This week in Nintendo’s eShop, the Wii U is receiving one of its biggest releases this year to download.
Wii U owners will finally get their hands on the long-awaited Pikmin 3, the first game to come out of the franchise since 2004.
Rather than focusing on series veteran Captain Olimar, Pikmin 3 centers its story around Alph, Britanny and Charlie, three space explorers on a quest to retrieve food for their home planet using Pikmin. The Pikmin are used to battle foreign enemies, collect objects and solve puzzles, all of which must be done before the sun goes down.
With five Pikmin – three of which are the traditional red, yellow and blue Pikmin – two new types include Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin. Rock Pikmin are large Pikmin used to destroy objects and dole extra damage to enemies. The pink-colored Winged Pikmin can, of course, fly and carry objects in the air.
GamePad funtionality for Pikmin 3 lets players use the screen as a map for a top-down view of the area you’re in. The GamePad can also be used to take a first-person picture from a Pikmin’s perspective. These pictures can also be uploaded to the Miiverse and viewed by your friends.
Aside from the single-player, there is also a multiplayer mode for Pikmin 3.
Mission mode has one or two players collecting treasure and battling as many enemies as possible for the highest score. In Bingo Battle, two players compete against each other to collect certain items to get “four in a row” on their bingo card. Since white and purple Pikmin are absent from the single-player, they will appear exclusively in Mission Mode and Bingo Battle.
Pikmin 3 will be available at retailers and for download from the Wii U’s eShop on Aug. 4.
In other eShop update news, in honor of the Hulu exclusive series THE AWESOME making its debut, Wii U owners are being offered two months of Hulu Plus for free. Just click here to go to the registration process.
With the upcoming movie releasing, the move-licensed video game for Disney Planes will be available to download for the Wii U and 3DS on Aug. 6.
Lastly, the following are new downloads for Nintendo’s eShop:
- Bike Rider DX (3DS)
- Cloudberry Kingdom (Wii U)
- Family Kart 3D (3DS)
- Harvest Moon (Wii U Virtual Console)
- Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (3DS Virtual Console)
- My Farm 3D (3DS)
