Pikmin Day Direct: free Pikmin 4 Switch 2 demo on 2 November, and no new games

Nintendo released a Pikmin Day Direct on its YouTube channels on Saturday 31 October at 7am Pacific time, which was 1am on Sunday 1 November in Sydney. Nintendo’s own page for the video says it shares “some Pikmin-related information” and that “there will be no new game announcements”. The English version runs for 9 minutes 34 seconds.

Pikmin Day is new this year

Shigeru Miyamoto hosts the video, and says that, starting this year, Nintendo will call 1 November Pikmin Day. The first Pikmin game, released on GameCube in 2001, introduced the red, blue and yellow Pikmin, and imagining those three Pikmin as the number one makes the date 11/1.

Pikmin 4: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy

The Switch 2 version of Pikmin 4 launches on Thursday 12 November, the date Nintendo Australia lists. On the Australian eShop, the Switch 2 Edition is $99.95 (inc. GST) and includes the original Switch game. If you already own Pikmin 4 on Switch, an upgrade pack is $20.00 and open for pre-order. In the US, Nintendo prices its upgrade pack at US$9.99.

The Direct showed what the Switch 2 Edition adds:

• Voice commands: you can give Oatchi orders through the Switch 2’s built-in microphone.
• Dandori Academy: a mode about collecting treasure around a stage as quickly as you can. Practise as much as you like, then take an exam on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays: one attempt, with medals based on how you do. Nintendo says 72 stages will be released over time.

Nintendo says a free demo of the Switch 2 Edition launches on 2 November. It covers the game’s opening area, Sunspeckled Terrace, and two Dandori Academy stages. The video didn’t give a time, so check the eShop on the day.

Nintendo Treehouse will also play the Switch 2 Edition on a stream on Pikmin Day, Sunday 1 November, at 9am Pacific. US clocks went back that morning, so that’s 4am on Monday 2 November in Sydney.

Pikmin Bloom: Secret Caves

The Pikmin Bloom phone app is getting an update called Secret Caves, which Nintendo says is coming “this winter”. It hasn’t given a date. Players send Pikmin into caves, where they explore on their own and battle creatures for treasure. You need a cave map, which may come attached to postcards, and special in-app maps can be earned by taking exams in the Switch 2 Edition.

Hello! Pikmin short films

The first Hello! Pikmin short film, “Frog”, is up on Nintendo’s Pikmin site. According to the Direct, another episode was due the next day, one more arrives in November, and from December there will be one a month on Nintendo Today and other channels.