As far as incompatible franchise mashups go, Viva Piñata Vs Killer Instinct must be eligible for some kind of award. Only Manhunt Vs Animal Crossing could compete, really.

Nevertheless, that is what Rare are offering via the medium of Piñata Vision cards. By downloading and printing out this set of Killer Instinct themed Vision cards and then laboriously scanning them in to the game via a Vision camera, you can get some, er, KI Piñata.

PIÑATA VISION CARDS [Rare]

Can a gamer who wasn't a fan of the first find something to love in Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise? We gathered up some love and hate to find out.

Loved
Piñatas Are Cute(!): Even ornery old curmudgeons like myself can't help but be won over by little bobbling Sweetles and prancing Mousemallows. Spotting new creatures may wear on one's patience, as the intro sequence can't be skipped, but your garden's inhabitants may induce cute overload. Superficial, yes, but the adorable art style of the game's piñatas is hard to hate, even by the hardest of men.
Strong Visuals: However you may feel about Rare's aesthetic, it's hard to argue that Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise looks stunning in motion. There may be the odd level-of-detail pop-in and some frame rate sluggishness, but graphically the game is spectacular. The paper inhabitants feels more alive thanks to Rare's attention to detail and technical prowess.
Incredible Depth: There's an amazing amount of virtual stuff to collect, challenges to complete and ways to modify your garden. Mating mini-games are surprisingly fun. Two new environments, Dessert Desert and the Pinarctic, add a dash of variety and dozens of new species to horde, even if they don't bring much in the way of thrilling new gameplay.
Excellent Pacing: Despite a rough start, in which I didn't know what the hell my objectives often were or how to get them done, the game ramps up the difficulty relatively well. You may feel overwhelmed at times, as you juggle multiple objectives, watching your piñatas be picked off and as parts of your garden go to pot, but it's unlikely that you'll become bored with building out your garden.
Disarmingly Addictive: Gardening games, pet sims, god control — not exactly my thing. But time can fly by in Viva Piñata as the constant growth and encyclopedia additions, as well as the improved auto-saving, will make time fly by. Even when I had convinced myself that I was ready to give up, the game somehow managed to keep me absorbed for another hour.

Hated
It's Viva Piñata: To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the first Viva Piñata and, following the completion of this review, it's likely I'll never play Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise ever again. If you weren't fond of the first, it's likely you won't be fond of the second. The game feels, on many levels, like a redux release that does little to mix-up the gameplay, instead opting to streamline it and expand the piñata bestiary. The budget-y release price tag helps alleviate the feeling of been there, done that.
Hideous Humans: Inasmuch as the piñatas in the game are adorable, the humanoid characters are disturbing, creepy and annoying. Grating voice work compounds the hate.
Random Overcomplexity: Whether it's confusing interface choices or too many button presses to get done what needs to be done, Trouble In Paradise can frustrate with some of its control design decisions. The game has some welcome control revisions, but we sometimes felt lost in the UI.

I'm about to commit my least favorite review cop out — If you liked the first Viva Piñata for the Xbox 360, you will like the second even more. If you didn't like the first Viva Piñata for the Xbox 360, you're more than likely going to feel the same way about Trouble In Paradise. Some people get it and absolutely adore it, but I'm not one of those people. I couldn't stand Pikmin, for example, a title that I find similarly puzzling in its appeal. That doesn't mean that Rare has made a bad game by any means, just that its appeal continues to be selective.

Those who did appreciate the first will likely be thrilled by the addition of online multiplayer and local coop, even if the former is more successful than the latter in its implementation. An expanded roster, a "Fun For All" mode and better Live integration will probably bring you back, but if you never jumped in in the first place, we'd suggest a rental.

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, developed by Rare and published by Microsoft was released on Sept. 2 for the Xbox 360. Retails for $39.99. Focused on main campaign over the course of twelve hours, tested coop modes and Xbox Live online play.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

"We don't have any plans for DLC. As far as the team is concerned we are taking a break from VP for a while to make something new. But things change quickly in the software industry so next week it may be a completely different story"

But what could this new game be? I spoke to Rare's Community Manager George Kelion, who said that the team were keen on a fresh challenge after spending so long cooped up with just sentient Piñatas for company.

"With VP2 out the door and Banjo in its vinegar strokes, we're focusing on getting the Avatars all finished and done for the New Xbox Experience," said Kelion, "After that, it'll most likely be a mix of new projects and hopefully a Banjo sequel.. maybe? Fingers crossed, anyway!"

