Viva Pinata 2: info

[FancyFeast]

From a Norwegian press site:

""The sweet animals from Microsoft's Piñata Park come back in a more focused and accessible game."

The other rumor going around is THIS is the title to feature support for the Darwin controller.



Now I'm a hardcore VP fan.

Here are my stats(FIXED):
http://profile.mygamercard.net/o0%20Red%20Cloak%200o


Now I'm curious about VP2.  If it features motion control that is a serious win.  If it features online features cut from VP1 I will be extremly psyched.

If they make this title 'more accessible' that can go any number of ways.  VP isn't a hard game, but it is a challenge.  Let's hope they don't dumb it down, and instead rework the title into something different.

[FancyFeast]

I'm just excited that they are giving the core franchise another go.  It deserves better.  The game is a classic.  If they can take that and improve upon it, then I'm thrilled.

[TVC15]

"more focused and accessible game."

There goes my hype.

[FancyFeast]

"more focused and accessible game."

There goes my hype.

If that means easier controls(motion) and clearly stated goals and quests then that is a plus if handled properly.

VP is already perfect as it is(minus no online).

[pilonv1]

I've got no problems with a more focused and accessible VP as long as it keeps the charm of the original.

[TVC15]

"more focused and accessible" means that it likely won't be a sandbox any more.  That was the best part of the game

[pilonv1]

It could be, but just more hand holding and using xaggle to do stuff.

[FancyFeast]

"more focused and accessible" means that it likely won't be a sandbox any more.  That was the best part of the game

Oblivion was a sandbox, just with a quest system to keep you honed in on objectives.

The objectives in VP were a free for all, much like Morrowind.

But in Oblivion I could still do as I pleased.

[FancyFeast]

Here are my stats: http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/Achievements/ViewAchievementDetails.aspx?tid=%09%5d%3a%15%18*iAqe4X6z-17

You suck at making links to xbox.com - those are MY stats.

Still, I'm hyped for this. I'll try to complete the first one before it comes out.

Oopsie:
http://profile.mygamercard.net/o0%20Red%20Cloak%200o

[FancyFeast]

[pilonv1]

[BamYouHaveAids]

vp was rare's best game since 2000(not saying much), i really enjoyed it and hope they don't mess with the game mechanics to appeal to a younger market. it certainly looks nice.

[Tieno]

Oh yeah, Viva Pinata. I played that game for a few days, it's such a time sink.
It needs the following
-Better menus, with faster loading
-Bigger gardens with less restrictions
-Being able to visit each other's gardens and buy/steal stuff from your friend.

Such a pretty game!

[Kyle]

me > FancyFeast

760/1000 > 420/1000 

good news that VP2 is announced, I hope it's much easier this time.

[Darunia]

i never played the first because I'm allergic to strategy/resource/sim/micromanagement crap

but the screens always look so nicens 

[Mupepe]

I started playing it again last night

VP

[FancyFeast]

me > FancyFeast

760/1000 > 420/1000 

good news that VP2 is announced, I hope it's much easier this time.

420 

[border]

Hopefully it's less convoluted than the original.

Having to consult an in-game encyclopedia for every little thing was just ridiculous.  Having a load-time everytime you wanted to look in the encyclopedia was only adding insult to injury.

[Mondain]

looks infinitely better than Banjo 3, but about the same as the original VP

why has MS sanctionned a sequel to a game that bombed so badly

[Mupepe]

I think it sold around 500k which probably isn't too bad.  I doubt this was a 20 million dollar game

[Mondain]

it sold that much only because the price was dropped to 20 bucks in a blaze

and this game did cost a fortune, it was years in development hell too, it was originally supposed to come to the Xbox

[MCD]

because they need more family games and VP is all MS design.

and let's be honest, VP graphics is just this garden you see while Banjo is huge as fucking a bear.

[MCD]

plus the engine is up and running, better milk this shit.

[Mupepe]

it sold that much only because the price was dropped to 20 bucks in a blaze

and this game did cost a fortune, it was years in development hell too, it was originally supposed to come to the Xbox

where did you hear that from?  afaik, nothing was said about this game before this gen. 

[MCD]

To mark a year of VP in the UK (and slightly more elsewhere) we present some rarely-seen artwork spanning the game's entire lifetime. And so we dive straight into Part 1: entitled 'Origins', this slide shows the real beginnings of Viva Piñata.

