Pikmin 3 Deluxe Updated To Version 1.2.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

Nice. Pleasant surprise for a stealth Nintendo switch 2 upgrade. Hopefully pikmin 4 is around the corner!

Good that they're still putting out free updates (still hoping for Legends: Arceus). I wonder if this one is a precursor to a Switch 2 Edition for Pikmin 4. It is September Direct season, so it wouldn't be surprising if we got one revealed soon.

Is framerate upgraded too?

I adored this game on the Wii U and I really need to revisit this franchise. I haven't even bothered to play Pikmin 4 yet either! These games are also great co-op session games. Even the ones that don't have true multiplayer are fun in co-op. Just pass the controller back and forth between each day. That is what my brother and I did.

Not the game I expected to get this kind of update, but pretty cool nonetheless. Pikmin 3 was already a gorgeous game, and I imagine it will only improve with this update.

I really should actually get around to playing Pikmin 4 one of these days but any time I consider doing so I really just get tempted to replay 3 instead and this update kind of isn't helping. Maybe I'll just replay 3 soon then, only actually gone through it the one time.

Dunno why, but this was probably my least favorite of the series. Dunno if I'll go back to it, even with this update, we'll see...hoping 4 gets a Switch 2 version at some point.

Nice!! Please update Pikmin 4 too (whenever you have a spare moment 😅)

Wait huh? we're getting upgraded visuals for Pikmin 4 then soon right...? maybe?

Interesting that they reached back for this one. Pretty cool!

And still no 60fps for NS2, even with an NS2 Edition. Just wild.
Then again, The NS2 still can't replicate the Wii & Wii U versions pof Pikmin 3's Motion pointer controls properly, for those that want it.

The way Gyro has been implemented works differently, and just doesn't cover enough ground, even supposedly with 9-axis, albeit less drifty than 6-Axis.

Wii U version of Pikmin 3 is still the definitive experience, and with modern QD-OLED Samsung TV's you can could force game mode motion interpolation and run it at a fake 60fps, but than that doubles input lag to 20ms(from 10ms) and you get smacked with occasional image artifacts.

More love for great games, just makes the Switch 2 a better purchase every day for those who've supported the Switch system since 2017.

What about pikmin 4?

It would have been nice for 60fps but any free upgrade is a welcome upgrade

60fps this 60fps that, MEANWHILE they haven't updated the game to use Mouse Mode in any capacity, which is a shame because I feel Pikmin 3 would benefit greatly from mouse controls.

This kind of updates are easy on the pocket and easy on the storage space, which is always a bonus. I hope more first party games receive this instead of the slow to arrive heavy Switch 2 editions, games like Bayonetta 1/2 and FE Three Houses sorely need an increase in resolution, a little small upgrade in that depart would do wonders for them.

No 60fps is crazy but it’s better then
Nothing

@WaveBoy You do realize this isn't a Switch 2 Edition, it's a patch that removes an arbitrary cap on resolution. Probably one line of code to do that.

Pikmin 3 (and 2, but not 1 or 4) has game logic tied to frame speed, so lag literally causes the day to last longer. If you remove the frame cap, it'd break the game unless you want to go and do a ton of deep reprogramming.

It's disappointing that they didn't improve the frame rate or implement mouse support, but this game needed the resolution bump more than any first-party game other than Yoshi's Crafted World, on account of being 720p in handheld and docked, and Bingo Battle GameShare support is also a big deal even if the other modes didn't get it for whatever reason

@link3710
Weird, had no idea about the latter, as most wouldn't. And for me personally, better sharpness or even 720p being bumped up to 1080p is irrelevent since even 9-Axis Gyro can't perfectly replicate the wii remote pointer aiming. The Wii U verison it is then and it's going for cheap now thanks to the NS1 port existing for years now. Yet I can't get on board with NS2's Pro Controller 9-Axis Gyro or split Joy-Con 2/Or even using the latest Hyperion3 Ultra's simply because the pointer aiming hasn't been replicated or utilized in the same fashion as it was on Wii & Wii U.

Pikmin 4 still could get that 60fps bump, and at this point it's the only one i truly care about anyways. Pikmin 1 on Wii was glorious for it's time, but the graphics have clearly aged as they have with P2. The NS1 ports for 1&2 may be spruced up with 1080p, but in all honesty that doesn't really do GameCube-tier graphics any favours in most cases.

