Splatoon Update Breaks The Fourth Wall With The Nintendo Zapper

Striking while the ink-black iron is still hot, Nintendo has unveiled a new map and weapon for its recently-released Wii U exclusive, Splatoon.

During today’s unprompted Nintendo Direct Macro, the Japanese giant confirmed that the new content will be available to download tonight, and will comprise of the Port Mackerel multiplayer arena and a weapon that will look awfully familiar to long-time fans of the publisher. That’s right, taking cues from the NES, Splatoon‘s new-fangled blaster is a callback to the Zapper light gun of ’85, only on this rendition the armament will be spilling ink in-game as opposed to pointing at a screen.

Finally, a ranked battle system caps off this free-to-download update, which will open up for all players at level 10.

The N-Zap ’85 is coming to #Splatoon, along with the new Port Mackerel map – and they’re coming TONIGHT! pic.twitter.com/BsIhFLL65T

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 1, 2015

Earlier today, we brought you the news that Nintendo is planning on bringing RPG sequel Bravely Second: End Layer west in 2016, while the company’s nebulous NX hardware may run Android OS in a bid to appeal to more third-party developers. The latter tidbit remains unconfirmed, of course, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll learn much more about the company’s new system until the year’s end.

As for Splatoon, the aforementioned update will go live at 7 p.m. PT today and for more on Nintendo’s atypical shooter, you can consult our in-depth review.