This morning's Japanese Nintendo Direct for Pikmin 3 was a brief 21 minute demonstration, hosted not by CEO Iwata, but Shigeru Miyamoto, along with comedian and ardent Pikmin fan Hitoshi Matsumoto. It was an informal presentation, with Miyamoto and Matsumoto visibly playing the game in a traditional Japanese house.
After some small talk, the demonstration begins with the game's introduction. Miyamoto explains the new playable characters come from a different planet than Olimar, although they look alike and land on the same planet populated by Pikmin. The game starts with Charlie landing on the planet and briefly demonstrating a still-unnamed Gamepad-like device in the game itself.They also move on to several short missions. These missions, seven to ten minutes long, were designed in such a way that they would be somewhat hard at first and get easier when played again, encouraging you to go for a high score.
In the course of the demonstration, Miyamoto explains uses of the GamePad. B button calls Pikmin and A button lets you throw them. A button also allows you to pluck Pikmin, simplifying the process. Z button moves the camera. Matsumoto demonstrates all the old Wiimote controls with the Nunchuk are also still there. The GamePad will also function as a map.
Aside from story, today's Direct did not reveal anything we do not already know from prior demos of the game at E3 and other Western press events/interviews. Hitoshi Matsumoto is a famous and popular Japanese celebrity as one half of owarai duo Downtown, so it seems the event was setup to simply promote the game as Nintendo has already done in the West. You can read about one of the prior demos here.
You can watch the Direct here (Note: no subtitles).
Pikmin 3 will be arriving to the Wii U on August 4.
