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'''''Pikmin.com SpaceForce''''' is a lost browser game made by Nintendo of America to promote [[Pikmin (game)|the first ''Pikmin'' game]]. Not much is known about its gameplay, and while archives of the website it was on exist, it's not clear if the game itself is contained within these archives. The game was made with Adobe Flash (known as Macromedia Flash at the time), and was accessed from www.pikmin.com. It was released around November 2001, and taken offline in mid-2002.
{{page title|''Pikmin.com SpaceForce''}}
{{game icons|p=y}}
'''''Pikmin.com SpaceForce''''' is a partially lost browser game made by Nintendo of America to promote [[Pikmin (game)|the first ''Pikmin'' game]]. Not much is known about its gameplay, and while archives of the website do exist, it's not clear if the game itself is contained within these archives. The game was developed by the Seattle-based digital media company Martini Design, using the now-discontinued {{w|Adobe Flash}} (known as Macromedia Flash at the time), and was accessed from [http://www.pikmin.com www.pikmin.com]. It was released during November 2001, and taken offline a few months into 2002.


==Details==
==Menu screens==
The registration page features an image of [[Olimar]] and the Pikmin resting on a leafy branch, while underneath a Blue Pikmin runs back and forth. the series logo is in the top left, and underneath is a link to visit the Nintendo website. In the bottom right corner, Olimar stands still looking at the viewer. Directly above him, there are two links to download the software required to play the game, but now both of those plugins no longer work.
[[File:PikminSpaceforceRegistration.png|thumb|250px|The homepage.]]


The main page features the same image as the registration page, but more zoomed-in, a day timer similar to the one found in the first game is shown in the top right, and underneath was the number of days until the web game released. The sign-in area has been replaced with freeform shapes that tell the player that the game would be coming soon. It's presumed this would turn into a play button, but the archives for it don't exist. Below that is a button to access the leaderboards and a button for tips & info. To the left of that bubble is another one which has a log-in area with the title "My Team Headquarters" It is unknown what this refers to. At the bottom right corner, Olimar has been replaced with a Yellow Pikmin, and even further down there are buttons for Email updates, Parental info, and an FAQ.
The homepage at www.pikmin.com featured some promotional art for ''Pikmin'', and various links related to the game. These included links to a few Nintendo websites, a button to enter the main page of the game itself, and links to download the browser plugins required to play the game (Macromedia Flash Player and Apple's QuickTime).{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020328220708/http://www.pikmin.com/|pikmin.com homepage, 28 March 2002|the Wayback Machine}}


The game overview page has a different background, featuring Pikmin climbing up plants, while the foreground features the Pikmin standing in a line, with Olimar placed to the right of them. This page still has the day timer, but now there is an overview of the first Pikmin game in the top left, and one of the bubbles now holds a separate movie for each the Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin, and one for Olimar. What those videos are of is yet unknown. At the bottom of the page, there are buttons for email updates, parental info, FAQs, an overview of the game, and a link to the homepage.  
[[File:PikminSpaceforceHome.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The main page.]]


When opening the website a short animation would play, that had the camera pan onto the screen from the right, Blue Pikmin would then fall from the top left, landing on the GameCube logo, causing it to bounce off, and the logo to shake. A Yellow Pikmin then slides in from the right, while the Blue Pikmin that fell begins running back and forth in the background.
The main page featured a similar background to the homepage, with some additional game-related graphics. There was a ''Pikmin''-style day counter and sun meter, which appear to have shown the number of days until the game released. On the right side there were a few buttons, one of which says that the game would be coming soon. It is presumed this would turn into a play button, but there is no archive showing the button looking like this. Below that were buttons to access a "Leaderboards" page and a "Tips & Info" page. To the left of that bubble was another one which has a log-in area with the title "My Team Headquarters"; it is unknown exactly what this refers to. In the bottom right corner, there were buttons to get email updates, view parental info, and read an FAQ.{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020206100735/http://www.pikmin.com/flash.jsp|Main page of Pikmin.com SpaceForce, 6 February 2002|the Wayback Machine}}


Clicking the GameCube icon at the bottom of the page would have sent you to a separate website for the GameCube with something that ran using Flash. However, we are unable to know what it opens at this time.
[[File:PikminSpaceforceOverview.png|thumb|250px|The overview page.]]


The game seems to have had you playing as a Pikmin and helping "a Space Explorer" escape a planet, It started with a personality test asking some basic questions that would have determined the Pikmin type which you play as. The actual gameplay is still unknown but it had players collecting [[Pellet|"food"]] which would have boosted the player's score. Once the game was over the player would be congratulated, and if their score was high enough, it would be added to the leaderboard. Bonus points could be collected by finding hidden links on other websites as a cross-promotion for the game, with each one increasing the total by 1-10 points.
Clicking the "Game Overview" link on the main page led to a page with different background artwork, where an overview of {{p1}} was written. The buttons on the right side still remained, but there were 4 additional buttons to view videos explaining [[Red Pikmin]], [[Yellow Pikmin]], [[Blue Pikmin]], and [[Olimar]]. These videos cannot be found in any archive of the site.
 
The website featured several Flash animations. When opening the website a short animation would play, that had the camera pan onto the screen from the right, Blue Pikmin falling from the top left, landing on the GameCube logo, causing the Pikmin to bounce off and the logo to shake. A Yellow Pikmin would then slide in from the right, while the Blue Pikmin that fell began running back and forth in the background.{{cite web|https://twitter.com/thecallmeout/status/1570907643786723329|Twitter post with a video of the site|Twitter}}
 
{{clear}}
==Gameplay==
The precise nature of the gameplay of ''Pikmin.com SpaceForce'' is unknown. However, from what remains in the archives and the few forum posts talking about it, it seems that game would have had players take the role of a Pikmin and help "a Space Explorer" escape a planet.{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20011210093747/http://www.pikmin.com/DefaultJoin.jsp|Signup page of pikmin.com, 10 December 2001|the Wayback Machine}} To start, players would have to create an account{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20011209160639/http://pikmin.com/SignUp.jsp|Source code for signup page on pikmin.com, 9 December 2001|the Wayback Machine}} and complete a personality test asking some questions that would determine the Pikmin type they would play as.{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020215223631/http://pikmin.com/DefaultQuiz.jsp|Quiz page on pikmin.com, 15 February 2002|the Wayback Machine}} Players would group into teams, and would try to find food in the form of [[pellet]]s that would increase the team's score.{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020205110804/http://www.pikmin.com/FoodSignin.jsp?pikminfoodcolor{{=}}yellow|Finding a yellow pellet on pikmin.com, 5 February 2002|the Wayback Machine}} This food was often found on other websites,{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020120002444/http://ridgeracer64.com/|Ridge Racer 64 website homepage, 20 January 2002|the Wayback Machine}}{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020204121208/http://www.pokemon.com/games/index.html|List of games on the Pokémon website, 4 February 2002|the Wayback Machine}}{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020118045504/http://nintendopower.com/|Nintendo Power website homepage, 18 January 2002|the Wayback Machine}}{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20020127080806/http://www.yoshisstory.com/pet.html|Yoshi the Web Pet on the Yoshi's Story website, 27 January 2002|the Wayback Machine}}{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20011208211355/http://www.datadyne.com/datadyne/careers.htm|DataDyne careers page (this website was made to promote the game ''Perfect Dark''), 8 December 2001|the Wayback Machine}}{{cite web|https://www.neoseeker.com/forums/1909/t46660-someone-know-on-which-site-to-go-to-find-pikmin-food-for-pikmin-com/|Forum post from January 2002|the Neoseeker forums}} mostly ones owned by Nintendo, which featured hidden buttons that could be clicked to collect food for the game.{{cite web|https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/xhah42/partially_lost_pikmincom_spaceforce_a_flash_game/|Reddit post asking about the game|Reddit}} This indicates that ''Pikmin.com SpaceForce'' was part of a larger cross-promotional marketing strategy by Nintendo of America, encouraging players to explore the internet to find these pellets,{{cite web|https://web.archive.org/web/20011209105910/http://pikmin.com/DefaultCongrats.jsp|Source code for a congratulations page on pikmin.com, 9 December 2001|the Wayback Machine}} and encouraging people visiting those websites for other reasons to visit the ''Pikmin'' website. Each pellet collected would give between 1 and 20 points, with pellets of the same color as the player's Pikmin type giving more points. There was a leaderboard, which probably tracked the number of points obtained by each team of players.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery>
<gallery>
PikminSpaceforceHome.jpg|The main page of the website.
PikminSpaceforceRegistration.png|The sign-in page of the website.
PikminSpaceforceOverview.png|An overview page featuring trailers for each character.
PikminSpaceforceQuizStart.png|Presumably the screen after signing in. It has a description of the story.
PikminSpaceforceQuizStart.png|Presumably the screen after signing in. It has a description of the story.
PikminSpaceforceQuiz.png|A personality test taken to determine the Pikmin type of the player.
PikminSpaceforceQuiz.png|A personality test to determine the Pikmin type of the player.
PikminSpaceforceYou.gif|Could be the results of the test showing the type the player got.
PikminSpaceforceYou.gif|Image from the game files, which could be showing the Pikmin type the player was assigned.
PikminSpaceforceLeave.png|What shows up if you try to exit mid-game.
PikminSpaceforceLeave.png|Image from the game files, which shows up if the player tries to exit mid-game.
PikminSpaceforceFood2.jpg|A hidden link showing a Blue Pikmin on another site that adds to the player's points.
PikminSpaceforceFood2.jpg|A button which could be hidden on another website, showing a blue pellet that adds to the player's points.
PikminSpaceforceFood3.jpg|A hidden link showing a Yellow Pikmin on another site that adds to the player's points.
PikminSpaceforceFood3.jpg|A button which could be hidden on another website, showing a yellow pellet that adds to the player's points.
PikminSpaceforceRPellet.gif|The point value for a red pellet.
PikminSpaceforceRPellet.gif|A red pellet worth 10 points.
PikminSpaceforceYPellet.gif|The point value for a yellow pellet.
PikminSpaceforceYPellet.gif|A yellow pellet worth 10 points.
PikminSpaceforceFood.jpg|A page displayed when you find food on another site.
PikminSpaceforceFood.jpg|A page displayed when food is found on another website.
PikminSpaceforcePromo.png|Promotional material for the game.
ErrorPromptSpaceForceGameFiles.png|An error message that can be seen offscreen in the game files.
PikminSpaceforcePromo.png|Advertisement for the game in a [[Nintendo Power]] ''Pikmin'' promotional booklet.{{cite web|https://archive.org/details/pikminpromobook_201906/page/n11/mode/2up|Page 13 of a Nintendo Power ''Pikmin'' promotional booklet|the Internet Archive}}
NintendoPowerSpaceForce1.jpg|Image of a Nintendo Power article showcasing the developers of the game.
NintendoPowerSpaceForce2.jpg|Image of a Nintendo Power article announcing that the game can be played.
</gallery>
</gallery>
==See also==
*[[Stage Debut]]
*[[Promotional material]]
==References==
{{refs}}
{{games}}
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Spin-offs]]
[[Category:Websites]]

