If Splatoon can run at 1080p/60FPS while calculating all the real time (network permitting) projectile trajectories and ink splatters from 8 players, surely someone at Activision can manage to crap out 540p/24FPS with the infinitely less network intensive hit-scans from 12. Maybe even a lower player count capped Warzone is possible with dedicated servers. I mean, Fortnite…works, so anything’s possible with a little effort.
@Sequel Flounder heights got flattened, the center used to be 3 floors high but is now 2. They also widened the spawn area and alleys leading to the center. And the trees are gone.
@Switch_Pro Well, there are parts of a mission you need fight on foot, and parts you need to fight in a Skell. I don’t think the game needs more of a reason than that. It’s not like there’s no more on-foot combat once you unlock Skells/Flight. Some of these extra systems are just for those that love min/max-ing in their RPGs. For those who want to 100% the game and go beyond the combat basics. Some people just want to see how high the damage numbers can go in a single Overdrive, some just want to see if things can be done (ex. Like fighting and beating Gradivus on foot, solo). Monolith Soft understands there are gamers like that out there so they put in a generous amount of challenging end game content for them.
I’ve only used elevation and position when initiating Skell combat. It’s limited-use, but it’s there. I fly above and behind an enemy while outside of combat and fire off an anti-matter round. If they’re not dead, they’re staggered and I activate Overdrive. It’s sort of a Quality of Life mechanic in the end, it makes grinding for materials/gear faster by giving you combat initiative and extra damage for free. Who doesn’t like free damage or a chance to one-shot your target? You might even blow off an appendage with the first hit.
@mattysaurus Gas becomes less of an issue once you start gearing your Skell builds towards triggering Overdrive as much as possible, since attacks no longer consume fuel. Not to forget that targeting and breaking appendages, as well as binding larger enemies when they’re staggered, also recover fuel while in combat. You can also top off your tanks back at the hangar with some Miranium, as long as you’re up on your probe micromanagement game, that is.
@Switch_Pro I think the intent was that once you started fighting in Skells you needed them to fight the big things just to clear the main game. But there were still missions that needed to be done on-foot in late game/post game so you can’t neglect foot combat entirely. Funny thing is Skell combat is not the end of combat progression, it all loops back to foot combat. All the highest level gear and augments come post-game, at the price of grinding for materials and trial and error. There are videos out there of people soloing post-game tyrants on foot, it’s wild! Obviously not everyone’s going to go that far, but combat in X goes pretty deep once you come back out of the Skells.
@Joeynator3000 With the Boss Salmonids capping at 15 and the Big Shot nerfs, things should get more manageable.
@SoManyHaveDied The Sloshing Machine shot spiral/thin wall issue is fixed. Thankfully, nothing else got changed, this time 👍 (signed, a Sloshing Machine main)
I guess playing Escape Velocity Override is still quite a ways off.
Too bad it can’t tap into the Wii’s Power PC processor directly, as technically the hardware should be compatible. Linux probably needs to bypass everything just to run.
@Hajilee Every map is turning into Humpback Pump Track, lol. Moray’s gonna end up with the whole mid landings gone and you’d go down 2 ramps to get to the middle XD
@Hajilee i feel they chopped a whole floor off the middle and removed a couple walls and flattened the features on the rooftops. It’s like they’re afraid of verticality or something.
@Sequel At least one of the 2 new maps is Flounder Heights from Splatoon 1 so we know that’s good. The open air bath map looks like it’s in-line with their current ‘flat’ map design philosophy that they started in Splatoon 2. (which is why I’m not a fan of Spillway) I’ve definitely noticed the decline in map quality.
@chardir How so? X Battles sure, but Tri-Color is luck of the draw (with your chances of playing being greater if you’re an Attacker), and Big Run looks to be just regular Salmon Run with possibly a guaranteed Cohozuna battle, but using one of the rotation maps. So anyone should be able to play when it becomes available, and difficulty will probably be a separate event-related rating.
Big Man Sweep is REAL! Too bad for me because I went with grass this time, ‘hedging’ my bet that voting against the popularity vote would work. I had a bunch of wins, too, in Tricolor and Pro, so I thought things were going great, but I guess we needed a few more x10/100/333 wins as were only behind by Clout by a little bit. Good games all around (and only one disconnect in the beginning, not bad at all) Well deserved win, Team Water!
@RickRau5 @Cikajovazmaj @Maxz Even though it’s just globs of ink, Splatoon has had more ballistics simulation since the first game than CoD ever had. Once it gets to the balance patches phase, Splatoon devs start tweaking attributes like shot spread, shot speed falloff (shots slow down past a certain distance), damage falloff (shots become weaker after a certain distance), in-air RNG after jumping (as much as I hate it), shot drop rate and shot drop falloff (how fast a shot sinks past a certain distance after being fired), and so on. CoD does what, shake your aim after you fire? Unrealistically hit someone from clear across the map with any weapon as long as your dot is red? Guaranteed, if they added actual firearm ballistics to CoD everyone would stop playing because that’ll strip away the “fun” power fantasy some people are looking for. Heck, even just adding actual effective weapon ranges will tank the game. Nintendo literally did something unprecedented in Splatoon and made ballistics and close range firefights fun! You can dodge shots. You can trade kills. You can feel like a boss as you’re trying to move the tower (payload) solo into the other team’s territory dodging all fire, bombs, and specials, using that tiny pillar as cover, while trying to clear checkpoints. Beyond the smoke and mirrors of their graphics and sound, CoD and BF never gave me such a visceral gameplay experience as Splatoon Ranked and I’m all for it.
10 points more for Reef Lux’s special is nothing. Unfortunately, I can’t think of anything else that can fix the Reef’s missile spam that wouldn’t affect the Flingza or other future Missile launchers. Make it 230!
