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Viva Pinata one buck on Games for Windows today, Blacklight: Tango Down tomorrow
The Games for Windows platform understands how mercurial our mood can be from day-to-day. Today, the storefront's offering the charming, friendly Viva Piñata for a dollar. According to its RSS feed, it's applying the same discount to the somewhat angrier, shootier Blacklight: Tango Down tomorrow.
How Viva Pinata's Choclodocus was reverse engineered
You could be forgiven for not staying abreast of news related to the now year-and-a-half-old Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Heck, we're almost kind of relieved; you have no idea what a hassle it is to dig our "Ñ" key out of the storage shed. But scattered across the globe is a resolute fan base that's unwilling to let the game drift off to the Great Piñata Garden in the Sky. When developer Rare ran out of the Piñata Vision barcodes that injected new creatures and items into the game, the PinataIsland.info community sprung into action. Here, community admin Jim McQuillan tells it better than us: "Our members noticed that there were still of Piñata Vision cards that weren't available such as the Choclodocus, the big daddy of all piñatas. These members reverse engineered the barcodes on the Piñata Vision cards to discover how they worked. By comparing different species of pinatas and attempting to fill in the gaps in the barcode of the choclodocus, they eventually found success! In simple terms you can think of this like Jurassic Park where they took the dinosaur DNA and mixed it the DNA from other species of animals to fill in the gaps. It's just that our dinosaur happens to be a Choclodocus pinata instead." Finally, the fruits of their labor, the Choclodocus Egg Pinata Vision Card, is available for your enjoyment. Just don't tell piñata Jeff Goldblum what they've wrought.
New family-friendly Xbox 360 Arcade bundle and game discounts at Amazon
There's still over a month of spring left -- that's plenty of time for a new "spring 2010" Xbox 360 bundle to join the Spring 2010 Elite set! Amazon has taken the wraps off a new Arcade bundle, featuring two of Rare's recent, weird 360 games: Viva Piñata and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The family-friendly package, shipping May 7, sells for the same $199.99 as the standalone Arcade unit -- which makes it a good deal even if you would only use the games as trade-in or eBay fodder. But if it's family games you're after, you can get them on the cheap right now. Amazon is also offering a buy one, get one half-off deal on a selection of family-oriented 360 games, including Pure, Lego Rock Band, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. [Thanks, Tom!]
Viva Pinata: Party Animals now party on demand
As promised, Viva Piñata: Party Animals is now available on Xbox Live Games on Demand. Before you get too excited, just remember that Party Animals is the Viva Piñata themed party game. It doesn't involve the wonderfully addicting gardening and breeding aspects of the original Viva Piñata or its sequel, Trouble in Paradise (which is also available on demand, incidentally). That said, if you're looking for a decent game for the kids, you could probably do worse. In the US of A, the game can be had for $19.99. Be sure to check Xbox Live Marketplace for the price in other regions. Shortcut: Add Viva Piñata: Party Animals to your Xbox 360 download queue (via Xbox.com) [Via Major Nelson]
First batch of Xbox 'Games on Demand' titles revealed [update]
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/05/first-batch-of-xbox-games-on-demand-titles-revealed/'; Can't be bothered to drag yourself to the nearest brick-and-mortar to pick up your Xbox 360 games? Don't worry, you won't be penalized for your sloth -- this coming Tuesday, the first batch of 21 titles will be added to the Games on Demand service, a new feature in the anticipated dashboard update. There are no costs attached to these titles yet, but Microsoft says they'll be similar in price to their tangible counterparts. We've got the full list of games posted after the break -- highlights include Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and ... Viva Piñata. What? We love ambulatory piñatas! Deal with it. Update: Turns out the initial list we got our hands on was for the European territories. We thought it was weird Bioshock wasn't on there! We've got the full list of 24 (!) games coming to the States posted after the jump.
Viva Pinata soundtrack filled with fun, out July 28
Looks like the Nuts & Bolts soundtrack is about to get some company. Rare has announced via its oh-so-trendy Twitter that the Viva Piñata soundtrack will release on July 28. The soundtrack will be available from Sumthing Digital and Amazon. Amazon is currently taking pre-orders for the album for the price of $15.98.We're sure there are lots of delightful, candy-coated songs on the soundtrack -- including plenty of adorable Romance Dance themes -- so we probably don't need to encourage all the piñata ranchers out there to plunk down the cash. Of course, there's really only one song you really need from Viva Piñata. Give it a listen after the break.
Xbox 360 Platinum Hits are numerous, cheap, rebranded
This one's just about as confusing as it gets, folks, but here goes nothing. Microsoft is repackaging eight of its titles under a new moniker: "Greatness is Earned." Though these titles still fall into the Platinum Hits category (and as such, are priced at $19.99 and up), a number of them are receiving the treatment for the first time. And this is where things get confusing: We've seen the "Greatness is Earned" logo before, nearly a month ago now, on the repackaged Gears of War (Platinum Hits edition, mind you) seen above. At the time, Microsoft wouldn't comment on the images.Considering Viva Piñata and EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 are among them, we're doubting (and hoping) they won't all get the dark and brooding look. We've listed all eight titles after the break in for your perusal. We'd also like to point out that, while snooping around the Microsoft press site for images of these games, we noticed Halo 3 "Classics" in the "Upcoming Games" category -- the same note found next to all other Platinum Hits games. Interesting, hmm?Update: We've replaced the image above with shots of the new "Greatness is Earned" pack shots of Gears of War, Forza 2 and Mass Effect. For giant shots, peep the gallery below!%Gallery-63475%
Rare expresses its Valentine's love with new TIP cards
Being the season of love, one of our countless admirers, developer Rare, sent over a set of scan-friendly Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise Valentine's cards, including three new Killer Instinct characters for your collection. You can view all four new trading cards in the gallery below. Using your handy Vision camera, scan the bar code into Trouble in Paradise, then behold the magic that takes place. Warning: We have yet to scan any of the cards, so if you have an urge to invest in Ultratech or experience an unshakable infatuation with all Rare products, please, don't send your lawyers after us. Gallery: Rare Valentine's Day Cards
High calorie Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Pinata cakes
Looking for a festive and fun video game themed cakes to consume or just admire? Look no further than Washington based Cake Fixation, the creators of both the Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts themed cakes you see above. Note the attention to detail, expert use of royal icing and all those yellow cutout jiggies. And that Horstachio, it's pure edible genius! [Thanks, James C.]
Viva Pinata gets photoshopped, parodies Hollywood
What's better than a cute, cuddly and candy filled Viva Pinata pinata? Easy. A cute, cuddly and candy filled Viva Pinata pinata acting out scenes from famous movies, which is exactly the treat we've been given today. The Rare crew has been feeling extra creative lately (as evident by their lovely holiday card) and decided to put their photoshopping skills to good use by plopping pinatas into famous movie scenes. Check the gallery below to see if you can name which movies the pinatas are acting out.Pro tip: King Kong and Saturday Night Fever are two of the scenes.%Gallery-39461%
Rare's Christmas card lacking Killer Instinct ... or is it?
click to embiggen the holiday cheer Rare sent over this Christmas card wishing the staff a happy holidays. Unlike last time, there's no Killer Instinct hint to be found. What gives, Rare? No Glacius The Snowkiller? Oh, wait, what's this ...%Gallery-39099%
Season's Greetings from Rare!
Earlier this morning, after waking up to the sound of "Jingle Bells" blaring from our alarm clock (custom ringers FTW!), we slipped on our camel slippers, wiped the sleep from our eyes and peered out the main window. A fresh blanket of snow has covered Fanboy Towers and we noticed the mailman was stuffing goodies into the official X3F mailbox. So, we took a sip of last night's leftover and not so hot chocolate that was still sitting on the kitchen table, grabbed our flannel jacket off the coat rack and proceeded to receive the mailbox goodies that were just deliver. And after nearly slipping on a patch of ice which would have surely resulted in our blogger death, we opened the mail receptacle to find our first holiday card. It's a holiday card from developer Rare. One that's so festive, we figured we'd share. And sharing we are.%Gallery-39084%
Have a Jukebox for your Viva Pinata garden
Rare has a pretty neat promotion lined up for the holidays this year. First, the company is offering Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise players a new jukebox to decorate their in-game gardens. To grab the jukebox, simply scan the Piñata Vision Card found after the break. Of course, the jukebox isn't just for decoration. From now until December 10, Piñata Island will be conducting a poll to uncover the top 10 romance dance songs. Once the songs are decided, Rare will release one a day as special Piñata Vision Cards. Don't worry if a jukebox isn't your thing, as Rare will be releasing other special cards throughout December.
It's a Halloween themed Viva Pinata card
Halloween is almost upon us and in the land of candy-filled piñatas, they're celebrating. Piñatas are celebrating, because Halloween is the only day children opt to go door to door to get their sweets rather than beating defenseless piñata bodies. To show their celebratory support of Halloween and the preservation of the piñata species, team Rare just released a Halloween themed piñata card that can be scanned into Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise using the Vision camera. Though, we've been warned that scanning of this card should only be done on Halloween day for a special surprise. No sooner, no later. You've been warned.
Viva Pinata vision cards fan the Killer Instinct flames
Rare is offering an added treat for Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise -- print out one of the three currently available cards and you can get "a suitable Pinata approximation of whatever is pictured." The first three available, which is guaranteed to incite a rabid fan base -- are Killer Instinct characters Fulgore, B. Orchid and Tusk. To access the KI pinatas, print out the cards and hold them up to your vision camera.We wouldn't take this to be an indication of a pending announcements -- the cards themselves feature the 3D models from the Nintendo 64 era -- but either Rare has something in mind or it really likes to taunt its old fan base.%Gallery-34660%
DS releases for the week of September 8th
There's just one thing to say about this week's lineup of DS releases: wow. Spore Creatures and a host of games to suit any taste here in the States, and internationally, you've got Dragon Quest IV and then Pokémon Platinum in Japan. This could be one of those legendary weeks that threatens to empty (and then devour) your wallet ... and to think, we've not even entered the holiday season yet. Hell's Kitchen Lock's Quest Mazes of Fate DS Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir The Price is Right Spore Creatures Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
Metareview -- Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
With Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise having released on September 2nd here in North America (and September 5th in Europe), you've all had some time to play the game. There aren't many reviews out there right now, but the ones that are available seem to generally laud the game's ambitious efforts. After we check in with the critics, toss your two cents in.So let's get to the scores! IGN (85/100) thinks it's quite the game: "Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise takes the original 360 effort as a template, and brings the 'go at your own pace,' free-form design to the Nintendo DS, beautifully. The visuals are crisp and colorful, the audio is a mix of in-game animal sounds and VO taken from the TV show, and its easy to control the world with a quick swipe or tap of a stylus. There are some basic changes to be had, such as the lack of camera control, the removal of the somewhat pesky mini-games for mating, and the general spectacle of watching your Piñatas move around in beautiful HD, but the core gameplay more than survives in its conversion to the pocket platform, and Viva Piñata is left with just as much magic on DS as it has on 360." Eurogamer (80/100) says the game isn't for kids, but good nonetheless: "However, what Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise loses in coming second, and not having a triple-core PowerPC chip to drive its graphics, it makes up with its new, much better stylus-based interface, and Rare's impressive feat of retaining the vast majority of the original game's best features, in roughly the same measures. It's still a bit too complex to work as a kids' game (for that you might be better with the 360 sequel's co-op mode, where you can pick up a second pad and offer a helping hand), but for everybody else it comes highly recommended." Edge Magazine (70/100) said: "If Pocket Paradise makes you want to throw it against something, though, it's only because it succeeds in making gardening compulsive." [Oct 2008, p.96] %Gallery-8991%
Metareview -- Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
In the terrible glut expected this holiday season, it's good to see Microsoft and Rare bringing a piñata to the party. According to reviews, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise doesn't seem to bring anything radically new to the fiesta, but it does make significant improvements to the formula introduced in the original. If you didn't like the original, it appears you can just move on. But, if you found the sweet candy fix of Viva Piñata addictive the first time, it looks like you'll be in for another treat. 1Up (A): "If you hated the original, Trouble in Paradise isn't going to change your opinion. If, however, you somehow missed out completely on the piñata party the first time around, I implore you to check it out now -- it's certainly much deeper and more addictive than its playful visuals would lead you to believe." Game Informer (83/100): "Keeping your piñatas happy can still be monotonous in task, but the expanded content and finely made multiplayer relieves some of the repetition that plagued the first game. Viva Piñata retains its child-like charm, but the content is layered with deep strategies and entertaining gameplay that can suck anyone's life away." GamePro (80/100): "There are also some minor additions that attempt to sweeten the pot but they don't add too much. The new trick stick, which allows you to teach pinata tricks, and a wide range of toys are fun to play with, though. There's also support for the Xbox Live Vision camera which allows you to scan in special pinata cards, but it's a gimmick at best. Still, despite some irritating design elements, Trouble in Paradise is a fun game that retains the charm of the first Viva Pinata." GameDaily (80/100): "Rare could've easily slapped a couple of minor changes into this game and given us an expansion pack. Instead, Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise offers enough to make it a worthy sequel. It'll be a little too cute for some, but others will see past the adorable exterior and find the delicious treats inside, just like a real pinata." %Gallery-22744%
Viva Pinata 2 community website and UK treasure hunt [update]
Update: After a little digging, we've been informed that the piñata hunt is for the UK version of Xbox.com only. Of course, there's nothing stopping North American gamers from visiting the UK site... In celebration of the release of Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Rare has informed us that the brand new community website will be launching today at midnight PST. The community website will allow gamers to share photos of their gardens and upload any Piñata Vision cards they have created. Also, Viva PiñataAceyBongos (think of him as the European version of Major Nelson) is launching a piñata hunt on Xbox.com. Starting Friday, piñata eggs will be hidden on Xbox.com. Mousing over them will cause a piñata to pop out. Clicking on the piñata will open a PDF of a Piñata Vision card that can then be imported into their gardens. Then you're just stuck with the (somewhat awkward) choice of either printing it out or holding your Vision camera up to the screen.We'd opt for the first choice, especially if you're at work. After all, people might suspect something if you drag your entire entertainment center into your cubicle.
Rare says no to Viva Pinata 2 DLC, yes to 'something new'
In a recent live chat with Rare devotees, Rare's Justin Cook made it clear that there are no plans for any Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise downloadable content. Furthermore, Cook says that Rare is "taking a break" from the Viva Piñata franchise in order to "make something new." Just what this something new is, Cook failed to elaborate. The "new" part makes us suspect it won't be a return to Rare's other franchises like Perfect Dark or Kameo, but there's no way to be sure. Cook added that even Rare's plans regarding another Viva Piñata could change, so we'll just have to wait and see. Still, is it too much to ask for a new Battletoads? Be sure to hit the source link to read the whole chat. It covers plenty of nitty-gritty details in VP2. [Via Joystiq]
