Rare was acquired by Microsoft back in 2002 and has been at the heart of the platform holder's internal development, but only now, with the upcoming launch of Natal, does the developer feel it and Microsoft are on the same page.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com about Natal prior to gamescom, Rare design director George Andreas explained just why the motion sensing technology is such a big deal.
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Console Monster writes: "The first titles have launched for the Xbox 360 Games on Demand. The seven titles are now available to Xbox Live members that were fortunate enough to obtain a place in the Preview Program. What's interesting about the titles is the game's pricing, which is listed in pound and pence, rather than in Microsoft Points. The titles currently available are as follows:

Call of Duty 2 - £19.99
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - £19.99
Need for Speed Carbon - £19.99
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga - £19.99
Mass Effect - £19.99
Viva Piñata - £19.99
Assassin's Creed - £19.99

The remaining Games on Demand titles, revealed yesterday, will be rolled out over the next few days, before the new dashboard update is available to all Xbox Live users on the 11th August..."
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Kotaku:

Here's the list, which eschews games like Fable and Assassin's Creed in favour of some games with a more...Japanese fare.

Idolmaster
Idolmaster Live 4 U
Viva Pinata
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Perfect Dark Zero
Bullet Witch
Fight Night: Round 3
Rainbow Six: Vegas

Each of those games will go for ¥2000 (USD$21), which might be a challenge for Microsoft, since you can find some of those games used for under ¥1000 (USD$10). Then again, others will be bargains!

As with everywhere else, Games on Demand will launch in Japan on August 11.
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Original Music Composed by Grant Kirkhope and Performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
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BeefJack writes: "But only if you are lucky enough to go to school in Waikato, New Zealand.

In three schools in this area, Microsoft are running an initiative that uses Viva Pinata to teach skills including group collaboration and problem solving. It is not just to do with playing games however, as in addition to being "forced" to play Viva Pinata, pupils also have to do internet research and blog about their experiences."
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earvcunanan of Cheap Ass Gamer writes:

"Ending, 5/17, Buy.com has a buy 2 select Xbox 360 Platinum Hits, get 1 free promotion which includes free shipping."
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GiantBomb "We're suckers for Viva Piñata around here. So sue us.

Rare's community manager George Kelion posted a nice little holiday gift over on the NeoGAF forums: A set of desktop backgrounds featuring piñatas in various scenes from classic film. They can be yours for the low, low price of...well, just click on them below."
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MundoRare writes: "No Holiday Season is complete without the traditional Rare Xmas Greeting, and this year isn't an exception! [...] The message from Rare coming along with this spiffy greeting card goes as follows: 'We wish everyone a very merry Xmas, a happy New Year and look forward to a fun-filled 2009 :)' "
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MundoRare writes: "After the amazing Viva Piñata cards from the Tokyo Game Show or the ones hinting at a new Killer Instinct, it's time for the Banjo universe to meet the paper maché world!

Some of the classical Banjo characters also got their own piñatesque representation in Piñata Island thanks to the exclusive cards released by Rare on three of the main Rare fansites, followed by another bunch of three at Rare's own online spot later this week."
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Back in April this year, Disney Pictures announced like a zillion movies coming from all their divisions during the next four years. [...] The last of them, currently scheduled for a 2012 release, was called Newt.

Some of you may have instantly thought of Viva Piñata's utterly beautiful newtgats after reading that. [...] However, the distance between Rare's and Pixar's newts narrows if we know that both are meant to perpetuate their breed.
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Recent claims indicate that Rare, the development team behind the Banjo and Viva pinata games, allmost bought us a horrible cross console hybrid... well nearly...
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Following the new tradition of celebrating community events to implicate all the fans in their upcoming releases, Rare have decided to carry out a new live chat with representatives of all the main fansites on August 28th. The Viva Piñata team will answer all the questions about the third Rare title to hit the stores this Fall.
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Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Develop last week, Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton, an employee at Rare for over 10 years, has revealed that when talking about the studios' owned intellectual property "there's a good chance of seeing any of it again".

"You might see Killer Instinct, you might see Battletoads. Or as I said the other month Killer Instinct meets Battletoads in the GoldenEye universe!" joked Burton.

