Viva Piñata
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Nintendo
Review Type: Looky
Version: Screenshot
Never mind Conkers Bad Fur Day and Goldeneye. Rare has always excelled in the realm of kid-friendly. And rightfully so. Their goofy characters and slightly whacked sense of humor put them somewhere between Jim Henson's Muppets and Sid and Marty Kroft on the (completely fictional) Quality Kid Stuff scale. This is the reason why they're both reviled and adored by gamers in almost equal measure. The Xbox crowd hate them for diverting Microsoft's money and resources from Halo sequels. Old-school Nintendo fans love them for all the great kart racers, platformers and little known gems they created back in the day. Lately, the love hasn't been as enthuisastic.
Since Starfox Adventures and the subsequent absorption into the Microsoft machine, the response to Rare's games have been lukewarm. Now that Perfect Dark Zero is a done deal, they've just announced a parnership with 4Kids to create a game, television show and merchandising empire around a new property, Viva Piñata. These first looks at a world of fragile, candy filled characters retain the quirky sensibilty that Rare has been known for.
I'm curious to see if Rare's sharp wit and oddball sensibility (and let's not forget imaginative game design) can survive being trampled under the feet of all the Microsoft and 4Kids executives sure to be involved with the process.
Regardless, Microsoft could do with a decent kid-friendly game. Blinx just isn't pulling his weight.
Official Site
Publisher: Nintendo
Review Type: Looky
Version: Screenshot
Never mind Conkers Bad Fur Day and Goldeneye. Rare has always excelled in the realm of kid-friendly. And rightfully so. Their goofy characters and slightly whacked sense of humor put them somewhere between Jim Henson's Muppets and Sid and Marty Kroft on the (completely fictional) Quality Kid Stuff scale. This is the reason why they're both reviled and adored by gamers in almost equal measure. The Xbox crowd hate them for diverting Microsoft's money and resources from Halo sequels. Old-school Nintendo fans love them for all the great kart racers, platformers and little known gems they created back in the day. Lately, the love hasn't been as enthuisastic.
Since Starfox Adventures and the subsequent absorption into the Microsoft machine, the response to Rare's games have been lukewarm. Now that Perfect Dark Zero is a done deal, they've just announced a parnership with 4Kids to create a game, television show and merchandising empire around a new property, Viva Piñata. These first looks at a world of fragile, candy filled characters retain the quirky sensibilty that Rare has been known for.
I'm curious to see if Rare's sharp wit and oddball sensibility (and let's not forget imaginative game design) can survive being trampled under the feet of all the Microsoft and 4Kids executives sure to be involved with the process.
Regardless, Microsoft could do with a decent kid-friendly game. Blinx just isn't pulling his weight.
Official Site
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