Splatoon producer on the game’s origins, 4-on-4 matches, Super Jump, and name

This month’s issue of Nintendo Dream has yet another interview with one of the developers behind Splatoon. This time, the Japanese magazine spoke with producer Hisashi Nogami.

Going back to the origins of Splatoon, Nogami commented on how program director Shintaro Sato came up with the idea of inking. Sato wrote a program for a drawing system, which included affixing textures on models and processing shadows. He thought at the time, “If I replace a shadow with the possibility of repainting with a color, wouldn’t that be a new way to play?”

Nogami also spoke about the decision to feature 4 on 4 matches in Splatoon:

Nogami: It’s not like we couldn’t have made 3 vs. 3 battles, but if just one player is splatted, the balance changes drastically and the enemy team can make a push in one go.

Nogami: On the other hand, when we tried increasing the number of players, the effect of splatting one person was small.

Nogami: However, when we tried 4 vs. 4, just splatting one player got the other team into a quite unfavorable situation. It is like a power play in ice hockey.

Next, here’s an exchange between Nogami and Nintendo Dream about how the Super Jump was born:

Nogami: Director (Tsubasa) Sakaguchi came up with the Super Jump function, but utilizing the Gamepad was one of the development themes from the start.

Nogami: To tell you the truth, when Super Jump was implemented for the first time, the characters were still rabbits.

Nogami: But when the characters were changed to squids, there was a concern as to whether they could jump…

Nintendo Dream: There are squids that leap into the air, right? (laughs)

Nogami: That’s right. Therefore there is some kind of logic behind it (laughs).

Finally, Nogami commented on other title candidates for Splatoon. One major contender was Ikasukiz.

Ikasukiz has four meanings: ‘Ika’ (squid) and ‘Ikasu’ (being stylish), in addition to ‘Kiz’ (kids) and ‘Sukiz’ (squids). While it was a fitting name, Nogami explained that Ikasukiz would have only worked in Japan. The team wanted to have a common title worldwide, so that’s why Splatoon was chosen in the end.