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[phanphare]

Will do.

Just curious: Where is this being promoted? I haven't seen anything.

well it was their second biggest demo station at E3, the first being Smash Bros. for Wii U

it was revealed in the Nintendo Digital Event, shown prominently on Treehouse Live at E3 (every day, if memory serves), it's been in two Nintendo Directs since (one showing the single player mode and the other showing off the hub city), the developers have been tweeting regularly about it in Japan (twice per day now, I believe), and an official Tumblr account in the US with those tweets translated.

 

[Hiko]

What, so there should never be any new IP? Watch_Dogs, Titanfall and Destiny say hi.

All of those had obvious sales potential. Pretty sure they all sold really well too.

Nintendo's attempt at new IP over here is like that simpson's episode where Homer makes up that cartoon with the "hip" dog.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I think they made a huge mistake by not making this a new Mario series. I see this appealing to only a small set of the hardcore nintendo crowd.

New IP only makes sense if there is sales potential. People aren't going to buy into a new IP just because it's a new IP. Otherwise it's better to stick to old IP.

These days isn't that exactly what Mario games do anyway? I don't see how adding Mario characters would broaden its appeal.

 

[Herb Alpert]

I think they made a huge mistake by not making this a new Mario series. I see this appealing to only a small set of the hardcore nintendo crowd.

New IP only makes sense if there is sales potential. People aren't going to buy into a new IP just because it's a new IP. Otherwise it's better to stick to old IP.

I find this argument sad and stupid. They need to move forward, bring something new.
They will grow this franchise, first iteration has not sell millions. It has to generate good Word of mouth and goodwill among a crowd already faithful to nintendo imo.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

well it was their second biggest demo station at E3, the first being Smash Bros. for Wii U

it was revealed in the Nintendo Digital Event, shown prominently on Treehouse Live at E3 (every day, if memory serves), it's been in two Nintendo Directs since (one showing the single player mode and the other showing off the hub city), the developers have been tweeting regularly about it in Japan (twice per day now, I believe), and an official Tumblr account in the US with those tweets translated.

Outside of E3, that's just an echo chamber.

 

[Qassim]

A lot of it will depend on how Nintendo handles patching and DLC. Shooters rely quite a bit on those to maintain or boost their popularity. CSGO would've died had Valve just released it and left it as is. But they kept working on it until they got it to a point where competitive players enjoy it, now it's one of the most consistently popular games on Steam. Over the course of two years after launch they'd released more than 60 patches for it. And you see that for others shooters as well. CoD, BF, Team Fortress etc. Developers can't just release a shooter and leave it alone. They have to be on what players are saying. Whether that be balance problems, maps etc.

120 patches for CSGO, in fact. I agree, for online competitive games to be successful in the long term they need constant support.

 

[marc^o^]

Outside of E3, that's just an echo chamber.

There were 4 vs 4 gameplay sessions for 3 days at last year Japan Expo in France. I'll report if they show it again next February.

 

[phanphare]

Outside of E3, that's just an echo chamber.

ok?

well anyway I see your very firm footed in your "W101 levels of bomb" narrative so I'll leave you to it

cheers!

 

[THEF3AR]

I do not know what OP wants me to say.

Oh wait..

 

[KooopaKid]

I think it's going to sell very well amongst WiiU owners. We buy pretty much anything EAD-related. It should sell better than Hyrule Warrior and Pikmin 3.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

ok?

well anyway I see your very firm footed in your "W101 levels of bomb" narrative so I'll leave you to it

cheers!

Last question (I promise )

What number would the game have to hit in order to be a success for Nintendo?

 

[Micken]

All of those had obvious sales potential. Pretty sure they all sold really well too.

Nintendo's attempt at new IP over here is like that simpson's episode where Homer makes up that cartoon with the "hip" dog.

So you're saying the three games I mentioned sold well because of their "mature" IP and aesthetic?

Actually, that's what I think, too, and Splatoon almost assuredly would sell better if it was a Mario game, but that doesn't mean it should've been a Mario game.

