Pikmin 4

Pikmin 4

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Pikmin 4
File:Pikmin4 Direct Logo.png
The logo for Pikmin 4.
Japanese name ピクミン 4?
Console Nintendo Switch
Developer TBA
Publisher Nintendo
Genre TBA
Players TBA
Release date
Japan July 21st, 2023
North America July 21st, 2023
Europe July 21st, 2023
Australia July 21st, 2023
South Korea July 21st, 2023

This article or section is about an upcoming or recently released game.
The content here is subject to change as more information is discovered.
All information added here must be verifiable and not speculative.

Pikmin 4 is the upcoming fourth mainline installment in the Pikmin series, planned for release in July 21st, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch. The game was officially announced on September 13th, 2022, though its existence was hinted at several times prior to the official announcement.

Known information

The image shown after the Pikmin 4 announcement trailer in the 9.13.2022 Nintendo Direct.
Pikmin fighting a Bulborb.

Two trailers have been shown so far, both from Nintendo Direct presentations, one on September 13th, 2022, and another on February 8th, 2023. In the first trailer, Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, and Blue Pikmin can be seen, along with Dwarf Bulborbs, Bulborbs, and a White Spectralids. The presentation also included a still screenshot in which a leader is seen, who looks similar to Brittany but with unkempt red hair, a yellow antenna light, as well as a full red spacesuit with white gloves, boots, and no skirt.

In the first shot, a garden-like area with bricks and tiles can be seen, and for the rest of the trailer, a park[1] scene with various man-made objects such as a bench, and a malfunctioning pocket watch hanging from a nail are shown.[2] The screenshot displayed after the trailer showcases more man-made objects, including a water tap and a stepladder.

The game's logo was also revealed. The word "Pikmin" uses regular text rather than being made of Pikmin flowers (like in the previous main series games), albeit with a single flower in the letter "P," but the number 4 is still entirely made of Pikmin flowers, this time with yellow petals.

Shigeru Miyamoto said after the trailer that the Nintendo Switch's controls have made controlling the game simpler, allowing the player to focus more on strategic planning (or "段取り?" as the developers refer to it). He also said that players would be able to view the world from the Pikmin's perspective near the ground.[3]

In the second trailer, the new leader was shown in a greater depth, as well as the new Ice Pikmin. These appear to be able to freeze water, as well as enemies. It also revealed a new dog-like character named Oatchi, more new leaders, and several new and returning enemies. New enemies showcased included juvenile Burrowing Snagrets, a Blowhog-like creature, and something in the Arachnorb family. Although not shown in the trailer itself, the trailer's thumbnail artwork includes all species of Pikmin except Bulbmin.

Content

Pikmin types

Pikmin 4 will include Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, White Pikmin, Purple Pikmin, Rock Pikmin, Winged Pikmin, and the new Ice Pikmin, though it is not known which types will feature in which game modes.

Ice Pikmin

The leaf texture used in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode menu. (Used on Pikipedia in the {{stub}} template.)

This section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.

Collectibles

The leaf texture used in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode menu. (Used on Pikipedia in the {{stub}} template.)

This section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.

Treasures appear to be the main collectible item in Pikmin 4.

Characters

The leaf texture used in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode menu. (Used on Pikipedia in the {{stub}} template.)

This section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.

Pikmin 4 features several new playable leaders.

Oatchi

The leaf texture used in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode menu. (Used on Pikipedia in the {{stub}} template.)

This section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.

Oatchi is a new dog-like character that assists the leaders.

Enemies

The leaf texture used in Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode menu. (Used on Pikipedia in the {{stub}} template.)

This section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.

Various new and returning enemies have been shown in trailers.

History

Pre-announcement

Before Pikmin 4's official announcement in 2022, various pieces of information about the game were shared by Pikmin series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. This information was sparse and sometimes contradictory, and the lack of official statements by Nintendo made it difficult to work out what was actually happening with Pikmin 4. It is possible that some of these statements were referring to Hey! Pikmin.

The first of these mentions was on November 6th, 2014, when Miyamoto was being interviewed on the recently-released Pikmin Short Movies, during which he said Continually launching campaigns after the release of software will lay the groundwork for the next iteration of "Pikmin" in the future. And needless to say, we want it to be one of the motivations for potential consumers to purchase Wii U. We are making a variety of different efforts., indicating the possibility of another Pikmin game on the Wii U.[4] Not long after, Miyamoto also mentioned wanting to make more Pikmin games in an interview with Smosh Games.[5]

On September 7th, 2015, Eurogamer unveiled that, in an exclusive interview, Miyamoto had confirmed the development of Pikmin 4, and claimed that it's actually very close to completion. Pikmin teams are always working on the next one.[6] In the same article, Eurogamer also revealed a separate statement from a Nintendo representative, which said We can confirm that Pikmin 4 is in development but that is all we can confirm at present. It is not known if the "Pikmin 4" mentioned in that quote is the actual name for the game that Nintendo used, whether it's a placeholder name or not, or if it's just the result of the quote's English translation.[note 1]

