Viva Pinata DS / Xbox 360 connectivity figured out, not happening
The clever men and women at Rare actually figured out a way to offer connectivity between Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise on the Xbox 360, and the Viva Piñata game on the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, they figured it out a bit too late in development, and the unprecedented "Three-Six-DS" (say it out loud) connection will not make it into either game.
How would it have worked? Trouble in Paradise on the 360 uses the Live Vision Camera to interpret special codes on Viva Piñata trading cards. The camera's resolution is high enough to even read card codes off of digital screens, like iPods, Zunes (lawl) and portable gaming systems.
According to MTV's Stephen Totilo, Rare realized that codes could be placed in the Nintendo DS Piñata game to allow content to be transferred from the portable to the 360 version. Sadly, this realization came too late in the development cycle of the DS game, and reportedly could not be included. It's the thought that counts, right?
How would it have worked? Trouble in Paradise on the 360 uses the Live Vision Camera to interpret special codes on Viva Piñata trading cards. The camera's resolution is high enough to even read card codes off of digital screens, like iPods, Zunes (lawl) and portable gaming systems.
According to MTV's Stephen Totilo, Rare realized that codes could be placed in the Nintendo DS Piñata game to allow content to be transferred from the portable to the 360 version. Sadly, this realization came too late in the development cycle of the DS game, and reportedly could not be included. It's the thought that counts, right?






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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
koehler83 @ May 20th 2008 6:35PM
So they were just going to copy Eye of Judgement and it took them till the end of development to figure it out?
*scratches head*
Microswirl @ May 20th 2008 7:04PM
Yes, and Sonic Adventure was a Mario 64 clone.
Trickob @ May 20th 2008 6:36PM
I'd rather have Banjo on my DS (assuming I HAD a DS... *sob*)
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 20th 2008 7:06PM
It's illegal to not have a DS! Arrest him(or her)!
Well, I'm sure if you look, there's probably a homebrew hack to get Banjo-Kazooie on your DS.
Lemmiwinks (SSBBFC: 0903-2436-0891) @ May 20th 2008 6:37PM
Viva Pinata is just Animal Crossing with bits of paper and mating.
colin @ May 20th 2008 6:39PM
and death! sparkly candy producing death.
Moorio (Xbox: peacebyanymeans) @ May 20th 2008 6:40PM
Actually, you're incorrect.
I think Harvest Moon mixed with Pokemon is a better descriptor.
Mr.ESC @ May 20th 2008 6:42PM
I have playing GTA IV for a while and I consider beating a cute animal to death with a shovel and then feed it's relatives with its corpse more disturbing than killing drug dealers and hookers with a car.
Chase @ May 20th 2008 7:43PM
In the same regard as Mr. ESC, I feel more bothered by some random, asshole pinata eating/killing my pinatas, than being shot at/killed in Grand Theft Auto.
Jeff @ May 20th 2008 6:37PM
Umm, niether game is out yet. So what part of this is too late.
Alex @ May 20th 2008 6:38PM
but mating is half the fun ;)
Nick the Hero of Canton @ May 20th 2008 6:43PM
I find it strange and yet cool how the issue was the development time, not either company objecting to it.
DWells55 @ May 20th 2008 6:52PM
Yeah, I was expecting something more along the lines of the Goldeneye XBLA fiasco.
Mr Khan @ May 20th 2008 7:07PM
I wouldn't see why either would object, they're just reading images off of a screen. They could make it compatible with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl if they wanted to
Also, handheld connectivity with a different manufacturer is not unprecedented: Sonic Pocket Adventure for Neo Geo Pocket Color, anyone?
zuluhammer @ May 20th 2008 8:10PM
Why you gotta lawl @ my Zune? huh? is not even worthy of a regular "lol"?!?! Joystiq's anti-zune sentiment will not go un-avenged!!
James @ May 20th 2008 10:28PM
Not what I thought it would be, I thought it would have been uploading stuf via WFC then downloading it through live(or vice versa).
Ah anything would have been nice though just for a "lol rival companies interacting" kind of way.
I gues they could always put somthing on the box art or instructional manual for it to recognise eh?
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 20th 2008 7:04PM
If Rare figured out how to make the DS and 360 play nice, i'm sure they can figure out how to get Banjo-Kazooie on the VC soon!
