That is disappointing to hear it has only sold 40,000 copies. I really enjoyed this game, and from much of the gamer press I have read everyone who has played, albeit reluctantly, has enjoyed it as well. I say reluctantly because the hardcore audience the XBOX 360 has, hates to admit to playing Viva Pinata more than Gears of War. The only problem I had was trying to exactly figure out how to progress in the game. I had to go online to find out that only by achieving level 21 do you get your maximum land area. A great game, and hopefully the game of the year awards it garners will help it sell more.

I think your three points have some merit, Simon, but I think the Of Course you threw in earlier is the biggest factor.

Dustin is right -- I get made fun of when I tell my fellow COGs that I play Viva Pinata.

Yeah hype has been sparse but I have seen positive reviews from some people in various message boards. I myself will buy this game sooner or later. It looks like fun.

Not including a central playable character with typical cute-hermaphrodite-pedophile-japanese design traits is a fatal mistake. I find it quite puzzling that people who are abviously so talented to create such a masterfully excuted game, failed to realise that.

it's like Zelda-windwaker FPS...

I try to sell it to people as Pinata Garden of the Flies...

Because if I say Lord of the Pinatas, they think there's a wizard.

KILL THE HORSTACHIO! CUT HIS THROAT! BASH HIM IN!

hmm, those three points tell me why it's not selling, but what are the reasons why it's worth getting? I feel like this just cemented my reasons for not picking it up!

eToy picked it as our top console title for the year. So yea, we sort of love raising (and smashing) paper mache animals over here.

Brandon - I think it _is_ worth picking up if you like the idea of making your own garden and tailoring it to attract certain type of wee wild beasties - with cute graphics and some fun collectability elements.

But if that's not your cup of tea, then fair enough!

True.
All excellent and relevant comments.

I think the problem is is that there aren't enough "little kids" who own XBOX 360s. Eight zillion bucks is too expensive for most parents of little kids. I hope more folks buy it when they hear it isn't just for little kids.

My kids got this for xmas today. I'm glad that we finally have a decent kids game for 360. It looks like it'll be very fun.

People would be more interested if you changed some of the words. For example, instead of saying, "garden" say "city" and instead of saying "pinatas" say "aliens." I think people are just too scared to play a game based on "gardening." Its a great game. I've got it, I've played it extensively. If you have a doubt, go rent this game. I assure you, if you enjoy ANY SimCity/Sims/SimTower/Roller Coaster Tycoon type games, you'll like this game.

The 1up podcast talked about this game for almost half an hour for almost every podcast in November. It was really fun to hear one guy mention it briefly in one podcast, then in the next say he really loves it, than the next hear two or three guys talking about squizzles, and by the fourth and fifth, Gears of War was long forgotten.

The thing about VP is it may be the first real 360 game to make an honest effort at breaking down boundaries. Everyone in my family plays it, and even non gamers who were over for the holidays and recent birthday celebrations were drawn in by its charm.

I think the main problem was, that it released along with many other great games such as Gears of War, Call of Duty 3, and Rainbow Six: Vegas.

"Great games" and "call of duty 3" don't match. Hooray for more recycled WW2 shooters. CoD just gets worse and worse.

It's been poorly marketed, much like the same fate that happened to Ico. I hope that they branch out the marketing beyond children... It's been a problem in game marketing for some years... If it isn't an FPS, action/adventure, or a sports game, then nobody knows what to do with it. Sad, it's a brilliant game and has much more depth than the typical kid would ever get.

Simon, you've hit the nail on the head.

Viva Pinata is just a truly spectacular game, those few who have purchased it find themselves absorbed for hours on end, myself included.

I got this game and its great. I hope that in sone months the sales can go up, this game deserves much more attention.

It's ironic that gamers cry out for 'original games', not the cookie-cutter monotony of the next EA Sports title or Call of Duty-esque WW2 shooter.

