Viva Piñata Ready, Downloads Uncertain

Rare's game is out in Europe on Friday, just don't hold your breath for downloadable content.

When you think of the Xbox 360 you generally think of guns, blood, violence and guns. What you do not think of are cute animals with scrumptious innards, and yet that's exactly what Microsoft's new game Viva Piñata is.

When the game and the attached TV series already showing in the US were unveiled, a wave of cynicism resulted in many people writing it off. Early reviews, though, point to the game bringing something both new and addictive to the Xbox 360. The quirky nature of British developer Rare is largely to thank for that.

The game puts you, as a formless god, in a world of your making. By placing suitable lures in your garden realm you'll be able to attract new piñatas, which you can then feed, breed and otherwise manipulate.

Viva Piñata has an online component on Xbox Live too, letting you trade items, piñatas and more. Whether or not you'll be seeing downloadable content for the game is, however, another issue, as the developer does not yet seem sold on the idea.

"We've got plenty of ideas for what we can do with downloadable content because Piñata is such a unique game," Rare's Gregg Mayles told GamesIndustry.biz. "But the jury is still out."

"It's almost pointless doing a huge amount of work at this point because if it's not going to be successful you may as well put that effort into making a new game."

Sound like your thing? Find out when the game is released only for Xbox 360 on Friday, 1 December. You can find out more about it at www.vivapinata.com.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo