That's really really cool, i always wanted to play this game but i don't wanna buy a 360 just yet.

Now I'll know what have I been missing.
This makes me a happy terrorist.

Hopefully that cartoon they have did well and gained enough kid fans for them to buy the DS game. I'm sure 90% of the people who watch the Viva Pinata cartoon don't actually have the game or a 360. Most of the kids probably wish they do, but it will be a godsend when they find out they can get it on their DS (since 90% of children in the world have DS's).

KICKASS. I was THIS close to getting the 360 one, but I love the DS's portability (ACWW every day since launch) so I'm definitely going to pick this up if it's as good as the 360 demo was. Awesome!!

TEH THREE SIXTY, IT CANT STOP LOSING DE EXCLUSIVES LAWL aw crap, today's ban-day...

i mean uh, great game, glad to see more people can play it, yay!! uh, i got a thing...

@TheIrishNinja:

Wow, dude, careful with that today. Remember, the hunt is on...

Personally, i was going to say "Great, now I can promote colorful cannibalism on the go. It's a brave new world for the career minded Jeffery Dahmers out there."

wait huh what? wtf?

ok this is just plain weird... Rare is owned by Microsoft, why would they release Viva Pinata on the DS for Nintendo???

Yes MS doesnt compete in the handheld war between Sony and Nintendo, but doesnt this help push even more nintendo sales that helps the Wii over all that actually competes against the 360?

oh well, next thing I will see Halo3 on the Wii, MGS4 on xbox and Mario on the PSP...

@PapaBear434: all tongue-in-cheek, i assure you. i was hopnig italics help express the mood, but then, banhammahs might not discriminate.

@Crunshii: Psst...you can totally have Mario on the PSP! google "homebrew", its the best. DS has it too.

@Crunshii:

It's a conspiracy. Microsoft and Nintendo doesn't want Sony to own the console market again this generation like they did LAST generation. They joined forces in order to quell the giant.

Little did they know that all it would take was their FIRST step: Drug the Sony PR, marketing, and Executives so that they say really profoundly stupid things in front of reporters and cameras.

Worked like a charm.

What in the fuck is this, rare is making a ds game, microsoft allows this but no goldeneye/perfectdark vc port for wii...

@ReginaldTheSeventySecond:

Perfect Dark was SO much better on the N64 than it was on the 360 anyway.

I couldn't get into the 360 version. But I played the 64 version until my hands bled. Which is weird, since the controllers were pretty round and lacking in anything sharp.

@Crunshii: Why? Because they're hoping it will sell a fuckton of copies, which would make them a fuckton of money. Pretty simple, really.

Viva rocks. I'm glad its coming to DS. And obviously there is not going to be a Microsoft handheld for a while.

@Crunshii:

They are hoping that the people who buy the DS game will be more interested in picking up a xbox 360.

Lets face it the so called hardcore cannot sustain a console or make it number one in sales. Hardcore are a tiny minority of those who buy game consoles. Most game consoles are bought so people can play Madden, licensed movie or kid games, DDR, or Buzz. In other words pretty much every game buyer dissed by the hardcore as ruining the industry.

Since the xbox 360 is marketed towards these hardcore gamers they didn't buy Viva Pinata and the price point, lack of casual or kid games makes parents not buy the console. Hence Viva Pinata has most of the sales potential aborted.

Also the DS game could very well sell much better then the xbox 360 game ever did meaning Microsoft would recoup losses on Viva Pinata.

DS has far more sales potential for a Viva Pinata game then the xbox 360 ever will.

If a ds game bombs it's not that much of a financial loss in comparison to a PS3 or xbox 360 game.

@Crunshii: Why would they release this on the DS? Because it'll sell boatlods. The DS install base is somewhere in the 6 million mark (correct me if I'm wrong) and Microsoft will be making loads of cash licensing it to Nintendo. Not to mention, this game is totally suited for Nintendo's handheld.

I played the crap out of this on the 360. My friends would always walk in, see the colorful setting, and ask me what the hell I was doing. I'd then say something like "I'm going to kill this bug so that I can get this thing to have sex with one of his parents."

Quite deceptive that game is.