On the right-hand side is the original design document written by Tim Stamper many, many years ago. Although short, it still puts forward the core gameplay seen in today's Viva Piñata: gardening, animals and the ability to trade. During this early period, Xbox Live had not really taken off to the extent that you see today and so the chosen platforms were mobile phones and PDAs. The screenshot hearkens back to this time.

[Tieno]

it sold that much only because the price was dropped to 20 bucks in a blaze

and this game did cost a fortune, it was years in development hell too, it was originally supposed to come to the Xbox

where did you hear that from?  afaik, nothing was said about this game before this gen. 

It started out as a Palmtop (you know, those small 'hand' computers) game idea then very quickly went to xbox (they said they only had enough power for the selected pinata to have 'fur'), then went to 360. Don't know how long it had been in development.

[Mupepe]

oh shit.  sexy!

that would have been awesome on a pda

[MCD]

Now back to a time when consoles were slightly chunkier, and this shot of Viva Piñata when its home was the original Xbox. At this point we didn't have the brute force to push today's spangly graphics.
 
Everything was that little bit flatter and bolder - the papery effect that truly distinguishes the Piñatas wasn't made possible until we started messing around with the extra power of Xbox 360. Between the Piñatas are a handful of Helpers who have been through some changes since Xbox 1. Even though some of them didn't make the cut, you can still see the stylistic changes that were made during the generational jump.

[MCD]

Pinata DS:

[Human Snorenado]

If I can't make children's stuffed animals fuck each other, then fuck their offspring, then sell those bastard inbred offspring for profit or indiscriminately bash them to death with a shovel then count me out.

[FancyFeast]

Does White Man not post here anymore?   

[Flannel Boy]

Does White Man not post here anymore?   

TVC15

[GilloD]

Hopefully it's less convoluted than the original.

Having to consult an in-game encyclopedia for every little thing was just ridiculous.  Having a load-time everytime you wanted to look in the encyclopedia was only adding insult to injury.

Truth. Still. This game tickles all of my buttons

[SpudBud]

I'm getting the itch to play VP again.

[Tieno]

I'm getting the itch to play VP again.

I did, just half an hour ago. Checked my garden and I was completely lost on what to do. I lost my gardening skills Poored some water on my buzzlebee and he got less happy. Tried Sherby, the sherbat, (my favourite creatures so far) to eat something but he lowered his head in dissapointment. 

Sherbats are so cool and weird, they fly, have a cool home and everything!

[GilloD]

The real key is multiple gardens. You start with whatever skillz you already have on other saves- So I have one water garden, one "farm" garden etc etc

[demi]

Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise
- Improved interactivity between the pinata's and the environments.
- Pinata's will mimic each others action and follow the leader around the garden.
- They'll be adding toys for the pinatas to play with like musical instruments, spaced themed toys, and trains that the pinata's will ride around the garden.
- 30 new pinatas.
- 2 new sub areas called Pinarctic and Dessert that'll allow you to travel to new locations and lay traps for the pinatas.
- A photo mode will allow you to upload pictures to the website.
- A drop in and drop out co op mode.
- Improved UI.

[MCD]

Ok, since the embargo has ended, I guess I can spill some beans on Banjo and VP2 as well (besides what you already know from GI).

Banjo (slated for November):
- Building vehicles is basically like playing with LEGO. You can <i>always</i> jump in and out of the vehicle editor and come right back to the game with the new design.
- Parts are easily placed and moved around. You don't have to worry about connecting the motor with the wheels for example. Just place everything so they stick together and don't get in the way.
- Vehicle designs can play a large role in missions. We saw one where you had to collect coconuts from a field and got a small truck that could suck them up. Unfortunately you couldn't fit all the coconuts in the truck and had to back and deliver them in a large barrel. We were then shown how you could create a helicopter with a hook, that could pick up this large barrel, fly to the coconut field and fly low to scoop the coconuts in the barrel.
- Physics are awesome in this game and everywhere! With one design I placed the foot-in-a-box weapon behind a propella, and when I tried to use it, the foot/boot couldn't get past the propella... well, until I used it enough times to actually kick the propella off the vehicle!
- Pixel art... imagine the possibilities (Rare already had an example of this, paying homage to a certain plumber)
- Multiplayer is great fun with the ability to either chose from pre-fabricated or own vehicle designs. It still needs some polish here and there, but showed great promise.

