Viva Piņata

By Ellie Gibson Published 19 October, 2006

Another big hitter for Rare?

What do you get if you cross The Sims, Pokémon and Ground Force? A hundred million billion pounds, that's what.

Well, that's what Rare and Microsoft must be hoping, anyway. Viva Piņata, you see, isn't just a new game; it's a whole new franchise, complete with its own TV show and all manner of merchandising. The idea is that the VP characters will eventually become just as popular as the likes of Pikachu, Spongebob, Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Lala and Po - and just as profitable.

But that's not to say that the Viva Piņata game is just another cash-in aimed at young children and wacky students. For starters, the characters have been designed from scratch by Rare - best known for bringing us the likes of Banjo Kazooie and Conker, and a lot of games which are really rather good.

However, it has been developed with kids in mind, which is why - as we found out when we got to sit down and have a go recently - it's very easy to pick up and play.

You start off with a small patch of garden, and not much to see other than a few slabs of rock and bits of junk. And a lady called Leafos, who's there to offer advice and supply you with a spade so you can set about prettying the place up.

Initially, this involves getting rid of the rocks and the junk by splatting them with the spade. This will leave you with fertile soil so you can start planting grass seeds, and it only takes a few minutes to create a beautiful lush green lawn out of what looked like Catford.

Gotta catch 'em all

'Viva Piñata' Screenshot 1

'My little pony, skinny and bony...' Wait, you're not allowed to sing that any more.

Once you've done that, the Pokémon element comes into play. Viva Piņata sees you collecting a wide range of brightly coloured creatures with stupid names, in this case by making your garden so pretty that they come and set up home in it.

The first piņatas to arrive will be the Syrupents - grass snakes, basically, who will be attracted by your nice lawn. Later on, you might plant carrots to attract the rabbit-like Bunnycombs, or flowers for the Buzzlegum bees. Other species include the Sparrowmint, Fudgehog and Horsetachio, plus nocturnal piņatas such as the Mothdrop, who only come out when it's dark. There are around 60 species in total, but you'll have to do an awful lot of work on your garden to collect the lot.

For the most part, the piņatas are cute, good natured little creatures. But there are also bad piņatas, known as sours, who are liable to start fights and generally cause problems. If you train them well, though, they can prove useful; for example, you could build a pen for the sheep piņatas, and teach a sour to act as a kind of collie to keep them in line. "Come by, weird purple snake-type thing," etc.

As soon as you've got a couple of piņatas running about, a character called Willy the Builder will pop up and kindly offer to build them a house. You can place this anywhere you like in the garden, though it's worth thinking about whether certain species are likely to fight if they're put in close quarters.

Loved up

'Viva Piñata' Screenshot 2

'Two piņata 'getting down', in both a disco and a sex sense.

Then comes the romantic bit. When two piņatas take a fancy to each other, heart icons will appear above their heads. You can encourage them to mate by playing a short mini-game (these vary depending on the species, but in the example we saw, you had to navigate a simple maze).

If you're successful, you'll get to see their mating ritual, which takes the form of a little dance (again, unique to the individual species). As if by magic, an egg will then appear in your garden, and will break open to reveal a brand new baby piņata. Because that's how it really happens, kids, and not just because Daddy bought the supermarket own-brand ones.

So that's the miracle of birth, but like pokémon and nintendogs, piņata never die. However, you can break them open and make them spill their sugary guts all over the place. There's a doctor character to heal them, but also an evil bloke called Dastardos (probably didn't need to point out the fact he's evil there) who will swoop in and nick any ill piņatas he can find.

Breaking piņatas open will release chocolate coins (also earned by managing your garden), which you can use down the local shop. There are all sorts of piņata accessories to choose from, including sunglasses, hats and comedy bunny ears.

Live and kicking

'Viva Piñata' Screenshot 3

'The sun doesn't always shine on Piņata Island, which helps with the migraines.

More accessories will be available via Xbox Live Marketplace, which is also where you can trade piņata. To identify them, each piņata has a special tag revealing its name (chosen by you), how old it is and how much ground it's covered in your garden. Xbox Live will determine what each piņata is worth in terms of gold coins, and then you can swap them about with your friends. The tags don't change, so you'll always be able to tell where each piņata started out.

And that's about it for online features - although there is an achievements system (for example, if you attract five different species of piņata to your garden, you'll earn 20 gamerpoints). However, Rare is planning to launch other features once the game is out; you might get the option to visit other players' gardens, just as you can visit other towns in Animal Crossing. Apparently, though, they want to see how the game is received and find out what players want first.

So we're unlikely to see any other online features until after Viva Piņata hits the shops, which will be some time before Christmas. The TV show, which has just started showing in the US, will be on UK screens next spring; and what with all the bright colours, high pitched noises and extensive marketing it's sure to be a big hit with kids.

Chances are they'll like the game, too, seeing as it's so easy to pick up and play and contains all the elements kids like - collecting things, splatting things, building things and owning things they've seen on the telly.

