Pikmin 4 is coming, but what platform will it be on?

In a chat with Eurogamer, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has casually revealed that Pikmin 4 is coming. It seemed like a very low key announcement. I have seen people get more excited whilst talking about the weather.

“It’s actually very close to completion,” Miyamoto said to Eurogamer, likely reclining whilst drinking a Mojito. “Pikmin teams are always working on the next one.”

In case Miyamoto was drunk, Eurogamer asked Nintendo for a follow up statement. “We can confirm that Pikmin 4 is in development but that is all we can confirm at present,” they said.

Pikmin 3 launched for Wii U way back in the crazy days of 2013. So if Pikmin 4 comes in 2016, that is 3 years between releases. That is a much smaller gap than the wait between Pikmin 2 (2004) and 3 – for nine years of darkness the flowers did not grow.

So what platform is Pikmin 4 going to release on? With so little info we can only speculate.

• Nintendo Wii U – The game may just come to the Wii U, nothing confusing about that. Nintendo may simply be quiet about the game as they do not want to promote it until all 2015 Wii U releases are already out the door in all countries.
• Nintendo 3DS – This would be a big change for the series, as Pikmin has always been a console exclusive release. Nintendo did however release some Pikmin Shorts on the 3DS and Wii U eShop in 2014, so a handheld release may not be out of the question.
• Nintendo NX – It would certainly be weird for Nintendo to confirm a game for a console that is not even fully announced yet, but you would not put it passed them. Simply put, they might not be showing anything solid about the game until they reveal the console it may be on.
• Mobile/Tablets – Although this option may anger some, it is a possibility. Nintendo already made it clear they are targeting that platform due to their DeNA partnership, and a Pikmin style game is certainly something that would work well with a touch interface.

None of the above would be bad answers in my opinion. Both home versions and handheld versions of Pikmin would be great. I know many would throw a fit if it was a mobile game, but there is no denying something like that could be a great experience too.

Now we wait.