Pikmin shorts trailer, will soon be on 3DS (plus lots of other tidbits)
Earlier today, the animated Pikmin shorts were finally shown at the International Tokyo Film Festival. While they haven’t been made available for everyone else to see just yet, we do have a trailer – that can be found below.
Shigeru Miyamoto and Dwango chairman Nobuo Kawakami also held a press conference of sorts later on. Plenty of information was revealed – the shorts will be coming to 3DS, a Pikmin 3 demo is in the works, and lots more. Head past the break for all of the juicy details!
The three Pikmin shorts (“The Night Juicer,” “Treasures in a Bottle,” “Occupational Hazards.”) are coming soon to 3DS
-They’d considered doing something like this for Nintendo’s characters many times in the past, but avoided it because of the difference between an interactive game and a film.
-Another reason is that a film requires much more ‘setting in stone’ about the characters and world that could be limiting for the company when it comes to future games.
-However, with Pikmin they’re very small inside the game and you can’t see them well without zooming in close. So he thought shorts might be a good fit for the Pikmin series as it’d allow there to be more focus on the actual Pikmin.
-Storyboards for the shorts were made by Miyamoto using Flipnote 3DS.
-Made by an external CGI company. They also produced the opening of the 2012 E3 Presentation, where Miyamoto was followed by CGI Pikmin.
-They originally intended to make ten 3-minute short films, but after making the first one they decided on making longer ones. The 2nd is 8 minutes and the 3rd is 13 minutes long.
-The 3rd film features 500 Pikmin on screen at once and Pikmin covered in mud, which are things they can’t do in-game.
-The models used are based on the game’s models, but as the CGI required about 10 times the fidelity of that in the latest game, so the 3D models in the shorts themselves are mostly new.
-Miyamoto says the live-action Super Mario Brothers film was an interesting interpretation of the universe. When he first read the script, it was a heart-warming tale, like a Disney movie from his childhood, but it gradually evolved into the movie we know today. He thinks it’s interesting what a different interpretation can bring.
-Release timing for the Pikmin shorts unannounced; may be compiled together with the logo-movie for Toho Cinemas (which also features Pikmin) when released on 3DS.
-Plans on releasing world-wide; no language to localize.
-Pikmin 3 demo is in the works.
-Miyamoto wants the short films to be a gateway for some to play the Pikmin games.