Also, the usual Great Sloshing Machine Nerf has begun 🙄 Fizzy bomb recharge nerf and 10 points more for Booyah Bomb may cut down on “backline ‘Machines” (they’re supposed to be front line), or it may just increase their campyness. If anything reduce the Special charge to 190. It takes at least 1 partial reload after the start of a match to charge it up fully anyway so it’s not exactly a spammy Special. But it may encourage people to ‘think’ it’s more spammable and therefore they may be encouraged to go out and charge it up. That is, unless they (the devs) leverage it’s slayer potential and know that getting splats offset the charge nerf, and that they want to encourage more aggressive play in that way.
At the very least, they didn’t nerf other aspects of the Machine in the process (shot spiral collision box fixes aside) But this is only the beginning, I can feel it.
Oh, I guess Splatoon 3 isn’t just a copy/paste of Splatoon 1 and 2 if we’re having bug fixes like these that weren’t a problem in 1 and 2, huh?
I got mine free by stacking 3 years of NSO (for science). Once the year runs out I’m going to see if I can do it again by topping off my regular NSO as it currently doesn’t mention it again when I look at my account. So far I’m enjoying some Sega Genesis games that I’d never have played unless I forked out the cash for physical or hooked up my mini.
Voice Acting, like most of the arts industry, is largely a freelance profession. It’d be nice if video game voice acting and anime voice acting be elevated somewhat to Movie/TV status and get some of those residuals and a fraction more of the pay. But unless that aspect of the industry changes by changing union standards, she’s gonna have to fall in line and take up some gigs, plain and simple. If her reputation allows her, that is.
Obviously the bigger issue is the undervaluing of the voice acting industry in general. Even the current “going” rates, set forth in 2017, probably need to get re-evaluated every few years to reflect market and living conditions. That said, while it might seem like not that much compensation, consider that most “non-service” video games are like commercials and other short-run media in that the games are not meant to be perpetually available (though progress is slowly turning that around, we’re not quite there yet) They are not movies or TV shows that can either live many lives on many streaming platforms, syndication, repackaged compilations, or whatever the next physical/digital viewing media is. Royalties cater to those types of media. Video games historically earn most of their money in the first few months of release with no sales guarantees, no future-proofing guarantees (though that barrier is disappearing), no guarantees that the next company will even continue a franchise if the IP gets sold off, etc. and so on. Games are a volatile consumable as much as voiceover work is a freelance industry. Unless you’re going after the biggest IP roles, don’t expect the big bucks. And last I checked, Bayo isn’t exactly E for Everyone.
If you want more money for role reprisals then lobby the unions to insert a clause for that. While you’re at it, add something in that factors in a client’s market cap or profile power or something so talent doesn’t get lowballed by AAA’s and indie devs don’t get inundated by the talent budget.
All that said, I will likely pick up the game 2nd hand, at a much later date because of my backlog and wallet and no other reason.
No Splatoween 2022? It’ll be the first time they skip a Halloween Splatfest (when Splatfests are running, or even when they’re not, like the bonus Splatoween rematch)
Almost 1/4 of the Switch’s hardware sales, across the 3 versions, came from Japan. That’s kinda insane these days. And the OLED model sales are huge, too!
@SoManyHaveDied This! So much this! The blaster was my original main from Splatoon 1 until I picked up the Sloshing Machine. But I always had it as my OHK weapon (1-Hit Kill). Then the Great Jump RNG Nerf of Splatoon 2 happened and I could never pick it up again. At the very least in Splatoon 3 we can now use the Intensify Action Up ability to help mitigate the spread and the wideness of the spread (just eyeballing I noticed around 15% reduction of spread range at the start of a jump with just 1 Intensify Action Up main chunk). But the jump nerf should never have happened in the first place, it’s already not that easy to get a direct hit, especially with the motion control lag from Splatoon 2, let alone the improved motion controls in 3. Unless we’re getting WiiU level motion control performance, they should have just left Blasters alone.
LEAVE MY SLOSHING MACHINE ALONE! IT’S ACTUALLY DECENT AGAIN!
Fix the bridge collision boxes, clearly they’re too thin. Add more concrete!
I can also confirm that the same thing does NOT occur when shooting up at someone standing on a tent canopy in Hagglefish Market. I tried by accident, several times, and failed to splat someone from below.
AoF is in an odd position. It’s a very rough game but it has also innovated many conventions not only for SNK fighting games but fighting games in general, but is largely forgotten as time goes on. While some of AoF’s conventions have carried on into mainstream, some never get used again, or only get used exclusively by the AoF crew.
Here’s most of AoF’s innovations:
-1st fighting game to introduce a Super Move (and I don’t mean the Haoh-Shoukoken, I mean the Ryuko Ranbu)
-1st fighting game to have a dash (double-tap forward)
-1st fighting game to have a mid-air back attack (press C when jumping over your opponent)
-1st fighting game where you can attack more than once mid-air (on the way up and on the way down)
-1st fighting game where the camera zooms in and out, giving the characters a wider playfield (NEOGEO version only)
-1st fighting game to display battle damage (the characters faces get bruised and their stance changes slightly)
-1st fighting game with ‘vacuum’ moves (a multi-hit special move that ‘locks’ an opponent for all the hits if they get caught)
Art of Fighting only innovations:
-characters can negate projectiles with a well-timed punch (including the Haoh-Shoukoken). This even carried over to other games, like KoF, but only for the Kyokugen characters (Ryo, Robert, Yuri, Takuma). It seems inconsistent between games however.
-Spirit gauge that fuels special moves. The implementation is AoF-only, but holding buttons to charge is now a universal mechanic.
There may be more, but these are the ones off the top of my head.
@CharlieGirl AoF came out almost a year after Fatal Fury.
