Topic: E3 2012 Predictions

[Stogi]

Perm, that's not a bad idea. But pikmin are plants, so you'd have to (or should anyway) keep them in the realm of plant textures; like those of an orange, tree, or cactus.

On a tangent note, I really hope there are ghost pikmin that can possess creatures.

[Spak-Spang]

Well since Pikmin are supposed to be plants...I don't want fur.  But if they go for a very artistic approach I think seeing Pikmin with a felt type texture could work.  But honestly, I think they need to smooth out the design and keep them simple...basically the exact same as the original games.  What I want the HD to be used for is high definition ultra realistic backgrounds and collectables, that is what made Pikmin cool and memorable to me.

[Chozo Ghost]

Perm, that's not a bad idea. But pikmin are plants, so you'd have to (or should anyway) keep them in the realm of plant textures; like those of an orange, tree, or cactus.

They are extraterrestrials. They can (and should) be as weird and bizarre as Miyamoto wants to make them. They don't need to be defined just by what we have on Earth, because they are not from Earth. That said, they could share the traits of plants with the furriness of mammals... or they could be given wings like birds or scales like reptiles or whatever. They could also be envisoned as floating bags of gas with tentacles as some alien life may be.

[TJ Spyke]

The planet is Earth, or at least one that has the same atmosphere and look of Earth and (according to Miyamoto) one that humans used to live on. Not to mention that human products like 7-Up bottle caps and Duracell batteries exist on. Olimar himself is not from Earth though.

[Chozo Ghost]

The planet is Earth, or at least one that has the same atmosphere and look of Earth and (according to Miyamoto) one that humans used to live on. Not to mention that human products like 7-Up bottle caps and Duracell batteries exist on. Olimar himself is not from Earth though.

I noticed that it is Earth like and there is a lot of litter that suggests humans are or were living there. But neither the Pikmin nor any of the creatures they fight are anything like what we have on Earth, so it has to be a different planet. But even if it is Earth, since the creatures are already bizarre and unearthly then there's no reason to not just go ahead and take it even further if Miyamoto wants to.

[Spak-Spang]

Perm, that's not a bad idea. But pikmin are plants, so you'd have to (or should anyway) keep them in the realm of plant textures; like those of an orange, tree, or cactus.

They are extraterrestrials. They can (and should) be as weird and bizarre as Miyamoto wants to make them. They don't need to be defined just by what we have on Earth, because they are not from Earth. That said, they could share the traits of plants with the furriness of mammals... or they could be given wings like birds or scales like reptiles or whatever. They could also be envisoned as floating bags of gas with tentacles as some alien life may be.

This is true...I could see them using some minor texture work to create interesting animal-plant creatures.  As long as the additional details help define the Pikmin and are not just added details to change Pikmin design. 

For example, the Blue Pikmin can be given gills and scales to slightly look like fish.  Immediately the player can see Blue means they can go in water.  Yes, color helps but further character design makes it less of a gimmick.

I could see the red or yellow Pikmin having more animalistic features, to show there better combat ability...but I dunno how you can keep that up for all designs.

[Ian Sane]

My theory is that Pikmin takes place on Earth and the various creatures are actually real Earth creatures but we see them from Olimar's perspective so they look different than what we're used to.  We would see a ladybug but Olimar sees a Bulborb.

It's kind of like the reality of Calvin & Hobbes where Calvin sees Hobbes as a real tiger and the rest of the world sees Hobbes as a stuffed animal.  It doesn't actually make sense for it just be different perspectives or Calvin's imagination because he accomplishes things with Hobbes that we could not do without the help of another person.  But it still works just like how Pikmin still works even if Olimar encounters bugs that don't quite seem to make sense from our perspective.  I would prefer if Miyamoto never formally explained it and never showed any human beings.  So is it Olimar's perspective or is this an Earth-like planet or is this Earth in the future after humanity has died off and evolution has created new lifeforms?  It's better if we don't know the answer and just make our own guess.

