Following on from our reader-voted Top 50 Games of the Decade, Nintendo Life staff members will be picking their personal favourite Nintendo games between the years 2010-2019. Today, Alex recalls the growing pains of his first major step into his career, and how one squid and/or kid-based shooter made all the difference...
“These controls are weird and confusing, I don’t like them.”
That was my first impression of Splatoon. Not only was I not going to blurt that out to the Nintendo representatives at EGX 2014, but seeing as I was angling for a career with the so-called humans from Nintendo Life who played with me, I decided I should probably keep things positive. I could show my true cocky colours once I’d got my foot in the proverbial door.
Despite my constant advocating for motion controls these days (especially Splatoon-like efforts) my initial feelings were largely just bewilderment. I’d skipped out on the Wii for the most part during its life due to a cocktail of peer pressure and being a teenager, and whilst I’d certainly done a smidgen of waggling here and there, moving my body whilst gaming was something I did exclusively to turn corners more sharply in Mario Kart 64, and it totally worked, I promise. Nintendo had a lot of audacity to not only shove the largest controller in the world into my mitts, but also tell me to move it around as part of basic gameplay. Despite all that, though, I was actually sort of good at it, at least compared to my now-bosses Ant, Daz, and Damo. It caught my attention, partly due to the fact that the whole idea of a third-person shooter with a modern styling felt supremely un-Nintendo.
2015 rolls around and I start actually working for this here company, and as the finest Splatoon player in the immediate vicinity I was tasked with being flown over to Germany to represent Nintendo Life at a preview event for a game that shares assonance with ‘lampoon’.
I hopped on a plane, landed, jumped into a taxi, played the game for four hours, then immediately left Frankfurt without so much as a ‘wo ist der Badezimmer?’. As it happens, that’s all it took - I was hooked. In those few short hours I’d tamed the controls and got used to slugging the big tablet about the place to track down evil Octarians, and I was counting the days until Splatoon would be in my hands proper.
It came, I reviewed it, and then had to start all my progress over from the beginning because Nintendo. The whole thing was revolutionary to me; in the space of a year I’d gone from putting off my university assignments and lying to get a part-time job in a pub to playing a game unlike any other I’d seen, and getting paid to do it. I was sat in my childhood bedroom playing a bright, outlandish online third-person shooter from Nintendo with my dad giving me the stink eye because he assumed I was just mucking around, and three mad gits were happy to send actual cash I could live off for doing it.
That would have been enough to make Splatoon my game of the decade alone, but that was far from the end of my adventure. New content was constantly being drip-fed to us thirsty fans, and at the time I considered it imperative that I show off everything new as soon as I could, and make a video about it. This meant waking up at around 3am and recording footage as I was barely conscious, which in hindsight is quite obviously a ludicrous idea as everyone who was interested could just load up the game and see it for themselves.
But before this moment of clarity I needed to do this, and no update was more worthy of me wasting the wee hours that version 2.0.0, which brought in the ability to host private matches. Spawning the mad idea that people would actually want to play 1v1 matches, I took to Twitter asking if anyone in a more reasonable timezone would be able to help me at stupid o’clock my time. This is where I met my friend Paul, who just so happened to live in the same timezone and clearly had mixed priorities at the time. He helped me no end and we continued to chat afterwards, gathering other people and eventually forming a team that we would use in Splatoon tournaments in the future.
This was the period that my relationship of the time was starting to deteriorate, and playing Splatoon in the evening with Paul, Rachel, and Jasmin was my only real socialising I managed. I was in a pretty rough place, but these three glorious people (and Splatoon) brought me joy at a time when I was still adjusting to life as a full-time video monkey. With each new update a new wave of excitement filled our group chat, and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to recapture that particular brand of pure, unadulterated enjoyment since.
Splatoon 2 is certainly the better game, but the OG Splatoon will always hold an incredibly special place in my heart. It helped me transition into a new life, it gave me friends when I was lacking, and it also probably revolutionised development at Nintendo and ushered in a new wave of creativity that arguably lead to the immeasurable success of the Switch. Probably.
Comments 37
I'm still very jealous I missed out on Splatoon 1. I never had a Wii U. As anyone can see, Splatoon 2 had an impact on my generic Nintendo Life username.
This is a great theme for articles, staff writing about their game-of-the-decade.
Now I'm off to hit that Like button, Alex!
The first article like hit is mine. And since about 7 other people are aware of the like button for articles & use it, if you're lucky, you might get 8
I really enjoy Splatoon 2, but nothing beats the original. I still play it now and again...I'd concur with game of the decade! Good inking!
Splatoon took over Mario kart as the game I continually sink time into whenever I got a few
Totally agree with both of you.
@NinChocolate @Grafeaux
Except I missed out on Splatoon 1
Splatoon is the game I enjoyed play most. And I play the 2 a lot now. It was really fun and it changed my life for better. But I cant tell all the details yet why I think this.
Certainly a great choice for Game of the Decade. Love the inventiveness of these games, I just wish we could vote on the maps rather than waiting for them to rotate. Kills it for me.
I could never really get into either of them to be honest. My wee brother loved them but I’m not a fan of shooters with a controller instead of KB+M. I usually play the campaign in shooters and then play the multiplayer only occasionally. On that note, the Modern Warfare campaign is seriously brilliant, probably the best one since the PS2 days.
Um.... NO...NO...NO. But to each their own.
