The Pikmin 3 Official Countdown

I'm a little concerned about there seeming to be no four player option... I seem to recall that there was going to be one, but... I mean, two player is nice, but it seems that Nintendo's doing a really minimal multiplayer job in general. I mean they were all like "we have multiplayer bingo!" and sounded so exited... It's a good concept, I just expected a little more is all.

You know, it's funny...

I could've sworn I saw the new onion appear exactly like this in the 05.17.2013 Nintendo Direct, if only for a second, with the almost blueish/purplish hues, and I spent like ten minutes trying to find it again only to discover it wasn't there.

...Upon closer inspection, it turns out the dark swirls in this shot are actually grey, but as I said I only saw it for a psychic second. Either way, it's here now, and doesn't seem to prove or disprove anything new. So soak up its glory.

That spaceship is crazy. It's a complete departure from the rockets of Hocotate to the...saucers? of Koppai. How I feel about it will sort of depend on how it flies, I always liked the chugging mechanical engines of yore. I'm not saying the new ship has to do that, it just has to be interesting. Not corny.

And finally, we have a lovely shot of another 'stone' wall, obviously made of concrete now, judging by the rebar jutting out on both sides. After Miyamoto made a big deal during the E3 2012 presentation about how realistically pikmin are now going to break down walls, plus actually seeing them take down a sand wall, plus knowing there are concrete walls are in this game... I am very anxious to see one get destroyed.

Only two more months!

In Europe, people only have 52 days left, lucky folks.

That's nothing compared to Japan of course, who only has a whopping 39 days until the launch of ピクミン3!

ZORMFG, is that the entrance to the cave???

Before I was all like: meh, pebbles.

Then I was like: wait a second...

Then I was all: !!?!?!???!?!?!!!??!?!??!!!!

Furthermore, I wonder what the point of this seemingly empty crystal nodule is for:

Perhaps there's a hole under there..?

The Dark Side of Pikmin 3

Let me take a moment to try to convey to you how I feel about the cave area in Pikmin 3 that was shown in a Nintendo Direct.

It's really as simple as pretending you are a child again, and just looking into the darkness. How do you feel? Scared? Probably. But hopefully you also feel intense excitement and curiosity about what could be over there.

I can tell you that I for one am most excited by these caves over almost anything else shown thus far from Pikmin 3. And the reason is because we know nothing about their place in the world. We don't know if there's one or several, if you can stroll right in from an outdoor environment, if they will work like the holes in Pikmin 2 or The Forest Navel in Pikmin. Heck, it's not even clear where the boundaries are!

And they look dangerous... downright chaotic at times! Oh yeah, don't forget the absolutely beautiful lighting effects that exist... I mean it is ridiculous though, what is the deal with these caves? I want to know, but that's the point! I sincerely hope they are kept a mystery right up until launch.

Two more things before I go... one, that sand is beautiful, I mean LOOK AT IT!!! Two, is that... daylight coming from the bottom left of the image?

71 Days Left

The new snagret design is definitely my favorite enemy redesign, thought the competition is fierce (sometimes literally)! My heart-rate still increases every time I look at that bulbear...

But what's up with that green female sheargrub-looking thing? WHAT IS THAT?

Next time: Caves

The New Time Mechanic

Honestly, if Nintendo wanted to keep both the fans of Pikmin 2's leisure and  Pikmin's sense of urgency satisfied with the Pikmin 3, there aren't many other better ways of handling it than they have, based on what we have seen so far, at that I can think of.

In Pikmin 3, the fruit that the player is harvesting serves two purposes: the seeds are to be brought back to Koppai with the hope of growing food to save the planet, while the fruit itself is placed in bottles, and gradually, at an as-of yet unknown rate, consumed by Alph, Brittany, and Charlie.

"If they don't have enough food, they can't continue their exploration." -Iwata

So, what this tells us is basically that as soon as the player runs out of juice, the game ends, and, presumably, different endings are received based on the amount of seeds collected when this happens, and possibly also how much time has passed.

If Nintendo is awesome (owait) then they'll make it harder and harder to find fruit to maintain an adequate food buffer with as the game goes on. I actually hope that it's incredibly difficult; after all, if the game allows you to replay from the beginning of any day, it can afford to give that extra push.

I know I'll be "hardcore mode"ing it: no restarts, no retries. The best thing is that liile Johnny may be playing the game for the first time, and still be enjoying the butts out of it because NINTENDO IS SMART LIKE THAT!

'Till next time,

The Onion Grows?

We have three different images of the new onion available for our lovely referencing needs, and each seems to be at a relatively different time in the game. And it sure as sugar seems like as time goes on, and the player accumulates more pikmin, the new onion actually swells in size.

That's awesome. If this is the case, it's just another one of the small touches that makes Nintendo so freakin' amazing.

And so... the real question is: just how big will they let us grow it? I guess we'll have to wait at least until July for some hardcore Japanese guy to test the limit...