I don't see any reason to drastically alter the appearance of the Pikmin.  Do you want Mario to shave off his moustache as well?  Pikmin is a franchise now and from a marketting perspective it wouldn't make sense to change the look.

[NWR_insanolord]

It's also possible that Pikmin is set in a post-apocalyptic future Earth, and that all the creatures involved are the product of mutations from the radiation.

[Kairon]

I'm personally a fan of the post-apocalyptic "after people" interpretation.

[NWR_insanolord]

It really is the simplest explanation for the game's world and its inhabitants. It also brings to the table a deep, profound, and almost certainly entirely unintentional message about life.

[Chozo Ghost]

It doesn't necessarily have to be a nuclear war that brings about the Pikmin world. It could have been an asteroid impact like what killed the dinosaurs, and then fast forward a few million years and evolution would have resulted in some really bizarre creatures. Mutations caused by radiation is a way you can explain some rapid changes in a short period of time, but millions of years worth of evolution can also do that. We don't know exactly when the game takes place. It could be far far into the future for all we know.

That said, maybe humans didn't become extinct after all. Maybe we just evolved into the Pikmin and live on as them? Or maybe the Pikmin were the result of some bizarre Island of Dr. Moreau type experiment involving people and vegetables which went awry and the Pikmin escaped and then wiped out their human creators. So it would kinda be like the Planet of the Apes, and Olimar might be a time traveling astronaut like Charlton Heston's character.

[NWR_insanolord]

Shorter time span makes more sense when you factor in all the product placement doodads in Pikmin 2, which wouldn't last the millions of years it would take for natural evolution.

[ThePerm]

lol, who cares.  Maybe Pikmin are just cryptids. It really doesn't matter. Maybe Humans escaped earth but visit occasionally and Duracell is just still going millions of years later as a brand. Or maybe they were making a fun game and they figured out product placement could pay for it. Pikmin is kinda phenomenon because it was well received from the beginning. Nintendo doesn't make new franchises that often, and this is one of those cases where it was HIT.

[NWR_insanolord]

The more I think about this, the more it seems like Nintendo is much better at telling stories when they're not actually trying to tell stories, which is one hell of a backhanded compliment.

[Ian Sane]

The more I think about this, the more it seems like Nintendo is much better at telling stories when they're not actually trying to tell stories, which is one hell of a backhanded compliment.

That's true.  For example the Zelda "timeline" was a lot more satisfying when it was a bunch of fan theories.  Once Nintendo actually started acknowledging it in their games the whole thing turned to crap.  They would have been better off just starting every gen's Zelda as if it existed in a vacuum with some vague historical mythologies hinted at and a couple recurring locations and items.

In fiction everyone loves the mysterious untold backstory that is only vaguely referenced.  The writer blows it the second an explanation is provided because it can never match what the audience had built up in their head.  It takes an incredibly good writer to pay off something like that.  When you don't you get the Star Wars prequels.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, the Zelda timeline was a big part of what got me to that conclusion.

[Ceric]

...
In fiction everyone loves the mysterious untold backstory that is only vaguely referenced.  The writer blows it the second an explanation is provided because it can never match what the audience had built up in their head.  It takes an incredibly good writer to pay off something like that.  When you don't you get the Jar Jar Binks.

[Chozo Ghost]

Shorter time span makes more sense when you factor in all the product placement doodads in Pikmin 2, which wouldn't last the millions of years it would take for natural evolution.

Even if it was a nuclear apocalypse it would still take probably at least 100 years for the nuclear winter to end and animal life and vegetation to bounce back to the level we see in the Pikmin games, so that litter stuff probably would have rusted away or been buried.

I guess the only logical conclusion is that  humans are currently present on that world, or were there recently and left or were killed. Considering the really bizarre and dangerous creatures you encounter in Pikmin I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

[Spak-Spang]

The more I think about this, the more it seems like Nintendo is much better at telling stories when they're not actually trying to tell stories, which is one hell of a backhanded compliment.

That's true.  For example the Zelda "timeline" was a lot more satisfying when it was a bunch of fan theories.  Once Nintendo actually started acknowledging it in their games the whole thing turned to crap.  They would have been better off just starting every gen's Zelda as if it existed in a vacuum with some vague historical mythologies hinted at and a couple recurring locations and items.

