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Niantic, Nintendo Reveal New Pikmin Smartphone AR Game
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Developer Niantic and Nintendo announced on Monday that Niantic is making a new AR (augmented reality) app based on Nintendo's Pikmin franchise, as part of a new partnership for more mobile and smartphone games that use Niantic's AR technology.
As in Niantic's previous Pokémon GO game, the new app will encourage outdoor activities and walking. Niantic's Tokyo Studio is developing the game, and will be the studio's first title since its founding in April 2018. Nintendo revealed that the app is slated to launch later this year.
The Pikmin series of strategy games allows players to control creatures called Pikmin in an effort to explore an unknown planet and survive against predatory adversaries, using the special properties of each kind of Pikmin to navigate the game environment.
Nintendo released the first game in the series on the Nintendo GameCube in 2001. Nintendo released Pikmin 3, on the Wii U in 2013. The side-scrolling action-adventure game Hey! Pikmin shipped for Nintendo 3DS in July 2017 in Japan, North America, and Europe. The Pikmin 3 game shipped for the Wii U in 2013, and shipped for the Switch as Pikmin 3 Deluxe in October 2020. Pikmin 4 is currently being developed by Nintendo, and Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned in 2015 that Pikmin 4 was "very close to completion."
The Pokémon GO app launched in select countries including the United States in July 2016.
Sources: Niantic, Nintendo via Hachima Kikō
