Shigeru Miyamoto is a legend in the industry, being the self-proclaim father of Mario whose influence has touched any number of games under the Nintendo umbrella. He still appears for major presentations, like in December 2020 whenMiyamoto gave fans a tour of the Super Nintendo World theme park in Japan. One of the developer’s biggest passion projects has been thePikminfranchise, so it was little surprise to see him appear during the September 2022 Nintendo Direct for a briefPikmin 4teaser. The way he brought in Niantic’sPikmin Bloomwas more of a surprise.
Pikminhas had a sparse release schedule. FollowingPikminandPikmin 2, which released for GameCube in 2001 and 2004 respectively, it would take nearly a decade forPikmin 3to drop on Wii U. APikmin 4was teased by Miyamoto as early as 2015, though some speculate this may have been referring toArzest’s 3DS spin-offHey! Pikmin, released in 2017. Beyond re-releases likePikmin 3 Deluxe, the only other title in the franchise so far isPikmin Bloom; another take on the augmented reality (AR) formula ofPokemon GO. Miyamoto gave so much attention toBloomduring his Nintendo Direct segment that one has to wonder if it will include deeper ties toPikmin 4.
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What is Pikmin Bloom?
Niantic releasedPikmin Bloomin October 2021, which serves as more of a pure exercise app than its previous venture with Game Freak. WherePokemon GOhas players walk around to find monsters populating the real world,Pikmin Bloomis more a pedometer that encourages walkingfor its own sake. There are gamified elements, collecting Pikmin Seedlings from nearby places and maturing those plant-like partners by accumulating enough steps. However, a lot of the ways a player will interact with their Pikmin come during the moments between exercise, as if capping off a good workout with some rewards.
The main appeal of this mobile game is thatPikmin can wear different pieces of decorbased on the locale around which their Seedlings were discovered. Like Olimar or Alph travel with an army behind them,Pikmin Bloomthrives on letting players amass unique, named Pikmin wearing toy airplanes and scrunchies that pose for AR photographs. There’s also a meta story behindPikmin Bloomabout beautifying the world by planting flowers, which Miyamoto highlights by showing local regions like Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo.
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How Pikmin Bloom Could Interact with Pikmin 4
It makes sense for a Direct to highlight games currently available in the Nintendo ecosystem, be it on Switch or smartphone. However, games likeSplatoon 3andMario Strikers: Battle Leagueappeared during the September 2022 Direct alongside announcements for new updates and events.Pikmin Bloomappeared with nothing beyond a basic rundown before Miyamoto moved on to “the main event,“Pikmin 4.
While this could be the result of a deal with Niantic or basic subterfuge to have fans lean back before the surprisingPikmin 4reveal, it’s also possible thatPikmin Bloomwill have an impact on the 2023 Switch title. Very little is shown in this initial teaser, just a few sweeping shots of environments like a park bench before Miyamoto announcesPikmin 4will be played from a behind-the-shoulder anglerather than top-down as in the series' real-time strategy roots.
Pokemon GOis an interesting template for how interactivity betweenPikmin 4andBloomcould work.Trainers can link theirPokemon GOaccount to thePokemon Homeapp, taking the monsters they catch in real life and transferring them to titles likeSwordandShield. This could work just as well forPikmin Bloom’s more customizable Pikmin, though it would have far less of an impact for a series where these critters can be gobbled up and never seen again.
Alternatively, playingPikmin Bloommay offer some other benefit forPikmin 4players. Those with My Nintendo account data could receive unique cosmetics based on the decor in Niantic’s mobile game, for example.Splatoon 3’s SplatNet interactivityhas showcased other ways in which smartphone apps can impact their console counterparts, even if it’s as simple as tracking in-game systems like day/night cycles and weather patterns. Fans will have to wait and see for now, but Miyamoto’s bizarre pitch for a year-old mobile game would make more sense if Nintendo wanted people playing it beforePikmin 4launches.
