Viva Pinata looks fun, with or without that little ~ thing

The small things in life are truly meant to be cherished whether they be a good beer, a warm bed, or beating the crap out of a virtual piņata with a shovel. The first two are pretty easy to come back and, thanks to Rare, you might be able to manage all three at the same time in the near future.

With the official green Microsoft compound sticker freshly applied to my badge, I found my way to the Viva Piņata demo room. Basking in the air conditioning, the first sights of the Viva Piņata were a barren wasteland, kind of like Detroit after a victorious sporting event. It was quickly explained that these humble surroundings would prove to be the foundation of your very own garden. The first mission is to take a newly gifted shovel and smash the junk in the tiny plot. Once you've achieved this you are rewarded with a packet of grass seeds and this is where the fun starts to happen.

As the demonstrator prepared the soil and the grass begins to grow, a friendly little worm appeared. We were told that he was a visitor to the garden and, if he decided to stay, he would do a little dance and embrace his full-colored self. The worm appears cartoon-ish and cute, as the game is geared toward children, and sets the standard for future piņata buddies. In fact, it turns out they can also be food for future buddies as we quickly saw a bird piņata make an appearance. Getting him to stay introduced another sort of challenge however.

It was time to make a baby worm. Fortunately they've made this much more appealing than it sounds. As a second worm had taken up residence in the yard, a house was now available to them. The demonstrator directed the worms to meet, sparks happened, and we found them transported to their new home. A colorful "mating dance" ensued, unique to the species, which then lead to a maze-like mini-game. While easy at the early stage, the mini-games would be come more difficult as the population of piņatas in the garden increased and the boundaries of the garden expanded. With the mating rituals complete, the final step was a distant stork-like creature coming awake to deliver a colorful egg to the parents. With much rejoicing, a new baby worm hatched causing a critical threshold to be met which allowed the bird piņata to find a happy home within the demo garden.

This simplified anecdotal evidence is to point out that you have a heck of a lot of control over what goes on in your garden, right down to what sort of plants are permitted. You can even go so far as to become a specialty plant breeder, which opens up new variants of plant species. Three bloom daisies, various kinds of fruit bearing trees, and other sorts of plant-life are all viable options. It was impressive to note that fruit would actually fall from the trees and could be used as a food source for some piņatas. If you're not into playing the green-thumber, you can hire a henchmen for that task. As it stands, there are five or six specialty NPCs that can be hired to micromanage specific tasks for the player. To sum it up, you do as much as you want when you want to do it as long as the game is fun.

And then there are the ideas for utilizing X-Box Live. Specialist players will be happy to know that there are plans to be able to trade plants, piņatas, and other items within the game across the Live interface. Piņatas developed by players will be tagged with a customized logo specific to the player and visible on any custom piņata. Along with being able to trade with other players, upgrades such as sunglasses, backpacks, and mobile phones will be available for further customization.

I know, I know, I promised beatings. It seems there are "sour" piņatas (as all species are named after candy) that either have to be placated, destroyed, or fenced in, lest they destroy the harmony of the garden and scare domesticated piņatas off. Destroyed means opening up a can of virtual whoop-ass and laying the smack down with a shovel; the same tool that is used to plant grass, dig ponds, and accomplish other tasks. Placating them will allow you to convert them to the light side and encourage them to inhabit your garden. Fencing in allows a player to contain them until they are ready to take another approach.

If you can't get enough of the game, there is also a television series in development with plenty of crossovers planned. Fans will be able to see their favorite animated piņatas running around your garden like psychedelically enhanced celebrities. More information about the show and the game can be found by visiting the official website. Feel free to use children as an excuse to pick this one up. Chances are you won't regret it.