Xbox 360

Thanks to the Xbox Community Network, we got another great interview to publish this week. This time it's with Justin Cool, designer at Rare and on Viva Piñata. See inside for some thoughts about the 'kiddie game' term, upcoming DLC and promises about more multiplayer features.


If Halo is the series that defines Xbox and Xbox 360 as consoles, how difficult has it been to try and change people's view with a game like Viva Pinata?
Halo defines the Xbox and Xbox 360 for the traditional gamer market. What Viva Piñata is trying to do is to redefine that same piece of hardware to a different audience. I thought that it would be something very difficult but everyone that’s seen or played the game seems to really enjoy it. That's been a reassuring surprise.

How will the Xbox Live multiplayer work? How many players? We’ve heard that gamers will have the opportunity to have friends and rivals in a worldwide community of Viva Piñata-gamers.
Initially the multiplayer aspect is just online trading. Any player can pack any items from their garden into a crate and send them to their friends. The crates are all identical and you can't find out what's inside until you unpack them so you'll have the element of surprise. We have some plans for more multiplayer features in the future.

Will your pinatas die on a natural way, (including being eaten by another Pinata) or will you have an overpopulation in the future?
Piñata can be smashed open and eaten by other piñata, but they just rebuild themselves outside the garden and leave. The garden has a limited space and when it is full new piñata cannot come in. Part of the game is deciding which piñata you'd like to fill your garden space with.

Viva Pinata reminds someone of games like Creatures or Pikmin. Did you lean on those classic games to get ideas for Viva Pinata?
We started with a clean slate and built a game up from the ground up. When you play Viva Piñata I think you will find that we are something new. There are not many 'sandbox' type games so we are always compared to the others, but you haven't played anything like Viva Pinata before.

Some of the more hardcore Xbox 360 gamers are dismissing Viva Pinata as a 'kid's game'. How do you react to this?
We made a great game that is a lot of fun to play. If someone won't try this game because of the way it looks then they are going to miss out on something fresh and exciting. The game is complex if you want it to be, but children can play at their own level. Only a real gamer will uncover all Viva Pinata's secrets.

Viva Pinata feels quite different to Rare's other titles. How do you see it fitting into Rare's catalogue?
Viva Piñata is something new for Rare. Rare will continue to try new game styles. Working at Rare is about quality and entertaining games not about specific genres.

What are your plans for DLC with Viva Pinata? It seems to be the perfect game for this kind of content
We have some DLC planned. There will be new features, new piñatas as well as some surprises.

Some people have accused Microsoft of being cynical by marketing Viva Pinata at kids, particularly because of the TV show. What would you say to these people?
We made a game that anyone can play, but kids don't read the gaming press. The best way to 'talk' to kids is through TV. 4kids have made a great show. It’s a great show if you buy the game or not, and the game is a great game if you watch the TV show or not. All the show does is let the kids know about our characters and the world of Viva Pinata. Its not some cynical advert it's just two (almost independent) parts of one franchise.

Have you seen the Viva Pinata TV show? What do you think of it, and how does it tie into the game?
We see all the scripts and get the show sent to us here at Rare. We all like the show and look forward to 'cartoon' day when the next episode arrives.

Do you hope that Viva Pinata will have the same kind of success as a game series like The Sims? Do you want to expand the game in the same way that EA did with its expansion packs?
We hope that Viva Piñata is successful, but we are not a copy cat game. We don't want to follow the Sims we want to build our own brand.

Microsoft is putting a lot of pressure on Viva Pinata to bring more kids to the Xbox 360. Do you really think that 1 game can widen the appeal of a console to such an extent?
No, but someone has to make a start. We want to make a big enough splash to attract more developers into this part of the market. We have worked very hard to set a standard for family titles on Xbox 360, we hope that others will follow our lead.

Many thanks to XCN and Justin for making this interview possible!

6 images

  • Viva Piñata Q&A - 6 images
  • Viva Piñata Q&A - 6 images
  • Viva Piñata Q&A - 6 images
  • Viva Piñata Q&A - 6 images
  • Viva Piñata Q&A - 6 images
  • Viva Piñata Q&A - 6 images
cchance
cchance
Commented on 2006-11-25 18:12:19
i bought it and me and my girlfriend love it... only thing i dislike is the shovel doesnt do bigger patting and bigger digging at once or like the ability to drag the shovel instead of patting and then patting again... other than that its really fun so far me and girfriend get a kick out of it... but i wonder what other multiplayer is coming... sending crates is cool... but i want more....

Also romancing minigames get kinda really boring... i mean isnt their a way to have a thirdparty manage the romancing or something??? I mean minigames are cool but i'd rather disable em and work on the large scale stuff instead... does it happen later in the game anyone know?
In reply to
Optimusv2
Optimusv2
Commented on 2006-11-25 19:42:33
When the romance minigame comes on kiss your girlfriend that should work :)

That'll make you anticipate every single romance minigame!
In reply to
audioeric
audioeric
Commented on 2006-11-26 05:17:36
I'm loving this game! I was under the impression that it was going to be an easy game, and really kiddie, but it's actually an EXTREMELY addictive game. If you don't have time to play games, definitely don't pick this one up.. There have been many nights where I've said to myself, I'm going to stop right after I harvest these crops.. Only to find myself 2 hours later still wanting to finish a few more things.. The game is entertaining and fun..

The romancing mini game is actually really cool if you think about it. With every "romantic" encounter, there shouldn't be a guarantee of "conception", just like in real life. It seems as though when you have a lot of a particular pinata, you have less chances to make it through the minigame..

The funny thing is that a few of my friends picked up both GOW and Viva Pinata and have ended up playing VP so much more and talking about it like we've got an actual garden.

Great game Rare, you guys really nailed the FUN component of games.. THANKS!!
In reply to
StephenR92
StephenR92
Commented on 2006-11-26 17:25:52
I'd have to play a demo of this before I think about buying it, I hope there is one
In reply to
INDIGO
INDIGO
Commented on 2006-11-26 23:20:10
I feel misled that there aren't more multiplayer options out of the box. The back of the box specifically says "online multiplayer 2", and I seem to recall reading that players would get to visit a friend's garden over Live. So why is it that we can only trade items? Does trading items constitute online play? I don't think so.

>:[
In reply to
Sahfire
Sahfire
Commented on 2007-01-01 19:55:49
INDIGO - > They will make the visiting possible when they have more sales of the game.
In reply to
chewy
chewy
Commented on 2007-01-13 04:59:13
hey i don't know how to send a crate. I buy the crate and pack it, wright the message, and then i go to send it and the only name on there is my xbox name!? how do i get othere peoples names on there so i can send to them?!
In reply to
About the game
Platform
X360
Published by
Xbox Game Studios
Developed by
Rare Ltd.
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