Shigeru Miyamoto reflects on the relatively poorer sales of the Pikmin series, at least when compared to other Nintendo properties. Speaking as the most recent instalment, Pikmin 4, launches on Switch, Miyamoto suggests that previous titles haven't sold as well as hoped because Nintendo's audience finds them too difficult.
Miyamoto hypothesises that much of this difficulty stems from the fact that it's easy for Pikmin to die, but defends the decision to include this anyway, saying that this "relationship with mortality" is key to Pikmin's message. He also shares that the controls may have been too complicated in previous games, something he had hoped to address in this long-awaited sequel.
“There have been three games in the series until now, from Pikmin to Pikmin 3," says Miyamoto, speaking ahead of Pikmin 4's launch (thanks, VGC). "Personally I’ve always wondered, ‘Why haven’t they exploded more in sales even though they’re so much fun to play? Why do people think they’re so difficult?’
"I get that people find it more difficult when death is a factor. But I think the franchise's strength lies in its relationship with mortality. If something is irreversible, you need to figure out a way to prevent undesired things from happening."
Despite the constant threat of death hanging over the players in Pikmin, Miyamoto cites the controls as one of the more major issues. "I think people find Pikmin difficult for two reasons: the controls and the depth of gameplay. I spent a long time mulling over how we could convey these points as 'interesting' rather than 'difficult'."
In trying to bring new players on board, Miyamoto says he was eager not to alienate those who have played through all the games already.
"The first game provided a deeper challenge, while the second game was broader in terms of content, and we went back to something closer to the first one in Pikmin 3," he explains. "But after thinking about it, I realized that we could do both."
Pikmin 4 director Yuji Kando agrees, saying that the team prioritised making the camera, AI, and controls more approachable to newcomers. Otherwise, he says devs wanted to keep everything in the spirit of the previous games, taking the best of the three titles that came before it.
Fans will only just be playing Pikmin 4 now, so it remains to be seen if Miyamoto, Kando, and the rest of the team have struck a balance here. So far, reviews are positive, with the game launching to an 88 on Metacritic. This is just behind the scores for Pikmin and Pikmin 2, but not by much.