It exposes all of the muddy low res' textures and makes character models look hard and less organic thanks to the original lower polygon count.

Probably going to pop on eBay and rebuy the Wii versions for Pikmin 1&2, and get 3 on Wii U. Won't be diving into 4 until we get an NS2 edition with 60fps.

I hope updates for Pikmin 1 & 2 follow,. I would love to play the games with GameCube Controller support.

Very pleasantly surprised, even though this came from nowhere and was unannounced. I still hope more Switch games get these visual upgrades.

Just give us Switch 2 versions of them all with mouse mode already

@WaveBoy This is not a Switch 2 Edition. It's a simple patch.

Played the new coop story mode last week with my nephew and it sucks.

What Nintendo did here is just *****. Every time a cut scene is coming the character is swapping around and it does not match. E.g. player 2 is triggering the cut scene, but player 1 is shown in the cut scene, while the Pikmin under controll are not swapped.

The game gets interrupted every time a player is checking the onion as it is done full screen for that specific player only. Why? The menu is not that complicated that it requires full screen space.

Same when collecting data modules and the map (!!), which is the most annoying. I open the map and the second player is pulled out of his action due to full screen. Why? The map is scrolling. Make it scroll in left or right split screen, too.

Since you cannot throw a character by default, as it is always under control of the other player (until you have three captains). It took us three days to find out that there is now a throw menu item as it is not properly explained or easy to miss.

This is not fun at all! Did anyone at Nintendo test this at all?

@BTB20
I never said it was an NS2 Edition, i said i 'want' an NS2 edition running at 60fps. You must of skimmed through my post.

@AdmiralBribery @AgentGuapo probably a $20 switch 2 edition with new areas coming soon

Cool. Other companies would probably nickel and dime us with these upgrades.

@WaveBoy "And still no 60fps for NS2, even with an NS2 Edition."
This sentence very clearly reads like you think this is a Switch 2 Edition. You didn't say "want" anywhere.

Nice to have especially, since the pikmin games don't benefit from handheld boost

@BTB20
NS2 editions are typically required to receive that 60fps Bump. Updates generally just lock an originally unstable 60 to a locked 60fps, double NPC frame rates, or up the res' a little, like in this case with Pikmin 3 when played on NS2.

But ya, I meant to say "still no 60fps, with an NS2 Edition"
Just a free 'update' nothing special here.

Was alwaysnhappymwith the wiki game. Might buy it now. Lets see if i can grab in second hand

Random Nintendo game update on a random Monday let's goooo
This is nice, I tried the demo of Pikmin 3 once and I had no idea what to do but maybe I should give this series another shot
Now where are my updates for Metroid Dread and Prime Remastered?

@WaveBoy Ok, that's nice to know. 👍

I loved the stylus controll for Pikmin 3 on the Wii U. Somewhat disappointed they did not include Switch 2 mouse support in this update. If they had, Pikmin 3 Delux would be a certain buy for me.

Enhanced resolution and GameShare support in Bingo Battle mode is nice though.

Perhaps Nintendo are keeping mouse support a new selling point for Pikmin 5 and Mario Maker 3 - games that will undoubtedly pop up sooner or later.

The following updates have been made when playing the game on Nintendo Switch:

No changes have been made.

God, I love Nintendo patch notes.

Nice surprise! Square would've charged us 60 USD.

I'm glad they did this, Pikmin 3 is a great game!
For Pikmin 4 though, being superior un every way, I hope they do a proper Deluxe edition, with more content, multiplayer and so. It would instantly become a must have (even more than now, I mean).

Pikmin 3 is a great game, no doubt, but Pikmin 4 is arguably one of the best games of the Switch. Amazing game!

Maybe it’s time for me to finally swallow my pride and replay Pikmin 3. I was so mad the first time I played this when after beating the final boss they simply rolled the credits, without giving me a chance to keep playing, and I only had about 60% of the fruit we needed to collect. Which made absolutely no sense in game b/c the whole point of us being on the planet was to collect the fruit. But we just took off and left half of it behind. 😝

And that was actually my 2nd start, b/c after playing the game for a few hours the first time I had to send my Wii U in for repairs, the HDMI cable kept flickering the tv screen black, so I lost my save file after they fixed it and sent it back.

