Viva-Pinata
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Viva Pinata Party Animals demo inbound? [update]
[Update: The Viva Piñata Party Animals is now available, for more details, click here.] According to Piñata Island, the source for all things Viva Piñata, a demo for Viva Piñata Party Animals should be on the Marketplace today. Actually, according to them, the demo should be available right now. Considering that it isn't available right now, we're guessing one of two things: A) Piñata Island got some bum info or B) something has gone awry. Seeing as Piñata Island has some close friends in the Viva Piñata circle, we're betting on column B. Here's hoping we'll see it sooner rather than later. If you're unfamiliar with the title, check out our impressions of the E3 demo (which is likely the same demo being prepared for XBLM). [Thanks, xenocidic]
Viva Piata aids in gamer's marriage proposal
Hey kids, Viva Piñata isn't just a great game that'll help keep you entertained and improve your gardening skills, but it can also be used for marriage proposals too!PINATAcast over on the Piñata Island forums did just that, he proposed to his girlfriend by using Viva Piñata and sending her an in game crate filled with a single diamond (the only diamond his diggerling has ever unearthed) with the message "will you marry me?". She was playing on her console in the other room and when she received the message, giggling and laughter could be heard, because she thought it was a silly joke. But PINATAcast was serious and went down on his knee asking for her hand in marriage again. Knowing that he was serious, she started crying, said yes and their wedding is tentatively scheduled for this Spring. Congrats PINATAcast, your interesting proposal worked and we hope you have a happy marriage filled with lots of sugary sweets and fuzzy Bunnycombs. Those damn Bunnycombs are so cute.[Via Joystiq]
Viva Pinata marks its first wedding proposal
Niagara Falls? For suckers. Having a plane write it in the sky? Boring. On the Jumbotron at a World Series of Video Games event? Sadly impossible. There's officially only one cool way now to propose to that special someone: Through Viva Piñata. Unfortunately, user PINATAcast on the official Viva Piñata forums just beat you to it. We've seen video games and matrimony tied up before obviously, but this has to be one of our favorite combos. In one sense, it's metaphorical, as marriage is really all about figuratively smashing your partner to bits and eating the delicious candy inside them. (Just kidding, sweetie!) Perhaps Rare Community Manager George Kelion said it better in an email to us: "It's not quite as extensive as a full-on WoW wedding, but personally we think it's a bit more romantic (less chance of a drunken dwarf brawl ruining the atmosphere, for one thing)." Good luck, you crazy piñata farming kids.
Party Animals demo will be available "soon"
There's a short and sweet (zing!) interview over on PinataIsland with Viva Piñata: Party Animals lead designer Cameron Davis where he talks a little bit about the game and confirms that a demo will be hitting the XBLM soon. When chatting it up about the game, who it's targeted towards, and its achievements, Davis was asked about plans for a Party Animals demo to which he responded "It should be out very, very, very soon, if not already". And after taking a look at the old XBLM and seeing no Party Animals demo available, we're going to have to hold Mr. Davis to his "very, very, very soon" answer. So, watch the Marketplace for some mini-game fun when the Viva Piñata: Party Animals demo drops "soon". [Thanks, jimmcq]
New Viva Pinata: Party Animals details, demo arriving "very soon"
The impassioned youth of PinataIsland cornered Krome's Cameron Davis, lead designer on Viva Piñata: Party Animals and beat him like a paper mache party favor until he released his sweet details contained within. Announced at E3, Party Animals is a mini-game fiesta based on the popular children's show and critically acclaimed Xbox 360 title starring the dance partners of Mario Lopez. Players will be assisting one of eight playable piñata compete in the reality show, Viva Piñata Championship Challenge, which functions quite a bit like The Amazing Race. Of those eight playable characters, two will be brand new characters to the series, set to debut in the second season of the Saturday morning cartoon. The game will be presented in a television style format and feature the color commentary of Pierre Parrybo and Pecky Pudgeon. According to Davis, we should expect to see a demo "very, very, very soon, if not already." Viva Piñata: Party Animals is due out this Winter.
13 minutes of Viva Pinata: Party Animals
Our friends at Piñata Island -- these guys -- have gotten their candy-stained hands on a thirteen minute video of Viva Piñata: Party Animals. The video was taken with the lead designer, Cameron Davis, of Krome Studios, developers of Party Animals. The video shows off several of the mini-games, as well as the races, which serve as the transition between mini-games. All of the games -- save the racing sections -- are controlled via the left stick and a single button, which Davis says should allow anyone to pick up and play the title. The game also includes drop-in / drop-out versus play, so anyone can join or leave a game at any time. Finally, Davis reveals that the E3 demo should be available on Xbox Live Marketplace in the near future. Hit the "read" link to check out the video.
