Splatoon Global Testfire

The Splatoon Global Testfire was a free Splatoon demo available on the Nintendo eShop. It allowed players to engage in free four-versus-four Turf War at scheduled times ahead of the release of the game. It was available for download before the scheduled times, but server connection was not possible beforehand. The application was made unavailable for download afterwards. It was eventually succeeded by the Splatoon Testfire demo.

The briefly returned from August 21st to August 23rd for Wii U owners that had not yet purchased Splatoon.

Description
During the Global Testfire, players were able to customize their Inklings and enter a tutorial area where they could pop balloons and get accustomed to the game's controls. They were then able to enter online matches of Turf War and use the Splattershot Jr., Splattershot, Splat Roller, and Splat Charger on both Saltspray Rig and Walleye Warehouse.

Event times
In order to ensure a sufficient number of players for the Testfire, Nintendo designated the following times to be used.

North America

 * Friday, May 8th 2015 8-9 PM PST
 * Saturday, May 9th 2015 4-5 AM PST
 * Saturday, May 9th 2015 12-1 PM PST
 * Saturday, May 23rd 2015 3-4 PM PST (up to 5 PM PST due to connection errors for most of the original time)

Europe

 * Saturday, May 9th 2015 4:00 BST
 * Saturday, May 9th 2015 12:00 BST
 * Saturday, May 9th 2015 20:00 BST

Trivia

 * The Global Testfire application does not create any save data.
 * The option to pre-purchase the full game appears at the title screen, at the weapon selection screen, and after matches. Players who pre-purchased received special gear for the Testfire. This changed from the starting gear to Studio Headphones with Ink Recovery Up as their main ability (instead of Ink Saver), a special variant of the White Tee with a long sleeved shirt underneath and a large orange squid on the front and Red Hi-Horses. It did not carry over into the full game, however, since the Testfire did not create save files.
 * When the servers were shut down, players online were given the message: "A communications error occurred." They were then taken back to the title screen. However, if they were in the practice area when the servers were shut down, they were not brought back to the title screen and could stay in the area as long as they wanted.
 * The digital manual for the Global Testfire application is the full game's manual.