Since its vibrant debut on the Wii U in 2015, Splatoon has cemented itself as one of Nintendo’s premier franchises, captivating millions with its unique multiplayer action and fresh take on competitive shooters.
The innovative spirit behind Splatoon—its marine-themed combat and playful aesthetic—has left a lasting impression on the Nintendo Switch, making it a mainstay in Nintendo’s modern game catalog.
Yet, few fans realize that the roots of Splatoon reach back to an obscure, canceled project from the late 1990s designed for Nintendo’s ill-fated 64DD add-on. In a recent feature with Time Extension, Australian programmer Richard Honeywood provided rare insight into this development chapter.
Honeywood, who worked at Digital Eden—a studio founded by veterans from Seibu Kaihatsu’s Raiden team—discussed how the company was approached by Nintendo to pitch concepts for the Nintendo 64 and its ambitious 64DD disk system.
This effort, guided by industry giants Satoru Iwata of HAL Laboratory and design icon Shigeru Miyamoto, was intended to deliver a launch title for the much-anticipated peripheral. "Our arrangement was unique; we weren’t a typical third-party developer since our projects targeted only Nintendo platforms," Honeywood explained.
"Nintendo offered financial and technical support, which included direct assistance from Iwata-san, then head of HAL Laboratory.
He would regularly travel from Ryūō to our offices in Kōfu to oversee our progress." At that time, Digital Eden contended with constant hardware challenges, working exclusively on Silicon Graphics emulation because actual 64DD hardware was unavailable.
Despite these constraints, Nintendo’s feedback was famously unsparing.
"Each pitch was met with blunt rejections or directives to restart, which was unusual for Japanese business communication.
Feedback from Miyamoto would sometimes validate one idea while asking to discard the rest.
Every month we were urged to create another Raiden-style shooting game, but our ambition was to innovate beyond shooters." Among the most promising concepts was an inventive, family-friendly shooter centered on water fights.
Honeywood detailed, "Instead of standard shooting mechanics, we designed a game where children armed with water pistols and balloons battled in forts, donning newspaper pirate hats as armor that degraded when hit by water.
The animation and playful interactions aimed to capture the spirit of childhood games, rather than traditional video game violence." Production involved unique methods, including capturing real-life balloon-throwing motions for authentic animation.
Despite these creative efforts, Digital Eden couldn’t secure ongoing support.
Over two years, mounting frustration with Nintendo’s unattainable expectations and insistence on the 64DD platform rather than the core N64 led Digital Eden to dissolve the project.
As team members—including Honeywood, who later established Square’s localization department—moved on, the vision of a water-based shooter slipped quietly into Nintendo history. While the 64DD water-fight game never materialized, its imaginative DNA can be traced to the eventual release of Splatoon on Wii U and, subsequently, on Nintendo Switch.
The development journey reflects the creative risks and relentless pursuit of innovation that have defined Nintendo’s legacy in the industry.
The innovative spirit behind Splatoon—its marine-themed combat and playful aesthetic—has left a lasting impression on the Nintendo Switch, making it a mainstay in Nintendo’s modern game catalog.
Yet, few fans realize that the roots of Splatoon reach back to an obscure, canceled project from the late 1990s designed for Nintendo’s ill-fated 64DD add-on. In a recent feature with Time Extension, Australian programmer Richard Honeywood provided rare insight into this development chapter.
Honeywood, who worked at Digital Eden—a studio founded by veterans from Seibu Kaihatsu’s Raiden team—discussed how the company was approached by Nintendo to pitch concepts for the Nintendo 64 and its ambitious 64DD disk system.
This effort, guided by industry giants Satoru Iwata of HAL Laboratory and design icon Shigeru Miyamoto, was intended to deliver a launch title for the much-anticipated peripheral. "Our arrangement was unique; we weren’t a typical third-party developer since our projects targeted only Nintendo platforms," Honeywood explained.
"Nintendo offered financial and technical support, which included direct assistance from Iwata-san, then head of HAL Laboratory.
He would regularly travel from Ryūō to our offices in Kōfu to oversee our progress." At that time, Digital Eden contended with constant hardware challenges, working exclusively on Silicon Graphics emulation because actual 64DD hardware was unavailable.
Despite these constraints, Nintendo’s feedback was famously unsparing.
"Each pitch was met with blunt rejections or directives to restart, which was unusual for Japanese business communication.
Feedback from Miyamoto would sometimes validate one idea while asking to discard the rest.
Every month we were urged to create another Raiden-style shooting game, but our ambition was to innovate beyond shooters." Among the most promising concepts was an inventive, family-friendly shooter centered on water fights.
Honeywood detailed, "Instead of standard shooting mechanics, we designed a game where children armed with water pistols and balloons battled in forts, donning newspaper pirate hats as armor that degraded when hit by water.
The animation and playful interactions aimed to capture the spirit of childhood games, rather than traditional video game violence." Production involved unique methods, including capturing real-life balloon-throwing motions for authentic animation.
Despite these creative efforts, Digital Eden couldn’t secure ongoing support.
Over two years, mounting frustration with Nintendo’s unattainable expectations and insistence on the 64DD platform rather than the core N64 led Digital Eden to dissolve the project.
As team members—including Honeywood, who later established Square’s localization department—moved on, the vision of a water-based shooter slipped quietly into Nintendo history. While the 64DD water-fight game never materialized, its imaginative DNA can be traced to the eventual release of Splatoon on Wii U and, subsequently, on Nintendo Switch.
The development journey reflects the creative risks and relentless pursuit of innovation that have defined Nintendo’s legacy in the industry.
