Shigeru Miyamoto has declared November 1st as ‘Pikmin Day,’ a new holiday dedicated to Nintendo’s Pikmin franchise, during a surprise Nintendo Direct presentation. The announcement came with updates for existing Pikmin titles rather than any new game reveals.
Miyamoto stated that the holiday aims to bring more attention to the Pikmin series. His reasoning for choosing November 1st is that three Pikmin figures standing together visually resemble the date ‘11.1.’ The timing also coincides with the original Pikmin's release window on the GameCube in 2001.
Updates were provided for the Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Pikmin 4, which will allow players to issue vocal commands to the companion Oatchi using the console's microphone. This version will also introduce a new timed challenge mode called ‘Dandori Academy,’ where players can practice and submit scores for treasure rushes. A demo for this mode is set to become available the Monday prior to the game's November 12th launch.
For the mobile game Pikmin Bloom, players will soon be able to send their Pikmin into underground caves, which will offer treasures at the risk of losing Pikmin. The Direct concluded with the announcement that new animated Pikmin shorts will be released on a monthly basis. Actress Fuka Koshiba was also introduced as a Pikmin ambassador. Miyamoto also noted the recent developments in Canadian daylight saving time policy as another example of how quickly things can change, drawing a parallel to his surprise holiday announcement.