How is Viva Pinata, hombre?

Lobster, your worms can only get it on if you make them, so stop romancing them! I got rid of my worms after receiving the Master Romancer award. I recommend starting other gardens. I made a second one and now I control exactly what comes in because I know what the hell I'm doing. Also, I do not recommend the Gatherling. I hired her on accident and now I can't get rid of her!

93_confirmed wrote:
lunabean wrote:

This game is so much fun! Gears of War (multiplayer) is now on the backburner.

Viva Pinata over Gow? Say it ain't so!

It is so. To be fair though I got burnt out on GoW after playing for basically a week straight. That was right before I got Viva Pinata.

You can get this for $44 new on buy.com. I would be all over it if this game just had it where you could share gardens.

I hear you can "fire" someone by hitting them with a shovel till they cry. Just like real life.

93_confirmed wrote:

Wow - this thread really piqued my interest. I may rent this...

Fixed.

Lobster, your worms can only get it on if you make them, so stop romancing them! I got rid of my worms after receiving the Master Romancer award. I recommend starting other gardens. I made a second one and now I control exactly what comes in because I know what the hell I'm doing. Also, I do not recommend the Gatherling. I hired her on accident and now I can't get rid of her!

A very good suggestion. All of your experience, upgrades (including garden size), and shop unlocks will carry over to your new garden(s), and are shared amongst them, so you can go back and forth. Also, you can mail yourself things from one garden to another.

One other thing to be aware of is that there is a pinata population limit (like 35 or something) plus there is a general clutter limit. If you don't have that many pinatas and you are still getting warnings (or your pinatas don't have mating hearts over their head even though all their requirements have been met) you might want to check your journal under "garden area." The second info panel in there will show you what stuff is filling up your clutter limit.

The pinatas outside your garden, however, may not be coming in for other reasons. Each pinata has multiple sets of requirements. First, there are things you have to do to get them to appear outside your garden. (Once you do that, they will be in your journal's encyclopedia and you can see what all the other requirements are.) Then there are things you have to do to get them to visit. And after that, there are things you have to do to get them to become residents of your garden. And finally, there are a set of things you need to do to get them to mate. I'm sure you knew about the mating requirements, but you might not have picked up on the other three tiers of requirements because for the early pinata they are very easy to have happen without trying. For the later ones, though, there are some very specific things you need to consciously do.

As for your other concerns Lobster, well, some of them go away and some don't.

The game seems to continue having that interesting mix of easy to get along but challenging to succeed. And yes, the game does seem like it would be way too complicated for a small child to be able to succeed unaided. I think John Davison over at 1up put it best, though -- this is really a game that should be played with small children, not by them. But if you ask me, the brilliant thing about the game is that if you don't have an aversion to things bright, cheerful, cute and cuddly, it is extremely appealing, challenging, and accessible to people of all ages. With the exception of the ear grating theme song and (to a lesser extent) the excessive hand holding in the beginning, there is nothing about the game that has made me feel as though it wasn't designed for adults to play, you know?

I love this game unabashedly. Gears of War is fantastic multiplayer fun, but Viva Pinata continues to be hand-down my favorite 360 game yet. So very relaxing and fun.

I've taken to naming my pinatas after forum members from here and Gamingtrend. My two squirrels, Robear and Kiri, running around and generally driving me batty as they keep eating the fruit from my trees as its growing. My candaries are probably going to be renamed from Mr. & Mrs. Twitters into Certis and Elysium. I just haven't decided which one should be the blue one in the frumpy old British ladies' hat. And I think I'm going to name my Cinnamonkey after Lobster, though the resemblance is only minor since the monkey doesn't throw any feces around. I'll have to ponder more pinata naming possibilities...

/em ducks

zeroKFE wrote:
93_confirmed wrote:
lunabean wrote:

This game is so much fun! Gears of War (multiplayer) is now on the backburner.

Viva Pinata over Gow? Say it ain't so!

Very much so.