@Kyloctopus What cliffhanger ending? If you beat the game straight without continues you unmask Mr. Karate and find out it’s….Player 1 from Street Smart
I wish we could’ve had some of our Super Sea Snails from Splat2 transfer to Splat3. I still have over 400 in the other game! (I rarely used them in 2 as I didn’t care much for making optimal builds)
@Geit_de Trades (when two players kill/splat simultaneously) usually happen in Splatoon because most of the weapons are projectile-based not hit-scan based, not necessarily because of the tick rate. If a shot is is the air it’s still active, and will remain active until it lands, regardless if the player who shot it was splatted or not. Now, tick rate does affect how frequently players’ systems are trying to communicate their game states to one another. If information from one Switch doesn’t reach the others in time, but the redundant info on subsequent packets does, it’ll look like weird things are happening. Teleporting, shots hitting late/all at once, shots ‘not doing any damage’, trades, and so on. Obviously, higher is better when everyone involved has a similar setup, but that’s only one part of the internet gaming puzzle. Since this is 2022, I’m hoping you’re using a gigabit ethernet switch for your setup (if it’s a managed switch even better), and your upload can handle at least 35mb/s per player plus overhead for whatever other internet traffic you have going on in your household. (and really, you can get by with much less upload speed than that). Oh, and increase the MTU setting of every Switch to 1500 if you haven’t done so already. If everything’s good on your end, then we can go back to blaming Nintendo for their shoddy p2p network code/settings…or the rage-quitters on the other team.
But seriously, regular tracks were getting old real quick with the GBA entries. What about an interplanetary rally? Point to point. Sprawling routes kind of like Star Fox, with hidden exits that can cut time with riskier segments. Bring back customization. Maybe make it a graphical showcase but with different terrain and cosmic forces that’ll give our HD Rumble something to do? Come on, just make SOMETHING!
They need to tweak the positions of the Ultra Signal drops when they get taken. Based on the RPS Splatfest, on the Shipyard, the Signal in Rock’s possession dropped too close to Scissors’ spawn to defend against. Rock’s territory pretty much had free reign over Scissors’ spawn as well with the right weapons. Maybe put up a few more inflatable barriers to obscure the view of the defender’s spawn and center the Ultra Signal’s positions more within the attacker’s territory.
@Anti-Matter Well, so far it looks like it’s a separate game (and charging 7,600 yen for it, yikes) so it’s not a DLC. Over the years they’ve been making the franchise less serious, at least. (It still gets bad from time to time) Too much seriousness can make a series depressing and unapproachable by all. I found this announcement as hilarious as the bartending “mix, mix, mix…” minigame from FotNS Lost Paradise 🤣
Wait, wait, wait. I gotta bump this Direct up to pretty good because of Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star! The truest left field announcement of today’s Direct!
Aside from Farming Direct 2022, I thought there was a ton of little surprises for everyone. And right out of the gate with a return to turn-based FE, with ‘stands’ of returning heroes. Also more Bayo3 info, OctopathII, Radiant Silvergun, Golden Eye, Pilotwings 64 with a better framerate, Kirby remake, Fatal Frame Wii remake, Tales remake, Sifu, Theatrythm sequel, and Raincode (raincoat?), lots of stuff to chew on. Not the best direct but a lot of “blink and you’ll miss it while you’re complaining about rumored things that weren’t guaranteed to be in the direct in the first place” news.
@Don Lots of people only think there’s just Turf War. But In Anarchy Battles (ranked mode) you get variants on common shooter modes like Domination (Splat Zones), Payload (Tower Control), Capture the Flag (Rainmaker), plus Clam Blitz (I got no comparison on that), and then there’s the co-op horde mode (Salmon Run). People also forget about the single player campaign, too. But this is pretty much all the modes until they drop some new ones later for this numbered release.
Any Nintendo game that has a sprawling overworld area, usually with huge draw distances, that needs optimizing, you can probably bet Monolith Soft will have a hand in it.
It’s the most complete Splatoon experience to date, basically. But the continuation (conclusion?) of the Squid Sisters’/Agent 3’s behind the scenes work is enticing. That, and if we’re reaping the chaos from the end of Splat2’s final fest, does that mean we will be exploring some order in Off the Hook’s DLC? Hmm…
@Rykdrew The size of a company has no correlation to what they can do, though. It’s all down to the teams that actually work on the games, and their experience and expertise. I don’t think we can get bots in Splatoon because :
1) Splatoon is made by the Animal Crossing team. Think about that for a second. I cannot expect complex A.I. from them. And from what I’ve played from both games and the Octo Expansion, basic is all they can do. Rock-dumb A.I. that can be defeated with a little smarts and patience. They don’t seem to have the expertise to make an A.I. good enough to help teach a player how to play the game and utilize all the mechanics at their disposal. That’s the point, right? You want targets to shoot at, but also be able to learn the game from them. As it is, just going through the single-player story mode (obstacle courses, basically) is a better teacher than the enemies you encounter. Substandard A.I./bots are not good for the overall experience. Truth be told, I can still fire up my older computer and play Unreal Tournament, UT2004, or Quake 3 Arena, load up some bots and have a good time. But that’s only because they don’t need more than simple A.I. since the game mechanics themselves are simple. Even Mario Party, from your example, only needs simple A.I. (plus a higher performing ‘rival’ for increased challenge…and cheats, Lol). For Splatoon, the ink makes things much more complex and more open for new styles of gameplay. And we need to hold those bots up to higher standards.
2) Splatoon is literally Nintendo’s first in-house multiplayer shooter. Even though the game is fun, popular, and somewhat groundbreaking (IMO, and I’ve been playing FPS’s since Wolfenstein 3-D), the Animal Crossing team adapted the genre and put their twist on it (the whole ‘ink’ mechanic) with the goal of creating a competitive, eSports-ready game. So they are focused on making the game playable online first and foremost. Bots consume extra resources and dev time that could have been used to polish up the game to make it more appealing to stick around and keep playing. That brings me to the next point.
3) Longevity. Nintendo is not like other companies when it comes to online play, we know that. But the one thing we can count on is that unless essentially no one is playing one of their games (mobile excluded), or as long as the services aren’t too demanding (Mario Maker 1, for example), then they’ll still keep their servers up to play. I believe if GameSpy didn’t go belly up we’d still be able to play DS and Wii games online simply because of their combined install base around the world. And unlike games like Lawbreakers, Battleborn, Evolve, and Back4Blood, you can still get into some Turf War and Ranked battles in Splatoon 1 on WiiU! Those games lived and died within Splatoon 1’s lifespan, which is still going on. Adding bots that fill up slots on teams for matchmaking are one thing, but when the entire match is just you and bots, wouldn’t that mean the game has outlived it’s interest? Can you keep playing playing a game like that forever? Just because I can go back to Unreal Tournament and Q3A doesn’t mean I’ll spend a significant time playing. The time for those games have passed. I’ve had some great fun when they were new and populated. But as life happens, we just move on looking for the next interesting thing. Splatoon is no different. It’s like good tea or coffee, the best time to enjoy it is while it’s hot.
