Coming features will allow garden visiting in Piñata
Game director Gregg Mayles states it
A recent interview with Gregg Mayles at Xbox World Australia provides us with a truckload of extra information about Viva Piñata. However, the whole text could be summarised with one single statement: the fact that players will be able to visit other people’s gardens in the future. As Mayles said, we “will be able to visit other gardens and invite visitors of our own, and it’s the host’s decision whether or not the visitor is allowed to bring tools and get his or her hands dirty”.
Mayles defines the game as “genre-defying” because it doesn’t naturally fit into a particular one. Viva Piñata is almost entirely at the gamer’s mercy, as there are numerous tasks that a player can choose to do. “You’ll be involved in creation, customisation, nurturing, trading, peacekeeping, competition – even destruction and deviance if you so wish.” “Very broadly speaking Viva Piñata is more about setting your own goals, but there’s no shortage of them to choose from.”
One of the more interesting parts of the interview is the mention of weather and its effect on the piñatas themselves. We learn that different species will behave differently in different kinds of weather and even during the day or night. Mayles also reveals that piñatas can’t die, they can only be broken apart. “No piñata ever actually dies. However, there are many ways in which they can be broken open.” And as many should know by now, other piñatas could go there and eat the departed one’s entrails, no matter how nasty this may sound. “Players can even beat piñatas themselves and sell the sweets for profit, but as the piñatas are worth more than their candy contents this isn’t a great way to raise funds.”
Perhaps the ideal way to transform your piñata into a worthy jewel is to decorate it with a wide range of knick-knack kind of things. According to Mayles “some accessories have only aesthetic value, but many have special functions – some are needed as requirements in order to romance, some can protect your piñatas from harm and some just look silly, the player will have to experiment to find out which is which!”
With regard to Xbox Live, Mayles repeats what was already said in Madrid – that people who have Live will be able to access trading and other bonus aspects of the game. However, he points out that Live is not crucial to the game experience and that it should be treated as a bonus feature if you happen to have it. Rare’s aim, as also was stated in Madrid, is to try and make sure that as many people as possible can enjoy the game, therefore making Xbox Live an optional extra for the game.
As for the fans’ persistent demands for further sequels, Mayles confesses that he feels “there’s no greater reward and challenge than creating an original game from nothing.” “It might disappoint fans of existing franchises, but unless there’s a good reason to do a sequel then we have to try new things or risk stagnating.”
Somehow related news
- The Piñata team prepares another paper maché title ()
- Sharing is good, competing is better ()
- Viva Piñata Trouble in Paradise to feature online co-op mode ()
- Bugs plague our gardens ()
- Piñatas worthy of Tiffany’s ()