The titles the Microsoft owned studio is currently working on is something that's constantly debated on internet forums, and speculation isn't helped by Rare's constant teasing. Do you remember the Rare 2007 Christmas card that hinted at a new Killer Instinct? Burton was all too happy to reveal the story behind the card.

"You'll probably have to rephrase this, we're just fu!$ing with you!" he joked. "Have you not noticed a theme in our Christmas cards? We do it every year! It's just sometimes people don't notice it because it's that subtle.

"Ryan (Stevenson, senior concept artist), when he was doing it said, oh I'm putting Killer Instinct in that, I am. The conversation was, put Battletoads in as well! Or Snake Rattle and Roll, come on do it! We have a reputation for teasing. Sometimes we do it for good reasons and other times it upsets people. We're English, we're allowed to!"

Burton wouldn't be drawn on confirming the existence of a new Killer Instinct title, but say that "you could pick anything in our back catalogue and then turn it into something new".
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Speaking to VideoGamer.com Rare senior software engineer Nick Burton has revealed that he believes the studio's 360 titles could well be remembered by today's gamers in the same way a generation looks back on N64 classic GoldenEye.

When asked if Rare is releasing games now that will have a similar effect on these people as older games did with an older generation of gamers, Burton was confident that they would.

"I think that already happened," stated Burton. "It's funny when you get fan mail. We do. We get quite a bit. Some for old stuff, quite a lot for new stuff.

"Whether we have as many of them or more, you'll have to ask me in 10 years time. But then again the market's much bigger, it's much more diverse, there's many more games."

When asked directly if the games Rare is putting out on the Xbox 360 could be this generation's GoldenEye experience, Burton replied: "Could be, yeah. It would be a different experience from GoldenEye without a doubt."
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MTV Multiplayer writes:

What would you say about the unholy marriage of the Nintendo DS and Xbox 360?

The developers at Microsoft's Rare games studio tested it and one of them told me that they've gotten it to work.

But you won't be playing it.

Here's why¿
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In the UK, beginning May 16, gamers will be able to pick-up a trio of titles marked down and packaged as Xbox 360 Classics. Late last week Microsoft announced plans to add Gears of War, Forza Motorsport 2 and Viva Piñata to their classic line-up, the PAL region equivalent of the Platinum Hits brand in North America.
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Microsoft is extending their family friendly stance to Japan. On December 15, they held a Merry Christmas event at Tokyo Bay. Kids could meet the characters from Viva Piñata and try out a handful of CERO A video games like Beautiful Katamari. Microsoft is trying to capture another niche. This strategy worked well for CERO Z games, which are starting to pick up in Japan. (Contributor's Notes: CERO is the rating system in Japan. CERO A is for all. CERO Z is for ages 18 and up only.)

However, Microsoft faces a problem when it comes to attracting families. Many multiplatform kid's games like Cars never get an Xbox 360 release in Japan. THQ tends to only support the Wii and PlayStation when it comes to Disney games and few Japanese developers are making child friendly exclusives.

Words: Spencer, Siliconera (December 19th, 2007)
Photos: Xbox.com Japan
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Kotaku's Brian Crecente has a leaked copy of the National Institute on Media and the Family's annual Media Wise Video Game Report Card, set to be officially released tomorrow. This year's report card is broken into five parts:

¿ The MediaWise Video Game Report Card
¿ The Buying Guide
¿ The ESRB Rating System and Ratings Education Efforts
¿ The Retailer Ratings Education and Enforcement Surveys
¿ Annual MediaWise-Harris Interactive Poll of Kids and Parents

Kotaku gives a quick summary for each part.
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Microsoft has announced that Viva Piñata will be released on PC on 16th November, the same day with Viva Piñata: Party Animals for Xbox 360. Viva Piñata will be part of "Games for Windows", which means that - like its Xbox 360 counterpart - the PC version will have 1000 GamerPoints to unlock.
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Viva Piñata is a window to fantastical world full of wild-roaming Piñata. Players choose from hundreds of elements to customize heir world in order to attract piñatas, foster good relationships among the 60+ piñata, and navigate the conflicts and dangers that threaten to break them open.

Available 11.06.2007
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