Joystiq hands-on: Viva Pinata Party Animals
As a game designed to appeal to a younger audience, Viva Piñata had one fault that probably stood out the most: other than the cutesy characters, it wasn't really designed to appeal to a younger audience. The game is fairly complicated and requires some pretty intense micromanagement in later levels (at least it does if you want to advance). Furthermore, VP does almost nothing to capitalize on the children's property around which it is centered. The various piñatas, which are wacky and wisecracking characters on the children's program, are little more than grunting, mindless animals in the game. With Viva Piñata: Party Animals, Microsoft looks to take on all these problems at once. We took it for a spin at E3 to see what sets it apart.
X3F hands-on: Viva Pinata: Party Animals
As a game designed to appeal to a younger audience, Viva Piñata had one fault that probably stood out the most: other than the cutesy characters, it wasn't really designed to appeal to a younger audience. The game is fairly complicated and requires some pretty intense micromanagement in later levels (at least it does if you want to advance). Furthermore, VP does almost nothing to capitalize on the children's property around which it is centered. The various piñatas, which are wacky and wisecracking characters on the children's program, are little more than grunting, mindless animals in the game. With Viva Piñata: Party Animals, Microsoft looks to take on all these problems at once. We took it for a spin at E3 to see what sets it apart.
Gears of War and Viva Pinata go to PC
Gears of War is no longer a Xbox 360 exclusive. Neither is Viva Pinata. Two of Microsoft's premiere console titles is now getting the Games For Windows treatment. The Game of the Year-winning shooter from Epic will gain a few enhancements on the PC, such as five new levels, a new editor, and "some very big surprises." Could the game look even prettier on a DirectX 10 PC? Believe it. Thankfully, the game will run on both Windows XP and Windows Vista.Viva Pinata and a major list of new Games for Windows titles were revealed at the Microsoft keynote, including titles such as Age of Empires 3: The Asian Dynasties, Stranglehold, Blacksite: Area 51, and Kane and Lynch: Dead Men.
Viva Pinata: Party Animals brings minigames
Microsoft is bringing home family fun again with a newly announced Viva Pinata game. The game will retain the original's fantastic graphics, but will add brand new gameplay that's bound to appeal to the younger crowd. The original struggled to target an audience due to its strategy-laden gameplay that alienated the children the cartoon would have appealed to. Taking a page from Nintendo, the new Viva Pinata title will be a game filled with minigames. Viva Pinata: Party Animals will be Microsoft's attempt at providing a Mario Party experience on the 360. Will it succeed?
The masterminds of WoW on gaming
Have you ever wondered what the names and faces behind WoW do in their off time? In the recent interview 1up had with Shane Dabiri, Rob Pardo, Jeff Kaplan, and Tom Chilton, we get to find out a bit about that -- at least in regards to some of the games that they're playing right now. Two of them were really no surprise to me: Guitar Hero II and God of War. Those two have been all over the gaming media and are a lot of fun to play, so it makes total sense. The two titles that caught me off guard were several mentions of Viva Pinata and Rob saying that he plays the PopCap game, Peggle. They also covered some great background information from their gaming roots, to some ways they think WoW has changed the genre. Check it out!
Everyone has a Viva Piata confession
It's true. We confess. We love Viva Piñata and we always have. And Viva Piñata Confessions has taught us that we aren't weird, we don't have a problem and that our love of the game isn't something we should be embarrassed about. Even our rebel of a game designer Cliffy B loves himself some Viva Piñata every once and a while. You too can come clean, you too can let go of all the built up anxiety and just do it ... confess. Confess that you love Viva Piñata and aren't afraid to tell the world.And if our inspirational talk doesn't make you believe in the wonder that is Viva Piñata, be sure to check out the embedded video after the break. Those piñatas truly have an affect on a person's brain.
Create-a-Rare-Developer results are in!
The winner of Piñata Island's Create-a-Rare-Developer contest has been chosen. For those that don't recall, the purpose of the contest was to create a new piñata species (named after a Rare developer) for Viva Piñata. It looks like Piñata Island received loads of outstanding entries. In the end, though, it was the Goldipop (pictured above) that beat the odds and won the grand prize (a wild-card piñata). The piñata is named after Andy Pollington, fights with anchors and contains delicious orange suckers. Hit the "read" link to check out the runners-up and honorable mentions.Has a 360 game inspired you to create anything artistic lately?
