Seems like IGN were able to get some hands-on time with Splatoon...and there were a few omissions. I'm not sure how I feel about some of them, either.

"Splatoon's user customization settings were discussed in a recent article by IGN, revealing new information about the various options players can expect when the game launches. Unlike Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, there is no custom match types to play privately online with friends. Another issue brought up was the ability to change the look sensitivity. In Splatoon, these settings can only be changed before or after a match, a somewhat out of date feature. Experimenting to find the ideal look sensitivity will be problematic, as you will have to change it, enter a game, test it, exit the game, and proceed to change it again, with a few loading screens here and there"

I should stress that Splatoon shouldn't be written off because of this news, but it's a bit of a blow to me who was looking forward to playing with friends only, if that option is completely removed. The ambiguity of the thread doesn't help matters, so hopefully we can get more clarity on this option soon. There's an awful lot of good stuff still coming with the game, and I'm sure that I'll love it, but these feel like odd omissions.

Source

Sad to hear, but hopefully they could patch it to fix up these issues...

Welp, I am going to go ahead and cancel my pre-order. Not even joking btw. This is a fully priced game and a lack of VC is fine but a lack of a friends lobby? This is just nonsense. If there is a day 1 patch for this or if they patch it in later, I will buy it then

Oh and btw for the people that will comment that it is due to Nintendo's online infrastructure but Nintendo games that are online do have friend's lobbies and stuff so this is a developer decision and a stupid one at that

The more online "features" the announce for this game the more unappealing it gets, Jesus Christ.

I don't mind. I'll mostly play this alone anyway.

I... have no words.

Even with the lack of voice chat, I was still considering this game.

With this news in light, I can't do this. I think I'm skipping this game.

Boy these guys are seriously building hype and then killing it constantly. Nintendo get it together with this new IP, you need it to be successful jeesh.

Tbh though the wording has me confused.  What exactly are these "custom matches" and are they private lobbies or settings that let you decide certain variables for the game?

Hopefully there will be enough single player content to keep the game alive. It would be sad for a game with awesome gameplay and an amazing soundtrack to be dead in a couple months.

For sure. The single player aspect of the game looks rock solid and the actual premise itself is a great one. I'm just hoping that these omissions with the online will be rectified sooner rather than later...