So why does Viva Pinatas get ignored? (for those with a 360)

[OC Noob]

People complain that there are no different games out there, just the typical platformer, FPSer, etc... and when someone comes out with something different thats on par with Pikmen, Animal Crossing, etc it pretty much gets ignored.

I have a pretty good idea why that is, but would like to hear input from other 360 owners as to why you passed it up.

[aaronjb]

Rare (and MS) didn't put the right kind of marketing behind Viva Pinata. It's been discussed on some podcasts I listen to, and Rare is blaming MS without really blaming them, if you know what I'm saying.

It's a great game, and my girlfriend plays all the time. But now that Forza is out..

[FudgeNuggets]

To me it looked just like another Pokemon, Lemmings character breeding hybrid thingy all cracked up with Teletubbies colours. Just looked too kiddie-like or acid-trip for me.

[tenchi86]

I would not say it has been ignored. It has come up many times on many sites, one of my friends even has it. Simply said though, Microsoft themselves said that it was meant for kids and as such many people will skip it before looking at it.

[Elif Tymes]

I'll be picking it up when I can get it for < $20.

[aaronjb]

I'm not sure that a kid could handle the micromanagment in the game.

[AngelfireUk83]

To me it looked just like another Pokemon, Lemmings character breeding hybrid thingy all cracked up with Teletubbies colours. Just looked too kiddie-like or acid-trip for me.

Apparently in Poland there too G*y for TV the teletubbies trust a creation from here in the Uk to be classed that. I am vacating myself from the country ha ha there's a small rock just outside the Uk boundaries I'll live there.

But I played the Dmeo the graphics are brill looks really nice and it seems fun I even watched the 2 free cartoon from Live there even more nuts.

[Rydis]

People complain that there are no different games out there, just the typical platformer, FPSer, etc... and when someone comes out with something different thats on par with Pikmen, Animal Crossing, etc it pretty much gets ignored.

I have a pretty good idea why that is, but would like to hear input from other 360 owners as to why you passed it up.

I agree. People always complain about games are becoming unoriginal. However when something new does come, people then complain how its do different.

Viva Pinatas looked like a children's game to me and got bad reviews. Therefor, people will ignore it.

[OC Noob]

I agree. People always complain about games are becoming unoriginal. However when something new does come, people then complain how its do different.

Viva Pinatas looked like a children's game to me and got bad reviews. Therefor, people will ignore it.

It definitely look like a childs game, but it got good reviews. Mostly 8/10's and had it been a Nintendo release I think it would have recieved higher scores.

[aaronjb]

It definitely look like a childs game, but it got good reviews. Mostly 8/10's and had it been a Nintendo release I think it would have recieved higher scores.

I agree. The Big 3 have already been pigeonholed.

MS dropped the ball with the marketing of this game, but a sequel is in the works.

[uzibear]

unfortunately the answer is too simple: it looks like a game for LITTLE kids and we just aren't secure enough in our masculinity :)

[rainless]

For me it's simple: I don't play Animal Crossing/Black&White/Viva Pinata games.

I also have never owned, and wouldn't be interested in owning, an ant farm. I can't even deal with The Sims. Sim City is good because it's a city. (As opposed to... say... an ant.)

The closest I can come to that kind of game are RTS games.

By "different" I would LOVE a 360 version of Phoenix Wright... or something Equivalent to Elite Beat Agents. THAT's different. Hotel Dusk is different. But those aren't necessarily the kinds of games that would work on a modern console.

Granted... you could do an EXCELLENT Gabriel Knight-type game with today's technology. But your average programmer, these days, probably wasn't even born yet when Gabriel Knight and Zork and all those games came out.

Nobody really writes for anything except RPGs anymore. It's hard to believe that anything like an "Adventure Game" ever existed.

They made a couple of Cthulu games for the 360... but they're constantly locked into having to give people assault rifles as a concession to the HaloHeads, turning the game into something it's not, and failing in everything.

I would love to see a Sherlock Holmes game for the 360. Something with amazing graphics, great story, and a soul. That would be good practice for video game developers.

But a Pinata game? I'm sure it's fun. But I don't have the time.

(PS: I think it was because of the stupid name.)

[OC Noob]

For me it's simple: I don't play Animal Crossing/Black&White/Viva Pinata games.

I also have never owned, and wouldn't be interested in owning, an ant farm. I can't even deal with The Sims. Sim City is good because it's a city. (As opposed to... say... an ant.)

The closest I can come to that kind of game are RTS games.

By "different" I would LOVE a 360 version of Phoenix Wright... or something Equivalent to Elite Beat Agents. THAT's different. Hotel Dusk is different. But those aren't necessarily the kinds of games that would work on a modern console.

Granted... you could do an EXCELLENT Gabriel Knight-type game with today's technology. But your average programmer, these days, probably wasn't even born yet when Gabriel Knight and Zork and all those games came out.

Nobody really writes for anything except RPGs anymore. It's hard to believe that anything like an "Adventure Game" ever existed.

They made a couple of Cthulu games for the 360... but they're constantly locked into having to give people assault rifles as a concession to the HaloHeads, turning the game into something it's not, and failing in everything.

