Niantic’s Pikmin Game will be ‘Very Different from Pokémon GO’

The makers of Pokémon GO are expanding their partnership with Nintendo with the first new game focused on the Pikmin franchise. This news came out late last night with the reveal that two games will result from the early stages of this new agreement. But while the announcement sends fans into a tizzy of anticipation and speculation, it seems like the result could be quite different than anyone expects. So don’t get hyped for Pikmin GO just yet, as it seems like it will be very unique.

This is according to Tatsuo Nomura, Head of Niantic Tokyo Studio and Director of Product Management who tweeted “I’m excited to finally able to announce this project that Niantic & Nintendo have been working with for the past few years. It’s going to be an app that make walking more fun with Pikmin. It’s going to be very different from Pokémon GO.”

It’s going to be very different from Pokémon GO

This somewhat echoes the feelings of legendary game designer and current Representative Director, Fellow for Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto. About the Niantic Pikmin game he said “Based on the theme of making walking fun, our mission is to provide people a new experience that’s different from traditional games. We hope that the Pikmin and this app will become a partner in your life.”

So, what exactly will Pikmin GO or whatever the final game is called be like? With so few details we can’t say for sure, but so far everything points toward a sort of hide and seek experience. Miyamoto also said that “Niantic’s AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us,” which seems like you’ll be using the AR tech to hunt around to find stray Pikmin.

Of course, this is usually only the opening moments of a Pikmin game, with the rest featuring you using the newly found and collected army to do battle and solve puzzles. So perhaps you use the AR to find your Pikmin but then have many gameplay mechanics beyond that to use them. We’ll just have to wait and see as all we know for now is what Niantic’s Pikmin game won’t be, which is a Pokémon GO clone.