I bought my Wii U the week “launch game” Pikmin 3 released, which was like 8 months after the consoled launch. So the whole thing was basically just 1 thing after another. Kind of sums up my whole PTSD Wii U experience.

So maybe it’s time to play it fresh on Switch 2. Maybe with my wife. I think my kid owns the all the Pikmin games on Switch, they like it even more than I do. They don’t have the associated trauma.😩

@Lofoten yes i did too. Never Bobby this deluxe version becausenit didn’t even increase the resolution. Now bought bought of second hand today. Long time sinds i played the wiiU edition. Even though my wiiU is still connected. Think it Will deel quite fresh

@WaveBoy Fair enough lol! And yeah I figured most people wouldn't know that Pikmin 3 (likely due to starting life as a Wii game) is one of the very few Wii U games that has game logic tied to frame rate, but knowing that def makes their actions make more sense imo.

The specific wording of the patch notes does not necessarily imply the rendering resolution was INCREASED, only that the output resolution matches higher resolution displays so there is less stretching/blurring of that 720p image. Has anyone actually played the game after this update who can confirm?

@WaveBoy its not an NS2 edition. And, actually, i'm a little disappointed that the reporting on this made me think it was.

Its still a switch 1 game, just one that if you are playing in a switch 2 unlocks some of the things that were deliberately limiting performance (unlocks the upper limit tk thr dynamic resolution) to take some advantage of the extra horsepower.

Just played and this still feels very far from a switch 2 game. Articles calling it one feels very disingenuos.

@Swifthom
I didn't say or think it was an NS2 Edition. I mentioned that I want an NS2 edition of P3 pumped up to 60fps, but somebody in the talk back mentioned that these games are locked in permanantly to 30 by design with the exception of Pikmin 1 & 4. So it's all irrelevant now and seems like the impossible.

If you're a fan of Pikmin 1&2 new play controls Wii remote pointer aiming, than scoring P3 on Wii U is the definitive way to play it. I can't play Pikmin 1-3 with analog stick aiming on NS2, or 9-Axis Gyro with the detached Joy-Con 2's since it's been altered and implented differently. The pointer aiming just doesn't cover enough ground compared to how it does in the WIi U original, nor is it as accurate or reliable.

Pikmin 3 would of been glorious clocked at 60fps & 1080p+ on Wii U, but alas. You could always force motion interpolation with Samsung QD-OLED TV's to fake a 60fps, but then input lag doubles and it introduces motion artifiacts.

@link3710
Ya, I didn't realise that older games were practically locked in by design to lower frame rates. You're saying they could still pull 60fps for both Pikmin 2 & 3, but it would take more time and resources to get the job done? Doubt Nintendo woul even go the extra mile anyways.

There is a half baked solution to this. Playing Pikmin 1-3 on NS2(That is, if you play them with Stick aiming since gyro doesn't cut the mustard nor does it compete against the Wii pointer aiming present in the new play controls series, or P3 on Wii U), would be to play them on like a 55" QD-OLED, basically samsungs line up >

since they offer Motion interpolation in their game mode settings, that can push a 30fps game into a fake 60fps. The caveats would be that the input lag doubles from 10ms to 20ms, and there's occasional motion artifacts. But hey, it's still an option.

Pikmin 4 though, as you were saying could still likely get an NS2 Edition locked at 60fps and at least 1080p - 1440p. That's what I'm really hoping for in the next direct as far as NS2 Editions go, same thing applies to Luigi's Mansion 3 and 3rd party titles like Astral Chain.

@WaveBoy They absolutely could, but you'd need to rewrite about 40-60% of the game from scratch to account for it. Any code that runs once per frame (or once per N frames) needs to have it's logic instead adjusted to look at a global clock. Most likely all animations would need to be adjusted as well to not be frame based.

Now, if you were porting it to Switch 2 natively anyways it might be worth it, but as a patch? It's almost as much work as just doing a port.

Pikmin 4 definitely from what I've heard (admittedly I'm not as versed in the code of Switch games as I am GCN - Wii U) should be a matter of patching, it's supposed to already use logic tied to a global timer. Though it's possible animations might need to be redone or something if the animations are frame tied I guess?