But what about grown-ups? Well, it's not yet clear whether there's enough depth here for older players; it could be that the gameplay's just a bit too simple and a bit too familiar for some. But a much more thorough playtest will be needed before there's a definitive answer to that one - so keep an eye out for the review...

Viva Piņata is due out exclusively on Xbox 360 this Christmas.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (47) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • chupachups #1 5 years ago

    I hope people don't write this off purely for being a kid's game, Animal Crossing was aimed at children but that was pretty good.

  • morriss #2 5 years ago

    I'm buying it. So there!!

  • jack_klugman #3 5 years ago

    It looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm interested in the cross-media potential.

  • geepersd #4 5 years ago

    as a franchise it's seems quite good - I liked the two tv eps I downloaded from live

  • Steroyd #5 5 years ago

    Everytime i see this game the games Pokemon, Sims, Animal Crossing keep resonating in my head.

    I wonder if a game like Viva Pinata would do well on a console like Xbox.

  • nickthegun #6 5 years ago

    #made out of plastic.....#

    damn you for putting that song in my head!

  • LetsGo #7 5 years ago

    'Another big hitter for Rare? '?

    More like 'Rares only big hitter in over 6 years? '

  • Tiger_Walts #8 5 years ago

    I want a garden full of sours.

  • TwistidChimp #9 5 years ago

    gagh.. must resist.. blatant... commercialism.

    its no good, I still want it. Plus the tv series was MS's idea after rare had already started production, so that makes it a bit easier to view it as something other than a cynical candy coloured money printing machine.

  • viperfoxbat #10 5 years ago

    When you review the game be sure to put on that kid cap as if your 8 years old. This way the review will be fair to the kids. It is a kids game after all. I'm sure there are some grownups that are just waiting to get their hands on it. ;)

  • Huntcjna #11 5 years ago

    This sounds quite good.

    /performs man dance mating ritual with morriss

  • bigbadbeasty #12 5 years ago

    I like the look of the game, and I will buy it. But I cannot help but think this should be a Wii title.

  • Dizzy #13 5 years ago

    It sounds like Animal Crossing still has some more "features". I hope Rare can expand the game to make better use of trading items or special days just liek AC (unless they have already done that). There certainly are possibilities with games likes this.

  • Darren #14 5 years ago

    Looks great and it's something that doesn't involve sports, racing vehicles or killing people so it's got to be a good thing for the Xbox 360 which has a lineup of otherwise predictabe games.

  • morriss #15 5 years ago

    "This sounds quite good.

    /performs man dance mating ritual with morriss"

    Lurvely!!!

    Yeah, the 'visiting other people's gardens' idea is one I'll definately be interested in.

  • pjmaybe #16 5 years ago

    This could be the first Rare title in quite some time that interests me...

    Love the style of it.

    Peej

  • Phreedh #17 5 years ago

    What my mrs is getting for chrimbo!

    This, and a bowling ball with "Homer" engraved on it.

  • Steroyd #18 5 years ago

    @Darren

    Good point, makes me wonder if the genre's are so embedded into the Xbox format that instead of kiddies lapping up Xbox 360's, 30 year old men who already have a Xbox will get it because it's new and unique.

  • dr_faulk #19 5 years ago

    "Because that's how it really happens, kids, and not just because Daddy bought the supermarket own-brand ones."

    omfg, mega-roflz!

  • Matsuo #20 5 years ago

    Sounds a lot like Animal Crossing. It's really a genre-filler for Microsoft, so it'll be interesting how this game does. This is also the first Rare title in years that is actually interesting.

  • Schiraman #21 5 years ago

    This sounds like crass commercialism at its absolute worst.

  • Roamer #22 5 years ago

    Another big hitter for Rare?

    Er...sarcastic headline?

  • Roamer #23 5 years ago

    Oh, and will this one also have any horrible microtransactions attached to it?

  • mingster #24 5 years ago

    doesn't sound as good as pokemon...

    can you make the pinatas fight each other?

  • PS3lol #25 5 years ago

    Wow you stupid PS3 fanboys just can't stop can you. The game looks amazing and will sell more than any other Nintendo "kiddy" game has ever done.

    PS3 sucks ass, enjoy your 5 month wait losers. I'll be playing Double agent on Friday, Gears of war next month along with Pro evo 6, Fifa 07, and Mass effect early next year with Alan Wake, Bioshock, Forza 2, Lost planet, and Viva Pinata, bitches.

    You will be playing NOTHING, well maybe that shit FPS called Resistance.
    Edited by 2 at 19/10/06 @ 13:11

  • Azazel #26 5 years ago

    Can't think of Rare anymore without the thought of the Consolevania guys bashing their heads in...

    TEAAAAM!

  • the_dudefather #27 5 years ago

    What actualy happens at those CV meets anyway?

  • AcidSnake #28 5 years ago

    "Another big hitter for Rare? "

    Obviously they're refering to Goldeneye...