In interviews in 2015 and 2016, Miyamoto mentioned wanting to make more Pikmin and Star Fox games.[7] When asked about characters he wanted to develop further at an Apple Store event, he said Yeah, I always wanted Fox McCloud to be a bit more popular than he is. But I think one more would be Pikmin. So I think these two, I'll need to put some more energy into.[8]

On July 7th, 2016, Gamerant interviewed Miyamoto and asked him about the status of the game's development and why there hadn't been any news in the past few months. To this, he replied Yes, you are right, and we’re working on [Pikmin 4]. So, you know, when we’re in development we have to create a list of priorities and it has been hard to kind of fit that into that list, but we’re hopefully starting to see that on the list now.[9]

A second Eurogamer interview with Miyamoto about Pikmin 4 was conducted at E3 2017, during which he stated I've been told not to share anything about this from PR, but I can tell you it is progressing.[10] This was the last time Pikmin 4 was mentioned before its official announcement.

Pre-release

Pikmin 4 was officially announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation on September 13th, 2022.[11] This announcement was in a section presented by Shigeru Miyamoto, which also promoted Pikmin Bloom and the upcoming Mario movie. A short trailer was shown, featuring a few scenes in a garden-like area and announcing a release window of 2023. Miyamoto provided some more basic details of the game after the trailer, and also showed off a new Pikmin T-shirt design based on the game's logo, which was made available to buy shortly afterwards.

In February 2023, Nintendo announced the release date for the game and a new trailer, which provided a lot of information regarding the game, including new enemies, Pikmin, and other characters.

A second trailer for the game was shown in a Nintendo Direct presentation on February 8th, 2023.[12], comprising several short gameplay snippets of a group of four new characters (including the unidentified leader in the screenshot released with the reveal trailer) exploring (presumably) PNF-404. The trailer showcases some new and returning enemies and environmental obstacles, and seemingly the return of the caves mechanic from Pikmin 2. A new Ice Pikmin was revealed, demonstrating the ability to freeze enemies when eaten and a small body of water when enough are thrown into it. The trailer also reveals Oatchi, a dog-like creature shown assisting the group in a variety of ways, including finding others referred to as "castaways," breaking down certain obstacles, dragging a Bulborb corpse, and swimming a leader with a group of Pikmin across water. Collecting treasure also returns as a gameplay element, though the treasures' purpose in this game was not revealed. The trailer ends with a suspenseful nighttime scene of an idle Bulborb suddenly taking on glowing red eyes and walking away as if possessed, hinting at a strange occurrence on the planet.

Gallery

Videos

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Flag of Japan Japanese ピクミン4?
Pikumin 4
Pikmin 4
Flag of the Netherlands Dutch Pikmin 4 -
Flag of France French Pikmin 4 -
Flag of Germany German Pikmin 4 -
Flag of Italy Italian Pikmin 4 -
Flag of South Korea Korean 피크민 4
Pikumin 4
Pikmin 4
Flag of Brazil Portuguese Pikmin 4 -
Flag of Spain Spanish Pikmin 4 -

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Of note is the fact that the URL for the Eurogamer interview's page starts with "2014-07-20". Since the URLs of all news article pages on eurogamer.net begin with the article's publication date, this could possibly mean that the article was meant to be revealed shortly after the interview, but was held until September of 2015. The article for the second Eurogamer interview states that this interview took place in July 2015.

References

  1. ^ Pikmin 4, coming to Nintendo Switch in 2023 on Nintendo News & Updates, published on September 16th, 2022
  2. ^ YouTube video of the Pikmin 4 announcement trailer, published on September 13th, 2022, retrieved on September 13th, 2022
  3. ^ YouTube video of Miyamoto talking a bit about the game's new features (at 0:30:28), published on September 13th, 2022, retrieved on September 13th, 2022
  4. ^ Miyamoto Hints That Pikmin 4 Could Be In Development on My Nintendo News, published on November 6th, 2014
  5. ^ YouTube video of the interview with Smosh Games in which Shigeru Miyamoto talks about developing Pikmin games (at 04:35), published on January 6th, 2015
  6. ^ Pikmin 4 in development and "very close to completion" on Eurogamer, published on September 7th, 2015
  7. ^ YouTube video of an interview of Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka by YOGSCAST Kim (at 11:55), published on September 8th, 2015
  8. ^ Miyamoto Confirms Star Fox and Pikmin Will Continue on Gamer Splash!, published on December 11th, 2016
  9. ^ Miyamoto Updates Fans On Status of Pikmin 4 on Gamerant, published on July 6th, 2016
  10. ^ Miyamoto: Pikmin 4 still "progressing" on Eurogamer, published on June 14th, 2017, retrieved on June 14th, 2017
  11. ^ YouTube video of the Nintendo Direct on September 13th, 2022, published on September 13th, 2022, retrieved on September 14th, 2022
  12. ^ YouTube video of the Nintendo Direct on February 8th, 2023, published on February 8th, 2023, retrieved on February 8th, 2023