Nintendo has an eccentric approach to marketing. Just last month it proudly announced the revival of its biggest-ever flop with Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch in a video that felt like one big joke. And then came this week's mysterious animated short.
The four-minute video was posted on Nintendo's YouTube accounts with the comments turned off and no explanation other than the film's title, Close to You.
Fan theories of the Nintendo animation abounded. Some thought it was another teaser for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, some saw the baby as a young Rosalina, others a young Princess Peach or even Zelda or Link. The Pixar-like animation style even sparked theories that Nintendo was about to announce a whole new animated movie.
In the end, it was the music that gave the game away for some. That and an out-of-focus shape that some viewers claimed to spot at 1:40. Was that blur under the cot a red Pikmin?
It seemed fanciful but turned out to be true... I think. A day after posting the video, Nintendo posted a second version like a patch rolled out for a video game. This time, we can see what's moving the baby's dummy. Yep, Pikmin.
Part of me was hoping that Nintendo would never elaborate on the video, leaving us in confusion. Fans now presume that it's a very lavish and elaborate tease for Pikmin 5.
First introduced for the GameCube in 2001, The Pikmin are half plant, half animal and can't be seen by the human eye, which explains why they were invisible in the original video. It might also kind of explain why Nintendo only released the second edit of the video on its app. It's like seeing the Pikmin is a of secret only for those in the know.
It seems some lore has been changed. Previous Pikmin games have been set in a future after humans have died out. Introducing the species to contemporary Earth could fundamentally change the real-time strategy video game series as part of its appeal was the fictional futuristic setting.
Still, I have to admire Nintendo's weird, wonderful and highly effective approach to marketing. Many brands would have been tempted to make the clues in the video more obvious or to drop a more obvious teaser, but Nintendo gave fans a day to work it out for themselves, creating much more interest than a simple announcement would have.
Releasing the second video in its app ensured that the debate continued as it was left to fans to spread the word and repost the video elsewhere, leading to confusion about whether the Pikmin version of the video was official.
Now everybody wants to know when Pikmin 5 will be coming, if that's even what it will be called, and how it will explain this twist in the Pikmin universe.
The game will presumably be released for Nintendo Switch. See our guide Nintendo Switch 2 prices. Also check out our pick of the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, or see my pick of the best retro handheld game consoles for alternatives.
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