Proving that they’ll do what they want, whenever they want, Nintendo just announced in the middle of a weekend night that there will be a “global testfire” for Splatoon 2 from March 24-26 on their new console.
The summer-slated sequel to the mostly multiplayer team pain-shooter will be available for Nintendo Switch owners to play in one hour chunks throughout that three-day stretch. The Switch itself launches on March 3. Nintendo has said that Splatoon 2 is slated for a summer release.
Here are the times, in the Pacific time zone, as presented by Nintendo:
March 24 (Friday):
- 12-12:59pm PT
- 8-8:59pm PT
March 25 (Saturday):
- 4-4:59am PT
- 12-12:59pm PT
- 8-8:59pm PT
March 26 (Sunday):
- 4-4:59am PT
Note that the times are all over the place, clearly intended to at least partially satisfy players in various parts of the world.
In a YouTube announcement, Nintendo indicates that the content will be the same as what they’re showing during a preview tour of the game: “layers can test four different main weapons, including the new Splat Dualies, as well as remixed versions of the iconic Splat Roller and Splat Charger.”
This will help beef up the Switch’s fairly light launch line-up for at least a week, though, as the console’s launch approaches, the list of upcoming games is growing longer.
The Switch’s central novelty is that it can be played on the go. Its flagship launch game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is primarily (entirely, we assume) single-player. Splatoon 2's demo will give system owners an early chance to feel what it’s like to play a multiplayer-centric game with this new kind of gaming machine.