Early this morning, Nintendo released a nearly 4-minute animated short film titled "Close to You."In the clip, a baby watches as his toy is moved by some unseen force.Nintendo hasn't provided any background information or explanation as to the purpose of the short film, but eagle-eyed gamers are convinced it has something to do with the Pikmin series.

At 1 minute and 39 seconds into "Close to You", when the baby looks at his pacifier, a small red thing can be seen moving in the background.Throughout the short film, multiple objects appear to be moving autonomously or being manipulated by some invisible force - a scene that has been likened to the way "Pikmin carry small objects" in the Pikmin game series of the same name.In addition, some players pointed out that the music played at the beginning of the short film is similar to the main theme of "Pikmin".

This kind of promotion is similar to Nintendo's strategy when promoting "Famicom Detective Club Emio" last year.Before the game was officially announced, Nintendo released a series of brief cryptic teasers before finally announcing the game.

However, it should also be noted that "Close to You" may be just a simple animated short film with no other profound meaning.In recent years, Nintendo has been focusing on expanding its business in the film and television field: it not only established Nintendo Pictures, but also changed the name of Warpstar Inc. to Nintendo Stars.

At the end of "Close to You", the baby takes its first steps, and the mother happens to walk in to witness this scene.The short film ends with the Nintendo logo.Whether this "Close to You" is the first trailer for the new "Pikmin" project or just a heartwarming animated short film is currently unknown. Only time will tell the answer.