Splatoon Producer Reveals The Secrets Of Making A Stylish Franchise With Global Appeal

During GDC 2018, Hisashi Nogami, producer of Splatoon 2 and Splatoon as well as director of the Animal Crossing series, shared his experience with developers on how Nintendo comes up with big ideas such as Splatoon.

Watch the discussion here, which lasts for 46 minutes.

No one expects a dull Nintendo game, but the ‘Splatoon 2’ game’s scrappy ink-hurling heroes who can morph into turbo squid and graffiti up skatepark-style arenas are unusual even for a company that puts hats on mushrooms and wings on turtles. How does Nintendo come up with its big (and occasionally gonzo) ideas? ‘Splatoon’ and ‘Splatoon 2’ producer Hisashi Nogami will share his experiences working with a design team whose goal was to create a game that was novel yet easy to grasp and riveting to play. What were the brainstorming sessions like and what kinds of review processes determined the game’s final ideas? How do you make a sequel better while releasing it on a brand-new platform with unique features? And how do you land on a quirky concept like “squid creatures fighting turf battles with water pistols” in the first place? Mr. Nogami, who also served as director and lead artist on Nintendo’s ‘Animal Crossing’ series, will don his lab coat, roll up his sleeves, and divulge lessons learned while illustrating the importance of risk-taking.