Viva Piñata sales creep to half a million

360 News | It's all a marketing thing.

Speaking to Gamersutra, Rare has shed a little more light on the success (or lack of success) of Viva Piñata which was released late last year.

"I suppose we knew from the start that we were going out to the limit there, because we were going to do something different to the usual game for the 360, obviously. I don't know if it worked out badly for us - we've got close to half a million sales now, so that isn't a terrible debut for a game," said Viva Piñata designer Justin Cook.

James Thomas, a key programmer on Viva Piñata shed a bit more light on the marketing side of the game. "Most interestingly I think from our point of view, it was interesting to see how the marketing budget was split last Christmas, because obviously everyone knew that Microsoft were publishing Gears of War and Viva Piñata. Yet, so much of the money went towards Gears of War, which is going to sell millions anyway," explained Thomas. "It was a bit of like, "What about the other franchise?" I think we got left in the wake somewhat."

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10 Comments

Gutsman Heavy

4 years ago

don't fret Rare, you made a great game.

slapshakle

4 years ago

It's a shame it didn't get the sales it deserved. It was fantastic to see the Rare magic again.

Passa

4 years ago

Hopefully I'll be making it 500,001 sales on the weekend (personally I can't wait, game looks really good..)

Itachi

4 years ago

Passa wrote

Hopefully I'll be making it 500,001 sales on the weekend (personally I can't wait, game looks really good..)

mate if your going to get this game get it from www.dvdcrave.com.au it's only 25-27 there. Very cheep hehe thats where i got mine. Very good game very unique imo

LeonJ

4 years ago

Yeah it's a great game and 500,000 copies world wide isn't a BAD result.

Flypaper

4 years ago

Quote

"Most interestingly I think from our point of view, it was interesting to see how the marketing budget was split last Christmas, because obviously everyone knew that Microsoft were publishing Gears of War and Viva Piñata. Yet, so much of the money went towards Gears of War, which is going to sell millions anyway," explained Thomas. "It was a bit of like, "What about the other franchise?" I think we got left in the wake somewhat."

You. Got. Your. Own. Freaking. Cartoon.

Viva Piñata didn't sell because it was on a machine that didn't cater to - and was too expensive for - the kiddy demographic, . It's not complicated...

Passa

4 years ago

How didn't it sell?! As LeonJ just said, 500,000 copies sold is a pretty solid result considering the game appeals to a very restrictive demographic.

Phil

4 years ago

http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=6084

It's a great game.

Also, whoever wrote that review is awesome.

Benno

4 years ago

^Shameless self promotion ftw

It is a great game, regretting selling my copy to The Cro... I think it was him. I'll have to get another copy methinks, good thing about the price drop.

NismoR34

4 years ago

Flypaper wrote

Quote

You. Got. Your. Own. Freaking. Cartoon.

Viva Piñata didn't sell because it was on a machine that didn't cater to - and was too expensive for - the kiddy demographic, . It's not complicated...

You might not think it's complicated, but it's not just the things you mention that were the reason as to its lack of sales.

The more 'mature' demographic of gamers out there would have loved the game had they given themselves the chance to. I know I certainly did and I also know that everyone who did give it a go, loved it. There's a problem with this 'older' demographic though and it's that they're (we're) too damn stubborn for our own good sometimes. We'd much rather ignore a title because of its cutesy graphics, retain our reputation as 'mature' and play the next WWII shooter that gets released than we would jump into a new and fresh game that is an absolute joy to play. It's a shame that it loses sales because of our own damn stubbornness, but hey, we've got Nazis to kill...

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Viva Pinata

Pre-order or buy:
PALGN recommends: www.Play-Asia.com

Australian Release Date:
  Out Now
European Release Date:
  Out Now
Publisher:
  Microsoft Game Studios
Developer:
  Rareware
Players:
  1

Read more...

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