Viva PInata: a Candy-Coated Meatball
I have to hand it to Microsoft and developer Rare for making a truly unique game experience designed to broaden the appeal of the shooter-centric Xbox 360. Rare taps the “gotta catch ‘em all” vein made popular with Pokemon, and Microsoft launched a Saturday morning cartoon to help market the game. Virtually every design choice reflects Rare’s desire to reach out beyond the core 18 – 34 male demographic: vibrant and whimsical characters, a garden setting, floral and pastel-heavy graphics.
Behind the candy coating, though, is incredibly meaty and compelling gameplay. You are a gardener charged with attracting and breeding the best pinata. At your disposal are a variety of tools and helpers purchased through chocolate currency, earned by selling your pinatas or other items in your garden.
The game throws obstacles in your way as well: hostile characters that poison your pinata, fights between resident pinata and even a population cap. You can even name and accessorize any resident pinata, becoming more attached to it…..right before you feed it to a more valuable pinata to convince the new one to stay. Here is where we see the tenuous balance that Rare attempted to strike. Rare has created an interesting and complex ecology simulator (complete with a food chain), but wrapped it in a child’s coloring book. The result is a candy-coated meatball: too much solid food for the kiddies, but too saccharine-sweet for the adults. If you are over the age of 13 and don’t mind the packaging, I recommend you give Viva Pinata a try.