Not a stupid move at all. I mean, sure, Nintendo is kind of like their competition, but MS doesn't seem to be entering handheld market anytime soon so pushing a game like that to DS is like printing money.

Interesting to think that that the IP has moved platforms in such a drastic way. Obviously they aren't going to port Viva Pinata to the Zune. What I mean is that Microsoft and Rare obviously meant for this to expand the audience for the 360, but that hasn't exactly worked out.... I know the hints were dropped, I just didn't expect to see it happening this quickly.

Is it just me or are Microsoft actually promoting the idea of the Wii60?

If they are then it's a smart move on their part. By having cross over IP the two companies are set to benefit from each-others audiences. Hearing this news makes me less skeptical about a DS halo game. Imagine that for a deal. We give you master chief and you give us the back catalogue of Mario.

.....Stop looking at me like that. A man can dream can't he!

Oh my god this is perfect! :D

@ThisCharmingMan:

DS install base worldwide is 40 million units and growing. It looks like will overtake the gameboy line in three to four years perhaps less if they increase production. Note the gameboy line is gba, gba micro, gba sp, gameboy, gameboy pocket, gameboy color. Over a decade and the DS is half that number in just three years.

guys, I know it would sell very well on the DS... but the principal is that both are competing companies selling IP on interchange consoles isnt it like against the rules?

is M$ loosing that much money that its going to start selling games on the DS/Wii to help make some $$$ back?

or like papabear said, if M$ see's everyone is jumping out of the ship, they slowly will merge with nintendo to make sure Sony doesnt dominate?

The only time ive seen this happen is Sega coming to nintendo after the fall of the dreamcast.

@PapaBear434: Yeah, the 360 version was terrible. Graphics don't mean shit unless the gameplay can hold your attention as well. The n64 controller, imo I didn't like it but it sure as hell was the perfect design for those shooters. I could pull better headshots with that controller, (no auto-aim) than I could with any pc fps.

Rare needs to release an updated version of the classics, doesn't matter what console. Leave the base engine, gameplay, level design intact and add online multiplayer and new graphics. Pretty much the same way valve did with counter strike source, source wasn't an exact replica of the gameplay exsistant in the original, but they sure as hell did a good job.

@Crunshii: wow, i totally just saw this as "make money back by putting this game where its target crowd is", the MS/nintendo anti-sony merger mightve been deeper between the lines or somethin'.

@TheIrishNinja: Haha! Beware my friend, the Hammer of Gone is online. :-p

I think I'm the only guy I know with a 360 that liked (let alone bought) Viva. Plus is MS trying to totally screw Sony to the wall by giving the DS more stuff to sell? I would wager "yeah".

@PapaBear434: I got PDZ for free when I bought Gears from someone, and could hardly finish the first level. I love the multiplayer though.

@PapaBear434:
Ah, an unholy union eh? Well if Rare can make money, then it's all good.

Everyone's thinking on this side of the Pacific...

What about Japan? We all know that the DS and all of its games sell by the truckload over there. With the right marketing campaign, Viva Pinata could really move a few hundred thousand units easily. Considering that all three Animal Crossings did well over there, its not a far stretch.

In turn people will want more Viva Pinata. I'm not sure if VP has already been released for the JPN 360, but a surge in sales (or a re-release) would definitely be a shot in the arm for Microsoft's Japanese division.

@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename: Yeah, I had a feeling I was a bit off there, haha. Better to aim low than high though. Either way, there's an absurd amount of DS's flying off store shelves, and this game will do well on the console.

I don't know why the 360 user base are so against viva pinata. It's hilarious, and great fun for an hour of incest here and there.

This is clearly a move to build the viva fan base, as was the cartoon. When they feel it has reached critical mass, I'm sure they will stop releasing the any new games for the series on the DS, so that the fans have to buy a 360 to make daddy whirlm abuse baby whirlm.

@ReginaldTheSeventySecond: Just wait and see. It shall come soon enough. Unless I am horribly wrong.:(

@TheIrishNinja: Don't worry, I sent in a good word for you.

Viva Pinata never really interested me. I'll admit, the kiddie image is a big turn-off, but I've never been a big fan of these god-lite sim games.

