Once upon a time Rare though they had a winner; a game which would end all the confusion between a hardcore console and a kiddie console. Viva Piñata was supposed to change the way we think about Xbox 360 gaming by showing off a title that would make children feel more inclined to game on a “big boys console.”
Unfortunately, execution of Rare’s new franchise title came with a few rough patches, namely Gears of War. Earlier on they had press releases and conferences about how this game was going to interact with users, inspire them to watch Viva Piñata the cartoon to get new recipes for the game which would allow you to create new breeds of Piñata. There were a few flaws in the plan. They didn’t hype the game enough prior to the release and then they decided to launch the game during the over-hyped Gears of War title.
Oddly enough my children (two and four years of age) would rather watch Sponge Bob and Dora reruns than a single episode of Viva Piñata. I thought the show was cute and the bright colors and crazy creatures would draw children like moths to a flame, but they just didn’t care.
My children were too young to play the first Viva Piñata and it didn’t provide enough interest for them to watch me play it and invest the hours. I found the game to be creative and fun… for awhile. Once my happy little Piñatas started eating each other and fighting constantly I realized the joy was gone. If I want to listen to screaming and fighting I’ve got my own children, babysitting Piñatas in a fake garden just wasn’t doing it for me.
Now, Viva Piñata: Trouble in paradise has been given a date of September by Eurogamer. Rare is stating we’ll have 30 new Piñata’s to play with along with new environments, co-op play and other cute options. Admittingly, Drop-in/Drop-out co-op play does sound kind of neat but my emotional scares from the first title have not healed yet.
I was told there would be a great deal of downloadable content (DLC) for Viva Piñata. but found nothing available after I purchased the game and, if content exists now, I’ve long since lost interest in the game. The idea was solid, the demographic was available but the execution went flat. You cannot expect older gamers with children to believe Microsoft or Rare are planning to give us real kids games when you release a single title and show us no other kids games for two years.
At this point, if you’re looking for a console with more kid-friendly gaming you’re going to buy a Wii every single time. Titles on the Wii work for both young adults, teenagers, kids and older grandparents while the 360 goes strong with the 18-34 year-old male demographic.
If you want to be serious about bringing kids on board, Viva Piñata is going to need some friends not just a single sequel. Otherwise, you’re going to find out quick that the 18-34 demographic will simply nod politely and move on to their next great fix… Gears of War 2 perhaps (November, 2008).
If the upcoming Viva Piñata franchise executes like its prior title there will definitely be some trouble in paradise.
Interesting, the dynamics of the group didn’t change a lot.
@Wasteland: Fallout as the spiritual of Wasteland? It makes a bit of sense; when you started to describe the game I scrolled up again: I initially thought you were describing the wrong game 🙂
@Dashboard update gives Indie Marketplace more visibility
I wonder, is it that the indies managed to pull enough money to actually deserve the extra visibility? And by ‘deserve’ I don’t mean the politically correct version of deserve.
If you ask me, the answer is yes, they do manage to pull in cash.
… :O Baby Makers Extreme had a sequel?!
@Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 outed by Amazon France:
Activision canceled advertising campaigns on that site? Really? Didn’t the tabloid stars teach them that is bad to f**k the press?
@Electronic Arts terminates “free Battlefield 3 for preordering Mass Effect 3” deal early
Hmm … I bet it is an exploit. Dice is just the developer, it’s the publisher that calls the shots on what and how gets sold, so I don’t think it was Dice who got upset.
I say it is an exploit.
@Alan Wake on PC because Remedy “a nagging little kid” to Microsoft
Hmm, lemme guess, they [devs] caved in and opted for an XBox exclusive for a little extra cash from Microsoft. Now they ran out of that said cash and they need to make more sales …
I liked the Max Payne games and I was quite excited about the game when it was announced. Now … meh … bad decisions have their consequences, and I think the devs will feel that. I mean there is a reason why others release their games AT THE SAME TIME ON ALL PLATFORMS, not two years later.