In fiction everyone loves the mysterious untold backstory that is only vaguely referenced.  The writer blows it the second an explanation is provided because it can never match what the audience had built up in their head.  It takes an incredibly good writer to pay off something like that.  When you don't you get the Star Wars prequels.

Actually, I always thought this is what Nintendo did...but then fans kept on demanding an official timeline.  Nintendo never wanted to admit or tell one, because they didn't matter...each Zelda is a self contained story that might or might not hint at other events.  I blame the fans for that mess.

Personally, I think mystery or mystique about a world and its history is good for a story.  Star Wars was awesome commenting on the Clone Wars as a single line.  People dreamed what could that have been like.  Clones and War sound awful.  However, then George Explained what the Clone Wars were and then they were not nearly as cool.  Clones vs Robots isn't nearly as cool as what we dreamed. 

[NWR_insanolord]

Nintendo shouldn't be doing things just because the fans say they want it. Most of Nintendo's greatest successes have come when they did their own thing, doing something unprecedented that no one had thought of. Look at things like Metroid Prime or Zelda: Wind Waker, where fans hated the idea initially, but they ended up being beloved classics. Of course, that doesn't mean you need to go against the grain all the time, but you need more reason than people saying they want it before you do it.

[ShyGuy]

Maybe one of the monster's Olimar fights is a human, just distorted in his view. Olimar is a murdering alien invader!

[TJ Spyke]

LOL, maybe. But Olimar is the size of a quarter, so that would be pretty hard.

[Kairon]

Shorter time span makes more sense when you factor in all the product placement doodads in Pikmin 2, which wouldn't last the millions of years it would take for natural evolution.

Even if it was a nuclear apocalypse it would still take probably at least 100 years for the nuclear winter to end and animal life and vegetation to bounce back to the level we see in the Pikmin games, so that litter stuff probably would have rusted away or been buried.

I guess the only logical conclusion is that  humans are currently present on that world, or were there recently and left or were killed. Considering the really bizarre and dangerous creatures you encounter in Pikmin I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

Well, it is said that Olimar can't breath the air on that planet right? Maybe that is a result of the nuclear apocalypse?

[TJ Spyke]

Shorter time span makes more sense when you factor in all the product placement doodads in Pikmin 2, which wouldn't last the millions of years it would take for natural evolution.

Even if it was a nuclear apocalypse it would still take probably at least 100 years for the nuclear winter to end and animal life and vegetation to bounce back to the level we see in the Pikmin games, so that litter stuff probably would have rusted away or been buried.

I guess the only logical conclusion is that  humans are currently present on that world, or were there recently and left or were killed. Considering the really bizarre and dangerous creatures you encounter in Pikmin I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

Well, it is said that Olimar can't breath the air on that planet right? Maybe that is a result of the nuclear apocalypse?

The game said he can't breath because it's a oxygen atmosphere. This is right from the Instruction Booklet:
"To make matters worse, my sensors indicated that the planet's atmosphere contained
oxygen, an element incredibly deadly to my people."

[Kairon]

Shorter time span makes more sense when you factor in all the product placement doodads in Pikmin 2, which wouldn't last the millions of years it would take for natural evolution.

Even if it was a nuclear apocalypse it would still take probably at least 100 years for the nuclear winter to end and animal life and vegetation to bounce back to the level we see in the Pikmin games, so that litter stuff probably would have rusted away or been buried.

I guess the only logical conclusion is that  humans are currently present on that world, or were there recently and left or were killed. Considering the really bizarre and dangerous creatures you encounter in Pikmin I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

Well, it is said that Olimar can't breath the air on that planet right? Maybe that is a result of the nuclear apocalypse?

The game said he can't breath because it's a oxygen atmosphere. This is right from the Instruction Booklet:
"To make matters worse, my sensors indicated that the planet's atmosphere contained
oxygen, an element incredibly deadly to my people."

Ah darn, well there goes that theory.