Latest revision as of 18:50, April 10, 2024

Pikmin.com SpaceForce is a partially lost browser game made by Nintendo of America to promote the first Pikmin game. Not much is known about its gameplay, and while archives of the website do exist, it's not clear if the game itself is contained within these archives. The game was developed by the Seattle-based digital media company Martini Design, using the now-discontinued Adobe Flash (known as Macromedia Flash at the time), and was accessed from www.pikmin.com. It was released during November 2001, and taken offline a few months into 2002.

Menu screens[edit]

The registration page in Pikmin.com SpaceForce.
The homepage.

The homepage at www.pikmin.com featured some promotional art for Pikmin, and various links related to the game. These included links to a few Nintendo websites, a button to enter the main page of the game itself, and links to download the browser plugins required to play the game (Macromedia Flash Player and Apple's QuickTime).[1]

The first page in Pikmin.com SpaceForce.
The main page.

The main page featured a similar background to the homepage, with some additional game-related graphics. There was a Pikmin-style day counter and sun meter, which appear to have shown the number of days until the game released. On the right side there were a few buttons, one of which says that the game would be coming soon. It is presumed this would turn into a play button, but there is no archive showing the button looking like this. Below that were buttons to access a "Leaderboards" page and a "Tips & Info" page. To the left of that bubble was another one which has a log-in area with the title "My Team Headquarters"; it is unknown exactly what this refers to. In the bottom right corner, there were buttons to get email updates, view parental info, and read an FAQ.[2]

The game overview page in Pikmin.com SpaceForce.
The overview page.

Clicking the "Game Overview" link on the main page led to a page with different background artwork, where an overview of Pikmin was written. The buttons on the right side still remained, but there were 4 additional buttons to view videos explaining Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, and Olimar. These videos cannot be found in any archive of the site.

