BigJKO

The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

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I preordered mine from Nintendo's online store. Whilst they suck at cheap indie games, their online store is actually really good, and usually offers stuff you can't get elsewhere. I got a funky t-shirt with my preorder.

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I don't think so! But I'm assuming the Single-player stuff is still available to play? And I have all those amiibo challenges too!

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The Miiverse of Splatoon has had game review people posting all the time screenshots of the game etc. I think those had also online activies and not just single player?

I wonder were those servers turned off for the time being?

Nintendo UK online store is cool, but sucks for me since I'm from Finland so we have none of that. We don't even have Nintendo official presence here, just a sucky 3rd party company Bergsala handling (very badly) the distribution of Nintendo hardware and software.

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Oh man Splatoon is in the wild? I assume there is still an embargo on non-demo content, though! But oh man I would love to play with everyone on here when it comes out. We should add each others' NNID so we can play (I think it's randomly assigned teams until August but we can still play with friends)!

 

I'm superhiero 

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I know splatoon will probably occupy most time this weekend I finally got around to figuring out custom tournaments in Mario Kart. Also posted in Nintendo ID thread

Setup a weekly weekend tournament for Mario Kart

Its probably using my local time settings for the times so I left time open pretty much all day sat/sun cst

Tournament ID

6782-9091-4872

Idle Thumbs 5.2015

0030 Saturday through 2330 Sundays CST (-6 GMT)

150cc

All items/vehicles

8 races, base cups only

I figure I would tweak the settings based on feedback and participation. If it turns out folks want 100 or 200cc or everyone has dlc packs I'll shift the track availability

(Apparently if dlc is turned on then must have to participate, don't want to lock anyone out)

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So surprisingly I played a fucking load of Splatoon last night.

 

It's good. Fucking good. Even without team speak, it's good. There is a real joy-du-vivre that all Nintendo games have, and this one is no exception. The combat is fast and frenetic, and a lot of fun. I played a lot as the roller, and it's a tad too easy to play as it. It's upsides far outweigh it's downsides. to be honest, I got a bit bored of using it. Luckily I can just switch it up at will though, as every weapon has a completely different playstyle. I'm going to use the charger next. 

 

The only bad point for me so far is the use of amiibo's. You can only use them after playing the single player content (which is really silly and good fun), and all the 'challenges' amount to is re-playing the levels, but instead of the splattergun, use a different weapon, like the charger for the girl amiibo, roller for the boy amiibo, and something else for the squid. It just feels like a lazy way to make the single player content longer and an even lazier content gate for the exclusive items, which I wasn't expecting at all. 

 

Talking about amiibo's, Game's lorry with all the special editions have been stolen:

 splatoon-stock-swiped-in-nintendo-lorry-

 

 

 

The Miiverse of Splatoon has had game review people posting all the time screenshots of the game etc. I think those had also online activies and not just single player?

I wonder were those servers turned off for the time being?

 

They were turned on when I got on last night! It was full of Japanese people, so I assume that it's already out in Japan, and then press?

 

Oh man Splatoon is in the wild?

 

Nope, I just got mine super early!

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Make sure to add everyone on the WiiU ID exchange thread. I intend to play the shit out of Splatoon this weekend, and it might be fun to get a couple of pre-made groups going with skype chat.

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I've added many people from the Wii U exchange thread. Need to update the consilidated thread list as well for my part.

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Gotta wait until tomorrow to play, I hope to see some of you guys online! I'm putting aside Mario 3D World for now (I have about 180 green stars) and gonna focus on Splatoon as much as I can before I go overseas in a week.

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Well, Splatoon story was amazing and each level felt almost completely different, but.... since I "wasted" my time with story mode, every I faced in online battles is level 20, has crazy weapons and crazy skills.

 

The roller doesn't seem so almighty anymore, I hope online match making will at least try to set me with people close to my level, I'm level 5, I shouldn't even be close to people level 20! 

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There appears to be a crude skill-rating system that swings back and forth quite wildly after each match, so keep playing and it might normalize and put you in more appropriate matches. I had a win streak of around 11 matches before i lost my first game online, but now i feel like i'm playing against people who are probably more in my skill range, so i'm fairly certain that there is some measure of skill matching going on.

 

I've also had multiple matches where the netcode just implodes in the final minute. I suspect some old network manipulation tricks are already in use to deny people comebacks in the turf war mode, so that sucks.

 

Also, i'm pleased to see that it at least does the "join friends" thing like Mario Kart, so... I mean, for my purposes, i can make that work. It'll be a little troublesome to get party matches going, but it should work out. (Also, there are no private matches.)

