Viva Retarda!





OK, so maybe it's not that retarded, but Microsoft's announcement of Rare's latest game, called Viva Pinata (shown above), is kind of underwhelming.

It's good news for Microsoft getting a game that appeals to a younger audience, 'cuz they don't have any others except for Kameo. But in true Rare fashion I don't see any of these characters as being particularly iconic. If this is their Pokemon, then where's their Pikachu? All I see are generic pinata animals. The horrendous, no-style music on the game's official website is already annoying the hell out of me. I fear for our childrens' ears. Plus, it's Rare -- I expect the game to be delayed to high heaven and miss its vague "holiday" release date, although they've probably been working on it for a long time. I rememeber Quartermann rumors from the past about Rare working on some kind of flower-garden game for the 360. Looks like this was it.

The one good thing in all this is that the game sounds sorta similar to Animal Crossing (OK, maybe closer to an AC/Pokemon hybrid) and it's sure to be more fun than Nintendo's recent stab at putting Crossing online. (Oh Nintendo, will you ever learn? *shakes fist*) And, all right...I'll admit that the graphics do look really damn good. Seriously, it looks beautiful. Still, it's a shame that you can't make your own pinata animals and trade them online or something. That could've been fun. Though I'm sure there would be plenty of pinatas shaped like genitalia if that were the case... and this is a kid's game you sick bastards.

Didja click that link? Didja? Good.

[EDIT: Oh, if you haven't listened to it, you should check out the audio of Microsoft's Viva Pinata press conference. In it, Microsoft Games Studios chief Shane Kim comments that Viva Pinata is the most important/significant title for the 360 platform this year. Wait, what? Surely you can't be serious.]

Posted: Thu - March 16, 2006 at 02:46 AM         | |

©