Secret File

A Secret File found in the Tropical Wilds.

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Secret Files, known as Secret Memos in Europe, are a type of data files found in Pikmin 3. Unlike most data files, these do not give any direct tips or information. Instead, they simply have a picture of some Pikmin with a random number from 0 to 9.

If a player collects all ten of these memos, the numbers they form, in order, will create a secret code. Once they are all collected, the player can then go to a Wii U exclusive website, http://www.nintendo.co.jp/pikpiksecret using the Wii U's Internet Browser, and enter their code to watch one of five secret video exploration logs. Each code is pre-written, and maps to a specific video. If the player wishes to see a different video, they must restart their save file from day 1 and obtain a different combination.

So far, five videos can be seen, although a sixth one exists, but is not accessible through normal means.

Data file locations

The following article or section contains guides. The strategies shown are just suggestions.

There are two Secret Files per area. They are normally found in spots that are hard to find or access, but a few them can be found in relatively easy locations. They are always found in the same place, but the numbers in them depend on the code generated for that playthrough.

Tropical Wilds

• In a small pool in the area where the Calcified Crushblat can be found, between the islands with the Candypop Buds.
• Beside the holed stump that leads to the Medusal Slurker with the Juicy Gaggle.

Garden of Hope

• On the larger set of elevator platforms. To reach it, first throw two leaders onto the smaller set. Raise the platform by weighing down the opposite side. Have one leader throw the other onto the pile of bricks. From there, destroy the electric gate if it is not already destroyed. Throw about 15 Yellow Pikmin up to the leader onto the bricks. From there, the leader on the bricks should throw the Yellows onto the platform, weighing it down. One leader on the ground should throw the other onto the weighed down platform. From there, simply throw the Pikmin off of the platform, and it should rise back up, allowing access to the file.
• In the overturned tin can that a Peckish Aristocrab hides in on the path to the Quaggled Mireclops.

Distant Tundra

• On the snow wall next to the landing site. This memo is easily visible, and a leader can easily be thrown to the wall.
• In the cave the leaders originally had to take to reach the Vehemoth Phosbat is a bamboo wall that requires Winged Pikmin to lift. In a structure in the center of the area is a Secret File. A Spotty Bulbear and Dwarf Bulbears are present in this area, so caution should be taken.

Twilight River

• In the second river that is reached on the way to the Scornet Maestro is a stump with a Secret File on top of it. It originally has a pile of fragments on it and requires a leader to be thrown over onto it.
• On a ledge near the three Orange Bulborbs, accessed by throwing a leader off the vine path to the Scornet Maestro's tree.

Formidable Oak

• In the Spotcaps behind the reinforced wall at the beginning of the cave.
• In the area of the cave that must be lit up, a dirt mound is near a group of Candypop Buds towards the end of the cave. The Secret File is inside.

Videos

The videos resemble major cutscenes from the game, including the characters talking, and English subtitles appearing on the bottom. Each one is a video log with Captain Olimar or Louie commenting about their expedition, and takes place in a different area.

Tropical Wilds

YouTube video link

This video takes place on the Tropical Wilds. In it, Captain Olimar talks about the cosmic drive key. This video is 42 seconds long.

Transcription

• [Title card: "Olimar's Expedition Log" "- In the Wilds -".]
• [The scene shows Captain Olimar facing the camera in front of the waterfall in the area.]
• "This is Olimar, captain of the S.S. Dolphin."
• "This is my third visit to this planet. I never tire of hunting for treasure here!"
• "While searching this area, we stumbled across a key of some sort."
• "I wonder if it unlocks a treasure chest?"
• "Or could it be the key to something else entirely?"
• [Olimar looks to his left to see Louie, on the beach section, running away from a Peckish Aristocrab, along with a Blue Pikmin, and ending up paralyzed on the ground after being struck by its claw. The scene then returns to Olimar.]
• "...We'd better be careful."
• "The crabs here are peckish, and we're on the menu."

Garden of Hope

YouTube video link

This video occurs on the Garden of Hope. Captain Olimar mentions the company's debt, in it. The video lasts for 40 seconds.

Transcription

• [Title card: "Olimar's Expedition Log" "- In the Garden -".]
• [The scene shows Captain Olimar facing the camera, on the section that serves as a landing site during normal gameplay.]
• "This is Olimar, captain of the SS Dolphin^[sic]."
• "This is the third time that I've set foot on this planet."
• "Our company, Hocotate Freight, is up to its eyeballs in debt - courtesy of our beloved president."
• "We've come here in search of treasure to help us repay that debt."
• [Olimar looks to his left to see Louie running around a Red Bulborb and two Dwarf Red Bulborbs. One of the two Red Pikmin following him gets eaten by the Bulborb. This happens on the section with a dirt wall and the first Red Bulborb in the game. The scene then returns to Olimar.]
• "Needless to say, the local wildlife isn't exactly rolling out the red carpet for us..."

Distant Tundra

YouTube video link

This video is on the Distant Tundra, and in it, Olimar talks about how his company had to cut some costs. The video is 56 seconds long.

Transcription

• [Title card: "Olimar's Expedition Log" "- In the Tundra -".]
• [The scene shows Captain Olimar facing the camera, while on the section of the area that acts as the landing site during gameplay.]
• "This is Olimar, captain of the S.S. Dolphin."
• "This is my third visit to this planet. Hunting for treasure here never gets old!"
• "Unfortunately, I'm absolutely freezing, even with my space suit on."
• "It's doing a terrible job of keeping out the cold."
• "It wouldn't surprise me if the president of my company got our space suits from some retail outlet."
• "Hocotate Freight's new venture has been an utter failure, and our earnings have suffered as a result."
• "Now it looks like we're even cutting corners with our space suits."
• [Olimar looks to his left to see Louie and some Pikmin running around two Bearded Amprats, on the elevated part of the map with the Citrus Lump. Louie gets shocked, and some of the Pikmin get eaten. The scene then returns to Olimar.]
• "Shocking, to say the least."
• "I really should've held on to that Anti-Electrifier..."