 

I'm also pleased to see that the character builds are somewhat reined in by packing weapons together as pre-defined and presumably carefully balanced bundles just like they were in the testfire, though i'm still concerned that the stat modifying gear equips could be a bit of a run-away issue.

 

I'm enjoying it. I still think the core game is really solidly playable, but i still have concerns about some peripheral issues, though the game feels good enough right now. The lack of voice chat doesn't actually strike me as a huge issue, the pre-mapped character barks and the super jump feel like they're enough to coordinate with randoms. I mean, and when i play with friends, i'll probably just set up a voice chat on my computer anyways.

 

I understand that the solo mode is quite good and quite lengthy, i want to dig into that some, i've heard that it feels like a bit of a spiritual successor to Super Mario Sunshine.

 

If anybody wants to get together in some multiplayer matches, let me know and i'll add you on my wii u.

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I like this! Still haven't gotten quite used to the controls, but it's getting better.

There's definitely *some* match-making, because I got paired with some level 1-4 peeps when I stopped joining griddlelol's matches (he's level 10)

Only played the first three levels of the single-player, but it was fun!

All in all, my first impression is positive!

Also, yeah add me if you wanna play everyone! I'm only level 3, so I'm a noob! NNID: BigJKO

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I've been thinking about this, but I'm really glad they didn't put in voice chat. The games are too short to put in any form of coordination, and the two options on the d pad are really all you need. Also the net code runs a lot smoother without the added voice chat, I think.

I really love this game. Even though I'm losing more than I'm winning, the levels have insane details and in jokes smothered all over them. I love the way the graffiti is actually miiverse posts.

Also, a little easter Egg my gf discovered: in the plaza, go to the place where cala and mari are. Zoom into where they're sitting and wait.

Cala and mari are awesome btw. I still haven't got bored of their news flashes.

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Just picked this game up! Will play a few single player missions before I hop online. Regarding voice chat: whenever my friends and I play any game, we usually just resort to skype for voice chat, so I'm not fussed about the lack of voice chat in this game. Would have liked more than two chat messages on the dpad (I mean, you can easily accommodate four), but yeah I'm fine with it as is.

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I am totally in love with Splatoon. It just feels great to play. I disagree on the voice chat front though. I don't need it, but there is plenty of time to coordinate areas of attack, especially when moving around is so rapid. I feel like a well coordinated team would dominate.

The weapons. I'm in love with the shot gun it fits my play style of hit and run perfectly. The .92 is pretty good too.

Does anyone know what causes the stages to swap? I really wish they used the full pool of stages rather than 2 at a time.

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I was about to play a stage when Callie and Marie announced a stage swap, so I guess it's timed?

 

Also after thew swap the stage went haywire and I couldn't paint over the other's ink, the match ended soon after, which was weird?

 

I guess I'm stuck with the roller, I'm too used to it now, specially since I got the new one with new power ups.

 

Is it bad it took me several matches to realize I could "super jump" to other people in my squid squad?

 

The code is still weird for me, I'm always with lower leveled people fighting people almost at level, which I guess is the level cap for now? But least I'm winning more often now, the game is so fast you can win or lose in the very last minute!

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The stage swap occurs exactly every 4 hours. 

 

The game doesn't do a good job of telling you things in-game, but I imagine it would say so in the manual. 

 

Also, Griddlelol, I keep trying to join your matches, but every time I get put into a game from the join friends option, you're nowhere to be seen =(

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Weird, it was probably my girlfriend playing - she tends I quit every few minutes lol.

I ended up using the splattershot with the delay grenade that sticks to surfaces and the bazooka. It's a great combo.

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I think we got a few matches in there! You're really good with that splattershot, I think you were the highest scorer both times I saw your name. I hit level 10, so hopefully that ranked battle mode comes soon!

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Strangely we didn't get matched into the same team both times. I like that Nintendo are actively discouraging people premaking teams and going up against ransoms. That'd lead to a bunch of steam rolls, despite how fun it'd be to do.

I really really like the bazooka. You can snipe people from across the map with it and it's a great offensive panic button. The only super I don't like is the killer wail. I never seem to get anyone with it.

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I feel like i've played enough of this game now to be perceptive of when my team is going to lose, and i do kind of wish voice chat was in there to push things along in the right direction.

You very often run into people who are just bad at maximizing their ink coverage, they'll often try to obsessively paint in every corner of a small room, while missing an unclaimed path off to the side. Like, i get not being able to accurately shoot, that's hard in any game and this one has a weird control scheme to learn on top of that, but i can't help but be a little frustrated when a game concludes and two people on my team have contributed virtually nothing to claiming territory.