@Rykdrew Honestly, that’s on you for expecting the game to be something it isn’t. Splatoon has always been about online multiplayer with other people. Understandably, bots have been a part of other franchises. But this is Nintendo we’re talking about, they’re late to everything online-related. And you want them to come up with AI that can think up tactics beyond basic run and gun? That know how to be stealthy? That can do complex moves like sub-strafing? That’s stuff not even regular FPS’s could deliver! (I mean, have you played against the female Octolings in story mode in Splatoon 1? They’re not great. Even Agent 3 from Octo Expansion was good only because of buffs) I wouldn’t mind bots, either. But I need them to be smarter than ‘doorstops with higher accuracy’. Consider playing games while they’re fresh. You’re never going to have a better chance to experience an online game the same way as when the game is new and the servers are populated. That’s just how it is.
@Serpenterror @Fizza @westman98 I hope so. I got my expansion pack free for maxing out my NSO time (which is 2 years, 9 months) in anticipation for the time I’ll spend on Splatoon 3. DLC included will be just icing on the cake for me.
@Otoemetry They didn’t say anything about Clam Blitz in 2 before launch and then it dropped later. I expect at least one more new ranked mode to come out.
Compared to 2, 3 is looking like the complete Splatoon experience, especially when adding in the customization and side activities. As for why it’s on the same console generation as 2? It’s a solid sales performer. But also, the dev team may have drastic things in mind for 4, if 3-way Splatfest battles are any indication. Think…larger team battles (8 v 8, or 4-way team battles), vehicles, more melee type weapons and combat. Stuff that may need more power from…wait for it…a more powerful system!
Yeah, this came out of nowhere. As someone who’s progress in Final Fantasy IX came to a screeching halt as soon as I discovered the card game there, this might be dangerous for me, haha 😂
The customization options are through the roof in 3. Way more than just adding new gear as per usual. But 3 months is a really long time between new drops (or should I say, drip?). I’m bummed we got repeating 2 stages as I never thought they were as strong as 1’s designs. But bringing Hammerhead Bridge, Museum d’Alfonsino, and what looks like a tease for Flounder Heights makes me happy as they’re some of my favorite maps from 1. I can’t wait to try out the Stringer and Splatana, even though I’m a Slosher main, but I really need to see the kits. No doubt there’s a Splatana paired with Zipcaster kit, that should go without saying. And I’m glad people can finally get into battles with their friends, on the same team, online. It’s been asked for way too long.
Comments 2,054
Re: Talking Point: Are You Excited To See Call Of Duty Return To Nintendo Platforms?
If Splatoon can run at 1080p/60FPS while calculating all the real time (network permitting) projectile trajectories and ink splatters from 8 players, surely someone at Activision can manage to crap out 540p/24FPS with the infinitely less network intensive hit-scans from 12. Maybe even a lower player count capped Warzone is possible with dedicated servers. I mean, Fortnite…works, so anything’s possible with a little effort.
Re: Splatoon 3 Is Yahoo! Japan's Most Searched Video Game Of 2022
Japan keeping Yahoo! and Tower Records alive! Respect!
@Snatcher @CazSonOfCaz Playing Anarchy Tower Control and people playing like it’s grand finals out there…in A rank battles!
Re: Feature: Our Verdict On Splatoon 3's Chill Season 2022 Update - New Stages, Weapons, And Modes
@Sequel Flounder heights got flattened, the center used to be 3 floors high but is now 2. They also widened the spawn area and alleys leading to the center. And the trees are gone.
Re: Soapbox: Xenoblade Chronicles X's Influence Is Bigger Than You Think
@Switch_Pro Well, there are parts of a mission you need fight on foot, and parts you need to fight in a Skell. I don’t think the game needs more of a reason than that. It’s not like there’s no more on-foot combat once you unlock Skells/Flight. Some of these extra systems are just for those that love min/max-ing in their RPGs. For those who want to 100% the game and go beyond the combat basics. Some people just want to see how high the damage numbers can go in a single Overdrive, some just want to see if things can be done (ex. Like fighting and beating Gradivus on foot, solo). Monolith Soft understands there are gamers like that out there so they put in a generous amount of challenging end game content for them.
I’ve only used elevation and position when initiating Skell combat. It’s limited-use, but it’s there. I fly above and behind an enemy while outside of combat and fire off an anti-matter round. If they’re not dead, they’re staggered and I activate Overdrive. It’s sort of a Quality of Life mechanic in the end, it makes grinding for materials/gear faster by giving you combat initiative and extra damage for free. Who doesn’t like free damage or a chance to one-shot your target? You might even blow off an appendage with the first hit.
Re: Soapbox: Xenoblade Chronicles X's Influence Is Bigger Than You Think
@mattysaurus Gas becomes less of an issue once you start gearing your Skell builds towards triggering Overdrive as much as possible, since attacks no longer consume fuel. Not to forget that targeting and breaking appendages, as well as binding larger enemies when they’re staggered, also recover fuel while in combat. You can also top off your tanks back at the hangar with some Miranium, as long as you’re up on your probe micromanagement game, that is.
@Switch_Pro I think the intent was that once you started fighting in Skells you needed them to fight the big things just to clear the main game. But there were still missions that needed to be done on-foot in late game/post game so you can’t neglect foot combat entirely. Funny thing is Skell combat is not the end of combat progression, it all loops back to foot combat. All the highest level gear and augments come post-game, at the price of grinding for materials and trial and error. There are videos out there of people soloing post-game tyrants on foot, it’s wild! Obviously not everyone’s going to go that far, but combat in X goes pretty deep once you come back out of the Skells.