  • kissthestick #29 5 years ago

    love the art design, got a sinking feeling it'll flop since its not really the 360's genre

  • Zuiyo #30 5 years ago

    Thanks for the right spelling. I thank you.

  • glaeken #31 5 years ago

    I can not wait to collect a Fudgehog.

  • gaijin #32 5 years ago

    I already have a fudgeh.... oh I see, you mean in the game. Yeah. That'll be cool too.

    Gonna get this. If only, as previously pointed out, because it doesn't involve sport or space marines.

  • reflux #33 5 years ago

    Love the art design.

  • Xerx3s #34 5 years ago

    The idea is that the VP characters will eventually become just as popular as the likes of Pikachu, Spongebob, Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Lala and Po - and just as profitable.

    Heh, somehow I doubt that it will become a pokemon. The game looks nice though.

    Once you've done that, the Pokémon element comes into play.

    Can you battle with them? :D

    a character called Willy the Builder will pop up

    Argh, no! I thought that they would have fixed this bug anno 2k6! ;p

  • kissthestick #35 5 years ago

    "Another big hitter for Rare?"



    oh i get it, pinata = to wack = to hit = big "hitter"!



    god iam so slow! :D
    Edited by 1 at 19/10/06 @ 16:13

  • Banjax #36 5 years ago

    That Dark Messiah ad is seriously broken/intrusive in Safari, covering up the text and making an awful racket.

    Can't be closed either - clicking the button just restarts the ad :|

  • Rirekon #37 5 years ago

    Why do those names sound like flavours of Ben&Jerry's ice-cream?

  • Bates #38 5 years ago

    "Another big hitter for Rare?"

    Hey EG, you missed an 'S' somewhere in this sentence :D

    It'll be amusing to see how badly Animal Crossing Wii shits all over this. Come on with the announcement already Ninty!

  • The-Bodybuilder #39 5 years ago

    Chances are MS will reduce that price of the core, and bundle this with it as it's lone fight against the kids that may want 2 wii. Sorry, I mean a wii. Errr...

  • ChromeMud #40 5 years ago

    If it gets an 8/10 or so in reviews I'm sold!
    I don't hate Rare unlike a few loyal Ninty followers but I guess that's the way
    of things when they defect to another company.
    I wasn't interested in 'Perfect Dark Zero' as 'COD 2' was my preference and 'Kameo' is a platformer which is the one type of game I've no interest in,
    although I did like the design and technicaly what they achieved with the title.

    This game doesn't belong on the Wii or any other console.
    It's a title which will hopefuly flesh out the 360's appeal to more than the
    fps/racing hardcore and I hope Rare get's some praise for a change!

  • Bluetooth #41 5 years ago

    Microsoft, lads... you just don't get it. It's easy to picture the boardroom meeting that took place prior to this.

    "We need something as catchy and successful as Pokemon"
    ...
    ...

    ...

    "Let's copy it! We can do the whole lunchboxes, TV show, catchy theme tune, collect them all attitude... guys, we're onto a winner!!"


    Except you're not. Beyond Pokemon was one of the deepest RPGs ever, in addition it had a very absorbing (if childish) storyline that everyone adored. And those wacky, but loveable characters.

    When I see those talking shitheads I think.... just fucking shut up. Sure those Pokemon had their irritating little chants, but at least they were a bit cute. When I see a pink horse with bucked teeth there's nothing to appeal there. And the thing with Pokemon was the storyline (in TV shows, games) just kept on branching out... this reeks of a single dimension game.

    Check the wiki for this game's characters and see what I mean.
    Edited by 1 at 19/10/06 @ 20:56

  • Bluetooth #42 5 years ago

    It does look nice though. Well done MS!

  • Muddtallica #43 5 years ago

    Bates - ""Another big hitter for Rare?"

    Hey EG, you missed an 'S' somewhere in this sentence :D

    It'll be amusing to see how badly Animal Crossing Wii shits all over this. Come on with the announcement already Ninty!"

    Oh, for God's sake, get a grip. Was that really necessary? I mean, does EVERY EG comments page HAVE to contain at least one fanboy war? This topic has nothing whatsoever to do with "Ninty", so I can't see exactly what you're trying to achieve by making this ludicrous comparison between two completely unrelated games, (one of which you've never played, and one of which hasn't even been ANNOUNCED), except to make Nintendo fans look like retards, and to irritate people who are actually trying to talk about something relevant. If that was your objective, mission accomplished.

  • Julie1364 #44 5 years ago

    I'm buying it and I'm the wrong side of 40 :-)

  • bloodflowers #45 5 years ago

    I'll buy it if the frame rate isn't too bad - early reports suggested a shocking jumpy experience.

  • pb64_uk #46 5 years ago

    cool. It looks like bagpuss or something. Which is no bad thing.

  • EmiliasHorse #47 5 years ago

    I want a Horsetachio and it's as simple as that.

  • Skooch #48 5 years ago

    "love the art design, got a sinking feeling it'll flop since its not really the 360's genre"

    The 360 has a genre? I thought only games had a genre? I know what you mean tho... :)