Good point here, I bought Viva Pinata but I'm still focusing on GoW for the simple reason that multiplayer games die down after a time. I don't know if GoW will die down before Halo 3, but there are certainly people on GWJ who are stick of it (but not many, by the looks of my firends list). But why play Viva now when I know there will be long stretches of boredom come January/February....

Anyway, played Viva Pinata for all of 30 minutes, great game! Love to see Rare back in form.

I'm hoping that people continue to enjoy Gears of War enough to at least get some good solid multiplayer games in on a weekly basis for a good while to come. Drives me nuts how quickly the community burns through games sometimes.

Some games deserve it, like Chromehounds. We should write a retrospect on the brief but bright flash that was Chromehounds.

Farscry wrote:

I'm hoping that people continue to enjoy Gears of War enough to at least get some good solid multiplayer games in on a weekly basis for a good while to come. Drives me nuts how quickly the community burns through games sometimes. ;)

For me at least, I think it is a result the fact that I end up playing every game the way I would a single player game. I love digging in and spending dozens, if not hundreds, of hours playing a game and experiencing what it has to offer. However, once I feel like I've seen just about everything a game has to offer, I'm ready to move on to the next one. The social experiences of multiplayer games are certainly enjoyable and appealing to me, but when it comes down to it most of the time I just want to experience something new with my precious few gaming hours. Perhaps it is that I really don't have the kind of taste for human competition that others seem to. It is fun, and it certainly adds something else for me to experience in a game, but given that I lack a desire to conquer others, the thrill of honing one's skills in order to be able to beat others wears off for me much quicker than it seems to for other people.

So yeah, I've played every map in multiplayer a dozen or so times each, I've tried out all the modes, I've tinkered around with the weapons and the strategies, and now I feel like I've seen much of what the game currently has to offer. I definitely will tune in on Mondays or play a pick up game here or there to get that visceral thrill (as long as I don't have some new hotness burning a hole in my psyche) but after a week and a half of playing multiplayer every night, I'm pretty much ready to shift my focus to something new. And right now, Viva Pinata is something new.

Thanks for the feedback. I need a something fun and relazing to counteract getting chainsawed every night! I'm going to rent this one tomorrow.

Woot, I get to be a monkey! But aren't lobsters more spider/ant-like?

I'm filling my garden with bugs. Moths, butterflies, fireflies.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Woot, I get to be a monkey! But aren't lobsters more spider/ant-like?

I'm filling my garden with bugs. Moths, butterflies, fireflies. :D

Lobsters are actually related to the cockroach insect family (no joke).

Fear not, if I acquire a crustacean-ish pinata, I'll have to use THAT one for your name, Lobster!

I'm actually working on creating a bird garden, but after the initial few, I'm disappointed at the lack of any new bird varieties. I have lots of butterflies too.

Things that fly piss me off. They never seem to do what I tell them to the first time. If I tell you to get it on, I expect you to get it on, damnit!

Farscry wrote:

Fear not, if I acquire a crustacean-ish pinata, I'll have to use THAT one for your name, Lobster!

Woot!

The fun part is going to come when pinatas that are named start fighting or eating each other, and I come on here with my reports of who's violating who.

souldaddy wrote:

Good point here, I bought Viva Pinata but I'm still focusing on GoW for the simple reason that multiplayer games die down after a time. I don't know if GoW will die down before Halo 3, but there are certainly people on GWJ who are stick of it (but not many, by the looks of my firends list). But why play Viva now when I know there will be long stretches of boredom come January/February....

If most of you wouldn't shat through the MP games like toilet paper this wouldn't happen nearly as fast.

I tend to stay with a good MP game for a long time, because while I obviously enjoy an inherently well-made and fun game, I also just appreciate a good playing field on which to have a good time with friends. There was a time when I couldn't get enough of BF2's mechanics, but long after that wore off, I couldn't get enough of the fun of the cameraderie of playing it with friends.

Which is to say, I'm have a BLAST with Gears right now, but I'll always be open for an invitation to a multiplayer game.

And all this talk of Pinatas has me thinking I need to get this game for my fiancee, but, uh...we only have one 360, and I'm playing it...every...night...

So Sigsbee is going to beat you to level 60 as well?

tsk tsk, my good man! What's wrong with you?!

