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While Rare is best known for games like Perfect Dark and Conker, the studio is currently working on something completely different from its past games, Viva Piñata. Developed as part of a cross-media enterprise spanning games, toys and cartoon shows, Viva Piñata attempts to answer the eternal question, “Where do piñatas go when they’re not having the stuffing beaten out of them at parties?”
Part of what makes Viva Piñata so drastically different from past Rare games is that rather than taking a platform or shooter angle, it is a world creation game. Your goal is to create a garden and attract as many different types of piñata as you can. Once they’re in your garden, you’ll then have to look after their needs and keep them happy. Eventually, your piñatas will dance and produce baby piñatas.
Maintaining a habitat for piñatas comes with quite a bit of multitasking and decision making. As your garden grows, you’ll have to constantly keep tabs on it and make sure it doesn’t fall into disarray. However, you can hire helpers to come in and take care of the smaller tasks. Also, some piñatas don’t get along that well, so you’ll have to figure out ways to keep them separated. Otherwise you could have fights.
You’ll also have to keep your garden protected from groups of piñatas known as Sours, who have a bit of an attitude. If they are allowed into your garden, they can either scare off your residents or turn them into Sours. Dealing with Sours involves some creative problem solving since they can leave bad things behind that could ruin parts of your garden.
An interesting aspect of Viva Piñata is its use of Xbox Live for object transfers. You’ll be able to share your collected piñatas with friends or even enter them in contests. Transferred piñatas will also have markings on them that tell where they came from, which should help curb the inevitable troublemakers who will want to send Sours to other players.
Viva Piñata will also tie into the upcoming cartoon, though how the two will interact hasn’t been fully revealed. If anything expect to see objects, or characters, from the show to pop up on the Live Marketplace.
At first glance, Viva Piñata looks like a game that is aimed solely towards kids, and really it is. However, if games like Poke’mon are any indication, it isn’t too hard to see some older gamers wanting to get into the act as well. Viva Piñata is scheduled to ship alongside the cartoon this Fall. |
