It was Pikmin all along

Yesterday Nintendo released a mysterious video called “Close to You” that set internet sleuths into action. The video depicted a cute baby seemingly moving objects around a nursery. Some thought that it might be a subtle teaser for the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie, possibly showing the origin of Rosalina and her powers. Others noticed Pikmin musical cues and the tiny little creatures hiding in the background. Now we know for sure: it was Pikmin.

Unfortunately, the newly-uploaded video is currently only available in the Nintendo Today app. (I’ll update this post if and when it appears on YouTube.) In the video — which still has the same title — things play out the same, but this time around it shows that those adorable sentient plants are responsible for all of the moving objects. They’re everywhere; flying off rattles, carrying toy blocks, and fighting over a pacifier.

It’s a cute alternate view of the original video, even if it does raise some big existential questions for the Pikmin universe. Namely: can only children see the creatures? Nintendo has previously said that Pikmin “cannot be seen with the naked eye,” but maybe the lore has changed. My house could be infested and I wouldn’t even know it.

Here’s the original video for reference:

The bigger question, of course, is whether Nintendo is teasing something with this video. A Pikmin movie? An Switch 2 update for Pikmin 4? A major expansion for Pikmin Bloom? A new line of Pikmin-themed pacifiers? Or it could just be a cute, standalone short. Maybe more will be revealed tomorrow.