You can download the Splatoon demo now, but you can't play it yet

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An eShop demo is available now for Splatoon, but you'll have to wait a bit longer to actually try out Nintendo's online multiplayer ink-shooter.

At least you can jam out to that surprisingly catchy theme music while you wait for your preferred Splatoon Global Testfire session to begin. The three one-hour demo blocks are spread out to give several time zones a prime slot, though you're free to play in any or all of them: the first will start at 8 pm Friday PDT / 4 am Saturday BST, then another at 4 am Saturday PDT / noon Saturday BST, and the final one on noon Saturday PDT / 8 pm BST.

The Global Testfire will be limited to Splatoon's 4-on-4 online Turf War mode. You may even ink-or-be-inked-by Nintendo "Squid Research Lab" representatives, who will be easy to identify in their white lab coats and will be streaming on Nintendo's Twitch account.

Even if you can't hop online for any of those play windows, UK players who download the demo will receive a 10 percent discount on the full game's eShop version when it releases on May 29, valid through June 4.

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Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

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