According Rare, Microsoft hopes that bringing Viva Pinata to the Nintendo DS will introduce the game to a whole new audience.
When the original Viva Piñata was released on the Xbox 360, it was met with critical acclaim, but lackluster sales.
When Eurogamer took a visit to Rare’s British branch to view Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, a new installment in Microsoft’s colorful kids series, engineer Joe Humfrey offered insight into the Nintendo-Microsoft mating.
Microsoft primarily partnered with Nintendo to expand its reach to audiences that don’t play Xbox 360 games, Humfrey explained.
“They put the Viva Piñata franchise on TV to reach a broad audience, they put it on PC to reach a different broad audience, and they’re doing the same thing with the DS,” said Humfrey. “They’re trying to widen the audience of the franchise, basically.”
Another audience Microsoft is striving for is younger TV audiences.
Lead designer Gary Richards explained, “We wanted to tie it in with the TV series more, we thought that would be enough to get the younger audience into it.”
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is due out in early September.