Re: Splatoon 3 To Receive New Update This Week, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@Joeynator3000 With the Boss Salmonids capping at 15 and the Big Shot nerfs, things should get more manageable.
@SoManyHaveDied The Sloshing Machine shot spiral/thin wall issue is fixed. Thankfully, nothing else got changed, this time 👍 (signed, a Sloshing Machine main)
Re: Random: Move Over Apple, You Can Run Mac OS On The Wii
I guess playing Escape Velocity Override is still quite a ways off.
Too bad it can’t tap into the Wii’s Power PC processor directly, as technically the hardware should be compatible. Linux probably needs to bypass everything just to run.
Re: Splatoon 3 'Chill Season 2022' Update Announced - New Weapons, Stages, Game Modes And More
@Hajilee Every map is turning into Humpback Pump Track, lol. Moray’s gonna end up with the whole mid landings gone and you’d go down 2 ramps to get to the middle XD
Re: Splatoon 3 'Chill Season 2022' Update Announced - New Weapons, Stages, Game Modes And More
@Hajilee i feel they chopped a whole floor off the middle and removed a couple walls and flattened the features on the rooftops. It’s like they’re afraid of verticality or something.
Re: Splatoon 3 'Chill Season 2022' Update Announced - New Weapons, Stages, Game Modes And More
@Sequel At least one of the 2 new maps is Flounder Heights from Splatoon 1 so we know that’s good. The open air bath map looks like it’s in-line with their current ‘flat’ map design philosophy that they started in Splatoon 2. (which is why I’m not a fan of Spillway) I’ve definitely noticed the decline in map quality.
@chardir How so? X Battles sure, but Tri-Color is luck of the draw (with your chances of playing being greater if you’re an Attacker), and Big Run looks to be just regular Salmon Run with possibly a guaranteed Cohozuna battle, but using one of the rotation maps. So anyone should be able to play when it becomes available, and difficulty will probably be a separate event-related rating.
Re: Team Water Wins The Splatoon X Pokémon Splatfest Event
Big Man Sweep is REAL! Too bad for me because I went with grass this time, ‘hedging’ my bet that voting against the popularity vote would work. I had a bunch of wins, too, in Tricolor and Pro, so I thought things were going great, but I guess we needed a few more x10/100/333 wins as were only behind by Clout by a little bit. Good games all around (and only one disconnect in the beginning, not bad at all) Well deserved win, Team Water!
Re: Splatoon 3 Sold Almost 8 Million Units In September, 2022
@RickRau5 @Cikajovazmaj @Maxz Even though it’s just globs of ink, Splatoon has had more ballistics simulation since the first game than CoD ever had. Once it gets to the balance patches phase, Splatoon devs start tweaking attributes like shot spread, shot speed falloff (shots slow down past a certain distance), damage falloff (shots become weaker after a certain distance), in-air RNG after jumping (as much as I hate it), shot drop rate and shot drop falloff (how fast a shot sinks past a certain distance after being fired), and so on. CoD does what, shake your aim after you fire? Unrealistically hit someone from clear across the map with any weapon as long as your dot is red? Guaranteed, if they added actual firearm ballistics to CoD everyone would stop playing because that’ll strip away the “fun” power fantasy some people are looking for. Heck, even just adding actual effective weapon ranges will tank the game. Nintendo literally did something unprecedented in Splatoon and made ballistics and close range firefights fun! You can dodge shots. You can trade kills. You can feel like a boss as you’re trying to move the tower (payload) solo into the other team’s territory dodging all fire, bombs, and specials, using that tiny pillar as cover, while trying to clear checkpoints. Beyond the smoke and mirrors of their graphics and sound, CoD and BF never gave me such a visceral gameplay experience as Splatoon Ranked and I’m all for it.
Re: Front Mission 1st: Remake Will Have Both 'Classic' And 'Modern' Modes
@RCGamer It’ll probably happen given it’s SquareEnix and most of Forever’s work in recent years has gotten PC ports.
@Poco_Lypso They’ll be doing 2 and 3 after this one, in case you missed the announcement.
Re: Sega Veteran And Industry Legend Rieko Kodama Has Passed Away
R.I.P. She was a legendary pioneer.
Re: Exclusive: Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Locks In November Release
Tempest 2000, Missile Command 3D, Atari Karts, let’s GO! (But Fight for Life can go away, seriously)
Re: Splatoon 3 Version 1.2.0 Is Now Available, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
10 points more for Reef Lux’s special is nothing. Unfortunately, I can’t think of anything else that can fix the Reef’s missile spam that wouldn’t affect the Flingza or other future Missile launchers. Make it 230!
Also, the usual Great Sloshing Machine Nerf has begun 🙄 Fizzy bomb recharge nerf and 10 points more for Booyah Bomb may cut down on “backline ‘Machines” (they’re supposed to be front line), or it may just increase their campyness. If anything reduce the Special charge to 190. It takes at least 1 partial reload after the start of a match to charge it up fully anyway so it’s not exactly a spammy Special. But it may encourage people to ‘think’ it’s more spammable and therefore they may be encouraged to go out and charge it up. That is, unless they (the devs) leverage it’s slayer potential and know that getting splats offset the charge nerf, and that they want to encourage more aggressive play in that way.
At the very least, they didn’t nerf other aspects of the Machine in the process (shot spiral collision box fixes aside) But this is only the beginning, I can feel it.
Oh, I guess Splatoon 3 isn’t just a copy/paste of Splatoon 1 and 2 if we’re having bug fixes like these that weren’t a problem in 1 and 2, huh?
Re: Poll: Is The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Good Enough Value Yet?
I got mine free by stacking 3 years of NSO (for science). Once the year runs out I’m going to see if I can do it again by topping off my regular NSO as it currently doesn’t mention it again when I look at my account. So far I’m enjoying some Sega Genesis games that I’d never have played unless I forked out the cash for physical or hooked up my mini.