Chatting in Paradise [Mondo Rare]

As we covered back in May, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise for the Xbox 360 can be used with the Xbox Live Vision Camera and a selection of special cards. Players can wave the cards in front of the camera to invoke certain game effects.

Players will be able to download free cards, which can then be printed out — or just displayed on a PDA or mobile phone screen held in front of the camera. Players can also create their own cards for online trading.

It looks like it will work a bit like the PS3 game Eye Of Judgement although Rare say that the game will be fully playable without the card/camera combo.

"The Vision Camera just adds a new dimension to Piñata and how you can interact with the game. Vision cards are really versatile, by showing one of the cards to the Vision Camera you can affect the weather, the time, garden items, piñatas, you can do just about anything" - Ryan Stevenson, Rare

The first Piñata Vision Card goes online! [MundoRare]

When will we find out? According to Burton, "soon enough." If that means Leipzig Games Convention, we'll be surprised, and expect that we'll hear real details after the release of Rare's already in development Xbox 360 titles.

Rare: Half the studio working on secret projects [Videogamer]

Anyway, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise adds 30 new piñata species, more co-op and gameplay modes, and the official announcement promises that Piñata Island has gotten even bigger. Crecente had a look at it recently and found that it seems to tone up what could've been seen as problem zones in the original.

Full details after the jump!

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise Release Date and New Details Revealed
Green thumbs and animal-loving gamers rejoice with the return of their favourite candy-filled creatures, hits shelves on 5th September
LONDON – 3rd July 2008 - Roarios and Tigermisus and Fizzlybears, OH MY! Microsoft today announced that “Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise” will be released and on store shelves by 5th September.

With more than 30 additional new piñata species, expanded co-op options and multiple gameplay modes, “Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise” offers limitless fun for every animal-lover in the family.

Piñata Island has gotten bigger too! Now players can explore wild areas outside of the garden where they will need to bait and retrieve exotic piñata species who won’t venture into the garden on their own.

Put on your mittens and snow shoes as you brave the cold of the Pinartic where you’ll find piñatas that prefer cooler temperatures and the occasional blizzard, like Pengums and Polollybears. Or you can shed the layers and head to the sands of the Dessert Desert, where Camellos and Jameleons bask in the arid sun.

All of these new exotic piñatas will not venture into your garden willingly, so you’ll need to bait and retrieve them yourself. But you can make them feel at home right away by adding patches of snow or sand to your garden, similar to how you add grass and water.

Available exclusively on Xbox 360, “Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise” reinvigorates a colourful and engaging gaming experience. Now with full cooperative gameplay modes and various approachable difficulty settings, the “Viva Piñata” franchise opens its doors even wider with a new game that provides hours of fun for gamers of all ages, fans of the animated series and animal lovers alike.

-Ends-

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. They're trying to widen the audience of the franchise, basically... They see DS as a very viable platform.

Honestly, if Microsoft wants better odds at cracking the Japanese market, it really should release its exclusives on the DS. We hear the DS is popular in Japan. Xbox 360, not so much so.

MS sees DS [Eurogamer] [Pic]

Judging by what I saw, THQ's aiming to take what fans of the original Viva Pinata liked best and put it front-and-center, while also making it portable and by tying it in to the TV series in the hopes of opening frilly neon pinata guts and raining candy down on a whole new audience of fans.

So how's it look?

Really exciting, actually. The rep who demoed it for me explained that the real-time strategy-esque elements of the original VP were not so much at home on the console - she'd been a fan of the game, but found herself wishing she could point-and-click to manage things more efficiently.

The stylus controls, she said, provide a more direct access to the interface, and you can zoom in on individual pinatas with just a tap and view various stat screens on them with the buttons. Providing tutorials on all the controls are Fergie, Paulie, Franklin and Hudson from the TV series, and there are full-motion video clips pulled straight from the show (which I confess to occasionally viewing on Saturday mornings. Okay, I almost always watch it. Shut up.)

The game has two modes, also - the traditional mode plus a free-play, sandbox-style mode where money's no object, if you just want to mess around. The thing I found most interesting is that you can ship your pinatas and items even among your own saved games, of which you can have up to three. So if a Sour enters your garden, the rep said, you can box it up and ship it to a different garden of yours. You can also trade among your friends, and some of the pinatas to collect can only be unlocked through trades (think Pokemon).

So it looks like all of the necessities are there for traditional Viva Pinata fans, and new ones may be attracted to the series for the first time by the DS's huge install base, the relationship to the TV show, and the different modes for more accessible play.

