Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami and Nintendo head of software development Shinya Takahashi discussed the making of Splatoon at the V&A Museum in London for a Design/Play/Disrupt exhibition.
The Splatoon exhibit at the V&A Museum is actually an interesting selection, as it isn’t just there for its unique style but mostly to display how it was all put together. Producer Nogami explains that players only see the finished product, with all the features complete, and details such as concept, characters, and gameplay.
Nogami continues, “In reality, there are so many ideas and mechanics that don’t make it, lots of trial and error goes into making a finished game. Video games are often thought of as art, similar to the way movies are. But for me, I think games are as much a product of engineering. We draw a rough design, and then we refine the parts, one by one before combining them all to complete the game.
According to head of software development Takahashi, Nintendo wouldn’t have wished to display the end product, which is what they originally expected from the V&A Museum invite; however, upon hearing they could exhibit the game development process and include things that happened during their journey to create the game it was decided that they would work with the V&A and showcase the many different thoughts and ideas that went into this process.
We also get a rare glimpse at a video showing Shigeru Miyamoto playing Splatoon during the development process as well as some thoughts from Nogami-san on how he felt about it.
Splatoon 2 is available on the Nintendo Switch. The original Splatoon released worldwide for the Wii U in May 2015.
