The first 10 minutes: Viva Pinata

BlimBlim
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 | 8:54 AM
70 comments

Xbox 360

Microsoft sent me a review copy of Viva Pinata yesterday, and as always I started a game so I could train a bit before recording the first 10 minutes. 3 hours of gameplay later, I realize it's already late and I really should start recording the video. So I start it with a new garden on another profile, and once again I get totally hooked, this time for another 2 hours of "just a bit more".
To my surprise, Viva Pinata is a very deep and complete game, totally addictive. Yes it looks cute, but beneath this cuteness there is a very complex gameplay. I still can't believe how good this game is, it has some small flaws I'll detail tomorrow with the second part of the video, but I totally recommend buying it if you are even a tiny bit into micromanagement games. It's that good.
Update: The second part of the video is now online.

Téléchargement

Commented on 2006-11-14 09:39:37

Great stuff Blim!

Can't wait to see this as Viva Pinata has been one of the selective few games I've been truly intriqued about for the last months.

In reply to

Optimusv2

Commented on 2006-11-14 09:46:37

I knew this game was awesome!

caiaya

Commented on 2006-11-14 09:47:14

Beautiful!!I will play with my daughter

kenshin2418

Commented on 2006-11-14 09:59:25

I really hope my copy comes in 2morrow, really getting tired of waiting for it:(

Thanks for the video, Blim!

ManThatYouFear

Commented on 2006-11-14 10:12:53

Looking good, i was planning on buying this the second they announed it, i mean it is RARE after all :D but yup your video and short statement has already answered what i already knew that this is going to be SHIT HOT!

j0k3r

Commented on 2006-11-14 10:37:33

Gotta wait till December for this game in the UK :(
Think I might have to import because I heard it is region free :D

RC_Master

Commented on 2006-11-14 10:51:49

Lol, 5 hours of Viva Pinata in the first sitting? Wow.

Jollipop

Commented on 2006-11-14 10:56:56

Great, Rare is back on top.. :)

Can't wait to see Banjo.

alimokrane

Commented on 2006-11-14 11:02:33

Just ordered Viva Pinata along with RR6. Cant wait!

Commented on 2006-11-14 11:03:58

I really would like to see vids of how well the game plays further along into it. I'm glad with these, its just that I would like to see everything flowing when your finally beyond needing tutorials.

DeadSaint

Commented on 2006-11-14 11:10:11

After PDZ i was a little worried about Rare[even though Kameo rules!] But this looks like such a wounderfull game i cant wait to get it.
We need more than just shooters.

BlimBlim

Commented on 2006-11-14 11:26:55 In reply to kenshin2418

Posted by kenshin2418

Yeah I've planned to do that, just give me some time :)

Commented on 2006-11-14 11:58:26 In reply to BlimBlim

Posted by BlimBlim

Cool, thanks alot Blim! :)

lumzi23

Commented on 2006-11-14 12:45:26

Gosh that is one of the most visually remarkable games I have ever seen.

twoism

Commented on 2006-11-14 12:52:30

Blim, thank you so much for making that video and informing the gaming community about this otherwise mis-interpreted game. The marketing has given everyone the wrong impression about the game; it is certainly not 'kiddie' in its gameplay, it is in fact a very deep and involving game. I've been playing my import since yesterday (yes it's region free) and it's just immensely satisfying. As for the graphics, I think they might even top those of Kameo.

Commented on 2006-11-14 13:21:12

I really hope this game does well sales wise.

rustykaks

Commented on 2006-11-14 13:45:59

what a nice game...really thinking of picking it up

kazam

Commented on 2006-11-14 14:07:01

I am not surprised at all that you think this game is great. I have seen the potential long time ago, and I think a lot of you also have done that. I have gotten reallt tired of the "bullshit" going on about this game of how "childish" this game is and so on. Hope its a hit saleswise. I would love to see more from my beloved Rare.

Woah

Commented on 2006-11-14 14:47:13

I think it's great aswell, there is no other game on the 360 at the moment that has drawn me in and kept me playing it like Viva Pinata, i only got the game yesterday but i've already spent about seven hours on it, will probably end up spending over 100 hours on it in the end.

Inflatable

Commented on 2006-11-14 16:33:47

What suprises me a bit is that everywhere I look everybody that has played it says it's great and very addictive, but the review scores uptil now haven't been that very high.. Even Resistance on the PS3 (which I don't find anything special) scores much higher..

Maybe it's because it's a totally different game then what usually can be found on the Xbox 360.. Maybe it's not a 90+% game because it's not an action game.. Maybe if this was on a Nintendo console it would get much higher scores.. Maybe, because I haven't played it yet, so I dunno..

SpazH3d

Commented on 2006-11-14 16:54:22

Why is there no demo on live? :(

Dazza

Commented on 2006-11-14 17:16:30

I've heard that this game has pretty bad framerate stutter whenever the game autosaves; every review I've read has mentioned it so I hope you can turn autosave off.

Leingod

Commented on 2006-11-14 17:45:57

Yup, I was wondering the same. Can you turn off autosave? I really hate choppy framerates... =(

Commented on 2006-11-14 18:08:39

I didn't notice it stutter in the video above.

I duno what the problem is with a few stutters here or there, it's not that bad thing, it's not like it auto saves every few minutes anyway.

If you could turn auto save off it would help i guess, but it's hardly a big deal on such a slow paced game.

Commented on 2006-11-14 18:10:37

Well that little hiccup when autosaving only last for a second or 2, so yea not that big of a deal