 

The big game ender though, is when people on your team get caught up trying to track down one determined opponent who has successfully locked down a small part of the map, engaging in a lot of hit and run tactics with your team. Those situations are horrible, because long fights are essentially dead weight, and when those fights are lopsided and the other team has more guys going around painting, you are absolutely going to lose. I wish i could tell people to just disengage from fights like that. Map control is way more important than winning an individual fight. (It's funny to me that this game is ostensibly doing something different, but kind of isn't, as most good competitive games are about map control dynamics, this one just makes it super explicit.)

 

That all said, it's just... Man... I can't hold it against Nintendo, not having voice chat was the right choice. It's obvious that this game is skewing towards a way younger audience, and you definitely don't want to expose that crowd to the incredible toxicity of competitive gaming.

 

Other further thoughts:

The progression ramp is super steep, those stacking stat buffs have a massive and noticeable impact, get high-rarity gear asap. (It is, at least, easier to do than the slow level grind, but it all honestly seems so antithetical to the game being an accessible and easily engaged experience.)

 

Weapon balance feels all over the place for me. I've tried a ton of different unlockable weapon packages, but i've just been getting destroyed with anything other than the initial few splatterguns, it's been the difference between leading the match and falling in last place for me. I see people doing extremely well with other weapons, so perhaps it's just down to playstyle. (The .52 gal seems especially popular, if anything seems overpowered so far, there might be a case for that.)

 

I have to keep reminding myself to use the motion control to adjust my aim, it's been another "lead the match or fall in dead last" factor for me. It's sort of a brilliant control scheme, combining the analog control to which everybody is most familiar, with carefully selected strengths of motion control.

 

I feel like a few of the multiplayer maps are potentially duds, but on the whole, these seem like extremely solid competition-minded map designs. I like these maps a lot.

 

I am genuinely surprised at how good the solo content is. I think i'm just on the wrong side of being able to recommend the game purely for its solo content, this is definitely still primarily a multiplayer game, but Nintendo has created a pretty terrific solo game to go with it. It's the most distinctly "Nintendo" part of the game, and quite evocative of certain 3D Mario games, specifically Galaxy and Sunshine.

 

Thoughts on the Splatoon amiibos.

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I was aware that teams were randomised between matches and you're not guaranteed to be with a friend. I am completely fine with that, for the same reasons as you. I know partying up with 4 people will be added later though. I've noticed a little meter of flags that show your current rating within the 4 hour map rotation blocks (which you can redeem for a lot of coins to Judd in the plaza if the rating goes quite high), which might be used to make teams more balanced between matches. 

 

I have yet to complete the single player challenges; I've only played until the first boss. It didn't feel nearly as fun to me as the multiplayer, so most of yesterday I was just aiming to get myself to level 10. My splatoon amiibo that I preordered from a store hasn't arrived yet. I probably should have just bought one in-store when I was buying my copy of the game yesterday. Not a fan of how the squid amiibo armoured costume looks, since it's really out of place. I think I'm one of those people who care about the fashion more than the stat boosts (I still pay attention to these though). Right now I am definitely enjoying the 0.52 gal weapon the most. Since each shot has such high damage, it rewards someone who carefully lines up their shots rather than going out guns blazing. A charger would be similar, but I haven't had much success with that class of weapons yet.

 

As far as maps go, my favourite is definitely Saltspray Rig, though the others are growing on me too. The smaller, more narrow maps (Walleye Warehouse and Arowana Mall) felt too much like a simple game of tug-of-war to me, but eventually I learned how to utilise all the side paths to perform sneak attacks. Saltspray Rig has so many different paths to it that it feels almost like a Lords Management map; there are basically three different lanes to it. I thought maybe this map would be better suited to 6v6, but there's still a good amount of time for 4v4 to have a good back and forth.

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The weapon balance feels pretty good to me, I've been seeing some people absolutely dominate with the roller. Hiding, popping out to kill then covering huge swathes of ground fast.

The .52 and .95 feel ok, but they fire a little too slow for my tastes, plus I don't like their sub/special.

The only map I actively dislike is the skate park. It's hard to tell which parts count as floors, and which count as walls. The rig is a great map. There are 2 areas that need controlling - the square at the top and the rectangle at the bottom. I've had some great matches where I just make it my mission to hold the bottom rectangle. I then push out if it's not under attack, but come back immediately if someone is after it. It gives my team room to hold the top square, and I can easily super jump over if it looks like things are going badly.

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