Microsoft wants Piñata to expand into new areas
Shane Kim even talks about a possible DS extension
In spite of the public lukewarm reception, in the coming years Viva Piñata may become a franchise with new titles in other genres or get downloadable expansions, according to Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios.
Kim was interviewed by both TeamXbox and 1Up at DICE Summit in Las Vegas, and was very clear with the future of Piñata as a franchise, and not just as a single game: “We love that property, and we think that is a title that is certainly rich enough to expand into different areas, but that title itself is something that is going to be able to sell for many, many years to come.”
Moreover, he pointed out many ways to keep their paper mache pets in the limelight: “Whether that is in the form of a sequel, a product line extension or through merchandising, whatever the case may be, that’s something that we’re going to stick with.” Surprising enough is the fact that Kim even mentioned the possibility of an expansion out of the Xbox market: “A Kameo or a Viva Piñata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective.”
While we’d be delighted with a new Rare title for our beloved handheld, we understand this as an unofficial recognition from Microsoft that Rare cute-like games will never sell properly in a system full of hardcore shooters and racing titles. In fact, the general perception of Piñata as a kid’s game inside the company still has its deep roots.
MGS’ General Manager, Phil Spencer, indirectly admits that the general public is still so narrow-minded that seems not to accept anything without rivers of blood and pheromones, despite having the clearly impressive and unique design Viva Piñata has: “Obviously you saw a lot of people that were sceptical of the game, sceptical of the art style. ‘Would it be a game that I’m going to like or is it a game for girls?’”, TeamXbox was told. “For us, it was a successful game, it happened to come at the same time Gears game out, so obviously people put the yardstick out and say ‘Hey, which one’s bigger?’”, he added to 1Up. Shane Kim emphasizes this viewpoint: “From a visual standpoint, it’s going to appeal to a younger audience, naturally.”
Anyway, Kim indicates that they “can do a better job of getting that into people’s hands and giving them the experience where they realize this is fun for all ages.” Well… that’s for sure! But with those previous statements, we seriously doubt they could improve the marketing strategy for Rare titles, if they don’t change their mind about them first.
In the meantime, Rare keeps its work with Piñata, probably developing new downloadable content. Spencer told TeamXbox that “right now, the team is actively working on the right next step for people who purchased Viva Piñata. There’s not a communicated plan outwards that would say here’s what a customer should expect today, but there’s a large group of people at Rare working on Piñata 1. […] What’s the next step? Is it new content? Is it new ways to play the game?”
When asked about the once promised feature to visit our friend’s gardens, Spencer added: “it was hard to get all of that stuff in V1 of the game, but yeah, in terms of the online space and seeing what your friends are doing – obviously we did the trading of the piñatas, but that’s about as far as we got in V1. There’s no lack of interesting things we could do: coop modes might be interesting… there’s definitely stuff we could do.”
It’s interesting to note that despite being typecast as a game for girls/kids, Microsoft’s commitment towards Piñata franchise seems nowadays very clear: they talk about “version 1 of the game” or even “Piñata 1”. So recent rumours about a possible Piñata racing title (or, as we like to call it here, Piñata Stampede), are today probably more strong.
Somehow related news
- PDZ and Kameo sold “phenomenally well”; Kameo “still selling” ()
- Piñata developers complaint against Gears of War campaign ()
- A Banjo-Fourie would “probably expand” Nuts & Bolts’ concept ()
- Banjo 3 and Viva Piñata 2, both slated for this year ()
- Piñata goes Gold! ()
