This week was the grand opening of Universal Orlando’s newest theme park, Epic Universe. Included as one of the five lands within is Super Nintendo World, Nintendo’s first step into the theme park world. And while park is split into two — one based on Mario and the other on Donkey Kong — there are still other nods to other Nintendo IPs in the land, most notably Pikmin. In a recent interview with IGN, Shigeru Miyamoto went in depth on what he wants to see for the tiny, yet mighty franchise.
During the interview, the various Pikmin scattered around both sections were brought up. Nintendo fans saw this as a fun nod to the games. Miyamoto explained that Nintendo has an unspoken rule where each character stays within their world, but that doesn’t apply to Pikmin. This explains why they are found within Super Nintendo World, as no other characters are explicitly found. It doesn’t stop with theme parks, Miyamoto ideally wants Pikmin to expand, whether that be with a feature length film or a series. He sees a lot of potential with them, they have a universal appeal to all ages.
“I think Pikmin has a lot of potential to be used in many different occasions. When you’re looking at small kids, they have a certain appeal for things that are cute and when they grow older, maybe in their twenties, they start to lose appeal for that. But I think Pikmin has this unique ability to have appeal across a broad range in that it’s still appealing for both younger audiences and older audiences and in Japan. And so I’m hoping that we can expand that globally. So whether it’s some kind of a movie or show, things like that would be really fun.”
In recent years, there’s been a push to grow the IP, with an app and a Nintendo Switch title released. In fact, this weekend there’s a Pikmin pop-up tent event at Union Square, the site of Nintendo San Francisco. This event supports the app Pikmin Bloom and allows players to find special Pikmin as they explore a floral display. While the in-person tent event is only this weekend, from May 23rd to May 26th and from July 4th to July 6th, the pop-up will run from May 23rd to July 23rd, giving players plenty of time to explore and collect.
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Written by Roberto Diaz
Embark on a gaming odyssey with a passionate player deeply immersed in pop culture. Roberto not only conquers virtual realms but also dominates the pop music scene, turning life into a harmonious adventure filled with gaming triumphs and cultural insights.
