Splatoon: new update, new maps, new gear, Japanese Splatfest, and more

New update

Yesterday, during the Japanese Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced that Splatoon would get a new update later today. What’s new for Ver. 2.3.0? Well, quite a lot:

• new maps: Museum D’alfonsino (available from November 14th, most likely at the same time as regular updates), Mahi-Mahi Resort, and more
• over 40 new pieces of gear, available in store
• various gameplay balance changes
• and more…

Here’s the official changelog in English:

• New gear has been added, which will appear in the in-game shop at random.

Ranked Match Results Pages Adjustments:

• Changed the display of the results screen in Ranked Battle. Players will be listed in the order of their winning percentages in the last 10 matches for the current mode (Wins – Losses).
  *Previously, players were listed in the order of the number of enemies they splatted. This adjustment was made since there are other ways to contribute to the team’s victory that cannot be measured in numerical terms.
  *The winning percentage will not be recorded in Regular Battle, Splatfest, Squad Battle, and Private Battle, so the results page will remain the same.
  *When the users’ Ranks go up, the winning percentage will be reset.

Battle Adjustments:

• Fixed the issue in which the blasts from Blaster weapons don’t quite reach the opponent even though the direct hit marker (x) is displayed while taking aim.
• Adjusted the amount of damage that rollers inflict when rolling over Splash Shields to match the amount of damage they inflict when rolling over opponents.
• Adjustments were made in Tower Control so that Sprinklers placed on the towers break when they hit the ground (The Sprinklers previously only broke if they were placed on the ground and were hit by the towers)

Other:

• Adjustments have been made to make for a more pleasant gaming experience.

The update will require 778MB of free space on your Wii U or your external HDD (at least, in Japan). To download it, you will have two options:

• let the Wii U do its thing, if you have automatic downloads activated. You should have the latest version installed the next time you turn on your console.
• if not, you can trigger the update manually by launching Splatoon from the Home Menu (not the Quick Start Menu).

The update will be released at:

• Europe: 2AM
• UK: 1AM
• North America (ET): 8PM
• North America (PT): 5PM
• Japan: 10AM

But before that, there will be some maintenance from:

• Europe: 1.50AM to 3AM
• UK: 12.50AM to 2AM
• North America (ET): 7.50PM to 9PM
• North America (PT): 4.50PM to 6PM
• Japan: 7AM

To check that you have the latest version of the game, simply launch it — you should see the following at the top right corner of the screen:

New map

And tomorrow, a new map will be available: Museum d’Alfonsino. It features some moving platforms, and the key to victory will be to learn how to move around efficiently. And since the map is an actual museum, you’ll find plenty of famous paintings and sculptures from the Inkling world all around the place.

The map will be available tomorrow (November 14th) at:

• Europe: 3AM
• UK: 2AM
• North America (ET): 9PM
• North America (PT): 6PM
• Japan: 11PM

Japanese Splatfest

The 8th Splatfest for Japan was announced during the Japanese Nintendo Direct, yesterday. This time around, Japanese players get another sponsored theme (by Saga-Gyu): “What do you prefer to eat? Mountain food or Sea food?”. The theme is very Japanese-centric, as it refers to food from mainland (moutains) and food from the seas.

This 8th Splatfest will take place on:

• Japan: November 21st (12PM) to November 22nd (12PM)
• Europe: November 21st (4AM) to November 22nd (4AM)
• UK: November 21st (3AM) to November 22nd (3AM)
• North America (ET): November 20th (10PM) to November 21st (10PM)
• North America (PT): November 20th (7PM) to November 21st (7PM)

North America: bundle and Nintendo Treehouse Tournament

Nintendo made two announcements specifically for North America:

• a special bundle with both Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Splatoon will be released in time for Black Friday. It will cost 299.99$ (MSRP), but some retailer will sell it for as low as 259.99$ during Black Friday.
• on December 2nd, there will be a Nintendo Treehouse Splatournament.

Finally, here’s pictures of the new gear and the new maps: