Viva-Pinata-DS
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Viva Pinata DS / Xbox 360 connectivity figured out, not happening
The clever men and women at Rare actually figured out a way to offer connectivity between Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise on the Xbox 360, and the Viva Piñata game on the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, they figured it out a bit too late in development, and the unprecedented "Three-Six-DS" (say it out loud) connection will not make it into either game. How would it have worked? Trouble in Paradise on the 360 uses the Live Vision Camera to interpret special codes on Viva Piñata trading cards. The camera's resolution is high enough to even read card codes off of digital screens, like iPods, Zunes (lawl) and portable gaming systems. According to MTV's Stephen Totilo, Rare realized that codes could be placed in the Nintendo DS Piñata game to allow content to be transferred from the portable to the 360 version. Sadly, this realization came too late in the development cycle of the DS game, and reportedly could not be included. It's the thought that counts, right?
Viva Pinata lives, gets subtitle
The BBFC seems to have confirmed two things about Rare's upcoming DS game, Viva Pinata. The first is that THQ will be publishing the software, and the second is that the subtitle for the game (at least in Europe) will be Pocket Paradise. Until we hear something more tangible, though, we'll chalk this one up as a rumor. Gallery: Viva Pinata DS [Thanks, jimmcq!]
Rare talks Viva Pinata DS with the fans
The folks over at Rare on the Viva Piñata DS team have been busy answering questions from their fans about the game. The questions asked pertain to both the Xbox 360 and DS games, as it's revealed that the DS game is more or less just a portable version of the Xbox 360 title. But, the DS game will have some different piñatas in it, as well as an Episode mode. What little we've seen on the game so far has us intrigued. We think the game is the perfect pick-up-and-go title, to tell the truth. [Via Go Nintendo]
Viva Pinata DS as learning experiment for small-scale games
Microsoft Game Studios UK's Phil Spencer spoke to Develop magazine about the lessons the company is taking from Rare's scaling down of Viva Pinata. While it might seem strange to put one of their flagship titles on a competitor's system, the DS is a great platform on which to learn about casual and shorter games, while also making piles of money. Speaking about Rare's previous handheld experience, Spencer said the following: "When we acquired the studio that expertise was there and the team was there. As Microsoft we had a discussion – do we want to build that expertise? We decided yes. Not so much because we need to support Nintendo – their platform will do fine without us – but because it is important for us to build that experience as a publisher and game developer and understand what it means to build lightweight, maybe shorter session experiences, and maintain that design innovation." Where does Microsoft hope to apply the lessons learned from Viva Pinata? Not the DS! As it turns out, Microsoft has their own platform for small-scale games. We don't know exactly how a portable version of a full-size Xbox game translates to Xbox Live Arcade development, but if it drives the company to experiment further, it's a good thing. [Via Next-Gen]
Look! It's another single screenshot for Viva Pinata!
Dear Rare, Listen, guys. We love you. We're always thrilled when you return home to Nintendo fans and put something together for us, and when it's something as genuinely neat as Viva Piñata, we're all in. We're resting comfortably on the hype train. So stringing us along with one screenshot at a time isn't really necessary. We can wait a few weeks and see three or even four at once. Really! We won't forget about you, okay? So don't worry. Love, Us p.s. But we'll keep putting those single screenshots in our gallery here. We'll do this for you, out of love. Hugs and kisses! %Gallery-8991%
New Viva Pinata screens burst out
We're very slowly getting a look at Viva Piñata; Rare is letting screens drip out a bit at a time, just to keep us interested. Normally, that would worry us, but this is Rare, and at least we know how they're handling the port, so we'll let them take their time. Aren't we nice? We wouldn't mind having some idea of a release date, however. Jeux-France theorizes that we'll see the title by the end of the year, but we've yet to see any official word on that. Are we alone in thinking it's much more likely to be sometime next year? But all release date speculation aside, we've compiled the new with the old in a gallery below for your viewing ease. %Gallery-8991%
Rare talks Viva Pinata on the DS
We all know about the whole prerendering thing with the DS version of Viva Piñata, it being the only way the fine folks at Rare could squeeze the title down to cartridge-friendly size. But, we didn't know about some of the other alterations Rare made to the title, such as the stylus-exclusive control scheme, allowing for more accuracy in digging and planting seeds, etc. James Thomas and Justin Cook, software engineers who conducted this interview, also talk about some other DS title they've been playing and drawing inspiration from. These games include Theme Park and SimCity DS, other "god-type" games.
Rare says Viva Prerendering
Were you wondering how Rare would manage to cram the full Viva Piñata experience onto the DS? They've gone deep into their bag of tricks and pulled out a favorite Rare technique: prerendering. Like Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country, Viva Piñata uses 2D sprites made from 3D renders of Piñata characters. If it allows them to put the whole game on DS-- including achievements?-- and then add stuff like an "Episodes" mode that ties in to the TV show, then we say "prerender away." If you want to read the news item that accompanies this single screenshot on Rare's website, you'll have to navigate to the "News" section. Annoying, right? [Via Kotaku]
Viva Pinata goes portable on the DS
As had been hinted at earlier this year by Microsoft VP Shane Kim, Rare officially confirmed at the San Diego Comic-Con that its much overlooked fiesta / garden sim Viva Piñata will be smashing its way onto the DS. While all we have currently is a blurry photo taken at the convention of what the game will look like, Rare has confirmed on the popular pinataisland.info forums (well, popular if you played the Xbox 360 version) that Viva Piñata DS will use the same gameplay principles as the original garden-sim title, as opposed to the recently announced party game for the 360. That means all the produce-tending, romance dancing, and savage piñata-on-piñata combat your little portable can handle. Beyond that, all we can tell you at this point is that it's being cultivated by the original Viva Piñata team and according to Rare, "The DS team have done an amazing job at getting most of the features from the original into the DS version." Wi-Fi connectivity and official release date are still unknown, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it sprout up for purchase in time for the holidays. We're expecting an official announcement from Rare any time, but for now, check out that action shot after the break.
Viva Pinata announced for Nintendo DS
During a Viva Piñata panel at Comic-Con, Rare announced a Nintendo DS version of their well-received (but demographically incongruous) Xbox 360 title, Viva Piñata. A Rare developer answered some basic questions on the PinataIsland.info forum, quelling fears that the title would not be developed by Rare – he said, "Very definitely 'yes' on this one. We have a dedicated handheld dev team." – and that the gameplay would be different – he said, "Game play wise, yes. It's the same game ... ." Still no word on whether or not the game will take advantage of the DS' Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. While it's not a huge surprise – Shane Kim intimated as much to 1UP – it's curious to see Microsoft publishing a title on a competitor's platform. If they can get the Pokemon crowd hooked on Viva Piñata via the enormously popular DS, then we're betting some of those kids just may grow up to be 360 owners. [Via ShackNews]
Viva Pinata possibly bursting onto DS
How can Microsoft max out their profits this year? By latching onto the hottest system in the world -- the DS. Suddenly their reason for buying Rare becomes clear! Microsoft's super-powerful seers predicted the rise of the DS, and so they bought a company Nintendo fans adore as a way in. Brilliant! Now that we have our daily fanboy conspiracy theory out of the way, let's get to the news. Viva Pinata may well be headed toward the DS. Microsoft VP Shane Kim told 1UP that "a Kameo or a Viva Pinata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective." Yeah, also from the perspective of mucho dinero, and we know that's a big deal to Micro$oft. However, if it all ends with more great games on the DS, we're all for it. [Via Joystiq]