I guess the truth is that most gamers nowadays prefer gray and brown shooters. :/

 

[Buddha Beam]

I think if this was done back in the Wii days, I think this game would've been a huge hit. But on the Wii U? 'eh... it'll definitely get another franchise entry in the future, and hopefully it'll be on a more popular console when that happens. On the Wii U, it's destined to be a cult hit, at best.

 

[Exterminieren]

Bayonetta 2 didn't and that was a sequel to a established franchise that got rave reviews and plenty of marketing :/

Bayonetta 2 came out at a peak time of the gaming calendar, catered to a demographic that hadn't migrated to the Wii U in any meaningful sense, and was absolutely secondary in marketing to Smash and Pokémon.

Splatoon is coming out in May. It's Nintendo's biggest release for months either way. It's been handed the same release window that Mario Kart got the year before. It's far more visually and thematically coherent with the rest of the big hitters on the platform than Bayonetta. Nintendo have already given it high prominence in pretty much every bit of marketing that they've done since E3, with the exception of the Game Awards. It's not even remotely the same story.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying it'll smash the charts, move unprecedented amounts of Wii Us or even do all that well. It's just not going to be that much of a flop at that time of the year.

 

[Effect]

Been feeling for a while that Nintendo is going to try and position this as the next Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Will it happen though is the question. If it doesn't it won't be for the lack of trying I think. Nintendo seems to be putting a decent amount of attention toward the game. This is before the debut at E3. They felt they had something special on their hands before the reveal and that it took up so much of their booth shows that I feel. That had to be reinforced by the extremely positive reception it got both at E3 and online. I don't doubt that caused the development team and funding to increase.

I know I'm looking forward to the game but I really hope when it comes to the launch they don't hold back when it comes to advertising. They need a really good TV commercial here in the west I feel.

 

[phanphare]

Last question (I promise )

What number would the game have to hit in order to be a success for Nintendo?

I have no idea

I'm sure 1 million world wide by the end of 2015 would be nice

 

[Cream]

People in this thread forgetting about tumblr

 

[phanphare]

People in this thread forgetting about tumblr

doesn't count apparently ;p

 

[NotLiquid]

Last question (I promise )

What number would the game have to hit in order to be a success for Nintendo?

Splatoon is being worked on by a small development team and the original idea for it was prototyped by one person. For the most of the part they all expected this to only be billed as a 4v4 arena shooter and during E3 there were a lot of vague answers in regards to people questioning what else the game would involve, most of it being in a very "we're not sure yet" kind of way.

It's safe to say that Nintendo kept this as a fairly low-profile title but it's clear that the title got much more positive feedback than what people, and perhaps even Nintendo expected. They even took to Miiverse to express that surprise by compiling the immense amount of fan works that was going on there.

I don't think it has to perform much to actually be a success when judging off of that. It'd just be a crying shame if it didn't. Something like 300-500k worldwide is a reasonable enough estimate I'd think but that's just me.

 

[thefro]

Splatoon is being worked on by a small development team and the original idea for it was prototyped by one person. For the most of the part they all expected this to only be billed as a 4v4 arena shooter and during E3 there were a lot of vague answers in regards to people questioning what else the game would involve, most of it being in a very "we're not sure yet" kind of way.

I'm pretty sure it's not a small team anymore. There's been way too much content shown since E3 for that to be the case.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

It's not, and I think anyone who thinks it'll be that big is delusional. Quote me after it actually releases all you want if I'm wrong and I'll eat crow, this game just doesn't look like something with mass appeal. I will say that it looks like a blast to play and something I'm picking up day 1. Just not a multiplayer phenomenon on the tier of Smash and Kart.

would agree with this. I hope it's both a massive hit and really fun to play, but I doubt it would catch like something like smash did.

 

[Beaulieu]

man this game is getting so over hyped hahah
cant wait to see the reactions when it comes out.

 

[Herb Alpert]

man this game is getting so over hyped hahah
cant wait to see the reactions when it comes out.

