Splatoon
From Transformers Wiki
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 Repaint: The Video Game | |||||||
| スプラトゥーン
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| Developer | Nintendo EAD Group No. 2 | ||||||
| Publisher | Nintendo | ||||||
| Platforms | Wii U | ||||||
| Release date | JP: May 28, 2015 NA/EU: May 29, 2015 AU: May 30, 2015 | ||||||
| Rating | CERO: A ESRB: E10+ PEGI: 7 CB: PG | ||||||
Splatoon is a video game developed and published by Nintendo exclusively for their Wii U system. The game is a third-person shooter in which teams of kid-like/squid-like beings known as Inklings use a variety of weapons to cover a battlefield in their color of ink, with the winners of the Turf War being the team who covers the largest surface area in their color.
An in-game Splatfest event took place for 24 hours in North America between August 28–29, 2015, with Transformers as its central theme due to a sponsorship deal between Nintendo and Hasbro.
Synopsis
12,000 years in Earth's future, humanity has gone extinct due to rising sea levels, causing sea life to evolve and become the dominant species of the planet. Many of these creatures, most notably Inklings, reside in the bustling city of Inkopolis, whose residents are obsessed with staying "fresh" and participating in the popular sport known as Ink Battles. Occasionally, a Splatfest is held in Inkopolis, in which competitors split into teams based on their preferences for one of two subjects, such as cats vs. dogs, then participate in a series of Turf Wars over a 24-hour period to earn points for their team based on their performance, with a winning side being chosen after the 24 hours are up.
On August 18, a sudden broadcast of Inkopolis News took place, with news anchors Callie and Marie stating that they had a special announcement. According to the Squid Sisters, word from "on high" had come down stating that there was to be a new Splatfest event soon, and that its theme would be Transformers, with Inklings choosing whether to represent the Autobots or Decepticons. When asked which side she would support, Callie enthusiastically praised the Autobots, revealing her admiration for Optimus Prime. This prompted Marie to accuse her cousin of being a "classic goody-goody", citing Shockwave, Soundwave, and Megatronus as being much cooler, though Callie claimed this was only because Marie was jealous of the Autobot supporters' stylish red shirts. The two urged their viewers to pick a side at the Pledge Box by Inkopolis Tower before continuing with the rest of their newscast.
For several days following this, Inklings threw support behind their respective sides, wearing shirts bearing their chosen faction's insignia, changing their ink and tentacle colors to match, and posting graffiti and artwork in support of their teams all over Inkopolis. On the night of August 28, the Splatfest began, with teams taking to Port Mackerel, Saltspray Rig, and Flounder Heights to earn points for their respective side while Callie and Marie each set up trucks in Inkopolis Plaza and put on a live performance from on top of them. After a grueling 24 hours of continuous battles, the Squid Sisters appeared again on Inkopolis News to announce the final results of the event. The Autobots proved to be the more popular faction, with 58% of participants taking their side. However, befitting their chosen faction's nature, the Decepticon supporters proved more vicious in combat, winning 56% of all Splatfest battles. As a result, due to the victory percentage being worth four times as many points as the popularity percentage, the Decepticons ultimately placed higher than the Autobots, earning 266 points compared to the Autobots' 234, prompting a celebratory cry of "Decepticons annihilate!" from Marie. She declared that being evil never felt so good, though Callie continued to maintain that her side had the cooler shirts. The two reminded participants to pick up their Super Sea Snail prizes before continuing with the rest of their broadcast.
Notes
- Transformers was the fourth of sixteen total North American Splatfest themes. It marked the first instance of a sponsored Splatfest theme in North America, and the third across all regions (following two Japanese Splatfests themed with Maruchan and Kirin branding).
- Between the Splatfest's announcement and its conclusion, players were able to wear a Splatfest Tee branded with the Autobot or Decepticon insignia, and were unable to wear any other shirt during the Splatfest itself. However, these were removed from the game immediately following the event's conclusion. The Transformers shirts were also the first Splatfest Tees to ever be made into real-life shirts, with a limited number being given away by Nintendo via their social media channels and as prizes to those who played Splatfest matches at their booth at PAX Prime 2015, which was held the same weekend.
- While advertised as being related to Transformers in general, the in-game artwork was branded with the Robots in Disguise logo and featured that series' incarnations of Optimus Prime and Megatronus. Notably, Megatronus had not yet made a physical appearance in Robots in Disguise by the time the Splatfest took place, only having appeared as a nameless extradimensional entity to Steeljaw in "Lockout" as of that time. He would make his first proper appearance the following week in "Battlegrounds, Part 1".
- Marie specifically cited Shockwave, Soundwave and Megatronus as respectable members of the Decepticons, despite the fact that the former two had not appeared at all in Robots in Disguise at the time but rather in its predecessor; Soundwave would not appear in the series until "Portals" aired eight months later.
- According to Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami and art director Seita Inoue, Splatfest themes are received by the Squid Sisters via messages sent 12,000 years in the past that they misinterpret as commands from a higher power. However, it's unclear whether Transformers being chosen was because it was a popular brand, as in the real world, or because the people discussing them were actually living through events such as Megatronus's return. In the case of the latter, it's also unclear how the Inklings would have any knowledge of the Transformers, having little to no knowledge of the human civilization that preceded them (and likely, by extension, the role Cybertronians played in it). It's possible that Cybertron has continued to maintain a peaceful relationship with Earth even after the humans' demise, though if they did, they probably wouldn't approve of the Decepticon movement's apparent popularity.
- A few days before the Splatfest began, a glitch caused the ink in all battles to be locked to the colors of the Splatfest, pink and dark purple, colors that usually are not available.
- Unused dialogue reveals that, had the Autobots won, Callie would have celebrated with a cry of "Autobots, roll out!" and congratulated her team, saying Optimus would be proud. Marie, of course, would fall back on the classic "yeah, well, our shirts are cooler" defense.
- Though Splatoon's sequel, Splatoon 2, contains no Transformers elements, its "Octo Expansion" DLC does include an "Outrageous Station" stage with the tagline "Truly, truly, truly".
External links
- Splatoon at Wikipedia
- Autobots vs. Decepticons at Inkipedia, the Splatoon wiki
