After hearing almost a year ago that Nintendo were working on Pikmin 4, there wasn’t really much word since. There was no announce at this year’s E3, and since the rumblings of the NX have gotten louder and louder, the future for Pikmin looked gloomy. Miyamoto has since confirmed in a Game Rant interview that it is being worked on.
“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.”
Hopefully Miyamoto’s priorities list is being realigned with this classic somewhere near the top. No doubt, new hardware always causes a shake-up internally, even for a giant like Nintendo. There hasn’t been any word about which system Pikmin 4 is being developed for – it may be safe to assume that it’s the NX now. Even so, word of delays – and it does seem like one – is always met with audible groan, though it does mean we will end up with a better finished product.
This confirmation will come as good news for Pikmin fans, but more so it lends some gravitas to the prospect of the NX. It was never in doubt that the new system would receive top-notch first party support, and games like this will give it much-needed momentum if Nintendo are going to attempt re-entry into the ‘core gamer’ console market.
As of right now, the Nintendo NX is set to arrive in March of 2017; we’ll have to keep our eyes in the coming months for further news.