What does Pikmin mean? Nintendo responds

On Friday, July 21st, the long-awaited fourth opus of the Pikmin saga was released! So the opportunity is available to everyone fans It’s these little colorful creatures to celebrate, since the last game dates back to 2013… Moreover, to add to the excitement around the latest video game titles, Nintendo has published The tenth edition of the famous “Developers Have Their Say” column. In this series of interviews, the developers of the Japanese company explain in their own words what they think about the creation of the products and the specific points that concern them. For this edition, Pikmin 4 was in the spotlight. Part of the interview is also devoted to the meaning of the word Pikmin and it might interest you!

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Genesis and meaning of the Pikmin

You should know that in the beginning, these colorful and small allies bore the strange name “Becky”. Why? In Japanese, the term “Ippiki” means “small animal” and thus seems to fit perfectly with these charming creatures. However, the programmer, by misunderstanding, mistakenly believed that Ippiki must actually be Piki. So that name was kept, and then evolved into Pikki, until Shigeru Miyamoto and his team analyzed all the options on the table. Then the term Pikki changed again to Pikmin.

In Masamichi Abe’s opinion, When the official name for these creatures was chosen, we finally decided to call them “Pikmin”. We thought it sounded a little like “pick me up”. Miyamoto added: And it also sounded like a “vitamin,” an association that seemed positive to us. »

Finally, know that Pikmin 4 is now available exclusively on Nintendo Switch. You can buy it by clicking here.