I know, wishfull thinking. But if it was like pikmin 2 multiplayer, a player with say 3 starting pikman, could produce a small army of 20 pikmin and collect space junk and bring it back to their ships for points.
Or, have a tug of war game where there is one big item in the middle of the map, and pikman from both teams can tug on it, which ever side has more pikman pulls a bit harder their way. 1 pikman could tip the scale!
Once again, wishfull thinking, but I do wonder on the story they'll come up with ;p