Pikmin 3 coming to Wii-U

[longy999]

The first official day of this year's E3 Expo is coming to a close, but Nintendo had just one last little surprise before Tuesday could truly be done -- confirming Pikmin for Wii U. Shigeru Miyamoto himself has just said it's on the way, at the end of this evening's private developer roundtable session.


That same session, three years ago, was where Mr. Miyamoto first made mention of Pikmin 3. It came across as an unplanned announcement, a kind of apologetic concession to the fans since the rest of E3 2008 had been received so poorly. And, indeed, knowledge that a new Pikmin was coming -- then to the Wii -- did help we fanboys breathe a little easier about the future of the console.


But then the game went silent. We pestered Mr. Miyamoto for an update the following year, and last year, but still Pikmin 3 had not been revealed in any official, meaningful way. Now today's new mention from the series' creator -- once again a casual, off-the-cuff remark -- has both affirmed our hopes and confirmed our fears.



It's a good thing, because a new Pikmin is still coming. But like we've worried for years, it's not going to make it out for the first Wii. Wii U should be a great fit for the concept, of course. And Mr. Miyamoto further confirmed that the new tablet controller was his motivation for moving the in-development project, as he said the new touch screen technology and HD TV video output made it the perfect system for the game.


He also let it be known that the game is very far along in development, so we might be able to expect it soon. (Well, I should hope so -- since it's been three years since he first mentioned it.) Could it end up positioned as a launch title for the Wii U? The original Pikmin debuted as a "launch window" title for the GameCube, so it wouldn't be entirely unprecedented for 3 to be similarly positioned.


So there you have it, Pikmin fans. Pikmin 3 for the Wii is no more. Long live Pikmin for the Wii U.