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.
@Diablo III I also think they will be selling more than those numbers tell, but I think that the goal of the “buy one year of WoW, get D3 free” is to get more money into Wow rather than more sales in D3.
@QOFTW – I’m thinking about backing up Xenonauts, which is X-Com: Enemy Unkown kinda remake. The approach seems different from the official remake, where in Xenonauts they’re trying to keep it closer to the original.
Meaning there will be two different games based on the original X-Com, and I hope I’ll enjoy both.
PS:
@What I meant with Korean Carebear fest (about Tera) – Carebear is what PvP-driven MMO players call to people who don’t like open PvP, full loot and overall activities that involve risking your virtual goodies.
I didn’t mean it as an offense, its just at first it looked like Tera was bringing a lot of PvP action and a somewhat sandboxy experience, but the comunity started to realize that in fact it is more of a WoW kind of thing with some light sandbox tweaks.
So for the community that has been waiting for a good game (pvp and sandbox wise) since Ultima Online, it was a bit of a disappointment.
As for the Korean part, I was talking about the graphics.
Sorry it was late guys, I was stuck with a sick MySQL server at work (yes, I do have a day job) and couldn’t make it then I guess the other guys had some kind of recording difficulty. C’est la vie… Hope the exams went well for everyone!
@EA deals with Rock Band iOS debacle
Oh man :)) Now it makes sense why EA won the award as the worst company …
As for what Harmonix would do, well, you’re quire optimistic Jonah. What I foresee is a small update made to the game, then selling it, regardless if you had the old game or not.
@Microsoft “banned” in Germany
Oh man … welcome, global players, to a world that does not have a global legal system.
@Diablo 3
The minimum specs for Diablo 3 is within my reach. Yet I don’t have broadband, because we live in a remote area; we only have a 3G modem, but that’s not broadband.
@ Next Xbox already in production:
Ha! So they might launch it in the holiday season this year.
As for concentration camps justifying a country to have stricter ratings, then Russia should impose the same rules for their game market. Oh wait, they won the war … nevermind …
@QOTW
Hmm … none, so far. I don’t bother visiting the site, so I have absolutely no idea what projects are there.
I know that all type of ideas get presented there, from games to devices, but still, the site didn’t catch on me.
“In Soviet Union, TV watches you!” 😉
Wow Paul, you get whiny when you are discussing the new generation of consoles. 😛
Almost finished with my exams, only 8 left.
@QOTW: Currently, none. As a 15 year old, I barely have any money for indie games which I don’t know much about yet.
The list I left you wasn’t a list of kickstarters I was excited for, but a list of successful video game kickstarters since Double Fine Adventure. I just thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss if there isn’t much news. I’m still surprised about how many kickstarters actually reached their goals.
Here is a list of the links just to make it easier. I picked the ones which have earned at least $100,000 to make the list shorter:
http://kck.st/xBJJ0N
http://kck.st/HiG1V7
http://kck.st/sRf3LL
http://kck.st/yAfgj2
http://kck.st/HYQbcy
http://kck.st/I1vU2N
http://kck.st/GTp0kn
http://kck.st/HqymGE
http://kck.st/HE8nZJ
http://kck.st/HEHrEK
http://kck.st/HujJPy
Hey guys missed you last week, glad that you’re back!
@Next box, although I don’t see it coming out for a while, I agree with Jonah. The sooner this next generation of systems comes out the better it is for gaming in general. Progression is one of the most important factors in the game industry. The better and newer the hardware, the better and newer the games and the opportunity for developers to really do some new amazing things with it. I hate to see the state of gaming stuck at the current peak of what the current gen systems hardware can do.
The major companies trying to prolong the life of the systems with movement controls was stale and gimmicky before it even started, with a few exceptions. I think we all want some innovation and new things in console gaming, and I feel like we’ve run out of room the the current systems. And hope to see them revealed as soon as possible without hurting current developers of course.
What does it mean if a comment is awaiting moderation? Is Jonah the moderator? If for some reason you can’t read my comment here it is again without links:
Wow Paul, you get whiny when you are discussing the new generation of consoles.
Almost finished with my exams, only 8 left.
@QOTW: Currently, none. As a 15 year old, I barely have any money for indie games which I don’t know much about yet.
The list I left you wasn’t a list of kickstarters I was excited for, but a list of successful video game kickstarters since Double Fine Adventure. I just thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss if there isn’t much news. I’m still surprised about how many kickstarters actually reached their goals.
@EA and RockBand
With all the mess ups EA is having lately I am surprised it didn’t shut down yet. Seriously, it’s starting to look like a continious marketing stunt to keep EA in the news. No one can screw the pooch at such a consistent rate.
@Microsoft banned in Germany
Corporations trying to skim each others profits. Move along. Nothing to see here. Capitalism at its finest.
@Next gen Xbox rumours
Remember the days when we would find out about new consoles AFTER developers began working on the concepts? Yeah, me neither. I am indifferent to when a new generation arrives. I am satisfied with things as they are now but wouldn’t mind if they changed. Since I am quite young and come from the poverty stricken Eastern Europe, if I ever run out of contemporary games to play, I can fall back on the extensive PSX or N64 libraries for new (if rather dated) experiences. It was lovely to hear how you were all arguing about it thou. It was starting to get so heated up, I thought Paul will eventually get FALCO PUNCHED (verbally).
@QOTW
Never bothered with Kickstarter. It sounds like a good idea but as a student I have more important things to invest my money into. Although I would join in if they had something like Shenmue III or a sequal to XIII (the comics FPS). I would love to see Kickstarter revive some franchises that were consoidered dead. Oddworld anyone?