Splatoon: no pro controller support

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NftVV64txAI

lol. well, at least you still have the option to turn off motion controls...

Another feature that isn't there because reasons.

@YearoftheSnake5: really what reasons, cuz i twas really awkward to have to keep looking at the gamepad while playing this game

None. There is no reason why the Pro controller shouldn't be there. There is no reason why the wiimote shouldn't be there. The map and whatnot from the Gamepad could be relegated to menus brought up with a button press. It wouldn't be as fast as touching the Gamepad, but there's nothing wrong with including it as an optional feature.

It's Nintendo being Nintendo.

@YearoftheSnake5: oh, i thought you meant there was a legit reason why this game didnt support pro controller, other than the usual nintendo ignorance

On Nintendo's front page they show Battle Dojo being played with a Pro Controller.

O i see what yall mean now, no Pro Controller on some modes. Guess the screen has be implemented well enough to warrant a must use controller.

Nintendo should have never made other controller options and just allowed Wii U pad control for everything because using a single controller for everything means people won't get upset when every game doesn't support every controller.

In that sense they should have been more like Sony and Microsoft with limited options because more freedom brings about more complaints it seems.

@Bigboi500: Bingo.

I think Nintendo green-lighting multiple control methods is a bad idea. A buddy of mine would disagree, because he believes it gives the user more options. Well that's all fine, well and good, but when you come right down to it, it just makes things more confusing because there's a lack of a set standard. And then people have to go out and buy more controllers to play different games comfortably.

From the start, they should have just made a really comfortable controller, and got it right the first time around. Now they have a controller that is as expensive as the console itself, that you can only have one of per console, and that is not sold standalone in stores.

@Ovirew: I think they are trying to get back to a traditional controller. The Gamepad and Pro Controller to me is a step in the right direction. I think problem is becoming that people just like so much.

I love the Wii Mote, its simple and kids/casuals/adults can use it easy.

Gamecube Controller is just epic, i understand why fans dont want to let it go. I love the addition of the Wired Gamcube Wii Mote Controller, connects to the controller and becomes wireless.

I guess its true we have a bunch of controls and all Nintendo fans like different controllers and controls. They is not an easy fix to have. I still think using Wii controllers o Wii U is awesome.

I also understand having one dedicated controller for the system would help regulate everyone. But i think Nintendo wants to give us it all. I think they want you to have different ways of playing games. The always innovate controllers, its no secret bout every innovative feature on Xbox controller and PS controller was cause Nintendo likes to create different features for controllers. So my prediction is Nintendo will continue to do both. They will innovate so they dont get bored, and they will give us the classics. I think they try to do all in their power to make fans happy, but they do it conservatively, they understand they have to live for tomorrow.

Except what you're suggesting doesn't even work in the case of the Wii U. First off, the standard Wii U controller is the gamepad, which the system can only support twice at the most (and no game has even used two gamepads to this point). In other words, it NEEDS other control options in order to fully enjoy the experience. If you're talking about the Pro Controller, you then have to consider the fact that there are games that were more or less built around the gamepad's functionality, so that controller also can't be used 100% of the time. The Wii Remote is "option" that would be most likely to be omitted, but given the fact that the Wii U is still the successor to the super-popular Wii and Nintendo did have intentions of bringing that 100+ million userbase into the fold (even if the company's efforts in maintaining/re-attracting that audience was always less than half-hearted), it was also the controller Nintendo really couldn't afford to drop.

No one complained when Microsoft and Sony introduced additional control options with their last-gen systems (outside of fickle "hardcore" gamers that can't stomach the fact that video games don't just exist for them), and the only reason Kinect was complained about for the Xbox One because it greatly raised the entry cost for the system. In short, there's nothing wrong with having additional controllers to choose from and options that stem from them. To this point, the idea of having multiple controller options have been embraced especially on Nintendo platforms, so it makes no sense to argue that Nintendo should limit their options from now on just because Splatoon is somehow restricted to mostly Gamepad usage.

Why would you not want to use the Gamepad? You can use motion assisted aiming and have the most efficient way possible of using the map jump.