Thank you for your opinion. I hope for you that it bombs, it will make your Day brighter.

 

[Beaulieu]

Thank you for your opinion. I hope for you that it bombs, it will make your Day brighter.

Not really; unlike a lot of people on here, I'm not getting off on sale numbers or company success/failure.

However, I think it's fascinating how some very specific games get incredibly over-hyped on here, so much so that people are always underwhelmed when the game actually comes out. It's like people never learn.

 

[Version 3.0]

These days isn't that exactly what Mario games do anyway? I don't see how adding Mario characters would broaden its appeal.

What? No, that's nuts. Mario still has the broadest appeal of any character. But it's Mario vs. everything else when a customer is choosing a system, and that just doesn't cut it any more.

Yes, sticking Mario in this game would practically guarantee a tremendous increase in its sales. Maybe it wouldn't increase its appeal, but it would do wonders for its visibility and impulse buy potential. 9 out of 10 people who would give this a glance if it had Mario in the title will walk right past it.

 

[TheJoRu]

I could see it becoming sort of a surprise hit. I think, with good Amiibo-support and solid marketing, it could land at around 7-800k WW. It wouldn't be "great" sales from a grander point of view, but I think Nintendo would be very happy with that.

 

[E-phonk]

I'm pretty sure it's not a small team anymore. There's been way too much content shown since E3 for that to be the case.

Time-wise it's possible part of EAD1 joined the development process when they finished mario kart, while the rest of EAD1 started on their next project.
We'll see that when it releases and the credits are out.

 

[LegendofLex]

I think it'd be possible for Nintendo to curate Splatoon as a long-term investment and eventually build it up to Smash 64 levels of popularity. Nintendo has definitely over-saturated their use of their own IP (Mario itself sells about what you'd expect the Mario spin-offs to sell historically, so adding Mario doesn't guarantee selling power), so it's actually good that we're getting something fresh.

 

[marc^o^]

it's fascinating how some very specific games get incredibly over-hyped on here

Nintendo games mostly delivered on Wii U so far. Why would that one be an exception, with what we know so far?

This kind of game lives and dies on balance, so there’s no guarantee it will be fantastic. But hype is normal, we are neogaf. Believe.

 

[Masquerader]

It's not going to be as successful as Smash Bros. To its credit though, it's looking to be of as high quality. That said, you're pretty delusional if you think it's going to DO brilliant, in addition to it BEING brilliant.

 

[Coffee Dog]

What, so there should never be any new IP? Watch_Dogs, Titanfall and Destiny say hi.

You listed the three safest new IP imaginable.

New IP means nothing if it's just the same old shit. It's just a meaningless want if you can't remember why it was asked for in the first place.

 

[SonyToo!™]

It should be popular enough for there to be an active playerbase, which is all that really matters

Splatoon seems to be popular among those who don't like or have grown tired with Mario, Imo Nintendo needs to support the WiiU version and have a sequel ready for the launch period of their next console, to draw in these players before the system (has a chance to be) is called a dead duck. If Nintendo did that I think Splatoon has a good chance of becoming massive.

 

[MDX]

It's not going to be as successful as Smash Bros. To its credit though, it's looking to be of as high quality. That said, you're pretty delusional if you think it's going to DO brilliant, in addition to it BEING brilliant.

It is brilliant and it will do brilliantly.

Just like Bayo 2, there will be a lot of goal posts being moved to scare away the crows after it releases.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

What? No, that's nuts. Mario still has the broadest appeal of any character. But it's Mario vs. everything else when a customer is choosing a system, and that just doesn't cut it any more.

Yes, sticking Mario in this game would practically guarantee a tremendous increase in its sales. Maybe it wouldn't increase its appeal, but it would do wonders for its visibility and impulse buy potential. 9 out of 10 people who would give this a glance if it had Mario in the title will walk right past it.

It would still be selling to the same userbase though. Nintendo fans are stil going to be interested in this game it doesn't need the mario universe to help that. That's mostly due to the wii u's small userbase though.