I would love to see a Sherlock Holmes game for the 360. Something with amazing graphics, great story, and a soul. That would be good practice for video game developers.

But a Pinata game? I'm sure it's fun. But I don't have the time.

(PS: I think it was because of the stupid name.)

I'm suprized you tried Phoenix Wright because it looks about as gay as a game gets. Play a 13 year old anime lawyer? And Elite Beat Agents?

Fun game, but based on their fruity looks, how did you ever end up trying them?

[rainless]

I'm suprized you tried Phoenix Wright because it looks about as gay as a game gets. Play a 13 year old anime lawyer? And Elite Beat Agents?

Fun game, but based on their fruity looks, how did you ever end up trying them?

Poenix Wright is 23... not 13.

And I bought it because I'VE WANTED A LAWYER GAME MY WHOLE F'N LIFE!

Hell... I might just try and pass the bar in three years. I might actually start putting myself through law school as early as the fall. Three years to be a lawyer?!? No wonder so many politicians start off as lawyers! You need more training to be a garbage man.

And Elite Beat Agents? I bought it because somebody in EB demoed it for me. Showed me how the game was supposed to be played. (This was a rare... RARE thing... but it's actually the second time, in my life, that someone's gotten me to buy a game at a shop just by showing me how it was played. If the average shop wasn't filled with lazy, greedy b*stards... and more people did their jobs whether they were working in video game shops or... I dont know... sealing packages for Buy.com... then I think more games would be sold and fewer of them would be overlooked.

The other game I bought that I would've never bought in a kazillion years was Yu-Gi-Oh. I was hungover the day after my birthday and woke up on the couch with some strange girl, and there, on my HDTV, they demonstrated how the game was played. An EB guy had just tried (unsuccessfully) to explain how one of the GBA games was played (I was looking for something under $6 for my DS). I thought he was crazy, lonely, stupid, or some combination of the three... but after seeing a match between a thousand year-old dragon and a dark wizard, I decided it was worth the $3-5.

I got Age of Empires II for the DS (which seemed like a ridiculous idea since I was hardcore into the PC version) based on the strength of its reviews.

I never saw Viva Pinata in a shop. It never had a decent demo on XBL. And, while it does come up occaisionally, nobody seems to care about it. I would personally hunt and JACK whoever thought they were thinking about saying they didn't like Phoenix Wright. But nobody is out religiously attacking or defending Viva Pinata. And, last I checked, "apathy" doesn't boost sales.

[OC Noob]

Poenix Wright is 23... not 13.

And I bought it because I'VE WANTED A LAWYER GAME MY WHOLE F'N LIFE!

Hell... I might just try and pass the bar in three years. I might actually start putting myself through law school as early as the fall. Three years to be a lawyer?!? No wonder so many politicians start off as lawyers! You need more training to be a garbage man.

And Elite Beat Agents? I bought it because somebody in EB demoed it for me. Showed me how the game was supposed to be played. (This was a rare... RARE thing... but it's actually the second time, in my life, that someone's gotten me to buy a game at a shop just by showing me how it was played. If the average shop wasn't filled with lazy, greedy b*stards... and more people did their jobs whether they were working in video game shops or... I dont know... sealing packages for Buy.com... then I think more games would be sold and fewer of them would be overlooked.

The other game I bought that I would've never bought in a kazillion years was Yu-Gi-Oh. I was hungover the day after my birthday and woke up on the couch with some strange girl, and there, on my HDTV, they demonstrated how the game was played. An EB guy had just tried (unsuccessfully) to explain how one of the GBA games was played (I was looking for something under $6 for my DS). I thought he was crazy, lonely, stupid, or some combination of the three... but after seeing a match between a thousand year-old dragon and a dark wizard, I decided it was worth the $3-5.

I got Age of Empires II for the DS (which seemed like a ridiculous idea since I was hardcore into the PC version) based on the strength of its reviews.

I never saw Viva Pinata in a shop. It never had a decent demo on XBL. And, while it does come up occaisionally, nobody seems to care about it. I would personally hunt and JACK whoever thought they were thinking about saying they didn't like Phoenix Wright. (Cyber threats/penis waving are pretty lame.) . But nobody is out religiously attacking or defending Viva Pinata. And, last I checked, "apathy" doesn't boost sales.

ANYWAY, I WASN'T SAYING VIVA PINATA IS BETTER THAN YOUR FAVORITE LAWYER GAME I WAS SIMPLY POINT OUT THAT IF A GAME WAS JUDGED BY LOOKS ALONE PHOENIX WRIGHT WOULD HAVE ONLY BEEN BOUGHT BY YOU AND ABULANCE CHASERS, YET ITS A VERY GOOD GAME. AND HE LOOKS LIKE HE IS 13 YO LIKE ALL ANIME GUYS:D

Man, caps are fun I can see why you use them in EVERY post.

[jmp123]

I dont think its being ignored in the UK its been in the 360 chart for a long time, I personally enjoyed the demo i had to stop playin cos it seemed as addictive as animal crossing and thats not a good thing.