I don't want to hear anything about it being big or heavy either, because if I can use it comfortably so can you.

I really, really hate that mentality.

"If I like using it, clearly you should."

Alright, so, if I like driving stick, so should everyone else? If I enjoy eating lemons, so should everyone else?

Some people don't like the Gamepad. It's not comfortable to them. It has been a polarizing peripheral from day 1. Different people, different hands, different preferences.

@YearoftheSnake5:

But what makes it so uncomfortable that you want to deliberately create two disadvantages for yourself in an online multiplayer game?

It's not heavy and there is nothing wrong with the ergonomics, I can promise you your hands will be bigger than mine.

And... welcome to nine years ago. We can't change people's minds into convince them that one controller works best for everyone; if it didn't work for the Wii Remote, the gamepad has less than a snowball's chance... Frankly, I've only had the chance to use the gamepad a few times, and it does seem like it would require an adjustment period; some people just aren't as will to make that adaptation, especially when they don't feel it is a necessity to enjoy the game.

The fact that this is becoming such an issue for Splatoon means that it probably needs additional control options and that it's something Nintendo should be looking into as we speak.

@Madmangamer364:

The issues with the Wii Remote are clear though, it lacks buttons that regular controllers have and forces motion to compromise, whereas the Wii U pro controller does nothing the Gamepad doesn't and is actually missing features that are used in Splatoon.

I can understand liking the Pro Controller better better for games that don't have Gamepad features like Smash Bros, but in Splatoon you would be negatively impacting your team by deliberately making yourself less efficient.

Actually my point was that when someone gives you something extra, the gesture is often unappreciated or ignored. You've all heard the saying "no good deed goes unpunished" I'm sure.

Nintendo wants this game to be played exclusively with the Wii U gamepad for online multiplayer, and that's perfectly acceptable to expect everybody to be using the same control scheme for that mode.

I'm sure that if Nintendo let all control methods to be used for online, people would find a reason to be displeased about that, and demand "wah Nintendo! Make lobbies and matches for each control scheme separate please becuz it's not fair that I have to press a button and pull up the map to see how much paint is where and I keep getting shot when I do that. No fairz!!!".

Wow I thought it did but apparently not for Single player. This game is just getting worse with every bit of info released.

There is no reason why Pro controller and Wiimote and Nunchuck should not be optional in this game.

Wooow.

This is why I want as few games as possible made for Wii U and instead have them on NX. Last thing I want is a successor to thousand year door that i've been waiting a decade for having to use that clunky gamepad with shoehorned mechanics.

And you still can't navigate the Wii U options menu without the gamepad :/

Yeah, i'm ready for the NX.

I like the game pad, it speed up a lot of info by just touching it and BOOM you're there.

Splatoon need you to be fast and the fast jump to a team mate is really important and so you have it right there on your game pad ... just like on the DS/3DS ... double screen with a lot of info that you can just touch instead of menu surfing !!!

I'm like ... fucking hell, people are just a bunch of sissies !!!

I guess many of you started playing games went the Playstation changed its name to PSOne and are so used to that standarized controller that you can't fathom the though of something different.

@Chozofication: who knows ... maybe the next controler will have a gimmick that you'll hate even more than the game pad.

I still don't understand why people hate it so much. It is a basic controler, it just have a screen in the middle which speed up a lot of menu surfing. I did love it a lot in Wind Waker and Pikmin 3 and so far in Splatoon it has been very useful.

I'm aware of this. :(

@Chozofication: Well, I'm sad for you. So far I never hated a controler and loved some of the ideas they had with the game pad, I'm sad they didn't make it more important than a second screen that show the exact same thing as the TV.

@Madmangamer364: I don't think they were saying that having options is bad, they are saying that the value is almost wasted on the whiny audience. That if you have no options, you get less complaints than having them available, but using them on a case by case basis vs universal use. I've even seen people complain about the GC controller adapter which was produced solely for Smash to appease those crying over the GC controller. Complaining that its not available for use in other games and that's just ridiculous if you ask me. I definitely think a system that supports multiple control options is good, like you said with the Wii U it is necessary for multiplayer. But I'm not going to whine and cry every time a game doesn't feature every single one of those control options.

