Viva Pi�ata: Trouble in Paradise adds camera, co-op, September release

by Christopher Grant { May 13th 2008 at 11:45AM }

Microsoft's embargoes are finally up and, well, there's not much we didn't already know. Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise – the sequel to the "sleeper hit" – now has a release date of "September" as well as some new details, including a "Just for Fun" setting that makes it easier to hop right in, a new co-op setting, as well as a unique use of the Xbox Live Vision cam.

VP: TIP incorporates cameras in two unique ways. Looking out: you'll be able to use the Xbox Live Vision camera to take pictures of physical cards (think Eye of Judgment), unlocking new pinatas, building, or abilities (Rare apparently created a moose whose nose gets red only around Christmas time). Looking in: You'll be able to use your own digital camera to take a picture of your creations to share with friends over email, in a forum, wherever. While Microsoft isn't sure if they'll be releasing packs on their own, think of this feature as your own card generator; forget those pricey little packs. Anyone with a Vision Cam can snap a pic of your "card" and unlock it for themselves.

We'll bring you our impressions when we get a look at the game later today.

Gallery: Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

Read – Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise press release
Read – Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise Preview
Read – NeoGAF VP2 camera info

Tags: BreakingNews, MGS, Microsoft-Gamers-Day-2008, Rare, Viva-Pinata, Viva-Pinata-2, Viva-Pinata-Trouble-in-Paradise

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Erwos @ May 13th 2008 11:49AM

Awesome. Single-box co-op, in particular, would make this an amazing family game. Definitely looking forward to it.

NATO_Duke @ May 13th 2008 11:51AM

" For the first time, players will be able to collaborate together on a garden through a rich co-op experience, connect and play with others online via Xbox LIVE "

That's full of win. I am very excited to see this new version come out.

PojoMofo @ May 13th 2008 11:54AM

"Looking in: You'll be able to use your own digital camera to take a picture of your creations to share with friends"

Expect LOTS of penis pinata's

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 12:06PM

Haha. "Sleeper hit". I love Viva, but it wasn't a hit. If anything it was the opposite of a sleeper hit. Instead of something with no fanfare everyone bought, it was something no one bought, but with some amount of fanfare.

Leobebes @ May 13th 2008 12:07PM

I thought the 360's potential was all tapped out?

Esat Dedezade @ May 13th 2008 12:57PM

They stuck in a few more taps.

Leobebes @ May 13th 2008 12:59PM

All I know is that when I unlocked that flying dragon pinata, it well worth the goddamn effort. That thing rocked! Everytime it would walk on the ground my controller would vibrate.

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 12:12PM

If they haven't fixed the limit on items in the world, I don't know if I'm ready to go around again. Getting some of the more complex pinatas required hours of effort, because due to the item/pinata limits and how much you had to customize the world for some pinatas, every step in the "recipe" for making a new pinata became onerous. And to top it all, because of the item/pinata limits, you might do all those steps, only to have the new pinata just walk by for hours and never enter your garden.

NATO_Duke @ May 13th 2008 12:19PM

But that was kinda the challenge involved with getting further in the game. Otherwise it would be simple paint by numbers. The game did a good job at making each variety have their own issues and needs - leaving you to figure it all out. Hell, the wiki page on it was a lifesaver. It also made for good use of live since you could ship friends pinatas they were trying to get ahold of.

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 12:42PM

I never used pinata island (the wiki) except to get pictures of pinata to use as AIM icons or such. I still to this day cannot get a multi-headed syrupent, despite many attempts.

I finished Burnout:Paradise without needing to use a cheat sheet, I should be able to do well in Viva. And in the end, I did do well, I played it for 60 hours plus.

But it was clear there were problems that were keeping me from having fun, so I quit playing it.

At the very least, the game should have an indicator that says when a pinata cannot walk into your garden due to object overflow. Cause doing everything right and then watching the pinata walk right by for hours is maddening.

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 12:43PM

Sorry, it's been too long. I recall now that it was that the new pinatas wouldn't even walk by, even though I had all the prerequisites set right (verified by looking at the pinata description in the game that listed them).

