The colorful, sickly sweet world of Viva Pinata may seem to be aimed squarely at the kiddies, but as we discovered in our hands-on time, you may not want to disregard this one. The concept is simple enough: you are charged with cultivating a small patch of land into a beautiful garden where little candy-filled critters can laze about in saccharine leisure. It sounds like a piece of cake (pun intended, and for that we apologize), but if you're not at the top of your game, your garden can quickly ... » Read More

11 Oct 2006

Viva Pinata

360 Preview | Viva Pinata

Wednesday 11 October 2006 A spot of green-fingered toil combined with a menagerie of cutesy papery pinatas. It's hardly the usual raw ingredients that go into a game but, if you're always on the lookout for fresh gaming experiences, Viva Pinata will surely have grabbed your gaze already. Of course, you might just be a sucker for donkeys with purple legs. A recent demonstration of the game's opening section gave us the opportunity to see how Viva Pinata's garden and ecosystem grows together - ... » Read More

11 May 2006

E3 06: Viva Pinata

360 Preview | Viva Pinata

The next big game from Rare will be a brand-new franchise called Viva Pinata. An original idea by game developer Rare, the game will debut this holiday, just a few months after the tie-in CGI animated cartoon debuts on American television. The game is not based directly on the show, but instead takes place in the same world of Viva Pinata Island. In Viva Pinata, pinatas are living creatures. You tend a garden to attract them - if your dirt looks particularly inviting, worms will make your ... » Read More

19 Apr 2006

Viva Pinata

360 Preview | Viva Pinata

Wednesday 19 April 2006 Apparently the brainchild of Chris Stamper and the Banjo team, this game of environmental management and creature collection looks like an attempt to blend some of the most rampantly successful and yet hardest-to-imitate concepts in videogaming: Pokemon and The Sims, with a little Animal Crossing for good measure. Microsoft is certainly not shy of the Pokemon comparison, as the deal with Saturday-morning kids TV network 4kids for a Viva Pinata CG animated series, and ... » Read More

17 Mar 2006

Viva Pinata

360 Preview | Viva Pinata

There are a handful of games that will make or break the Xbox 360 in the console war. The next installment of Halo, whenever it may come out, is one of them. Same goes for the racing sim Forza Motorsport. And alongside those space warriors, luxury cars and burnt rubber, you'll find ... talking piñatas. Yeah. Piñatas - the candy-filled animals that kids beat mercilessly with sticks at birthday parties, then gorge themselves on the sweet innards that come flowing out. Here, on Viva ... » Read More

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