
"So much of the [marketing] money went towards Gears of War, which is going to sell millions anyway. It was a bit of like, 'What about the other franchise?' I think we got left in the wake somewhat."
Here at X3F we've always been enthusiastic about Viva Piñata and give it nothing but praise. But, even for us, trying to get other gamers to try the game is a bit of a task seeing that it is somewhat nontraditional. Maybe Microsoft didn't do a good job at marketing it and maybe Gears of War was more important last year, but we have confidence in their commitment to bringing the somewhat under-achieving Viva Piñata franchise into focus again ... heck, we've got BK toys to prove it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-15-2007 @ 4:47PM
Tony said...
Honestly, I think there were a lot of good statements in that interview and I am not really understanding why so many places are harping solely on that one comment. There's a lot more in there of value.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:02PM
xenocidic said...
So I guess Halo 3 took Shadowrun's marketing cash?
Two great games that were popular failures due to piss-poor marketing decisions over at MGS.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:08PM
Tony said...
Given the 360's apparent userbase and (I think) slightly nonexistent marketing for the title, it still sold around 500,000 units so far. I don't that's too bad considering, although I imagine a lot of that is thanks to the lower price point (it's a platinum hit now, too). It certainly deserved to do better.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:10PM
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) said...
1. This was covered on sister site Joystiq Friday.
2. Boo ho. Pinata was a very niche game with a gameplay style that was intimidating to kids, and a bit to juvenile for adults. One would also argue that the age bracket for 360 gamers is 16+.
3.Microsoft did advertise for it. Gears just happend to be the much awaited killer app that a larger precentage of players were looking for(most of whom would never play a kids game)
4. Shadowrun flopped because it was overpriced and got bad word of mouth. While the gameplay was solid, it was not worth 60.00 and it didnt help to have their whiny lead dev moaning and bitching on the pod cast begging. Fasa screwed Fasa. They shouldnt have sold to M$. So long to those prima donnas.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:12PM
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) said...
Now they can blame pc gears for pc pinatas failure.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:14PM
Lee said...
Yeah, I know that Rare is all self serving and whatnot to the xbox brand, but if they really are an independant company now with just Halo as being exclusive to Xbox360, then they should seriously consider releasing this title for other consoles. The PS3 would be a good one, since its not as big a competitor as Wii is right now. Competition is good for the xbox360 and for all consoles as it helps drive demand for the product, dig?
That being SAID, my only interest in 360 is FOR this title. I'm not a Halo fan and none of the other titles interest me, save maybe Kameo and Eternal Sonata.
Does this make me a Sony fangirl? No, I play Nintendo games too. I just thing that if Rare and xbox360 really wants to reach the family market, they need to get more titles from things like Disney, more IPs for kids, more fantasy games. Families aren't going to play shooters, and racers/sports games mostly appeal t o guys. Not to stereotype but its true. For a racer or a sports game to appeal to kids it has to be more simplistic and easier to play. Just my two cents worth.
Then again, kids are getting smarter and smarter these days. They'll soon outgame all us old farts with our xboxes.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:16PM
Matt said...
@5, Wow, good point and how ironic that now Gears for the PC is coming out around the same time as Viva Pinata for PC.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:32PM
THA1icarus said...
Rare just finish Banjo Kazooie!!
If Viva Piñata was a launch title it would have done much better.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:41PM
Tony said...
I don't think the argument was that VP wasn't marketed at all. But rather that it wasn't marketed ENOUGH, which I think is a pretty fair thing to say. It's not hard to think that GoW didn't require the massive marketing push it received, whereas something like VP that would not have been as easily accepted on the system could have benefited from more. The main thing VP had going for it would have been the cartoon, but that came out after the title's release and its effects were probably significantly lessened because of it.
I really don't see how that's a "boohoo" concept from Rare's point of view.
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10-15-2007 @ 6:13PM
jadansonn said...
Maybe its because the game was not fun at all.
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10-15-2007 @ 7:28PM
Sam said...
jadansonn, i beg to differ. Viva Pinata has a lot going for it. Yeah, its pretty underrated and looks like a kiddie game, but it has a ton of potential that people never saw. Just pick up the game, its only 20 bucks. I took X3F's advice and got it, and I haven't looked back since. Its fantastic.
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10-15-2007 @ 7:37PM
DeadPlasmaCell said...
The game was great.. It's one of those games where you have to actually play it to truly enjoy.. And that may be an understatement. I got the game for my wife because she seemed interested in it, and after watching her play for a little bit, I gave it a try and I was hooked. It's very unique and fun.
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10-15-2007 @ 7:47PM
flameofdoom666 said...
I love Viva Pinata. Veryyyy underrated.
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10-15-2007 @ 7:56PM
OTAM said...
Viva Pinata is FAR from a "kiddie game" with the amount of complexity in it. We understand that next gen means brown and grey with lots of violence/guns,but Viva Pinata is a great game and a needed breath of fresh air.
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10-16-2007 @ 8:39AM
thisguyrighthere said...
I love Viva Pinata. I swear it's fantastic, different, addictive and at times very smart.
I waited until it was down to 29.99 before I picked it up however. I always knew it was good I just didnt want to drop $60 on it. There are very very few games that make me want to drop $60.
Viva Pinata will be infinitely more successful in it's new DS incarnation. Especially if you can trade Pinata from cart to cart. If it is as awsome as I think it will be Rare will get my money twice as I will be picking it up for the DS.
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10-16-2007 @ 9:23AM
dunnypop said...
my gf was so excited when this came out. We picked up the limited edition, but the game was really complicated... and then it became confusing...
but I did manage to get the worms to eat their own dead offspring. that was awesome!
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10-16-2007 @ 3:21PM
dut said...
Must give this game a look
On seconds thoughts nah
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10-16-2007 @ 3:27PM
Jlynx said...
Viva Piñata is one of my favorite games. It gets better and better as you keep playing and as your garden boundaries increase.
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