Finally another take on a GotD candidate that isn't garbage. So many awful choices from some of the other contributors. While the games chosen aren't bad games by any means (except Go, ew), they don't strike me as GotD by a long shot, they wouldn't be in my Top 10 or even Top 15. MK8D and Splatoon are the only ones I would remotely agree with.
This was such a wholesome story! It made my day to hear it. Thank you, Alex for your five years of fun, and I'm glad you're in a better place!
Absolutely wonderful game and I'm happy I got to experience it! I still haven't missed a single Splatfest yet, counting both Splatoon games. I really hope this series will stick around for the long run.
Such an amazing game. Bought it day one.
Fantastic game. It’s still great online. Local two player vs was brilliant and my kids still play locally.
HOLY CRAP. I've never seen more than 8 likes on an article!!!! Are we sure Nintendo Life infrastructure is ready for 9+ likes!??
"It's no good kiptain, I don't think she hold!!" **scotty-esque yelling, you know, star trek scotty.
@Woomy_NNYes Just pulled the trigger on 9. 😳
G. M. Chrysler @jwfurness There's 11. Real LOL here.
Pushing the like-limits is fitting for this Alex Onley Splatoon game-of-the-decade-article.
@1UP_MARIO Did Splatoon 1 have two player splitscreen? Or do you mean two player local wireless between two consoles?
Two player splitscreen would be an amazing Splatoon 2 update.
I never played the original but splatoon 2 is without a doubt in the running for me this last decade. Amazing how the 3rd person shooter can be turned into something friendly and fun like that.
The genius of the Splatoon games for me is how much fun they packed into 3 minute matches. Even if I only have a little time to play, I can have a blast and put it down.
Definitely an interesting pick. Splatoon proved that Nintendo’s new younger team could come up with fresh new ideas and develop them through the help of greats like Miyamoto.
@Woomy_NNYes it was 2 players 1 v 1. One person on the gamepad and one on the tv.
I've been playing games for near 40 years and Splatoon is the one I've played more than any other. I was obsessed with it, from the very first Turf War demo (I forget the name they gave it?) right up until the Switch arrived. There was a group of us from Nintendolife that used to regularly play with each other too and we'd chat on the forum between matches, which added a lot to the experience.
Like Alex says, Splatoon 2 is the better game but the original is the one that had the biggest impact on me. What a game and it is without doubt, my game of the decade too.
Splatoon isn't quite my favorite game of the decade, but I respect the heck out of it. I mean, not only was it this bold new take on online shooters in an era where everyone was trying and failing to be just that (lol remember Evolve?), but it was a huge success as a new IP on the Wii U. That's impressive.
Not only was Splatoon a fresh take on the shooter genre, it produced an amazing culture that fans take to the Internet about. Splatoon just rocks my world. Are you still a kid or are you a squid now?
Splatoon was great and I played it often, but 2 really got me hooked. I played Splatfests on the latter much more than the former. Although I will concede some aspects of the first game (jumping to teammates) were easier because of the GamePad. In any case, I love Splatoon.
I gotta be honest, these aren't games that I would have chosen.
I was a noob for the Splatoon 2 demo, and i just got destroyed left & right. I don't recall any tutorial for the first demo?
For street cred, I bet a lot of people held onto the first demo home screen tile I deleted it, but was able to still get to it again from a Switch friend's game play list, even though it's unplayable. I felt pretty slick pulling that off.
I was also shocked that my favorite music for two years was Splatoon 2 music, the Octotune cd.
@JayJ They did say multiple staff members will pick their favorite game & write about it. So there will be other games... games i couldn't get into, but i know are hugely popular. There will probably something you like in there.
Wow, 17 article likes, @AlexOlney ! I dont think there's ever been more than 7-9? In that context you. Are. On. Fire.
Well done. It's genuinely a good article.(sincere compliments on the article. In the forum we've discovered only a few NL users know the article "like" button exists, and we've been getting more people to use it. So in that respect it is amusing)
@Woomy_NNYes It seems like it's been more of a popularity list than anything else.
Now that Pokemons have guns...maybe featured in the next Splatoon?
I'm so happy to see this choice! I remember watching E3 2014 and being absolutely blown away by this game and concept. It didn't end up launching for almost a year later but I followed development on it a lot. I played the OG Splatoon religiously for a few years. Splatoon is proof that Nintendo can still create new IPs. It's not just the tried and true for them.
@JayJ I think the point of these columns is to allow each writer the chance to talk about a game that impacts them. Of course you wouldn't have chosen them, it's not your choice haha. What are some standouts for you?
People were nicer on Splatoon 1
Not into the Online side of it but the single-player expansion on Switch is pretty good.
Not a personal GOTD by any stretch but a very significant one for Nintendo.
I first played this during the network test and I was hooked and sold on it in seconds. Brilliant game. I used to regularly get the highest scores in my teams in Turf War and the single player game was fantastic too - that last boss....
Funnily enough I haven't put as much time into Splatoon 2, despite it being a great game as well - there's a great feel to it using the joy cons and aiming.
This is a pick I can get behind both personally and more generally. I can't think of a totally new IP that took off so much and so well in the last decade as much as Splatoon has.
It really baffles me that Nintendo hasn't tried to capitalize more on it. Even while the dev team is busy with Animal Crossing, they could have given us a spinoff Splatoon title or something.
Or an anime, or a mobile game or something to keep the idea fresh. (Pun intended)
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