Stopping by the Viva Piñata booth at the Leipzig convention, a couple of the boys from 1Up noticed that the game maybe wasn't ready for public viewing. Besides not really knowing what to do, the guys also experienced some deadly frame rate issues -- sometimes having their screen freeze on them.
From the video, the game kind of looks like a Tim Burton rendition of Animal Crossing. But, putting a less-than playable version of such a much-hyped game on the show floor probably wasn't the smartest move for Microsoft.
[Thanks, Andrew Yoon]
[Update: Microsoft has responded to 1Up's video via the Gamerscore blog. Check after the break for the explanation.]
Gamerscore blog's explanation:
I just saw the video of Viva Piñata gameplay that 1Up posted. I'm a big fan of Viva Piñata (can't you tell?), and I'm a bit miffed that 1Up is positioning the game the way they are-they're usually much more responsible than that. Instead of asking for a demo, they decided to jump in the middle of a level without any instruction, then complain about not understanding what they're supposed to do. Okay for them to do, of course, but I'm surprised they posted the video (including profanity forcing them to age-gate the video on their site) as representative of the game.
As for the game-play issues, there's actually a good explanation. From what I've been told, the issue is with a piece of hardware on the kiosks that we are using. Normally, we don't use retail kiosks at trade shows, but for GC, we did. I'm told the retail kiosks include a special piece of hardware that prevents someone from messing with the settings, or accessing the hard drive. For Viva Piñata, nobody can get to the tutorial because they can't leave the game (which asks for a save destination). Also, Viva Piñata has an auto save feature, and with these kiosks, it's not "aware" of where to save, so it pauses every few seconds while it tries to access the locked hard drive. I hear the team has removed the extra device from the show floor hardware, and the games should be performing more normally.
At the same time, we should have made sure that we had knowledgeable staff on hand to provide instruction, and we should have double-checked the game play before putting it on the show floor. So our bad.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
Thats not smart at all.
But the games premise does sound, interesting at least, it may be worth a rental in the future. If that is.. they fix it a bit heh.
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I'm more interested in how it actually plays. Unfortunately, it seems the framerate issues have pretty much prevented anyone from being able to really get any sort of a handle on that right now.
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You hear mostly that the Xbox console has a framerate problem? And where'd you hear that? Sony fanboy forums? Now this is a pure fanboy. Make up rumours about games based off of the alpha version of an unreleased game. Wait until your beloved PS3 is released and see what problems you get then.
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Seriously man thats a really stupid comment. The system itself does not have framerate issues. It pumps along just fine. Framerate issues are a coding concern and definitely not a result of the power of the system. It's got plenty.
In this case, as badly as SK got trounced about the Too Human E3 demo, MS really should have waited to show the game in a slightly cleaner demo.
X06 is likely to show something that's in much better shape.
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And to renegade. xbox 360 does have framerate issues in some games. Quake 4 is one of them.
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Yet another example of the issues with the state of video game journalism.
"What's the point of this game?"
"You go around and hit s@!t"
Brilliant deduction guys, next time you know your going to post a video, you might want to keep your mouths shut.
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Guy #2: It's to hit $#!+... I realy don't know.
Classic.
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Q:"What's the point of this game?"
A:"I don't know, to hit shit."
"Dude go hit that bird over there."
Joystiq "journalists" aren't like that too are they?:(
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Instead of fishnets..
In actuality, Microsoft needs to realize where Rare can make its money and stop trying to use them for Xbox whose whole core appeal group won't appreciate the titles. Ever hear something called "Games for Windows?"
Things like Viva would be much better suited to a larger audience, and one where a it has a good chance of reaching the little kids they are marketing it for.
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That's Rare for ya..they make games that sound liek kid games(Conker, Banjo) but under it all it's very adult stuff.....
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Alex, isn't that what kids do to pinatas in real life?
THe kid may be blindfoleded but the pinata is helplessly strung up by a hook in its back, like Richard Harris in 'A Man Called Horse.'
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I get that the point of the pinata is to smash it, but why would that be considered a good basis for a children's game?
Maybe this is a symbol for MS, EA and other big publishers, where they buy up a company (lovingly raise), fire everyone (smash it open), devour the IPs (eat the tasty treats within).
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-Quake IV
-MotoGP
-Ninety-Nine Nights
-Condemned: Criminal Origins
-Full Auto
-Oblivion
-Prey (runs at 30fps, PC version runs at up to 60fps)
-NBALive 06
-Too Human (not yet released)
-Viva Pinata (not yet released)
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The point of the game isn't to smash the pinatas open, it's just that it's the only thing the dim-witted morons who made that video could've thought of doing. Me smash!
Look here for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viva_pinata
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Even if smashing them isn't the overall point of the game, it is the point of a pinata. That's what they're made for. And smashing them is a part of the game.
To be fair, killing off characters is a part of the Sims as well, but that game isn't going to be tied into a children's TV show.
The point of the game seems to be raising the pinatas in your garden. But they're being raised to be smashed apart. That *has* to be psychologically damaging on some level.
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Can't speak for any of the others on the list. Including titles that are under development and not yet released seems pointless as they could change before release.
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"That *has* to be psychologically damaging on some level."
Right, just like fairy tales in which wolves devour little girls and their grannies. Give kids some credit.
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