NATO_Duke @ May 13th 2008 1:15PM

Well, I am sorry that you consider it cheating to look at the wiki to see why a bear refuses to enter the garden, but you can't expect the game itself to tell you every variety of pinata's issues with other pinatas, foods and plants they like and hate, and what objects they may be drawn to. If you do think its such a cheat to read a wiki, then you sir are obiously a much greater and more honorable man than I. So, GJ with the racing game, but this one was a tad more detailed I think. The game would have been a mess of messeges and reading material for them to explain every detail.

Anyway, I thought it was fun, and tough at many points. A challenging game that was enjoyable. Also, it was always fun to see what would pop out of a crate a friend sent you over live. Sending someone a sour Malowolf was pretty funny!

baby sea tuna @ May 13th 2008 1:29PM

Pinata Island was essential to my playing of this game, but I don't consider it a cheat. I mean, if this was a real garden that I was tending to and I don't know anything about gardening, I wouldn't feel like a cheater if I were to consult a book, or the internet, or a fellow gardener.

I don't consider that cheating any more than creating multiple gardens for breeding or specialized planting, and then sending packages between them in order to, say, import some sort of poison plant needed for a variant without introducing it into the stable environment of my primary garden, where it might kill some of my more curious pinatas.

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 1:42PM

So you're saying I'm supposed to play a game which doesn't even tell me the rules? And the solution is to ask the internet? Weird. The game lists prerequisites for all the pinatas, and they work for the lower level ones. They list them for all of them and they should work.

I liked sending pinatas too, but my friends didn't ever bother to open most of them. Was rather disappointing to get your pinata back after 3 or 5 days (I forget which it was).

Going to the internet to get step-by-step instructions and spoilers a plenty just takes a lot of the fun out, it turns a game like this which uses a long sequence of steps to make up its length into a total grind. Discovery is gone, and you're just following a recipe.

Kryptinite @ May 13th 2008 12:28PM

Camera support Idea = dumb

Faar @ May 13th 2008 12:41PM

Seeing as this IS Rare, the question begs itself:

September, which YEAR? :P

They couldn't get anything out the door on time if their own lives depended on it...

Aero @ May 13th 2008 12:47PM

How is using a digital camera to take a photo of the screen a unique incorporation of a camera? Can't you do this with all games?

IncredibleBulk92 @ May 13th 2008 1:10PM

I completely agree with the item limit issue, I remember trying to get the Elephant Pinata for about 3 in-game weeks. Very frustrating. Also a bigger garden or maybe some themed gardens in some sort of scenario mode would be fricking sweet

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 2:22PM

Elephanilla. And that was one of the last pinatas I got, for similar reasons to those which lead to you not even getting it.

It took too much effort, too much garden rearrangement, and too much luck to get a lot of the pinatas.

I remember just getting the monkeys (which were available early on) was a pain because you had to replace essentially all your trees with the monkey nut trees.

Oh, and I forget the pinata you had to have a certain number of gooseberries lying on the ground to get. You could knock the gooseberries on the ground, but then you had to hope the pinata came by before the berries rotted and you had to start over.

In the end, the pinatas were symbols of the effort you put into getting them. When the efforts were fun, it was a joy to get new pinatas and watch them roam around. When it turned into a total grind, the pinata I had "earned" warking around just turned into a reminder that I was going through the motions more than enjoying it.

Oh yeah, and once you got two of a pinata, getting the breeder award (for 5 of them) was a total grind. Especially with damn flying pinatas. Buy love candy, get two to eat it, get them together, hope they manage to find their way up the bizarrely constructed entrances to the houses, do the maze, etc..

IncredibleBulk92 @ May 13th 2008 4:22PM

yea in the end I couldn't be bothered to rearange my garden again so I just made a brand new garden (tapping the floor again was very annoying). All that just to get some of thereally complicated pinatas. I totally agree with everything you just said but its a kinds of praise that I was still willing to endure these things just for more piñata. Man I loved that game

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 13th 2008 4:35PM

Tapping the floor. Heh. You mean prepping the ground at the start? I forgot about that.

And new gardens start small. Ugh.

IncredibleBulk92 @ May 13th 2008 4:41PM

actually if you start a new garden after you unlock the full size you get the full size garden but its still covered with junk. Can take like 20 minutes to get a grassy square. Really want the option to start a 2nd garden covered in either dirt or grass . Far less fustrating