'Splatoon' News: New Wii U Game to Be Released May 28, Special Event 'Splatfest' Announced

Nintendo's upcoming third-person shooter game for the Wii U system is set for release in Japan on May 28 and on May 29 for the rest of the world. The game is a playful and colorful shooter game, with players shooting colorful ink at opponents and surfaces.

Players get to play as creatures called Inklings, who can take human or squid form. The end point of the game is for a team to cover the most surfaces before the end of a match. The game has an online multiplayer mode with two teams who compete to cover more of the map in their assigned color of ink. The game's single player mode lets a player infiltrate an enemy octopus army that uses its own arsenal as their defense.

The name "Splatoon" is a combination of "splat" and "platoon." As humans, Inklings can shoot colored ink anywhere in the game's environment with the end goal in mind. As squids, players have the ability to swim through the ink of their team, "even up walls and through grates" so that they can hide, reach more places while replenishing their ink. When an opponent hits another team's player, that player is sent back to the team's respawn point. Choices of main weapons include a mid-range gun, a sniper rifle, a giant paintbrush, or a giant paint roller and a secondary weapon like an ink grenade, an ink curtain, an ink spinkler, and a temporary special weapon.

Barely a month after its release, Nintendo is already planning a special post-launch event. As reported in IGN, Nintendo will be holding what it calls a "Splatfest." It will be a special mode where players can unlock rewards to customize their gear. It is said to be the first Splatfest, which indicates that there may be more coming. It will happen from June 20 at 6 a.m. PT until June 21 6 a.m. PT for a total of 24 hours. It will be hosted by a pair of squid sisters called Callie and Marie. Nintendo, however, said that they have yet to determine when the next scheduled Splatfest will be.