on the horizon for Nintendo's colourful shooter. Recent rumours from data miners regarding references to potential new amiibo figurines got tongues wagging once again, and now even more secrets...
Wednesday3rd Feb 2016
News Wii U Sales Show Promising Growth Courtesy of Splatoon and Super Mario Maker Success
Splatoon continues to beat Mario Kart 8 sales momentum
While current 3DS sales are rather disappointing, Nintendo's most recent financial reports did bring good news for the Wii U, with the system on track for its targets and outperforming the equivalent sales of the year before. In Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima's briefing one game's role in...
Monday1st Feb 2016
Gallery These Fan-Made Splatoon Weapons Are Pretty Fresh
Tools of the trade
The Game Party Japan 2016 event has just hosted the Japanese National Splatoon Championship, giving fans of the game the chance to test their skill against like-minded individuals. It also gave the truly dedicated the opportunity to show off their creative talents, as there was a booth which showcased fan-made versions of the...
News Splatoon Producer Hints at More Content Being Added in the Future
"I'm starting to wonder if we can't organize a little something else."
Splatoon had an admirable amount of post release support, with new game modes, maps, clothes, and weapons, being regularly added to the game via free updates. While it was inevitable that there would come to be an end to all the free goodness, the question of more, paid DLC has...
Sunday31st Jan 2016
Rumour Data Miners Find Evidence That Suggests New Splatoon amiibo Are Coming
Guess what they are?
Data Miners have been particularly notorious on the Wii U for leaking information ahead of releases, and while many of the leaks may seem to be bulletproof, it's not always the best idea to take them as hard fact. For exapmle, the track record with Splatoon has been pretty spot on so far, with most weapons and stages being outed...
Saturday30th Jan 2016
Weirdness Watch an Actual Live Splatoon Squid Sisters Concert From Japan
Get your glow sticks in the air!
Splatoon is not only a fun game, but it's also succeeded in getting some of its characters and quirks into popular culture - well, Nintendo culture. The Squid Sisters are a part of this, with their bizarre voices, dancing and singing being part of the game's charm. In Japan, though, these things can go from being...
Monday25th Jan 2016
News Splatoon Outfits Heading to New Style Boutique 2 on 28th January
Fresh fashion
Nintendo Presents: New Style Boutique 2 - Fashion Forward may have a name that doesn't exactly trip off the tongue, but it's another strong entry in the charming fashion career sim. With plenty of content, some quirky new additions and well polished play it earned a strong recommendation from us when we reviewed it last year. Just...
Saturday23rd Jan 2016
News Details of Europe's Next Splatfest Are Confirmed for 30th January
A battle of warriors
The regular free DLC may be drawing to a close, but Splatoon still has plenty to offer - this includes Splatfests, those weekend events where we choose sides and splat others for glory. Nintendo of Europe has now confirmed details of its next Splatfest, which will kick off on 30th January at 6pm UK / 7pm CET. It'll be a...
Friday22nd Jan 2016
Talking Point Splatoon Began With an Early Access Approach, and Has Provided a Valuable Lesson
Free updates that kept on giving
Cast your mind back to launch day Splatoon. Single player campaign? Check. Slightly mediocre local multiplayer mode? Check. Online modes? Well, some of them. Back when we were publishing our Splatoon review, its writer and our video man Alex was gushing in his praise, yet some debate was had within our team about...
Thursday21st Jan 2016
News Splatoon's Last Free Update Map Goes Live Tomorrow
That's sixteen stages
About a week ago, the final weapon for Splatoon's constant stream of new, extra content went live and signaled the end of the long run. Following that right up, the final new stage will go live tomorrow and bring the stage count to its final amount of sixteen. The new stage is Ancho-V Games, and this appears to be one of the...
Tuesday19th Jan 2016
News Splatoon Update to Prompt Server Maintenance and Brief Downtime
Not for too long, thankfully
Version 2.5.0 of Splatoon goes live soon, and the official Tumblr page for the game has advised that implementing the update will necessitate a bit of downtime that'll prevent online play. It's not a lengthy break, but is worth noting for North American gamers planning some evening matches. The following downtime is on...
News Splatoon's Next Update Is On Target For Launch Tomorrow
Version 2.5.0 clamps down on shortcuts
Nintendo continues to make changes and amendments to its ink-based online shooter Splatoon, with the latest lot of fixes coming on Wednesday January 20th - otherwise known as "tomorrow". These include the closing off of various shortcuts and a few fixes to environmental features. There are also some...