Twilight River

YouTube video link

This video has Olimar on the Twilight River explaining how the data files are scattered about the areas. It is 48 seconds long.

Transcription

• [Title card: "Olimar's Expedition Log" "- At the River -".]
• [The scene shows Captain Olimar facing the camera. He is next to some rocks near the shore, on the second half of the area, between the pink 5 pellet Pellet Posy and the bamboo gate.]
• "This is Olimar, captain of the SS Dolphin^[sic]."
• "This is my third visit to this planet. Hunting for treasure here never gets old!"
• "My explorations have taken me far and wide."
• "Somewhere along the way, a number of my notes and memos went missing."
• "There must be some sort of bug in my file management software."
• "Once we get back to Hocotate, I'll try to convince the president to invest in an upgrade..."
• [Olimar looks to his left to the area where Scornets are first found in-game, and sees Louie and some Pikmin running around a swarm of Scornets. The scene then returns to Olimar.]
• "Maybe he can upgrade Louie while he's at it."

Formidable Oak

YouTube video link

The video takes place in the Formidable Oak, and in it, Olimar talks about the golden object he saw – the Plasm Wraith – and about how Louie was reluctant to go on the oak. The video is 38 seconds long.

Transcription

• [Title card: "Olimar's Expedition Log" "- At the Oak -".]
• [The scene shows Captain Olimar facing the camera while on the arena where the Plasm Wraith is fought in-game.]
• "This is Olimar, captain of the S.S. Dolphin."
• "This is my third visit to the planet. Hunting for treasure here never gets old!"
• "While surveying this area, I came across something gold and shiny."
• [Louie appears behind him, sneaking from right to left.]
• "It's got to be worth a fortune!"
• "My perpetually mute colleague Louie actually spoke up against coming here for some reason..."
• [As Olimar is finishing the previous sentence, a growl and faint footsteps are heard. Louie looks around, frightened, and then dashes off in a hurry from where he came.]
• "Speaking of which... I haven't seen him in a little while."
• [Olimar looks around as the stomping becomes louder.]
• "Where's he disappeared to?"
• [The stomps intensify and another growl is heard.]

Louie's log

YouTube video link

This log is not yet accessible via any Secret File code, and has not been officially released by Nintendo. It was found on the website by analyzing the page's source code. In it, Louie explains how he got captured by the Koppai explorers, but managed to sneak off with their fruit. The video is 37 seconds long.

Transcription

• [Title card: "Louie's Expedition Log" "- With the Treasure -".]
• [The scene shows Louie facing the camera, in front of the dormant Quaggled Mireclops. He has a Wayward Moon to his right.]
• "Louie here, crew member of the S.S. Dolphin."
• [Louie sniffs the air.]
• "I was briefly captured by some Koppaites."
• [Louie sniffs some more as the Mireclops behind him opens up and begins rolling his tongue around.]
• "But I managed to make off with all their food and treasure."
• [Louie cracks a smile, jumps to the Wayward Moon, and caresses it.]
• "The treasure on this planet smells absolutely divine!"
• [The Mireclops knocks its own leg with its tongue and then hides it again. Louie turns around to look at the Mireclops's crystal.]
• "What was that?"
• [Louie faces the camera in confusion, and as the scene fades, noises can be heard indicating that the Mireclops had opened its mouth again.]

Mistakes

A few mistakes exist within these videos.

S.S. Dolphin

On the subtitles, the S.S. Dolphin is spelled like that on all but two of the videos, which have the spelling "SS Dolphin". This is the spelling used in the European version of Pikmin 3, but not anywhere else. Whether the intended spelling is with the periods or without is debatable, but the fact that the writing differs between videos seems to be the result of some mistake.

More importantly, Louie says that he is a crew member on the S.S. Dolphin, on the unreleased video. This cannot be true, as the only time the Dolphin is usable is before Louie even joins Hocotate Freight – at the start of Pikmin 2, the S.S. Dolphin is sold right away, and all through Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3, the Hocotate ship is used instead. It even becomes clear that the Hocotate ship was the one used in Pikmin 3 because it can be seen, totaled, on the outer rim of the Quaggled Mireclops's arena. It is possible that the writers for the video meant to say the Hocotate ship and not the S.S. Dolphin.

Olimar looking at Louie

Although unimportant in nature, there are some mistakes involving the way Olimar looks towards Louie on the first four videos. In them, Olimar always looks to his left to see Louie in some dangerous situation. Given the points where Olimar and Louie are, it is actually physically impossible for Olimar to see Louie at his left, on some of the scenarios.

• On the Tropical Wilds, Olimar is in front of the waterfall (facing the west), and Louie is on the beach area (to the north). Aside from the immense distance between the two parts of the map, and the fact that there are a few walls in-between, Olimar would have to turn to his right in order to see the beach section, not to the left.
• On the Distant Tundra, while Olimar does look in the direction where Louie is, who is close by, the large wall on the landing site would stop him from actually seeing Louie.

Gallery

• 

  Secret file 1.

• 

  Secret file 2.

• 

  Secret file 3.

• 

  Secret file 4.

• 

  Secret file 5.

• 

  Secret file 6.

• 

  Secret file 7.

• 

  Secret file 8.

• 

  Secret file 9.

See also

• Data file
• Easter egg

External links

• Video guide for the location of the memos, on YouTube
• Shigeru Miyamoto's post on Miiverse with the reveal of the code's function