VP2 (slated for September):
- I will only touch on one feature here, as GI already touched on many of the more traditional improvements. This feature is extremely cool though, in two ways.
1. VP2 uses the Vision Camera in combination with physical cards sorta like Eye of Judgement. It basically scans a small code on the card, when it's being held up in front of the camera, and this can both insert custom designed pinatas, unlock buildings or abilities, change the weather and many other things. We were told how Rare had designed a moose that got a big, red nose only around christmas time... and this could be passed around with these cards.
2. So the game also got a photo mode. Cool, but that's not the best! This photo mode is able to interpret the pictures and create the above-mentioned code based on the picture. Basically, you will have a card generator available on the internet! Imagine this: you have created this really cool pinata and instead of the tiresome task of sending it only to selected friends on Live, you can take a picture of it, get the code/card generated and share it on a forum. Instantly everyone will be able to get the pinata in their game and since the camera can also read from LCD screens, ipods, zunes etc., there is little to no hassle. Now THAT'S sharing!

[MCD]

VP2 garden is the same size as before, although you can visit new areas (artic/desert) to collect pinatas. You can't build here, but will have to lure pinatas out with bate and try to trap them in different contraptions.

Before I'm off to sleepy land, I wanted to share two pics. The first is of a VP2 card, also called Pinata Vision. Microsoft/Rare had asked us our favorite pet beforehand and we all had our personal pinata created. I was scared to see how much my pinata resembled me!

(Image removed from quote.)

Also, I picked this up on the tour of the barns. Make of it what you will:

(Image removed from quote.)

[ferrarimanf355]

They're making Killer Instinct 3?

:looks at copy of Virtua Fighter 5 for X360:

Wev.

[demi]

That KI3 paper is a red herring, they knew it would make its way to the web so they planted it

[MCD]

yeah, typical rare.

[ferrarimanf355]

That KI3 paper is a red herring, they knew it would make its way to the web so they planted it

Oh, fooled me there. 

[AdmiralViscen]

Can someone explain to me the appeal of the first game?

Do you just keep breeding the animals and getting rid of them for new animals to breed and get rid of? I mean, in Pokemon you are driven to get all these dudes so you can fight and use their new abilities, and you get to interact with them a lot. In the demo it seemed like they were just walking around and I was doing whatever. What makes it fun?

[NME]

Can someone explain to me the appeal of the first game?

Do you just keep breeding the animals and getting rid of them for new animals to breed and get rid of? I mean, in Pokemon you are driven to get all these dudes so you can fight and use their new abilities, and you get to interact with them a lot. In the demo it seemed like they were just walking around and I was doing whatever. What makes it fun?

Carrot and stick. You keep working for the more advanced animals. Adding certain animals prevents certain enemies from attacking (I think). You can also open up new architecture and so forth.

Sure, it's not for everyone, but I enjoyed it for about a week or two (which is actually pretty good for me). It appeals to the pokemon/sim city set. With drop in/drop out co-op, it should be more fun. But then I'm making assumptions about what you'll be able to do when you drop into someone's garden, or someone drops into yours, so who knows?

[ferrarimanf355]

I WANT FUCKING KI3

Dude, the Xbox 360 has Virtua Fighter 5 and is going to get TWO flavors of Soulcalibur, what more do you want? 

[hyp]

Viva Pinata DS

http://kotaku.com/390074/rare-puts-viva-pinata-in-your-pocket-this-fall

[GilloD]

Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise
- Improved interactivity between the pinata's and the environments.
- Pinata's will mimic each others action and follow the leader around the garden.
- They'll be adding toys for the pinatas to play with like musical instruments, spaced themed toys, and trains that the pinata's will ride around the garden.
- 30 new pinatas.
- 2 new sub areas called Pinarctic and Dessert that'll allow you to travel to new locations and lay traps for the pinatas.
- A photo mode will allow you to upload pictures to the website.
- A drop in and drop out co op mode.
- Improved UI.

The gayer, the more fun it becomes. Please god make it gay

[FancyFeast]

Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise
- Improved interactivity between the pinata's and the environments.
- Pinata's will mimic each others action and follow the leader around the garden.
- They'll be adding toys for the pinatas to play with like musical instruments, spaced themed toys, and trains that the pinata's will ride around the garden.
- 30 new pinatas.
- 2 new sub areas called Pinarctic and Dessert that'll allow you to travel to new locations and lay traps for the pinatas.
- A photo mode will allow you to upload pictures to the website.
- A drop in and drop out co op mode.
- Improved UI.

The gayer, the more fun it becomes. Please god make it gay