The website featured several Flash animations. When opening the website a short animation would play, that had the camera pan onto the screen from the right, Blue Pikmin falling from the top left, landing on the GameCube logo, causing the Pikmin to bounce off and the logo to shake. A Yellow Pikmin would then slide in from the right, while the Blue Pikmin that fell began running back and forth in the background.[3]

Gameplay[edit]

The precise nature of the gameplay of Pikmin.com SpaceForce is unknown. However, from what remains in the archives and the few forum posts talking about it, it seems that game would have had players take the role of a Pikmin and help "a Space Explorer" escape a planet.[4] To start, players would have to create an account[5] and complete a personality test asking some questions that would determine the Pikmin type they would play as.[6] Players would group into teams, and would try to find food in the form of pellets that would increase the team's score.[7] This food was often found on other websites,[8][9][10][11][12][13] mostly ones owned by Nintendo, which featured hidden buttons that could be clicked to collect food for the game.[14] This indicates that Pikmin.com SpaceForce was part of a larger cross-promotional marketing strategy by Nintendo of America, encouraging players to explore the internet to find these pellets,[15] and encouraging people visiting those websites for other reasons to visit the Pikmin website. Each pellet collected would give between 1 and 20 points, with pellets of the same color as the player's Pikmin type giving more points. There was a leaderboard, which probably tracked the number of points obtained by each team of players.

Gallery[edit]

  • Presumably the screen after signing in. It has a description of the story.

    Presumably the screen after signing in. It has a description of the story.

  • A personality test to determine the Pikmin type of the player.

    A personality test to determine the Pikmin type of the player.

  • Image from the game files, which could be showing the Pikmin type the player was assigned.

    Image from the game files, which could be showing the Pikmin type the player was assigned.

  • Image from the game files, which shows up if the player tries to exit mid-game.

    Image from the game files, which shows up if the player tries to exit mid-game.

  • A button which could be hidden on another website, showing a blue pellet that adds to the player's points.

    A button which could be hidden on another website, showing a blue pellet that adds to the player's points.

  • A button which could be hidden on another website, showing a yellow pellet that adds to the player's points.

    A button which could be hidden on another website, showing a yellow pellet that adds to the player's points.

  • A red pellet worth 10 points.

    A red pellet worth 10 points.

  • A yellow pellet worth 10 points.

    A yellow pellet worth 10 points.

  • A page displayed when food is found on another website.

    A page displayed when food is found on another website.

  • An error message that can be seen offscreen in the game files.

    An error message that can be seen offscreen in the game files.

  • Advertisement for the game in a Nintendo Power Pikmin promotional booklet.[16]

    Advertisement for the game in a Nintendo Power Pikmin promotional booklet.[16]

  • Image of a Nintendo Power article showcasing the developers of the game.

    Image of a Nintendo Power article showcasing the developers of the game.

  • Image of a Nintendo Power article announcing that the game can be played.

    Image of a Nintendo Power article announcing that the game can be played.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ pikmin.com homepage, 28 March 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Main page of Pikmin.com SpaceForce, 6 February 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Twitter post with a video of the site on Twitter
  4. ^ Signup page of pikmin.com, 10 December 2001 on the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Source code for signup page on pikmin.com, 9 December 2001 on the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Quiz page on pikmin.com, 15 February 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Finding a yellow pellet on pikmin.com, 5 February 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Ridge Racer 64 website homepage, 20 January 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ List of games on the Pokémon website, 4 February 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Nintendo Power website homepage, 18 January 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Yoshi the Web Pet on the Yoshi's Story website, 27 January 2002 on the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ DataDyne careers page (this website was made to promote the game Perfect Dark), 8 December 2001 on the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Forum post from January 2002 on the Neoseeker forums
  14. ^ Reddit post asking about the game on Reddit
  15. ^ Source code for a congratulations page on pikmin.com, 9 December 2001 on the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Page 13 of a Nintendo Power Pikmin promotional booklet on the Internet Archive
Games
Main games Pikmin • Pikmin 2 • Pikmin 3 • Pikmin 4
Spin-off games Hey! Pikmin • Pikmin Bloom
Re-releases New Play Control! Pikmin • New Play Control! Pikmin 2
Pikmin 3 Deluxe • Pikmin 1 (Nintendo Switch) • Pikmin 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Web games Pikmin.com SpaceForce • Pikmin Treasure Hunt • Pikmin Finder
Super Smash Bros. series Brawl • for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U • Ultimate
Others Pikmin Adventure (Nintendo Land) • Stage Debut
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