As a MAJOR fan of the Viva Pinata game for XBOX 360 (in fact, it is the reason I got an XBOX instead of a PS3), I was super excited when I heard earlier this year, that they were making a similar version of Viva Pinata for DS. Well, the game is out, and I eagerly got it as quickly as I could (damn pre-order on amazon… I want it now!), and after playing for an hour or so, I am here to sing it’s praises.
First of all, if you are a fan of the original Viva Pinata, you probably have several things that you wanted changed, because I know I did. I thought that a lot of the ways that you navigated your shovel, seeds, and other tools was too complicated (you had to remember where they were to pull them up with just the d-pad, which you tend to forget when you are worried about watering your new banana tree!!!), and the menus to get to people like Lottie at Costalot’s store were just too fumbled. Well, the DS version has taken care of every issue that I had with the XBOX version! I haven’t been playing that long, and already, I am pleased to see that they made these changes. A really, really nice feature, is that in the information screen for each pinata tells you exactly what the pinata needs, not only to romance, but also to make variants of that pinata; something that was annoyingly missing from the original. YAY FOR THAT!
Other notable changes; the annoying Leafos is gone. Sorry, she is sweet and all, but especially in the beginning of the game, she really was a hand-holder, and all I wanted to do was get to making my garden great, and attracting new pinatas. She made such pomp and circumstance about everything, that I got frustrated with her really quickly. Funny thing is, that you could hit her with your shovel if you got annoyed with her (like I did), and she would say, “nuh uh uh!”. If you hit her too many times though she took away the shovel, which pretty much made you powerless. Needless to say, I am glad to see that she isn’t running things in pocket paradise.
Another great surprise, is that they made the pinata’s the front and center main attraction! This is awesome, because they are the reason you are playing the game, and you get your tutorials from them. That was a great touch.
So far, I have set up my garden, and I am actively romancing the new members. I cannot wait to see how my garden grows, and what great pinatas I can bring inside. I don’t know the mechanics of having multiple gardens yet, but I am sure that it will have similar capabilities of the XBOX game, because that feature made it great for organizing your pinatas, and keeping the ones that incessantly fight separated from one another.
Needless to say, I am thrilled that I get to take this amazingly wonderful game with me, and that I can play when I get bored during my travels. The best part about this game, is that every time you do something (plant something, build a building, romance pinatas, etc), that you are bound to get a slightly different garden, and with experience, you can really customize things, and really keep making the game more fun. This is a game that was HIGHLY anticipated for the DS, at least for me, and so far, it has VASTLY exceeded my expectations. If you are a fan of the original game, you must get this new one… Viva Pinata indeed!!!! (there was also a recent release of Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, a new version of the original sim for XBOX, and I will definitely be getting that one at some point… but I am still having a fantastic time with my original gardens, that I don’t want to abandon them just yet!).
HUGE UPDATE!!!!!!: I just got a Taffly (for those of you that had the game, you know that they are annoying, because they eat your flowers, and don’t really give you anything… unless you burn them to evolve them, and then sell them; but that is getting outside of the point…), and they have done the best upgrade ever on an ordinarily useless pinata! When he eats something of a certain color, he produces that color fertilizer!!! No more buying that shit! (literally!) It also appears that the color fertilizer thing is more intuitive this time around as well!!! HUGE YAY for that, because I can’t tell you how frustrating the fertilizer thing was in the original game. Alright, sorry to keep gushing, but this feature is too great not to mention!!!!
You may or may not know this about me; I am a pretty big video game nerd. I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember, and still play to this day. I currently have the Wii, an Xbox 360, a DS lite, a PS2, and a working original NES to boot!! While games have come a long way, the basic principle behind them hasn’t (at least for me); it’s all about having fun. 
In the beginning of the movie, you start with the knowledge that baby Diego, the youngest person on the planet, has just been killed for refusing to sign an autograph. Saddened by his loss, the entire society is mourning, which leads to more violent outbursts by both activists and the government alike. Dealing with the harsh reality that he exists within this miserable and bleak world, Theo (Clive Owen), a former activist, continually struggles to get by in this daily routine, when he is contacted by his wife (Julianne Moore), who needs his assistance with her activist group. Her group needs his help getting a special person to something called the Human Project, a supposed safe haven for someone that is special like this woman. You quickly discover the reason this woman is special, it is because she is pregnant. They believe she may hold the key to saving humanity, and as a result, she is potentially the most important person in the world; and must be protected at all costs. The rest of the film is a wild roller coaster ride following Owen and the girl as they try to make their way out to sea, in order to meet a representative for the Human Project; who may or may not actually exist. 
Let me start by saying that I was really not prepared for this movie. Mainly, because I wasn’t aware that many movies could be made in such a fashion that would have you so engaged that you would actually feel like you were watching a documentary instead of a fictional thriller. As you follow Owen on his protective mission, you see the most dire and horrid living conditions and witness actions by radicals and the government alike that make you thankful our society has not gotten as bad as this film shows us it could. The movie is violent, ultra-real, gripping, and very scary; mainly because what is portrayed is something that could potentially be our future if bad choices and violence escalate. It is a movie that should not be missed. This movie is like V for Vendetta, only with a much more volatile and violent society, and of course, the fear that comes with a lack of procreation fueling much of the violence. I highly recommend this movie, and as such, give it 5 our of 6 stars (
). The only reason it doesn’t deserve the last star, is because I was a bit deflated by the ending; which I will not even hint about here. Go see it, you’ll be glad you did!! And the cinematography is crazy. Just crazy.
Now, the next peice of media I will review is a game for the Wii, specifically, Warioware Smooth Moves. While I admit I was probably a bit more excited about this game than I should have been (mainly because there haven’t been too many titles coming out lately that piqued my interest… or many at all for that matter), I was not so enthusiastic as to run out and buy it; although, I probably would have if Best Buy would have had it in stock on Friday (it was a moment of weakness combined with a balance on a gift card). Well, after renting the game on Sunday with some friends, I have to say that I am glad that I did NOT buy the game. While the game is definitely a lot of fun, the word randomness doesn’t even begin to describe the game play. There are highlights, like when they explain how to hold the Wii-mote for a mini-game (which is hilarious each and every time), but there are also low points, most of the games are over before you even figure out what you are doing. I didn’t have much time to go through all of the nuances of the game, so there may be parts of the game that I would enjoy, but simply do not know about. But, with that being said, the parts that we did get through proved that it was a very easy game to play, in fact, so easy, that we beat it a few hours after we rented it. Sure, it unlocked a few more gems, but overall, it was just more of the same. While it was fun to play with friends for a few hours, I definitely think I would lose interest in this game if I bought it, but it would definitely be fun to play a friend’s house, every now and then. Or, it would be fun just to rent it if I were bored, and friends were coming over. Overall, I would give it a 4 out of 6 stars (
). Fun, random, but perhaps a little too random, and definitely not a game for those that are annoyed with rapid changes and ADHD fueled entertainment. Seriously, this one is all over the place. Also, and I know that this isn’t so much of a “good” or “bad” thing, but the game is definitely geared more towards children; but that doesn’t really take anything away from it.