Viva Pinata DS "makes sense," says Rare

After having revived the N64 classic, Diddy Kong Racing, on the DS, Rare looks set to continue its support for the handheld with future projects that could include miniaturized versions of Viva Pinata and Kameo.

Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Game Studios, told 1UP.com: "A Kameo or a Viva Pinata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective."

Despite a luke-warm reception at retail, Kim says: "I think it's fair to say that we're going to continue to invest in that property [Viva Pinata ].

Above: While a DS version obviously wouldn't look anywhere near as good as the 360 original, we could probably expect two full screens of Pinata destruction.

"Whether that is in the form of a sequel, a product line extension or through merchandising, whatever the case may be, that's something that we're going to stick with."

He later comments: "Whether you're talking about [publishing games on] mobile or the DS -- you probably won't see it on the PSP, though."

Work on 360 continues as ever at Rare, as Kim explains: "Right now the number of things that Rare is looking at on 360 includes a number of prototype projects," Spencer said. "Some of them involve games that we've shipped before; some of them involve new ideas."

February 13, 2007