It's been a few years since Miyamoto promised that a new Pikmin game was "well under way," and nothing has surfaced yet. Sure, a random retail listing from HMV pegged Pikmin 2 as coming to the Wii, but even that has yet to be confirmed by the Big N. Pikmin fans have been waiting quite awhile, but now it seems a glimmer of hope has sprung up in the latest "Iwata Asks."

The topic of the latest "Iwata Asks" focused on the Nintendo 3DS, but the conversation took an interesting turn when Shigesato Itoi, the creator of Earthbound, started talking about watching Pikmin run on the 3DS. The legendary Miyamoto chimed in asking the others if Pikmin looked great on the new handheld. "It seems like Pikmin is perfect for 3D," Iwata (the President of Nintendo) added. Check out the Pikmin portion of the Nintendo interview below.

Itoi: "Well…you know…this is really… Oh, that’s Pikmin! Great!"

Miyamoto: "Doesn’t Pikmin look great?"

Iwata: "It seems like Pikmin is perfect for 3D."

Miyamoto: "I like the way they scurry around."

Itoi: "Pikmin is a game with a peculiar 3D effect as if you’re getting down on hands and knees to look at something small. Man, I want one of these! I’ll buy one, Prez! How much is it going to cost me, Prez?"

This interview seems to all but confirm the existence of Pikmin 3... or Pikmin 3DS, it now seems. After some thought it's easy to see why Nintendo may decide to make the third Pikmin a 3DS title, and looking back at this past year's E3, it's easy to see the signs that this was happening. The 3DS hands-on preview I had included a statue of the three traditional red, blue, and yellow Pikmin in glorious glasses-less 3D. A Pikmin 3DS game also explains why nobody has seen or heard anything about Pikmin 3 for a couple of years.

Pikmin 3DS would certainly have a lot of potential if it turns out to be real, and it seems like a perfect fit for the new handheld. Hopefully this next installment will feature online multiplayer and some new Pikmin types, but for now we can only hope.

Pikmin for the Nintendo 3DS could very well surface at tomorrow's Nintendo World event in Japan, so stay tuned to Game Rant for more information.

After reading this info, do you think Pikmin 3DS is a reality? Would you purchase the game for the 3DS?

Source: Nintendo