Nintendo has been known for many things over the decades, but if there’s a single trait at the core of the company’s identity, it’s innovation. With each console, Nintendo continues to reimagine not only its own franchises, but entire genres, and nothing is more indicative of that practice than Splatoon.
While shooters have long had a place on Nintendo’s systems (just think of GoldenEye 007), we’d never seen a big, ambitious shooter from the company itself. But 10 years ago, Splatoon innovated in a genre that had become stale and repetitive. Splatoon has since become one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, and even inspired a handful of its own imitators, arguably making it one of the developer’s most important games.