 

[Mpl90]

Next Smash Bros. ? Certainly not with the first iteration, on a console like Wii U. But, at the same time, I think it can sell well enough to guarantee future titles and to become a good Nintendo franchise, at least. Of course I'd hope for the game to sell fantastic, since it looks fantastic, but I'd say that 1,000,000 LTD WW would be a decent result, after all.

 

[Hero Prinny]

You know what's one of my favorite things about splatoon? No Mario, gets so tiring seeing Mario's face in everything. Sometimes I don't even buy a game cause Mario is the star AGAIN.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

If DLC in Smash is a thing for real once Mewtwo drops they release a trailer alongside him to show off a Splatoon character that can be switched between either a boy or a girl with a stage for a price. If Nintendo like money they would do this.

 

[Meier]

Bayonetta 2 didn't and that was a sequel to a established franchise that got rave reviews and plenty of marketing :/

I honestly think the character design of Bayonetta is far more limiting than the characters in this game. Obviously every relationship is different, but I wouldn't even attempt to play a game like Bayonetta -- I know it'd make my wife uncomfortable.

 

[JoeInky]

Nnnnnnope.


It'll be a fun game but it won't approach the appeal, sales or depth of the games that made Smash bros. what it is today.


I'd say that the community for it would last a year, but I honestly think that's being too generous.



Pokken has way more of a chance at being anything comparable to Smash.

 

[Meier]

Pokken has way more of a chance at being anything comparable to Smash.

The crux of his post was that Smash got Nintendo fans to be interested in a fighting game (a non-traditional Nintendo genre). Can this get people interested in shooters? Pokken doesn't really expand their demographic at this point as Smash has created one for Nintendo-related fighters.

 

[『Inaba Resident』]

man this game is getting so over hyped hahah
cant wait to see the reactions when it comes out.

teach me to be cool like you

 

[JoeInky]

The crux of his post was that Smash got Nintendo fans to be interested in a fighting game (a non-traditional Nintendo genre). Can this get people interested in shooters? Pokken doesn't really expand their demographic at this point as Smash has created one for Nintendo-related fighters.

As someone who played a shit ton of multiplayer shooters on PC but hasn't played them for a long time due to burn out, Splatoon does nothing for me. I'll play the single player just to beat it and then go back to Project M for my competitive gaming fix.

I know it's anecdotal and there are people that will say it looks fresh and exciting to them but it really doesn't look like some kind of shake up that would get a new audience interested in shooters to me.

 

[Version 3.0]

It would still be selling to the same userbase though. Nintendo fans are stil going to be interested in this game it doesn't need the mario universe to help that. That's mostly due to the wii u's small userbase though.

I disagree. The vast majority of Wii U owners won't look twice at this game. If it were a Mario game, they would. "Nintendo fans" might seem like the same thing as "Wii U owners", but it isn't. Wii U owners may only be Mario fans, or Mario Kart fans, or Zelda fans, or whatever, not fans of everything Nintendo makes.

 

[OtakuReborn124]

It's got to start somewhere. There aren't very many IPs that are extremely successful out of the gate, and you're comparing a game to something that had its start 16 years ago. At this point in time, nobody can accurately predict what's going to happen, but expecting it to do as well as Smash Bros immediately is a pipe dream.

Splatoon's main goal is to develop a good reputation for itself. Sales just have to do well enough to justify a second game (whatever that is, I don't know), but public perception has to be positive. It has to show potential and it should ideally remain accessible but have depth. It needs to be a game that Wii U owners would recommend playing when friends come over.

So to answer the question at hand: not immediately. We can revisit this question if/when Splatoon 2 comes out.

 

[Chmpocalypse]

I think they made a huge mistake by not making this a new Mario series. I see this appealing to only a small set of the hardcore nintendo crowd.

New IP only makes sense if there is sales potential. People aren't going to buy into a new IP just because it's a new IP. Otherwise it's better to stick to old IP.

