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On Nov. 19, after years of anticipation, Grand Theft Auto 6<\/em> will finally be out. It\u2019s a safe bet that a lot of employees will call in sick from work that day, if not for the entire week. Others scheduled their vacations months ago. The game\u2019s launch will be an event, one that smart game publishers have worked to avoid with well-timed delays and release date shuffling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nintendo isn\u2019t worried, though. It has a new title locked, loaded, and ready to launch just one week before Rockstar\u2019s behemoth does its thing. Unexpectedly, the new Nintendo release going up against GTA 6<\/em> on Nov. 12 is Pikmin 4: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy<\/em>. It\u2019s a mouthful, and one Rockstar probably never saw it coming.<\/p>\n Originally released on the Nintendo Switch on July 21, 2023, also after years of anticipation (Shigeru Miyamoto said it was very close to completion as early as 2015), Pikmin 4<\/em> is the fourth entry in a series that has never been a Nintendo superstar on the level of Super Mario and Zelda. With that said, the ongoing adventures of an astronaut and his strange little buddies have still managed to cultivate a loyal following.<\/p>\n When Pikmin 4<\/em> first arrived and immediately stranded Captain Olimar on yet another Earth-like planet, returning fans didn\u2019t mind the repetition. Here at Polygon, we wrote in our review that the game \u201cmakes the real world seem more wondrous than it did before.\u201d It can be frustrating on occasion, but it is so full of smile-inducing moments that when you step away for a break, you\u2019ll struggle to remember what issues you even had. The overall emotion the game evokes is joy.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t had the chance to play through Grand Theft Auto 6<\/em> just yet, but I\u2019d be willing to bet its developers have aimed for a lot of emotions besides joy. A difference in focus may explain why Pikmin 4: Nintendo Switch 2<\/em> Edition is scheduled to arrive just one week before what seems poised to be the biggest release of the decade. The two publishers are aiming at very different audiences.<\/p>\n To mark the occasion of its grand return, Pikmin 4: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition<\/em> will release with new content, as its title suggests. Nintendo Switch 2 features include improved visuals and the ability to issue voice commands to Oatchi, the lovable canine space pup the game introduced. There also are a series of \u201cexams\u201d you can attempt at Dandori Academy. And finally, you\u2019ll be able to make use of GameShare to challenge your friends in Dandori Battles, even if they don\u2019t have their own copy of the title.<\/p>\n If you happen to already own Pikmin 4<\/em> on the original Switch, you won\u2019t have to buy it again at full price just to enjoy the improvements. Instead, you can spend $9.99 on the upgrade pack, which is a clever bit of marketing. Those of us who already spent money on the original edition can drop a mere $10 to enjoy it again with all the new bells and whistles, which doesn\u2019t seem especially painful. And when we do, we\u2019ll almost certainly take the opportunity to challenge a few of our friends to some hectic Dandori Battles. A few heated matches just might convince them to spend the full $70, so they can practice when we\u2019re not around and beat us when we are.<\/p>\n When Grand Theft Auto 6<\/em> arrives on Nov. 19, a lot of people will surely play it, or perhaps they\u2019ll still be enjoying a trip back to Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time<\/em> remake (which drops on Nov. 5, two weeks earlier than Rockstar\u2019s triumph in the making). For everyone else, there will be Pikmin 4<\/em>, now with more Dandori. When we look at it that way, the release strategy that at first seemed so bold is almost\u2026 sensible?<\/p>\n