A Nintendo community
by the fans!
           
  Forum main
 + 
Pikmin 3 Release Date: August 4th, 2013
News reported by 
(Editor)
April 18, 2013, 13:36
 
Pikmin 3 yesterday received quite a spotlight in the "3DS Nintendo Direct". Good for us though because that means we got a full reveal on the new kind of Pikmin hinted at previously. What came later though is of most excitement to fans... Finally a release date. Fans wont need to wait till E3 to find out when they can play this game.


What Nintendo initially said was "a few months away", is specifically August 4th, 2013 in North America. In Japan it's a few days later. No word yet on the EU or AUS releases.

Nintendo PR said:
Pikmin 3: In addition to new Rock Pikmin, the new game also introduces flying Winged Pikmin that follow the player and can carry items in the air. The game launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on Aug. 4.

Source 1 - Source 2

URL to share (right click and copy)
04/18/13, 13:36   Edited:  04/18/13, 13:58
 
Why not sign up for a (free) account?
 
LAUNCH WINDOW, YEAAAAAH!!!

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 15:44
Why do we all think it has taken this long? Why they stated launch window only to missit by a third of a year?

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 16:49
Would seem like a good birthday present for me on 8-18, anyway.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 16:54
I was hoping it would be a good birthday present for me in May.

Maybe the Nintendo Network icon means that they've been developing online multiplayer.

I think maybe it was all the mixed feedback they got from people playing it at E3 last year, about how it was kind of a pain to play with the Gamepad. A first party game's got to use the Gamepad, after all. Revamping that could take nine months.

EDIT: I think it was the IGN Nintendo team who said in their podcasts that Wii-mote was the superior way to play Pikmin 3 at E3 2012. And for some reason, I've got the idea that some people said that reps were steering people towards the Wii-mote instead of the gamepad at some point. Can't remember exactly where I saw that, though, so it may be a memory problem.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 16:59   Edited:  04/18/13, 17:04
@VickiL

I remember that, too about Wiimote being superior to Gamepad. Which is fine by me.

Unfortunately, I think if they had added online they would have mentioned it yesterday. I'm assuming it's Miiverse stuff. But I hope I'm wrong.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 17:11
My kids love playing Pikmin 2 with the Wiimote. I'm not sure how they would have responded if they played it on the Cube originally. The Wiimote just seems so intuitive for this title.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 17:34
@DrFinkelstein Honestly I think they just vaguely threw a bunch of stuff under "launch window" without having a clear sense of whether any of it was realistic just to have games to talk about. They weren't going to be like "we're launching in 2012, but we have jack coming for the first 6 to 9 months, so..."

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 17:36
@Zero
Aww...I prefer to think it wasn't willful lying and manipulation. But you're probably right.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 17:40
Not lying per se. Just Nintendo sitting here a year and a half ago saying "ok what can reasonably be ready at launch?" and taking anything that was even remotely close and calling it launch window, hoping for the best. I'm sure they would have liked if Pikmin 3 were ready. But I don't see it as a case where Pikmin 3 was slated in stone to come and got "delayed" per se, I'm betting that back when it was announced as launch window it still wasn't clear when exactly it would be ready.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 17:47
Deerock69 said:
My kids love playing Pikmin 2 with the Wiimote. I'm not sure how they would have responded if they played it on the Cube originally. The Wiimote just seems so intuitive for this title.
I skipped the NPC Pikmin games, so Pikmin 3 is the first time I'll get to try out the wiimote controls. Should be great.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 18:35
@anon_mastermind

Same here. I also skipped out on the GameCube originals.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 18:52
This is why I bought a Wii U, so obviously I'm ready for it!

Interestingly I hated the Wiimote controls for NPC Pikmin 2. Hated them. Stopped playing even because of them. So I'm hoping the Gamepad gets things back to that classic Pikmin feel. I don't think I could do Pikmin 3 using a Wii remote setup.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 21:10
I agree with Zero that listing as a launch window release was more wishful and overly optimistic thinking on Nintendo's part rather than an intentional lie. I'm anxious for the game, but I have more than enough to keep me busy for the next 3 and a half months so I can wait.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 22:05
@-JKR-Really? What didn't you like about it? Did you play NPC Pikmin? I never bought NPC Pikmin2 because I still have my GCN original (and recently 100% it after YEARS of time away), but I bought NPC Pikmin for my wife (ok, I ended up playing WAY more than she did )but I absolutely LOVED the controls.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 22:05   Edited:  04/18/13, 22:07
DrFinkelstein said:
Why do we all think it has taken this long? Why they stated launch window only to missit by a third of a year?
My guess is that it has to do with Nintendo's inexperience with making HD games. Big ones like this are probably taking longer to create than they had originally anticipated.

@VickiL New Super Mario Brothers U also has the Nintendo Network logo, so any game with Miiverse integration has the logo.

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 22:36
I've only played the NPC Pikmins and can't imagine it would be easier controlling them any other way. The game seems designed for the laser pointer.

(My one complaint about Little King's Story is that it would have controlled much nicer with the pointer.)

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 22:38
@cooliocuneo

I found them to be completely inaccurate. I would throw Pikmin at something (or THINK I was) only to find that they were being tossed no where near where I actually wanted to put them. Where as when I played the GCN Pikmin 2, there was zero doubt where they were going to end up because the icon was smooth and consistent.

I have no doubt it was my lack of skill and not bad programming, but I just couldn't seem to adapt to the Wii Remote control style for Pikmin.

(Meanwhile I adore the controls in the NintendoLand Pikmin attraction, so I'm hopeful those will be an option for P3!)

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 22:40
@Mop it up
Oh well! It'd be nice if I could play with my distant relatives, but if I can't, that's fine too (because they suck at Pikmin).

Posted by 
 on: 04/18/13, 22:54
I'll have to get the Wii NPC Pikmin games as I've never actually tried them before.
I had a GameCube but never got around to buying them for some reason.

Perhaps it's because I'm not familiar with the series, but Wonderful 101 looks to be in a similar vein, doesn't it? Hopefully that hits before August.

Posted by 
 on: 04/19/13, 11:14
Wonderful 101 gives me more of an action vibe, based on the trailers I've seen. Pikmin is historically more laid back and strategic, where you can set different chunks of Pikmin to different tasks.

I'm really looking forward to both!

Posted by 
 on: 04/19/13, 16:09   Edited:  04/19/13, 16:10
  Forum main
 +