Yet, when a company risks it and develops an extremely good, solid title, noone buys it.

For all the shit EA gets about ruining the game industry, I think the EA-hate is misguided. Gamers simply don't want to go outside of their comfort zones.

Microsoft will of lost a lot of money on this title -- millions of dollars. I'm not so sure they'll risk titles like this again when Gears of War sells like mad (not that GoW is a bad game, it's just not very original).

The other reason people stayed away: Microtransactions. There was all sorts of talk about how this game would be loaded with microtransactions (new pinatas, new accessories, etc.). The combination of cartoon plus microtransactions made it sound a LOT like a CCG-style videogame, where it'd attempt to drain your wallet by having your kids nag at you.

This turns out not to be the case at all, and it needs microtransaction content like Oblivion does -- which is to say, not at all, because there's so much content already in the game.

The game isn't my cup of tea (I hate the Sims, RTS games, and pretty much anything else that's at all like this), but my RTS-loving wife has played about 15 hours in the last two days, and even my Nazi-killing-loving son is occasionally putting away COD3 for this.

Aside from all the other issues posted above, with which I totally agree, IMO the biggest thing holding this game back is that the related cartoon is really, really awful, and nobody wants to play a really, really awful videogame based on a really, really awful cartoon. All of Microsoft's marketing for the game through Live has been by using the cartoon to try to sell the game. Of course the truth is that the videogame bears little relation to the cartoon, but the damage is done.

The other big problem is that when someone asks me what the game is about, I have to launch into a detailed explanation instead of "it's a FPS" or "it's a RPG" and usually by about the time of "... and each kind of pinata has different requirements for it to take up residence..." their eyes have glazed over and they just aren't interested any more.

It's great that it's not a genre game, because I can do without Yet Another (WWII Squad-based Strategy, SciFi FPS, Fantasy MMORPG, Sports Game 200x+1, etc.) but the downside is that there's no genre to point at when someone wants to know what kind of game it is.

Personally I love it. I bought it when it came out and I've enjoyed the heck out of it and so has everyone else I've shown it to.

So, you played the game for only one afternoon and decided to call it "The Most Overlooked Game Of 2006"?

Wow, talk about a kneejerk reaction. I hope all of your reviews aren't based on only a couple hours of play...

Viva Pinata is one of the best games I've played in my life.

I'm loving VP. I've been playing it since it was released and I know a few others that are still geeking out over how awesome this game really is. The subject matter may be a little childish, but man is it fun.

Check out http://www.vivapinataforum.com for more on the game.

This game is great. It's the most addicting game ever, you won't be able to put it down.

I also want to say that neither me nor my boyfriend had much interest in the game but I bought it for him for Christmas and he stopped playing all his other games to play it. I don't like sim games, really, but I actually enjoy it,too. It's just a really good game.
I hope it sells well.

This article encapsulates the feeling on the simExchange. Viva Pinata stock was flying high until the November sales numbers came out. Everyone was thinking this would be a sleeper hit. The forecasts had hit as high as 1.0 million copies sold worldwide over lifetime but then plummeted to under 500,000.

Check out the chart and discussion here: http://www.thesimexchange.com/stock.php?id=66

how do u find out how much your garden is worth

I love That Game It's So Great. It really should be at the top of the gaming charts. But what can I say?
I'm not In control of that. But hopefully it will grow!

I actually have a question, if anyone could answer it. How do you get rid of Dasardos? He is really weird, and he kinda creeps me out. If anyone could answer that, I would be really greatful.

its easy to get rid of him you need to buy the statue from the trader or that lady who sells seeds and stuff

i love that game i make so much plants i get rare animals my friend hasnt gotin yet

im sorry to say i hate gears of war it has no point to me but im a picky gamer

I actually picked it up a short time ago with Halo 3 - to help smooth things over with my girlfriend ('girls like bright colours, right?' was my thinking). Anyway, I play it more than she does now...

I also love that game!