A different look at a GC favourite

"When I look at the president, I can't see myself climbing the corporate ladder. To be a manager, you've got to be an inhuman, heartless villain. This trait allows them to flog their dedicated workers without mercy and still sleep at night. " � Captain Olimar

Unlike other types of entertainment, computer games have largely shied away from tackling social and political issues. Given the difficulty and resources required to make a game, and the conservatism of sales-conscious publishers, it's not surprising to find that most commentary on current affairs can be found in the underground world of Flash games. Some mainstream games attempt to deal with political themes � recent examples include Killer 7. Yet there is one unexpected source of political insight� Pikmin. Yes, you heard right: Shigeru Miyamoto's inspired bug-filled scavenger hunt provides more than just gameplay thrills. It's rather bizarre to consider it, but Nintendo's Pikmin games are loaded with insects, treasures, and political analogies that lend the game a more mature feel.

Admittedly, the implicit politics of Pikmin are only apparent when reading through the game's Piklopedia and Treasure Hoard screens. After Captain Olimar, Louie and their faithful band of Pikmin recover different items and treasures in-game, the player can read up about them on these status screens. It is here that the developers at Nintendo slip in some comments about the state of our business-driven world. Is Pikmin 2 the first computer game to attempt a critique of capitalism?

Right from the start Pikmin 2 deals with these themes. On Olimar's return to his home planet he finds that his employer, Hocotate Freight, is on the verge of going under. The president of the company has taken out a huge loan in order to repay massive debt, the result of Louie's hoard of Pikpik carrots being eaten. However, the ship's computer comes up with a brilliant plan � "Treasure! Money! Money! Money!" In order to pay back the loan of 10,000 Pokos, Olimar and Louie must return to the planet of the Pikmin and gather "treasure" which can be sold on Hocotate.

Pikmin 2 is full of good-natured humour; with Olimar clearly confused as to the nature of the items he collects on this alien planet. Of course, we recognise the planet as our own; but our household objects and rubbish are completely foreign to Olimar, leading him to name items in a totally different, though still accurate, way (he coins the term "Insect condo" for an apple). Our discarded trash becomes invaluable to the alien creatures, and Olimar uses the Pikmin to collect as many items as possible. The humour of the game goes further though, into satire and political comment.

The objects collected allow Olimar to consider the nature of his job, his family and life. The goal of the game is to make money for Olimar's company in order to save it � for Olimar however, this is not enough. He criticises Hocotate Freight and its president: his notes on a coin (which he calls a "Mirrored element") include a rant that "Talking to the boss makes me crave the power to order people around. He just sits on his haunch all day, barking out wildly irrational requests. Arrgg� when will it be my turn to be the boss? " Also, the item "Essence of true love" prompts Olimar to say, "I'm not even annoyed with the tight-fisted corporation I slave each and every day for. " Olimar seems to be talking about a deep disaffection with life when looking at the item "Spirit flogger", a machine's gear: "For a long time now, I've just been whiling away my life like a sprocket in a machine. Sometimes I just stop and wonder, am I happy with my life? Ack� I can't start thinking like that. I must concentrate on my mission! " In response to such comments, the ship's computer offers a "sales pitch" for each of the treasures, calling the gear "An item for CEOs throughout the solar system� Give this to an employee to create a no-vacation-taking, no-bonus-needing work machine! " While Olimar is more reflective, the computer is the cold, calculating sales manager, appealing to the consumers who will pay big money for (literally) any old rubbish � "Business is business" is the computer's motto. Players who rush through the game and don't take the time to read all of Olimar's journal notes will miss these remarks, but they offer a neat little commentary on today's money-mad world. As Olimar says about the "Lustrous element", a coin: "I'm gripped with an overpowering sense of greed� Perhaps this alluring metal is responsible for many of this planet's woes. "

It's possible that the designers at Nintendo were having a laugh, or maybe even remarking on their own position as stressed-out employees in a big corporation! But Olimar also displays an understanding of the way Hocotate's capitalist system impacts on his family. Separated from his family, Olimar ponders, "I've never had much desire to climb the corporate ladder, but I'm beginning to think I should. Every year that my kids grow older, they get more expensive. Taking care of them is my most important duty. " Olimar also mentions missing family parties because of working for the company, and having to buy expensive jewellery for his fashion-conscious daughter. Captain Olimar seems not to be an alien creature here, but an everyman father, facing up to the difficulties of providing for his family.

Ironically, Pikmin 2 could be criticised for its obvious product placement. Bottle caps from 7-Up and other companies are among the items scavenged by Olimar and the Pikmin. But taken in context, this only adds to the satirical humour of the game � Olimar's overwhelming need to sample the food and drink he collects allows the developers to poke fun at the consumerism that these big companies represent. The ship's computer unashamedly promotes a sausage (or "Meat satchel"): "Listen to the inner beast! Eat! Eat! Eat! " and Olimar cannot resist saying "it calls to me..."

In the end, with the company's debt paid off (and even the suited president mucking in) it's obvious that Pikmin is just a game: albeit it one containing clever satire. Indeed, reading up on the bugs that the Pikmin encounter also lends much more straightforward humour to the proceedings: a flame-throwing Dweevil has the pseudo-Latin name of "Mandarachnia napalmens", while the farting Doodlebug is known as "Pilli Flatularum". Also, Louie offers cookery instructions on how to boil, fry and baste different types of bugs. But one of Olimar's journals leads me to believe that the political element of this game is not just an afterthought. The final boss, the Titan Dweevil, comes equipped with, among other things, a poison gas capability: the ship's computer notes "You cannot see it. You cannot smell it. Yet this weapon would steal your life, given the chance", while Olimar says "Although it was once a primitive chemical weapon, it is now a weapon of mass hilarity. " And you don't get much more politically topical than that!

Pikmin 2 seems to be one of a number of recent titles that have dealt with political themes, at least in part. The examination of Olimar's capitalist world through humour places it up there with games such as Half-Life 2, which deals with the nature of humanity in the face of a brutal police state. Political themes can also be detected in the Splinter Cell games, which deal with the current "war on terror", and Deus Ex, which imagines a corrupt, poverty-stricken future. Important issues can be seen through the Metal Gear Solid series, which question the nature of war and genetics. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, British developers Novagen created a series of games that became increasingly political � the final game in the trilogy (Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis) involved a corrupt industrialist seeking victory in a presidential election, thus allowing him to mine an environmentally sensitive planet.

Many gamers hope that our favourite pastime will become more "mature", and that video games will one day be regarded as an art form like novels or film. As long as developers take risks, ask questions and address important themes and issues, then we can be sure this will eventually happen. The irony is that those gamers who have no time for these "kiddy" and "immature" Nintendo titles may miss the politics of Pikmin.

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