My favorite part of the gamepad is the off screen play, that has proved invaluable for me to get gaming time in. What I would love to see for the next system, since I doubt it will feature a gamepad like controller(probably go standard). The system to still support it for off screen play, similar to how the Vita is used for the PS4.

I'm about to play tonight's timed demo thingy so I'll have to see how essential the map screen is. I struggle to see it being so. I bet all they're really doing is trying to make it look like they have more games where the gamepad is essential.

Which I don't care about at all. I'd much rather have off-TV play.

@Sepewrath: The best thing they ever did ( to me at least ) is with Wind Waker ... you could either use the pro controler or the gamepad and if you use the game pad you could switch between tv mode and off screen play ... in tv mode you had your menu always on and this to me is very fun and useful, just like it is in Splatoon so far.

Pro controller has the same input. Makes no sense. I haven't played the game, but is the game reliant on the gamepad screen for some reason?

Umm... yeah. Wii U pad shows where the paint is at and where your teammates are, so you can touch the area you want to jettison to real fast.

I don't ever want to play another shooter without the gyroscopic aiming that the gamepad offers. It might be the perfect control scheme for console shooter games.

I disliked the gyroscopic controls when I played, I always felt I was being imprecise. Two analog sticks for a reason

As much as I enjoy the Game Pad, I've thnk more and more how I wouldn't miss it if they spent that extra $80 per unit on just including more RAM, more CPU cores, a better GPU, more storage, etc. Could have had 4-6 cores, 4-6GB RAM, maybe 800Gflop-1Tflop and 64GB flash if they had just used Pro Controller as standard option, all for $349 in Nov 2012.

Still, super excited for Splatoon

This is true. I think that they could have done this with gyroscopic controls with a pro controller, but they didn't do it. Nintendo didn't read the room when they made the gamepad such a big focus. And its something they are living with now. I too would have loved it if they put that extra money from the gamepad into the hardware, but most likely they wouldn't have done that anyway. This is Nintendo we're talking about here. Most likely they would have launched with a price of $249 than pumped up the hardware. They made hardware that works best for their games, and it really shows in the games.

More like they are adapting the games to the hardware rather than adapting the hardware to the games...

I agree. I like the Gamepad, but if it were between it and vastly improved hardware, I'd go with hardware. 3rd party ports don't run very well and you can see where Nintendo had to cut corners in its own games. I'd prefer to have better looking/running games as well as the possibility of generation long 3rd party support.

Excellent way of looking at it. I never really thought of it that way.

I think that the gamepad and lower specs really messed nintendo, the gamepad didnt have the same novelty as the wii and devs didnt want to port downgraded copies of their games and develop for the gamepad. Nintendo lost a lot of 3rd party content with the wii u

The Gamepad is a polarizing feature. Always has been. Some people don't like the size or way it feels in their hands. It definitely took some getting used to on my end. Developers could pick and choose what they wanted to do with it. Retro Studios opted to do nothing with the screen or gyro. I don't think the Gamepad was an issue with developers. The hardware, crappy OS, poor developer support, and lack of a robust online feature set are the killers.

ya pretty much, really it was too different from xbone and ps4 for devs to feel comfortable porting games to

@lord_magikarp: which is the problem of the past 2 gen ... every consol getting all the same games just killed a big part of gaming to me because it standarized everything. Now if you don't have full power and 8 boutons on your controler you're out ... I think this is sad. It used to be if you had a Nintendo you had a set of features and game catered to those features that you coudn't find on Sega's hardware and latter on on the Playstation Platform ... then with PS2 and Xbox everything became the same, all the time, the end of unique games to the standarization of PC gaming putting all the focus on graphics.

Well now that games are becoming bigger, most devs want it to reach as many people as possible. There will always be exclusives at least...

No it has pro controller support for local co op.