Re: Bayonetta's OG Voice Actor Responds To Online Backlash In Ongoing Dispute
Voice Acting, like most of the arts industry, is largely a freelance profession. It’d be nice if video game voice acting and anime voice acting be elevated somewhat to Movie/TV status and get some of those residuals and a fraction more of the pay. But unless that aspect of the industry changes by changing union standards, she’s gonna have to fall in line and take up some gigs, plain and simple. If her reputation allows her, that is.
Re: Splatoon 3 Is Already The Best-Selling Video Game Of 2022 In Japan
@Moistnado That joke is so tired. Move on.
Re: Talking Point: Given The Voice Artist Controversy, Will You Be Boycotting Bayonetta 3?
Obviously the bigger issue is the undervaluing of the voice acting industry in general. Even the current “going” rates, set forth in 2017, probably need to get re-evaluated every few years to reflect market and living conditions. That said, while it might seem like not that much compensation, consider that most “non-service” video games are like commercials and other short-run media in that the games are not meant to be perpetually available (though progress is slowly turning that around, we’re not quite there yet) They are not movies or TV shows that can either live many lives on many streaming platforms, syndication, repackaged compilations, or whatever the next physical/digital viewing media is. Royalties cater to those types of media. Video games historically earn most of their money in the first few months of release with no sales guarantees, no future-proofing guarantees (though that barrier is disappearing), no guarantees that the next company will even continue a franchise if the IP gets sold off, etc. and so on. Games are a volatile consumable as much as voiceover work is a freelance industry. Unless you’re going after the biggest IP roles, don’t expect the big bucks. And last I checked, Bayo isn’t exactly E for Everyone.
If you want more money for role reprisals then lobby the unions to insert a clause for that. While you’re at it, add something in that factors in a client’s market cap or profile power or something so talent doesn’t get lowballed by AAA’s and indie devs don’t get inundated by the talent budget.
All that said, I will likely pick up the game 2nd hand, at a much later date because of my backlog and wallet and no other reason.
Re: Splatoon 3 Announces A Pokémon-Themed Splatfest, Coming In November
No Splatoween 2022? It’ll be the first time they skip a Halloween Splatfest (when Splatfests are running, or even when they’re not, like the bonus Splatoween rematch)
Re: Overwatch 2's New Phone Number Requirement Is Rejecting Pre-Paid Plans
That “Don’t you have phones?” Guy at Blizzard strikes again. Don’t worry, one day he’ll get it. Maybe.
Re: Japanese Charts: Splatoon 3 Retains Its Crown, Surprising No One
Almost 1/4 of the Switch’s hardware sales, across the 3 versions, came from Japan. That’s kinda insane these days. And the OLED model sales are huge, too!
Re: Splatoon 3 To Receive New Update This Week, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@SoManyHaveDied This! So much this! The blaster was my original main from Splatoon 1 until I picked up the Sloshing Machine. But I always had it as my OHK weapon (1-Hit Kill). Then the Great Jump RNG Nerf of Splatoon 2 happened and I could never pick it up again. At the very least in Splatoon 3 we can now use the Intensify Action Up ability to help mitigate the spread and the wideness of the spread (just eyeballing I noticed around 15% reduction of spread range at the start of a jump with just 1 Intensify Action Up main chunk). But the jump nerf should never have happened in the first place, it’s already not that easy to get a direct hit, especially with the motion control lag from Splatoon 2, let alone the improved motion controls in 3. Unless we’re getting WiiU level motion control performance, they should have just left Blasters alone.
Re: Splatoon 3 Players Discover Sloshing Machine Exploit That Allows You To Splat Through Walls
LEAVE MY SLOSHING MACHINE ALONE! IT’S ACTUALLY DECENT AGAIN!
Fix the bridge collision boxes, clearly they’re too thin. Add more concrete!
I can also confirm that the same thing does NOT occur when shooting up at someone standing on a tent canopy in Hagglefish Market. I tried by accident, several times, and failed to splat someone from below.
Re: SNK Celebrates Art Of Fighting 30th Anniversary With A New Illustration
AoF is in an odd position. It’s a very rough game but it has also innovated many conventions not only for SNK fighting games but fighting games in general, but is largely forgotten as time goes on. While some of AoF’s conventions have carried on into mainstream, some never get used again, or only get used exclusively by the AoF crew.
Here’s most of AoF’s innovations:
-1st fighting game to introduce a Super Move (and I don’t mean the Haoh-Shoukoken, I mean the Ryuko Ranbu)
-1st fighting game to have a dash (double-tap forward)
-1st fighting game to have a mid-air back attack (press C when jumping over your opponent)
-1st fighting game where you can attack more than once mid-air (on the way up and on the way down)
-1st fighting game where the camera zooms in and out, giving the characters a wider playfield (NEOGEO version only)
-1st fighting game to display battle damage (the characters faces get bruised and their stance changes slightly)
-1st fighting game with ‘vacuum’ moves (a multi-hit special move that ‘locks’ an opponent for all the hits if they get caught)
Art of Fighting only innovations:
-characters can negate projectiles with a well-timed punch (including the Haoh-Shoukoken). This even carried over to other games, like KoF, but only for the Kyokugen characters (Ryo, Robert, Yuri, Takuma). It seems inconsistent between games however.
-Spirit gauge that fuels special moves. The implementation is AoF-only, but holding buttons to charge is now a universal mechanic.
There may be more, but these are the ones off the top of my head.
@CharlieGirl AoF came out almost a year after Fatal Fury.