Umm just a quick note.. unless I'm horribly mistaken, age of empires is owned and made by MS.. and age of empires has had a DS port for over a year now. MS doesn't compete in the hand held market so this is just cash monies. And why not? Maybe they figure that if the cut down version of VP gets enough attention then people/kids wanting to play the bigger budget HD VP's woudl buy a 360. I was contemplating getting a DS for a while now, this'll be the third game I actually want on it. Maybe I'll pick it up afterall :)

Thank heavens.

I don't want a 360. But this seemed like such an awesome game.

@edb87: that's the 2nd warning ive gotten on this thread alone, i think ill uh, get off to other threads, heh.

seriously tho, taking this as a deperation move on MS' part or a strike against Sony by putting games on the DS, i just think its reading inot things. its a great market for this game, and if this game is as fun as ive heard, its cool to hear.

@penhalion:

Ah bungie confirmed that Halo DS does exist they had numerous pitches from various companies so protypes of the game were shown to Bungie. The deals fell apart at the last moment.

Seriously why is it a shock that Microsoft IPs would show up on the DS? There are already several prior Microsoft IPs on the DS. Age of Empires and several other Rare games.

So...wait...does this indicate a renewed partnership between Rare and Nintendo? Could we see some classic N64 Rare games on the VC now?

VP is great on the 360, hopefully it will be just as fun (or more) on the DS.

@sqwarlock:

There have been several comments by Nintendo, Rare that Rare games on the vc is quite possible. It's a matter of Microsoft wanting the money and deciding how the royalties on the game would be divided between the three parties.

MS at one point stated that N64 games could never be on the xbox live arcade due to the size of the carts.

Microsoft cannot put the Rare games on the vc since Nintendo was the publisher.

@sqwarlock: No. Maybe ports to DS, but not the Wii.

@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename: Microsoft own the code, and the rights to all the Rare IP's, They could put them out if they wanted too. And the fact they got SOTN down to > 150mb makes the cartridge thing redundant. Also, why the hell would MS allow Nintendo to put Rare games on their platform?

*Fingers crossed for Goldeneye or Perfect Dark on the VC*

Overall, this seems like a pretty smart move. After all, Viva Pinata would appeal to alot of younger gamers who happens to own a DS. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Halo ended up on the DS as well.

@sqwarlock: No. This is actually very simple. Micrsoft aren't competing with the DS, thus they don't care if their second party developers create games for it. Rare released Diddy Kong Racing for the DS not long ago.

Viva Pinata seems like an even more obvious choice. It was a great game on the 360, but didn't appeal to most of the people who own one. It would however appeal massivly to DS fans. Rare want to recoup the losses made from Viva Pinata, and it may encourage a lot of the DS fans to go out and get a 360 to play that one.

It's the same reason why seeing Halo on the DS wouldn't be completely out of the question. If the DS created more Halo fans, they'd need to buy a 360 to continue being fans. Even if it isn't happening yet, I bet it will, sooner or later.

@Macca:
Because people pay for games for the VC, it just means more money for Rare/Microsoft just for nostalgia sake.

@nya-chama: Or they could just release it on their own downloadable game service, XBLA -.-

@nya-chama: You have more chances of seeing those games released on Xbox Live Arcade, why would they put them on the Virtual Console instead?

@Macca:

Ah Rare's own comments reveal a different story. You may want to ask Microsoft why they haven't put any of the Rare IPs on the xbox live arcade.

Conker the xbox version was editied for example it wasn't uncut they had to put in new content and remove some of the old content.

Tell me if they really own the IP and code why did have to make a new game rather then use the old code? Answer it's because Nintendo has rights to parts of the code and they are the publisher hence all the changes to it.

This isn't the first Miccrosoft game on a Nintendo console or handheld (they supported the GBA, too). Not even the first Microsoft game on the DS. Or the first Rare game on the DS, for that matter (that was Diddy Kong Racing, I think).

As long as there's no gaming handheld from Microsoft, it makes sense to support other handhelds. Viva Piñata on the DS is probably tantamount to printing money, and the Microsoft Gaming dept. can use a bit of that nowadays :-)

Interesting, I've never played Viva Pinata before since you know I'm a total fanboy and on