Why Did Miyamoto Develop A New Luigi’s Mansion Before Pikmin?

The short answer Shigeru Miyamoto told a group of press at a developer’s conference is because he wanted to make a new Luigi’s Mansion game.

When Nintendo was experimenting with Nintendo 3DS concepts, the first game they put on the prototype hardware was the Gamecube version Luigi’s Mansion. This got Miyamoto thinking about a new game in the series. Even though Miyamoto is responsible for Luigi’s Mansion 2, Nintendo is not developing the game internally. Next Level Games, the Canadian studio behind Super Mario Strikers and Punchout!!, is developing the title.

A short trailer of Luigi’s Mansion 2 was shown and it started with Luigi dancing with the Poltergust 5000. The game has cinematics, like a scene where Professor Gadd hands Luigi a Nintendo DS. When Luigi is digitized he steps into a wooden bucket. Players can use this in later levels to move water. The X button in Luigi’s Mansion 2 is a general action button. You can use it to peep through a keyhole, for example, and tilt the 3DS to look around. In another scene, Luigi teams up with Toad in an icy stage. During this level ghosts appear in mirrors.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 is on track for release early next year. For more about the sequel, check out our hands-on impressions.