@Kyloctopus What cliffhanger ending? If you beat the game straight without continues you unmask Mr. Karate and find out it’s….Player 1 from Street Smart
Re: Nintendo: Upcoming Splatoon 3 Patch Will Resolve Super Sea Snails Glitch
I wish we could’ve had some of our Super Sea Snails from Splat2 transfer to Splat3. I still have over 400 in the other game! (I rarely used them in 2 as I didn’t care much for making optimal builds)
Re: Team Gear Wins Splatoon 3's Deserted Island Splatfest
@Geit_de Trades (when two players kill/splat simultaneously) usually happen in Splatoon because most of the weapons are projectile-based not hit-scan based, not necessarily because of the tick rate. If a shot is is the air it’s still active, and will remain active until it lands, regardless if the player who shot it was splatted or not. Now, tick rate does affect how frequently players’ systems are trying to communicate their game states to one another. If information from one Switch doesn’t reach the others in time, but the redundant info on subsequent packets does, it’ll look like weird things are happening. Teleporting, shots hitting late/all at once, shots ‘not doing any damage’, trades, and so on. Obviously, higher is better when everyone involved has a similar setup, but that’s only one part of the internet gaming puzzle. Since this is 2022, I’m hoping you’re using a gigabit ethernet switch for your setup (if it’s a managed switch even better), and your upload can handle at least 35mb/s per player plus overhead for whatever other internet traffic you have going on in your household. (and really, you can get by with much less upload speed than that). Oh, and increase the MTU setting of every Switch to 1500 if you haven’t done so already. If everything’s good on your end, then we can go back to blaming Nintendo for their shoddy p2p network code/settings…or the rage-quitters on the other team.
Re: Random: Miyamoto Had Some Sage Advice On Game Industry Success In 1989
I got it, I got it. F-Zero, but ONLINE!
But seriously, regular tracks were getting old real quick with the GBA entries. What about an interplanetary rally? Point to point. Sprawling routes kind of like Star Fox, with hidden exits that can cut time with riskier segments. Bring back customization. Maybe make it a graphical showcase but with different terrain and cosmic forces that’ll give our HD Rumble something to do? Come on, just make SOMETHING!
Re: The New Splatoon 3 amiibo Could Be Arriving Soon By The Looks Of It
We’re overdue for slosher representation! And Blaster, Nozzlenose, .Gal, Aerospray, and ‘O-Matic, I suppose.
Re: Splatoon 3 Version 1.1.1 Update Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
They need to tweak the positions of the Ultra Signal drops when they get taken. Based on the RPS Splatfest, on the Shipyard, the Signal in Rock’s possession dropped too close to Scissors’ spawn to defend against. Rock’s territory pretty much had free reign over Scissors’ spawn as well with the right weapons. Maybe put up a few more inflatable barriers to obscure the view of the defender’s spawn and center the Ultra Signal’s positions more within the attacker’s territory.
Re: Random: Fans Take Splatoon 3 Locker Designs To A Whole New Level
I wonder if I can work in something Gradius-related with the Moai heads.
Re: PSA: Switch Connection Problems? We Wouldn't Recommend Nintendo's Network Fix
Well, Chaos DID win Splatoon 2’s Final Fest so let me go ahead and open these ports for the full experience 👍
Re: Talking Point: What Did You Think Of The September 2022 Nintendo Direct?
@Anti-Matter Well, so far it looks like it’s a separate game (and charging 7,600 yen for it, yikes) so it’s not a DLC. Over the years they’ve been making the franchise less serious, at least. (It still gets bad from time to time) Too much seriousness can make a series depressing and unapproachable by all. I found this announcement as hilarious as the bartending “mix, mix, mix…” minigame from FotNS Lost Paradise 🤣
Re: Talking Point: What Did You Think Of The September 2022 Nintendo Direct?
Wait, wait, wait. I gotta bump this Direct up to pretty good because of Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star! The truest left field announcement of today’s Direct!
https://twitter.com/fitboxinghokuto/status/1569692962376011780?s=46&t=1gc_Gab56t4jyHZvhcrFDQ
Re: Talking Point: What Did You Think Of The September 2022 Nintendo Direct?
Aside from Farming Direct 2022, I thought there was a ton of little surprises for everyone. And right out of the gate with a return to turn-based FE, with ‘stands’ of returning heroes. Also more Bayo3 info, OctopathII, Radiant Silvergun, Golden Eye, Pilotwings 64 with a better framerate, Kirby remake, Fatal Frame Wii remake, Tales remake, Sifu, Theatrythm sequel, and Raincode (raincoat?), lots of stuff to chew on. Not the best direct but a lot of “blink and you’ll miss it while you’re complaining about rumored things that weren’t guaranteed to be in the direct in the first place” news.
Re: Splatoon 3 Becomes The Fastest Selling Nintendo Switch Game In Japan
@Don Lots of people only think there’s just Turf War. But In Anarchy Battles (ranked mode) you get variants on common shooter modes like Domination (Splat Zones), Payload (Tower Control), Capture the Flag (Rainmaker), plus Clam Blitz (I got no comparison on that), and then there’s the co-op horde mode (Salmon Run). People also forget about the single player campaign, too. But this is pretty much all the modes until they drop some new ones later for this numbered release.
Re: Xenoblade Chronicles Studio Monolith Soft Helped Out With Splatoon 3
Any Nintendo game that has a sprawling overworld area, usually with huge draw distances, that needs optimizing, you can probably bet Monolith Soft will have a hand in it.
Re: Random: Splatoon 2's Final Splatfest Dictated The Direction Of Splatoon 3
Man, so much attention to world-building is what makes this series feel so alive!
Re: Random: Splatoon 2's Final Splatfest Dictated The Direction Of Splatoon 3
Check out the world map! It’s kinda mind blowing!
Re: Review: Splatoon 3 - The Pinnacle Of The Series And Switch's Slickest Shooter
It’s the most complete Splatoon experience to date, basically. But the continuation (conclusion?) of the Squid Sisters’/Agent 3’s behind the scenes work is enticing. That, and if we’re reaping the chaos from the end of Splat2’s final fest, does that mean we will be exploring some order in Off the Hook’s DLC? Hmm…
Re: Nintendo Announces Splatoon 3 "Large-Scale Paid DLC", Details Two Years Of Post-Launch Support
@Rykdrew The size of a company has no correlation to what they can do, though. It’s all down to the teams that actually work on the games, and their experience and expertise. I don’t think we can get bots in Splatoon because :
1) Splatoon is made by the Animal Crossing team. Think about that for a second. I cannot expect complex A.I. from them. And from what I’ve played from both games and the Octo Expansion, basic is all they can do. Rock-dumb A.I. that can be defeated with a little smarts and patience. They don’t seem to have the expertise to make an A.I. good enough to help teach a player how to play the game and utilize all the mechanics at their disposal. That’s the point, right? You want targets to shoot at, but also be able to learn the game from them. As it is, just going through the single-player story mode (obstacle courses, basically) is a better teacher than the enemies you encounter. Substandard A.I./bots are not good for the overall experience. Truth be told, I can still fire up my older computer and play Unreal Tournament, UT2004, or Quake 3 Arena, load up some bots and have a good time. But that’s only because they don’t need more than simple A.I. since the game mechanics themselves are simple. Even Mario Party, from your example, only needs simple A.I. (plus a higher performing ‘rival’ for increased challenge…and cheats, Lol). For Splatoon, the ink makes things much more complex and more open for new styles of gameplay. And we need to hold those bots up to higher standards.