Fyedaddy wrote:
souldaddy wrote:

Good point here, I bought Viva Pinata but I'm still focusing on GoW for the simple reason that multiplayer games die down after a time. I don't know if GoW will die down before Halo 3, but there are certainly people on GWJ who are stick of it (but not many, by the looks of my firends list). But why play Viva now when I know there will be long stretches of boredom come January/February....

If most of you wouldn't shat through the MP games like toilet paper this wouldn't happen nearly as fast.

The longevity of multplayer games is more a question of depth and learning curve. Gears isn't criminally shallow but it ain't exactly deep, either. Also the games' faults begin to compound and become more difficult to ignore the more you play.

The longevity of multplayer games is more a question of depth and learning curve. Gears isn't criminally shallow but it ain't exactly deep, either. Also the games' faults begin to compound and become more difficult to ignore the more you play.

Oh, I don't have a problem with GOW. I'm just done playing it every night.

Its all about the Doenuts (or whatever their called) the deer. There hard to get to appear (you need 10 Blackberry or Gooseberry bushes and have a bunch of long grass). Harder to romance them. They have to eat a sequence of sunflowers and tulips. But they have a cool house (its a disco bar) and you can sell them for 2500. (at the point of the game im at thats alot). Problem is they die easily. I sold one then one of my breeders was offed by a sour ....not happy.

Great game if your looking for a relaxing after GOW game, except the sprinkler freaks me out. Its her face...

So what exactly is the challenge of the game? I understand that you make these pinatas, help them grow and flourish, etc but what's the end goal and what exactly can you do with the multiplayer?

Farscry wrote:

My candaries are probably going to be renamed from Mr. & Mrs. Twitters into Certis and Elysium. I just haven't decided which one should be the blue one in the frumpy old British ladies' hat.

Elysium, obviously. (I'm not sure why it's obvious to me, but it is.)

93_confirmed wrote:

So what exactly is the challenge of the game? I understand that you make these pinatas, help them grow and flourish, etc but what's the end goal and what exactly can you do with the multiplayer?

Your trying to become a "great gardener" from what i can make of it. More of a playing for enjoyment/discovery sake rather than goal oriented. The first time i tried this i was trying to compete with the game. Kinda trying to attack/bend the area to my will. I didnt enjoy it much, then i started a new garden and just kinda let things happen. Im loving it this time.

I can see people becoming very frustrated with this game by trying to do everything right. The game seems to not like that and is intent on ruining your plans (valuable pinatas always fighting, sours at the worst times). At least thats what ive found so far.

Multiplayer seems to be about trading pinatas and sending gifts to friends.

I'm actually going with a zen and the art of gardening approach. I just want a peaceful, naturally evolving garden that is relaxing and fun to tinker around in.

For my next garden, though, it's all Thunderdome, survival of the fittest, Pinata-style!

Thunderdome it is! Whenever two of my Pinatas get into a fight, the loser gets whacked with a shovel until his innards come spilling forth onto the verdant, grassy carpet. I love watching his former brethren feast on the remains. I started this because it became TOO hard to keep healing pinatas.

Here's a cool hint. Start a garden and name it "Chewnicorn" to get some free bonus items in the store. Same goes for "Bullseye". I don't know if there are more, but those will get you extra accessories.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Farscry wrote:

My candaries are probably going to be renamed from Mr. & Mrs. Twitters into Certis and Elysium. I just haven't decided which one should be the blue one in the frumpy old British ladies' hat.

Elysium, obviously. (I'm not sure why it's obvious to me, but it is.)

I thought the same thing.

Farscry wrote:

So Sigsbee is going to beat you to level 60 as well?

Probably won't even be close, really: her preferred method of playing is to solo (which makes you wonder why she's playing an MMO at all - I suspect that she doesn't FEEL like she's playing solo, since Cupcake is always with her. I'm being serious, here.), whereas I detest soloing.

I picked this up last night and played until 4 am. It's really fun and addictive (and frustrating). My wife seems to enjoy it as well, though she made it to be several hours before I did.