Nintendo e-Reader
In December 2002 a year following the release of "Pikmin", game designer Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed a sequel to be in development. Development took about two and a half years; the original plan was to release it in Autumn 2003, but the team chose to delay it by six months to make further changes and revisions. "Pikmin 2" was directed both by Shigefumi Hino, who focused on the graphics design, and Masamichi Abe, who focused on the game design. Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka served as producers. Hajime Wakai composed the game soundtrack, while Kazumi Totaka served as the sound director; "Totaka's Song" is hidden twice in the game as an Easter egg. The 30-day time limit imposed in the original "Pikmin" was removed in order to allow players to explore the game world at a leisurely pace, which in turn increased the overall length of the game. Cooperative two-player gameplay within the main single player game was experimented, but it was found that it imposed limits on the overall game design. Multiplayer was thus relegated to a separate game mode. "Pikmin 2" was first released in Japan on April 29, 2004 and then in North America, Europe, and Australasia later in the year. Nintendo e-Reader cards compatible with "Pikmin 2" were released only in Japan, which contained additional minigames.