2) Splatoon is literally Nintendo’s first in-house multiplayer shooter. Even though the game is fun, popular, and somewhat groundbreaking (IMO, and I’ve been playing FPS’s since Wolfenstein 3-D), the Animal Crossing team adapted the genre and put their twist on it (the whole ‘ink’ mechanic) with the goal of creating a competitive, eSports-ready game. So they are focused on making the game playable online first and foremost. Bots consume extra resources and dev time that could have been used to polish up the game to make it more appealing to stick around and keep playing. That brings me to the next point.
3) Longevity. Nintendo is not like other companies when it comes to online play, we know that. But the one thing we can count on is that unless essentially no one is playing one of their games (mobile excluded), or as long as the services aren’t too demanding (Mario Maker 1, for example), then they’ll still keep their servers up to play. I believe if GameSpy didn’t go belly up we’d still be able to play DS and Wii games online simply because of their combined install base around the world. And unlike games like Lawbreakers, Battleborn, Evolve, and Back4Blood, you can still get into some Turf War and Ranked battles in Splatoon 1 on WiiU! Those games lived and died within Splatoon 1’s lifespan, which is still going on. Adding bots that fill up slots on teams for matchmaking are one thing, but when the entire match is just you and bots, wouldn’t that mean the game has outlived it’s interest? Can you keep playing playing a game like that forever? Just because I can go back to Unreal Tournament and Q3A doesn’t mean I’ll spend a significant time playing. The time for those games have passed. I’ve had some great fun when they were new and populated. But as life happens, we just move on looking for the next interesting thing. Splatoon is no different. It’s like good tea or coffee, the best time to enjoy it is while it’s hot.
Re: Random: Splatoon 3's Big Man Has Some Big Fans Online
Big Man is love, Big Man is life! Ay!
Re: Splatoon 2 Players Will Receive "Save Data Bonuses" In Splatoon 3
I guess I don’t have to make a ‘Good-bye, Turf War! Hello, Ranked!’ video for Splat3. Nice!
Re: Talking Point: Has Nintendo Done Enough To Justify Splatoon 3's Existence?
Replays! And with the LAN camera options from 2! That should be a choice, too!
Re: Nintendo Announces Splatoon 3 "Large-Scale Paid DLC", Details Two Years Of Post-Launch Support
@Rykdrew Honestly, that’s on you for expecting the game to be something it isn’t. Splatoon has always been about online multiplayer with other people. Understandably, bots have been a part of other franchises. But this is Nintendo we’re talking about, they’re late to everything online-related. And you want them to come up with AI that can think up tactics beyond basic run and gun? That know how to be stealthy? That can do complex moves like sub-strafing? That’s stuff not even regular FPS’s could deliver! (I mean, have you played against the female Octolings in story mode in Splatoon 1? They’re not great. Even Agent 3 from Octo Expansion was good only because of buffs) I wouldn’t mind bots, either. But I need them to be smarter than ‘doorstops with higher accuracy’. Consider playing games while they’re fresh. You’re never going to have a better chance to experience an online game the same way as when the game is new and the servers are populated. That’s just how it is.
@Serpenterror @Fizza @westman98 I hope so. I got my expansion pack free for maxing out my NSO time (which is 2 years, 9 months) in anticipation for the time I’ll spend on Splatoon 3. DLC included will be just icing on the cake for me.
@Otoemetry They didn’t say anything about Clam Blitz in 2 before launch and then it dropped later. I expect at least one more new ranked mode to come out.
Re: Everything Announced In The Latest Splatoon 3 Trailer - New Weapons, Photo Mode, And 3-Player Turf Wars
Compared to 2, 3 is looking like the complete Splatoon experience, especially when adding in the customization and side activities. As for why it’s on the same console generation as 2? It’s a solid sales performer. But also, the dev team may have drastic things in mind for 4, if 3-way Splatfest battles are any indication. Think…larger team battles (8 v 8, or 4-way team battles), vehicles, more melee type weapons and combat. Stuff that may need more power from…wait for it…a more powerful system!
Re: New Splatoon 3 amiibo Revealed, Including Inkling, Octoling, And Smallfry
@Rykdrew This is not a new concept for Splatoon, and other games like Breath of the Wild. I’s been like that since the first game on WiiU.
Re: Check Out Splatoon 3's New Trading Card Minigame That's Looks A Bit Like Tetris
Yeah, this came out of nowhere. As someone who’s progress in Final Fantasy IX came to a screeching halt as soon as I discovered the card game there, this might be dangerous for me, haha 😂
Re: Splatoon 3's First Splatfest Will Be Playable Later This Month In Free Demo
The customization options are through the roof in 3. Way more than just adding new gear as per usual. But 3 months is a really long time between new drops (or should I say, drip?). I’m bummed we got repeating 2 stages as I never thought they were as strong as 1’s designs. But bringing Hammerhead Bridge, Museum d’Alfonsino, and what looks like a tease for Flounder Heights makes me happy as they’re some of my favorite maps from 1. I can’t wait to try out the Stringer and Splatana, even though I’m a Slosher main, but I really need to see the kits. No doubt there’s a Splatana paired with Zipcaster kit, that should go without saying. And I’m glad people can finally get into battles with their friends, on the same team, online. It’s been asked for way too long.