Rock and a hard place. Would likely sell better as a Mario game, but that would have been a creatively bankrupt move.

For all the grief I give Nintendo (we have a Wii U and I'm still not a fan of the machine), making a new IP like this is a very good thing. It's not going to be huge, but a cool niche success that makes profit is better than yet another Mario game.

 

[LegendofLex]

I disagree. The vast majority of Wii U owners won't look twice at this game.

Your mistake is thinking the purpose of new first-party software (and new IP in particular) is to sell to "Wii U owners."

 

[Sterok]

Obviously it won't do Mario Kart numbers. That's asking too much of something of something brand new. But as long as the game itself is solid and receives adequate marketing (both of which seem to be happening), it can easily become a staple franchise that people associate with Nintendo just like Pikmin down the road. Sales wise I think it's possible for it to crawl to 1 million worldwide lifetime sales assuming it's good and has good legs. But at worse it should do better than Bayonetta 2. At least I hope so.

 

[Version 3.0]

Your mistake is thinking the purpose of new first-party software (and new IP in particular) is to sell to "Wii U owners."

Oh, geez. I only mentioned that to illustrate my point about Mario and Nintendo not being the same thing. How many non-Wii U owners are going to buy the game? At that point, they'd be owners anyway. (and the answer is "not many").

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for this game. I'm amazed that Nintendo still makes or publishes games that they must know are going to bomb. And good for them. You never know when something might stick and become a hit, either large or small. And even if it doesn't, it's still important to have a library that shows variety - and a dozen Mario games, no matter how diverse (Golf, Party, Kart, etc), doesn't convey that.

If Nintendo were any other big company - EA, Activision, Ubisoft - they'd slap Mario on this game or can it. I'm not saying they should make this a Mario game. I'm glad it isn't. But the idea that doing so wouldn't improve sales is absurd. Instead, they're making a new, unique game - and good for them, and us!

 

[LegendofLex]

Oh, geez. I only mentioned that to illustrate my point about Mario. How many non-Wii U owners are going to buy the game? At that point, they'd be owners anyway. (and the answer is "not many").

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for this game. I'm amazed that Nintendo still makes or publishes games that they must know are going to bomb. And good for them. You never know when something might stick and become a hit, either large or small. And even if it doesn't, it's still important to have a library with some variety in it - and a dozen Mario games, no matter how diverse (Golf, Party, Kart, etc), doesn't convey that.

If Nintendo were any other big company - EA, Activision, Ubisoft - they'd slap Mario on this game or can it. I'm not saying they should make this a Mario game. I'm glad it isn't. But the idea that doing so wouldn't improve sales is absurd. Instead, they're making a new, unique game - and good for them, and us!

It's not a given that slapping Mario on the box would improve sales, though. And it's certainly not a given that the only games that draw people to Nintendo's platform are Mario games - new brands can have incredible star power, too, if they generate enough buzz and goodwill.

Just look at Wii Sports - it was the poster child for Wii, which definitely sold to more people than past Nintendo platforms. It didn't use any pre-established Nintendo branding, even though Nintendo had already created a Mario sports line of titles, and one of the main attractions (Tennis) was one of the sports represented by that line. And Wii Sports Resort sold more copies as a standalone game than any Mario-branded sports game has.

Wii Sports was the result of Nintendo making a game that wasn't for the audience that was already buying Mario. Splatoon seems to be made along the same lines. I don't think it'll sell gangbusters by any means, but I don't think we can write it off until we see how it does in the wild.

 

[Bricky]

Splatoon is going to sell like shit and become a critically acclaimed cult hit that will leave fans begging Nintendo for a sequel for years to come.

It will be Nintendo's next F-Zero/Earthbound.

Spoiler

The future might not necessarily be that grim, but it will be Nintendo's next Pikmin at best. Even if the game is absolutely amazing it just doesn't have the same appeal as something like Smash Bros. Both casual and hardcore gamers already love the shooter genre anyway, there is no real gap to bridge here OP.