Regarding the question of the week, I’m not in for the pixie diamonds.
The Duck Tales games for NES (both of them) are very good. They even kept the TV series theme song in the first game (thanks for that ending, by the way).
It really was like Paul never really left! I guess you don’t need even need him after all! Paul kind of annoys me sometimes, especially when he’s whining about something.
About Mass Effect 3, I was actually playing the multiplayer demo while I was listening to the podcast and I think it is great. About the animations and such: I noticed them too, but what do you expect out of a demo! I also noticed some improvements over Mass Effect 2, but most of them were minor.
-.- Pixie Diamonds, whatever. (No offense, Paul)
Oh and by the way Paul, I was kidding, it wasn’t actually hate mail at the beginning.
It’s been ages since I’ve commented, but that was a really great show! This episode and the original crew episode are two of my favourite eps in a long time… and neither of them featured Paul! Isn’t that telling? (How’s that for hate mail?) 😛
I happen to be a fan of Polycast, so hearing Dan on the show was a very nice surprise. It’d be great to have him on again sometime! (Btw Jonah, I seem to recall you making a guest appearance on Polycast a while ago. Am I remembering correctly?)
@Alan Wake on PC due to Remedy nagging Microsoft
I always find it interesting to hear details of the relationship between a Dev and a Publisher. I find the Retro Studios/Nintendo relationship quite interesting, since although Retro are a very successful and acclaimed studio, Nintendo seems to be very controlling of them.
But even more interesting is the Rare/Microsoft relationship, given the Rare staff leaving and speaking out against Microsoft, etc. It’s sad to see what Rare has become these days though 🙁
@QOTW
To be honest, Disney didn’t feature that heavily in my childhood. I do love Pixar though and they’re part of Disney. They don’t really do ‘Princes and Heroes’ though. So maybe Aladdin then? He was a hero I guess and pretended to be a Prince for a while too!
thank you Paul for not showing up in this podcast, i was away from internet connection for roughly a month and when i heard the 1st VGRT contest i was very sad because i didn’t got the chance to answer and now i got a 2nd chance. TY
@indie dashboard XBL
microsoft fixed the problem because indie games are money makers. simple as that. the proof is baby maker extreme 2, you just said that
@Mass effect + free bf3 no more
idk if it was a exploit on the buggy origin software but bf3 is still selling as crazy (unlike the Vita – you stopped giving weekly selling numbers, i was amused by that…) the “useful selling time” of bf3 is yet to be reached.
@QOTW (oh boy, must acquire fictitious currency)
the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
he is awesome dude!
he might have been friendzoned as hell but he is the king!!!! not only because he s the king, but he has the atributes to be the best king with includes a pure heart even after a public humiliation from the entire kingdom, just, no heartfeelings bro Q.Q
he is epic
@Duck tales
when you mentioned duck tales for the NES, this came to mind instantly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPkhhLC1tf8
MOON THEME EPICNESS AT IT FINEST
ops almost forgot!
Derek, Jennifer, DonDon, nice to listen to your voices again! good ol’days back
my heart is with you and your son in the battle against cancer!!!
I just wanted to mention that there are games for XBLIG that are excellent besides I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. One of my very favorite games from last year was Escape Goat (an excellent puzzle-platformer with very nice pixel art) and there’s also Curse of the Crescent Isle (a Mario 2 style platformer), T.E.C. 3001 (a 3-d freerunner with a very professional presentation and addictive gameplay), as well as many others. Yes, you do have to wade through countless flash game knock offs such as the baby launching game mentioned on the cast, but there are genuine gems to be found.
Jonah was a guest on PolyCast Episode 118 last year, as well as the show’s newest edition — Episode 141 — released yesterday:
http://thepolycast.net/polycast/season5.php#episode118
http://thepolycast.net/polycast/season6.php#episode141