[FudgeNuggets]

I disagree Noob. Phoenix Wright reminded me of those old half text half graphics adventure games that were an upgraded version of Zork. I loved those games. Phoenix Wright was really fun too. Search for clues, put them together, go to trial and make you're argument. Seems to me it's a whole lot more mature than paper mache pokemon.

[OC Noob]

I disagree Noob. Phoenix Wright reminded me of those old half text half graphics adventure games that were an upgraded version of Zork. I loved those games. Phoenix Wright was really fun too. Search for clues, put them together, go to trial and make you're argument. Seems to me it's a whole lot more mature than paper mache pokemon.

But you are looking at the game and not just the cover art/screen shots. We all know its a good game, thats not in question. The whole idea of an anime lawyer is whats lame and would keep people from playing it if they looked at it like you say, "paper mache pokemon." So why is it okay to say that and not the same of Phoenix Wright. Its obvious you've never really tried the game since it has absolutely nothing in common with Pokemon other than it has animals.

So why is it okay to say its paper mache pokemon, but I am wrong for saying Phoenix Wright is a geeky anime lawyer sim? Both are extremely poor, ignorant comments that aren't representative of gameplay at all, solely based on box art and advertisements.

Same goes for Guitar hero. It is the dorkiest freakin game in the world, but its fun as hell. Based on concept, box art and advertisements most people should ignore it.

[shard]

Games are games. Idiots are idiots. Thus why people are idiots about games.

[AngelfireUk83]

Well I am playing it now just started last night I fancied something different from my typical shooter and racer. Plus NFS Carbon is playing up again online cant seem to get into any races always cant seem to find any. Next week I am getting Tiger Woods PGA 07 back as I liked it and a few of my friends want to do a big tournament.

The dam fox keeps eating my rabbits thou I can't remember the pinata name for them but I want to grow a herd of Moozipan's for my sisters daughter. She's addicted to the cartoons you can get from that website and thats her fav pinata.

[thalzaar24]

I rented this through Gamefly and really, it's a pretty fun game, but it's a sim type game, so if you aren't into those types, it's not much fun. The narrator and characters talk to you as if you are a child, which is cute at first, but eventually got on my nerves. The pinatas are cute, but again, started getting on my nerves. It's definitely not a game for everyone. It's quite fun and can be quite addicting.

I suppose the reason it's ignored has already been stated. It's geared towards kids which leads to quite a few misconceptions outright. It also received no marketing that I could see. I had also had no clue what this game was about. It only caught my attention cause the price at the store was so low, so I decided to see why, and read up about it and decided to give it a try due to the good marks it received from reviews.

My suggestion to anyone is to rent it. Keep in mind that it's geared towards kids and don't hold that against it, eventually, you'll be addicted and not notice, or care. :p

[AngelfireUk83]

Hey everybody still has a little kid inside them no matter how old you are!

I'm 23 and still play pranks on people I tried 1 off The Sims 2 the overday the 1 where you point to something "Look over there" they turn round see nothing look round to me and I lob a water bomb in there face.

Magic.

But Viva Pinata is a good game very challenging too.

[Mpegger]

Viva Pinata is a kids TV show here.

Maybe thats why so many think of it as being a kids game? (Even though the game has been out longer then the show...)

[Hazaro]

Viva Pinata is a kids TV show here.

Maybe thats why so many think of it as being a kids game? (Even though the game has been out longer then the show...)

Yea, I caught a little bit of that on TV. I heard the game was good. Just try the demo, that's why it's there.

[FudgeNuggets]

Here's a good read:
http://thedigitalgamer.typepad.com/the_digital_gamer/2007/01/viva_piata_why_.html

but this pretty much sums it up

"it's dual control (so a parent can help out a struggling youngster via a second pad),"

it's for the wee-ones, folks.

[shard]

Here's a good read:
http://thedigitalgamer.typepad.com/the_digital_gamer/2007/01/viva_piata_why_.html

but this pretty much sums it up

"it's dual control (so a parent can help out a struggling youngster via a second pad),"

it's for the wee-ones, folks.


And if it is actually fun and entertaining, what is the harm? I play games to have fun, if a game is fun then I will want to play it :D

[FudgeNuggets]

There is no harm, Shard, we all play games to have fun :thup: :thup: Some people's idea of fun is different from others though. Take me for example, I'm probably 1 in 10000 people who absolutely hates, loathes and despises FPS games. I'll take a fair/average sports game any day and 2x on Sunday over the best FPS game ever made. You're the opposite, you're probably the 1 in 10000 adult who likes Viva Pinata, thus why it dets ignored.

[shard]

There is no harm, Shard, we all play games to have fun :thup: :thup: Some people's idea of fun is different from others though. Take me for example, I'm probably 1 in 10000 people who absolutely hates, loathes and despises FPS games. I'll take a fair/average sports game any day and 2x on Sunday over the best FPS game ever made. You're the opposite, you're probably the 1 in 10000 adult who likes Viva Pinata, thus why it dets ignored.


Well, that and I play just about every game that even looks remotely interesting to me. ;)