Pweeeeseee?
Mr Khan @ May 20th 2008 7:07PM
Did you make that avatar with Bin2Jpeg?
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 20th 2008 7:57PM
Yep! Straight from my SD Card.
I made it when I had "Toon Link FTW" on my name and thought it would accent it perfectly...just now added it because of low computer availability and figuring out that only FireFox lets you change your avatar...
Mr Khan @ May 20th 2008 9:17PM
Huh, really. Was IE7 the one you were having trouble with? I tried for hours (intermittently, of course) to get this avatar up on my laptop with IE7, waited overnight, and tried on my PC with FireFox, and it worked in a snap
BMErdin @ May 20th 2008 7:05PM
This is the second post I've seen recently about how high resolution the Vision camera is. It always looks kinda crappy when I use it.
Though that could be the level of illumination in the room or the incandescent bulbs.
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 20th 2008 7:08PM
Probably cause the motion, the camera would be taking stills and checking for code.
THE Final Boss @ May 20th 2008 7:08PM
Gosh dang it, there isn't anything wrong with the Zune...
Cal @ May 20th 2008 7:27PM
Shh, sheep mentality doesn't allow for competition to be taken seriously
Chase @ May 20th 2008 7:47PM
Not now, but earlier in its life, the way Microsoft handled DRM was atrocious. There is nothing wrong with the present Zune generation.
Tiptup300 @ May 21st 2008 12:12AM
Zune Indie Game Development just helps the situation!
Double J @ May 20th 2008 7:19PM
My head would have likely exploded anyways the first time I had my DS interacting with my 360.
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 20th 2008 8:27PM
http://cubetoons.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1
Kizzle @ May 21st 2008 2:41AM
Same.
Dralzz @ May 20th 2008 7:39PM
Rare seems to have a history of great ideas not coming to fruition...
BigD145 @ May 20th 2008 8:23PM
And this stops them from developing the same capacity on a Windows computer in what way? Oh that's right. Viva Pinata will never make it to PC and there's certainly no way to hook a camera to a computer. I knew I overlooked something.
Dragod @ May 20th 2008 8:43PM
Zunes have much better build quality than that of the iPod, larger screen, prettier screen, much nicer software, and much nicer features. Don't lawl at my Zune, and I won't rofl at your iPod.
whoiscraig @ May 20th 2008 11:31PM
While I don't think it's fair to poke fun at Zune users, I like the screen on my iPhone way more than any screen I've ever seen on any Zune.
Laggy @ May 21st 2008 5:05AM
They both fucking suck. Settled
mike @ May 20th 2008 11:27PM
good. Im glad this crap fell through. Reminds me of all the cripled gamecube games that you couldnt get the full experience with unless you linked with a GBA and had the corrisponding GBA title. Im glad those days are over, or at least not on the xbox. And Id ont want them coming to the xbox anytime soon.
cheatbeastxcom @ May 20th 2008 11:33PM
mixing the DS gamers and the 360 gamers would have been pretty cool..
http://gamerevolver.com
http://cheatbeast.com
Procris @ May 21st 2008 3:16AM
Honestly its a shame something like this never happened as it would have been cool, if it was kept optional. I don't like games that require me to have another system, even if i do own both (360 and DSlite).
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 21st 2008 4:39AM
I blame the first-party guys for not making this happen (that means Microsoft and Nintendo, since they're pretty strict about proprietary-ness).
aggrazel @ May 21st 2008 8:42AM
Its not like both consoles talk to the internet or anything ...
Buckshot @ May 21st 2008 9:08AM
Zune > anything apple has ever done
CJLopez @ May 21st 2008 12:58PM
So, this is the first crossplatform connection I ever heard in a while, and was a DS with a 360, somehow, I think this is weird.
Also, I never heard that Rare was releasing a Viva Piñata for the DS, since, you know, how Rare and Nintendo didn't talk to each other. Or it must be that Rare took a good look to one of nintendo printing machines and wanted some share of it
Spin44 @ May 24th 2008 7:18AM
I want to get this game for the 360 and I have always thought it would be an easy game but the footage in a review (http://www.expotv.com/videos/reviews/22/193/VivaPinata/237668) made me wonder what the hell the guy in the video was doing. It actually looks confusing :(