Viva Pinata (Xbox 360)

In a nutshell:
Ex-Nintendo developer Rare is bringing a rather different style of game to the Xbox 360 as you tend a virtual garden to attract and tame magical talking piñatas. It may sound twee but its ability to addict is far more powerful than its cutesy graphics suggest.

The lowdown:
Unlike most first party Xbox games this is not an action game, but a gentler, more family friendly, simulation in the tradition of Animal Crossing. The basic premise is that you have a plot of land that you can turn from an overgrown mess into a beautiful garden. In so doing it will attract a range of 60 different piñatas who, depending on how you treat them, will then decide to live there. For something as simple as a piñata worm you just have to have a patch of earth for them to play in but other piñatas are a lot more demanding, while others first need to be tamed from their aggressive wild state.

Most exciting moment:
Not only can you accessorise your piñatas with items bought from Xbox Live Marketplace but you can also swap items and piñatas with other friends that own the game online.

Since you ask:
Viva Piñata has been conceived as a Pokemon style cross media franchise from the off, with all kinds of toys and merchandise already planned, as well as a new 4Kids cartoon series.

The bottom line:
At last there’s an Xbox 360 game the whole family can play and enjoy.
HARRISON DENT

American English version, Region Free, will work on any 360 console system

Viva Piata, the latest innovative gaming experience from leading U.K.-based developer Rare Ltd., invites gamers to create an immersive world where living piatas inhabit an ever-changing environment. Beginning with a few basic tools, players build and take control of this environment, using their creativity and imagination to attract, protect and manage over 60 different piata species that can visit their world and make it their home. Utilizing hundreds of customizable elements, players can create a unique piata paradise.

Pushing the capabilities of the hardware, Viva Piata brings a vibrant and engaging gaming experience to the Xbox 360 platform. Appealing to kids, adults, casual gamers and enthusiasts alike, this uniquely customizable and social game rewards and challenges all players regardless of their skill level. The Viva Piata gameplay experience presents a customizable, social and spontaneous world in which gamers play an absolutely crucial role. The Viva Piata world is an evolving paradise teeming with fantastic living piata creatures and vibrant plant life, all determined by the players choices and actions.

Viva Piata allows players imaginations to run wild by providing them with expansive freedom and choice. Your choice of contents will determine which of the piata species are attracted to your world, since they all have individual requirements. Sowing grass, digging ponds, planting flowers and growing trees all affect which of the unique piatas you will see. Its not just about plants, either; there is a whole range of ornaments and structures that could be decisive. Your reward for creating an appealing paradise is to watch the piatas visit and eventually reside there, which is where the fun really starts.

Once you have resident piatas, you can begin to personalize your loyal community. Piatas can be indiv