Nintendo brings a wild IRL twist to the 'Splatoon 2' story
Whatever happens in Splatoon 2's story, it'll be a product of the game's community.
Nintendo recently added a new section to the upcoming sequel's website, called "Squid Sisters Stories." That's a reference to Marie and Callie, the pop idol duo at the center of Splatoon's in-game "Splatfest" events.
Before we get to the site update and how the original game will influence the sequel, it's important to understand what Splatfests are.
Splatoon is a competitive multiplayer game, and Splatfests were limited time events in which players chose between two sides. It was always something simple: Cats vs. Dogs, Art vs. Science, Messy vs. Tidy.
The labels ultimately didn't matter inside the game, beyond giving the community competing banners to unite under. At the end of each Splatfest, each team earned a score based on a combination of overall popularity (i.e. how many players flocked to each banner) and win percentage, with the higher score nabbing a win.
In every Splatfest, Marie and Callie split up to represent each team. But for the final Splatfest, the Squid Sisters were the banners players flocked to: it was Marie vs. Callie. The event ended on July 22, 2016 and Marie was crowned the winner.
That was the end. Or so it seemed.
Now, the newly updated Splatoon 2 website features an all-text "Prologue" that directly references the result of that final Marie vs. Callie Splatfest. Here's the relevant bit:
The showdown of Callie versus Marie ended in victory for Marie, but there was no ill will between the two. The girls left the studio arm in arm, smiling and laughing as they always had. The bond between them would continue, unbroken, for years to come.
There's one more line after that: "Or so it seemed at the time...."
This prologue is obviously setting up the story in Splatoon 2. What's surprising is the way the final Splatfest, a real-life event, is woven into the fictional story. I can't think of any other case where a game featuring live elements used the results of an in-game event to influence the continuing story.
To see this coming from Nintendo, a company that has traditionally been slower to embrace industry trends -- in this case, live games -- is even more surprising. There's plenty more to be revealed about Splatoon 2, but this very cool twist should go a long way toward keeping fans of the first game invested in the sequel.
GG WP, Nintendo.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