Originally announced at the New York Comic Con, the DS version will share themes with the original Viva Piñata, tasking players with nursing a neglected garden into a piñata paradise. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise will also introduce seven new piñata species, in addition to tutorial full motion videos from the Fox 4Kids TV series.

Full release follows the jump.

Wildly Popular Franchise Scheduled to Debut on Nintendo DS™ This Fall with THQ's Viva Piñata®: Pocket Paradise™

Players Can Garden On-The-Go with an Intuitive Control Scheme Designed Specifically for Nintendo DS

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that Viva Piñata®: Pocket Paradise™ is scheduled for release this fall for Nintendo DS™. The game is based on Microsoft Game Studios' highly-rated original Viva Piñata game for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise features an array of content exclusive to Nintendo DS and an intuitive control scheme designed to take full advantage of the DS touch screen and stylus, making it a breeze to navigate through the garden.

"Nintendo DS is the perfect platform for the Viva Piñata franchise because players can have direct interaction with the environment and their piñatas using the stylus," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. "We are thrilled to introduce Microsoft's critically-acclaimed Viva Piñata series to an entirely new segment of the gaming community."

In Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, players will inherit a neglected garden on Piñata Island and turn it into a piñata paradise by tending to all aspects of cleaning the garden, growing and maintaining vegetation, caring for and breeding piñatas, as well as attracting new piñata species. The game features seven all-new piñata species, each with new requirements, houses and unique cut scenes. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise also includes twelve full motion video clips that serve as tutorial levels within the game. The videos feature the stars of the Fox 4Kids Viva Piñata TV series, including Hudson Horstashio™, Fergy Fudgehog™ and Paulie Pretztail™. The brand-new Playground mode allows players to create a lush garden full of exciting and exotic piñatas in a very short amount of time. In addition, certain rare piñatas can only be acquired by using the Nintendo DS local wireless connection, where players can transfer items from their garden to a friend's garden.

Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is developed by Rare Ltd., one of the world's leading video game developers and masterminds behind some of the most popular video games in history, including multi-million-dollar sellers "GoldenEye", "Perfect Dark", "Banjo-Kazooie" and the "Donkey Kong Country" Series. From 2005 to 2006, Rare released "Perfect Dark Zero", "Kameo: Elements of Power" and "Viva Piñata" for Xbox 360. Rare continues to entertain the world with the release of "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts" and "Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise" later this year. For more information on this game, as well as additional THQ titles, please visit www.thq.com.

Blueberry Garden (sneak peek trailer) [Blip]

Want to get digital copies for yourself? They're available for download at the official Into The Pixel web site.

Are Rare hard at work on a third combo-filled fighting game? Not according to them, at least, as of this summer, when Rare responded via its Scribes letters page "Purely out of contractual obligation, no, we're not working on KI3." Despite that dismissal, I'm pretty sure I can make out Cinder in the fire there. Of course, I'm just teasing (as I'm fairly sure Rare is, too).

New Banjo-Kazooie pic for Christmas [CVG]

Not fully happy with his pastel creations, concept artist Ryan took a step back and began drawing inspiration from many places. He looked at ancient cave paintings with their simplified shapes, Aboriginal patterns and the art found in Aztec culture.

He then progressed to looking at the Mexican Day of the Dead festival with all the associated costumes and bright colors. At this point memories of childhood were sparked, and visions of piñatas gave him an idea.

I'm feeling inspired to check in with my piñatas - I spent a solid, jet lagged week after moving back to the US up with VP. I still hate flying from Asia to the US and vice versa, but cute piñatas were an excellent way to get over a twelve hour time difference.

Rare's Viva Pinata: Giving The World Buzzlegums And Fudgehogs [Gamasutra]

With a Nintendo DS version of Rare's Viva Pinata in the works, it would seem that Microsoft might also see an opportunity for cross promotion, courtesy of the DS's massive userbase. That's something clearly not needed for, say, Halo.

Spencer points to software for the Nintendo DS representing what "state of the art game design might be in future" and hints at nurturing further development on the platform. Let's just hope that doesn't somehow mutate into a flood of brain training games arriving on Xbox Live.

Spencer: DS development can aid our design skills [Develop]

The best part is that each piñata comes packed with a surprise inside, one that doesn't require you to smash the thing to bits to recover. Surprises inside include dreidels, kazoos, yo-yos and puzzles. Head on over to the Burger King site or troll the Rare forums to learn more.

Burger King! It's a wonderful restaurant!

Viva Piñata [Burger King - thanks, Jim!]