Friday15th Jan 2016
News The Custom Hydra Splatling, Splatoon's Last Update Weapon, Goes Live on 15th January
The end of an era
We all knew that this day would be coming, but it's still a bittersweet time. The end of the free Splatoon weapon updates has come, and it will be marked by the launch of the final weapon: Custom Hydra Splatling. The Custom Hydra Splatling is, erm, a custom Hydra Splatling, with the main difference here being that it uses the...
Saturday9th Jan 2016
Video Splatoon Easter Egg Shows a Friendly Face
Vacant smile, electric whiskers, who else is it going to be?
As if the streams of new weapons and maps in Splatoon weren't enough to tickle the fancy of all the budding Inklings out there, Nintendo has squeezed a previously unseen easter egg into the latest battleground known as Piranha Pit. As with most easter eggs this one isn't immediately...
News Here are Nintendo's Nominees for the Game Developer's Choice Awards
Splatoon is up for three awards, Super Mario Maker is up for one
In a couple short months, it'll be about that time of year for the annual Game Developers Conference, one of the largest events in the industry. Rather than E3, which is centered around new announcements for greater audiences, GDC is primarily focused on the craft of game development...
News Splatoon's Next Splatfest in North America is All About Time Travel
Dinosaurs or Spaceships?
It's getting to be that time again for North Americans to partake in the monthly Splatfest for Splatoon. After last month's decidedly more festive approach to things, we're getting yet another topic that few likely saw coming. The Splatfest's theme will be about whether you'd rather time travel to the past or the future...
Friday8th Jan 2016
News The Sloshing Machine Neo is Splashing Its Way Into Splatoon
Getting sloshed at the weekend
Nintendo has found a more wholesome and healthy way for us to get sloshed this weekend (Google it), confirming the latest free weapon to be heading into Splatoon. Due on the evening of 8th January in North America and the early hours of the morning on 9th January in Europe, the Sloshing Machine Neo will bring a bit of...
Thursday7th Jan 2016
News Splatoon Watches Hit Stores In Japan
*Sigh*, in Japan...
With Splatoon's ink-redible (apologies) popularity, it's only inevitable that Nintendo has been capitalising on the merchandise machine with its hottest new franchise. While the West has been treated to a few things here and there, Japan has certainly had its share of Splatoon spoils since the game's launch in May, such as...
Friday1st Jan 2016
News Get Ready to Add the Octobrush Nouveau to Your Splatoon Arsenal
Ring in the new year with this fresh new paintbrush
As of now, the near constant updates to Splatoon are nearly upon their final hour. Though Splatfests and occasional balancing updates will be continuing for the foreseeable future, the stream of new equipment and stages is set to end in January. All the same, there's still a bit more content that's...
Monday28th Dec 2015
News Piranha Pit is Heading to Splatoon Very Soon
Depending on your time zone...
The festive Splatoon updates continue to roll in, with a new stage next to grace the game before we move into 2016. Piranha Pit is coming 'tomorrow morning', as confirmed by Nintendo of Europe; based on typical update times that should mean the stage goes into rotation at 7pm Pacific / 10pm Eastern on 28th December in...
Sunday27th Dec 2015
News Splatoon Developers Talk Stage Design and the End of Regular Updates
It's been a good run
Splatoon has evolved significantly from its original state at launch, with fourteen stages and over seventy weapons available to gamers. Considering how popular the game has been, and how it's managed to maintain that popularity, it's safe to say at this point that the launch of this new IP has been a resounding success...
Saturday26th Dec 2015
News Nintendo of Europe Announces the Next Splatfest for the Region
Would you rather be fit or rich?
Every time a new splatfest for Splatoon is announced, the topic of the battle is always something interesting. Some highlights thus far have been Autobots and Decepticons, Love and Money, and whether or not pineapple should be on pizza. While it seems like the least popular team is always the one that manages to eke...
Friday25th Dec 2015
News The Rapid Blaster Pro Deco is the Next Weapon to be Coming to Splatoon
A last minute Christmas gift from Nintendo
It seems that just about every week, we receive another update to Splatoon that adds in yet another new weapon, or a variant on an existent model. This week is no different and a new update is due to drop in only a few hours. The new gun that will be made available is not a new model, but another 'deco'...