I dont think it has local co op, only local multiplayer. The gamepad is used a lot in the game, so the online aspects of the game will only be single player for local. The local multiplayer I think is still unknown as of now I believe, but they said it will be different from the online gameplay

Trying to justify that tablet.

pretty much, look everyone it does something!

I'm sure many of you would whine if Nintendo would offert the game with different controler ... you'll all would say "why Nintendo sell that WiiU with the big table when they never use it "

So **** it.

Did any of you played the test fire ?

yes, people cant have different opinions?

Yes. I was surprised by the lack of connectivity issues. This was the first test fire, not the most recent. It ran like butter. I didn't like the game, though. I would have enjoyed it more if there were more control options. I'm not a fan of dual analog or the gyro. Even if options were there, Splatoon would be something I'd get much later down the road.

That's what sold me on the game.

Gamers in general are a "whiny" bunch, though; it's not exactly fair to devalue additional options because every now and then someone complains. I'm sure Nintendo understands this more than most companies in the industry, as the majority of publishers and developers are almost entirely dependent on the "standard" controller model to the point it doesn't embrace other options even when they may provide superior experiences. At the end of the day, I doubt Nintendo minds the backlash that much, which would explain why it would even go as far to add new controller options to accompany a single game and the like.

On the other hand, gamers are consumers, and as such, they have the right to voice their complaints whenever something they've purchased appears to be inadequately supported. That's not to say that those complaints are always warranted or should be acknowledged, though. Hey, buyer beware, especially when it comes to Nintendo and its accessories, which don't have a flawless track record of being supported long-term anyways. To many a longer story short, I don't mind people complaining about controllers not being supported, nor do I mind Nintendo offering new options, even if they may only support certain titles. This is one of those few areas that I think both sides have their share of valid points and should express them openly.

You didn't exactly get my point, I'm afraid. People complained about the Wii Remote even at times when it was clear that the controller was the best or even basically only way to play a game. Outside of certain fighting games and sports titles, there weren't exactly very many instances where the Wii Remote couldn't provide a comparable experience to the conventional controller, and people still found reason enough to gripe about the Classic or GameCube controllers not being supported. My point is that if people are going to complain if a lack of options when a certain controller offers distinct advantages, they are certainly going to gripe about that same issue with the only usable controller is more or less a glorified conventional controller with less obvious advantages to begin with.

Like I said earlier, gamers complain, especially if they have to adapt to things they don't feel like they should need to adapt to. The Gamepad didn't need to be anything other that slightly different to get this sort of reaction from a lot of people, and much like with the aforementioned Wii Remote, a lot of them don't care if they're handicapping themselves in some way, shape, or form by sticking with the conventional method. Sad as it may sound, it's just part of the modern-day gaming culture.

I played the test fire at a friend's house. I loved it. I was planning to get the game anyways, but then I saw no Wii U Pro controller or Wii Controller support. Now this wouldn't be a problem if I owned a Wii U Gamepad, but mine broke. Dishing out 130+ dollars on a new Gamepad is expensive, couple that with the game itself and that's almost 200 dollars just to get a single game. Yes there would be a disadvantage, but at the same time like others have said it would be a slight disadvantage. The reason I thought there should have been Pro Controller support is because they added it to local multiplayer. One person uses the Gamepad, while second player uses the Pro Controller. Also though, I don't think people using a Pro Controller would be at a major disadvantage though. The person would play with that controller and pushing that extra button to pull up a map would become second nature to them. Also though they wouldn't have to look down to see the map they could just push the button, that could in theory make you faster if done correctly. Yeah for map jump they would take an extra second or two to get there, and yeah that could be potentially a hindrance to that team. But for the most part it would be the same as using a Gamepad. Also while we're on the option of people not caring if they handicapping themselves, lets look at the Wii-Mote without Nunchuck in Smash Bros. they added in that controller even though anyone using it would be clearly at a disadvantage if they didn't religiously practice with it. Even with that though Nintendo still added that controller in. I truthfully don't see why a slightly disadvantaged controller couldn't be added to this game, but a greatly disadvantaged controller can be added to Smash Bros.