LAUNCH WINDOW, YEAAAAAH!!! ♪

Why do we all think it has taken this long? Why they stated launch window only to missit by a third of a year?

Would seem like a good birthday present for me on 8-18, anyway.

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.

@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.

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.

@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..."

@Zero
Aww...I prefer to think it wasn't willful lying and manipulation. But you're probably right.

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.

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.

@anon_mastermind

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

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.

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.

@-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.

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.

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.)

@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!)

@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).

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.

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!