Viva Piata gets parents' approval
Everyone's favorite piñata growing simulator Viva Piñata has received top honors from a collective group we call "parents". The Parents' Choice Foundation awarded Viva Piñata with the Parents' Choice Award in gaming for its "excellent production values, universal human values, appeal to children, and age appropriateness". We're sure it's an honor, but we wonder if such an award will deter older gamers from picking up the game. We know how sensitive some fanboys can be when it comes to their gamercard and playing "children's games", so does the new Parents' Choice Award further embarrass/deter those who are uneasy about trying Viva Piñata?
Create-a-Rare-Developer, win wild-card piata
Our piñata loving friends over at Piñata Island are holding a contest where the winners will receive an extremely rare in-game Viva Piñata wild-card piñata. To win, all you have to do is pick a name of a developer off of the credits list and make a piñata that you feel best fits that person. Draw a piñata, build one out of wood, or use paper mache, it's up to you. Oh, and be sure to make up a brief back story for the little guy too. One lucky winner will have the choice of picking a discovered or undiscovered wild-card piñata or have a Mystery Crate sent to them. Three other runners up will get a discovered wild-card piñata of their choice. All entries must be posted on the forum by May 5th, so find a developer and make a piñata already![Thanks, jimmcq]
Those silly, little, inbreeding Whirlms
The latest VG Cats comic features one of our favorite Xbox 360 games, Viva Piñata! Actually, the comic focuses on the darker side of our piñata game ... a side few have the courage to openly talk about. You'll have to read the comic to get the full impact, but let's just say giving too much power to a Viva Piñata gardener can have twisted consequences. Guys, we all know inbreeding Whirlms isn't acceptable in our society, but the answer is not feeding a Whirlm baby their parent's "candy". Sick, sick sick ... this is just sick.
Microsoft's posse leads in NAViGaTR nominations
The nominees for the 2006 National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers (NAViGaTR) awards were just announced with Microsoft leading the pack in nominations count. Microsoft garnered 29 nominations for various games including games like Gears of War and Viva Piñata. Speaking of Gears, it's up for an amazing 16 nominations including Graphics/Technical and Game of the Year. With over 1,150 media critics, analysts, and journalists making the final decision, we'll be keeping our eyes open on May 20th to see if Gears can add to its ever expanding trophy case.[Via TeamXbox]
Are Nintendo fanboys hurting the Wii's 3rd-party support? One fansite editor sounds off
Who's at fault for Nintendo's lack of third-party support: Nintendo, the developers, or the fans themselves? Kevin Cassidy, founder of website GoNintendo, places the blame on the Nintendo community for showing reluctance or unwarranted disdain toward third-party Wii games.The rant, part of Newsweek writer N'Gai Croal's P2P series, makes a point out of Dewy's Adventure, a game he feels internet users have called in "kiddie" based on its looks alone, subsequently refusing to give it a chance. This is a problem Nintendo had when revealing Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker to be a cel-shaded romp with a pre-adolescent Link. Of course, that game sold well on merit of its Nintendo roots. Dewy's Adventure isn't even out yet, so opinions have room to alter wildly between now and its release later this year.Is the "kiddie" problem inherently Nintendo's, though? Regard Microsoft's Viva Pinata, a game that has been praised widely but suffers from low (though steady) sales. Is the kiddie image of the title affecting other consoles, too? Cassidy opines that Nintendo fans are clamoring for "mature" titles that include violence and gore, but we feel this is a more universal trend that is affecting all consoles.
Viva Piata demo now available
A demo of Viva Piñata is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Clocking in at just under a gig, the demo promises to let you raise your own sparrowmint piñata. Viva Piñata vets will know that sparrowmints are available fairly early in the game, but the demo should give players about 30 minutes to an hour plenty of gameplay. Considering the high hopes that Microsoft originally pinned on the game, we wonder why it took this long to release a demo. With any luck, maybe this will convince more gamers that Viva Piñata is worth checking out. Trust us, if you give it a chance, you'll find that Viva Piñata is very addictive.Update: It looks like the demo has more gameplay than we thought. Enjoy.
Win a Viva Piata coffee mug! (coffee not included)
Over at Piñata Island (the information epicenter of all things Viva Piñata) they are running a contest and giving away a few Viva Piñata coffee mugs. All you have to do to enter is edit the wiki in any shape, way, or form three times between now and March 2nd. They'll then randomly select a few winners who'll receive piñata mug goodness. That's not all that hard now is it? Anyone up for changing the Horstachio wiki page to read "Definition: When you kill a prostitute and hide her beneath your hotel room bed"? Yeah ... the whitty Cliffy B came up with that one. [Thanks, jimmcq]
