ñata

Painted by hand, two colorful star pinatas bring a touch of Mexico to your decor. One of the most popular styles, the seven-pointed pinata resembles a star and represents the seven deadly sins, defeated when it is broken. The fruit and candy inside represent the sweetness of God's goodness. Eleazar Leal decorates them with images of Mexico landscapes, depicting clay cookware on one and cactus on the other. The artisan works in ceramic and displays them on golden cords.

The reverse side of each is plain.

We are a Mexican Official Davines distributor for the center of the country, we are going to make participate our network of salons into a local campaing that will make happy a many abused and abandoned children, bringing them a moment of relief.

We as a distributor we are going to contribute with a Special PiA±ata kit made by local craftsmen in many Davines salons as possible, then the final client with every purchase they make will fill a part of the PiA±ata with candies. Once the PiA±ata is completely full, we will pick it up and bring it to a children shelter on December 7th.

Every salon and client will be invited to asist to a PiA±ata Party that we will do in the children shelters and they can donate clothes, toys, food, etc.

This campaing will help two important groups of our society, children and the families of the local craftmen.

Help us to make them smile 🙂

The game is OUT!

But it doesn't have assault rifles with chainsaws attached to them so hardly anyone has noticed.

Demo "not a demo" interactive video thing available on Live right now!

Oh man, what the hell is this?

About five years ago Microsoft bought Nintendo and this is their first love child. Viva Pinata is best described as an addictive* mix of Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and all those other weird sims style games that feel oddly creepy. It will have over 60 species of pinata at launch and most likely plenty of others to purchase over live afterwards.

*May not be addictive.

Oh, and Rare, not Nintendo. My bad.

Kiddy gayzors game, huh?

Yeah, sure, whatever. VP is being marketed towards kids, we all know that. How do we know? Because the cartoon tie-in is being made by 4Kids Entertainment and will be shown on 4Kids TV. There is suppose to be some interaction between the cartoon and game, what that is exactly we are unsure. Just tips? Maybe some codes? Clearly this game is four the children. That doesn't mean we manly adults can't have fun growing gardens full of colorful pinata creatures. I hear you have to protect them.

From candy starved kids with sticks?

No, that is for the Wii tie-in...because of the motion control.....and stick like look of the remote....

I'm sure someone thought that was funny, you clever man. Seriously, though, what are you protecting them from?

From sour Pinatas, of course! That means they are red and sour at the world. Kind of like violent emo kids who traded in their black goth clothing for red goth clothing. "Eat that purple mouse!"

Oh you also have to make sure species that naturally would want to fight or eat each other are separated otherwise they will kill each other. Players also need to breed the pinatas, get a male and female together and they dance until a baby pops out. Yes, Viva Pinata will teach your child many life values. No need for that birds and the bees talk anymore!

Huh...does it have any Live features?

Are you kidding? it is a Microsoft first-party game, of course it has live!

You can view other players gardens, you can send Pinatas to friends as gifts, you can be a sneaky turd and send someone a Sour pinata, and you can use chocolate coins to buy all kinds of items. You can even customize your pinata's name, which it will keep no matter where you ship it off to, along with buying items for your creatures. What items? Backpacks for portable shelter and bigger teeth for bigger eating! Dentures, score!

Let us not forget the Achievements

. through which you can become a Master Romancer!

Those graphics don't look next gen. They don't even look real!

Well, hey, not everything is brown. Viva Pinata does have some amazing visuals, though. Someone gave Rare a giant box of crayons to play with. Don't just take my word for it, though, check out these screen shots.

If you have a 360 check out the Viva Pinata marketplace section, it has two full episodes of the cartoon up and an "interactive video" of the game in action.

And we are out of questions because I used all seven colors of the rainbow. Discuss.

(Correction: We have been told that Lushy is not performing at this year’s event after all. — Ed.)

Music, food, piA±atas, and other neighborly fun activities are coming to Stevens Place Park on Beacon Avenue this Saturday for the annual Beacon Hill PiA±ata Party. The party is free, and all neighbors are invited.

Performers at the event will include Suntonio Bandanaz, La Banda Gazona, and Lushy. There will also be a community potluck, and, of course, piA±atas for the kids.

The party is Saturday, July 16, from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. at Stevens Place Park (often called Triangle Park), located on Beacon Ave. S. between S. Forest St. and S. Stevens St.

Here’s a video of part of Lushy’s performance at last year’s PiA±ata Party:

Deliciously fun and addictive for all ages.
Real men play Viva PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata (and real women pwn them at it). A sugary sweet combination of gardening skills, defensive shovel maneuvers and interactive sim Viva PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata: Trouble in Paradise is a pleasantly upgraded sequel with as much game play as a paper-mache pony has candy. Unfortunately, everything Trouble in Paradise has to shout about should have been there to begin with.

As a newly minted gardener on PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata Island players must develop their garden and skills to attract a variety of sweet-inspired PiAƒAE’A‚A±atas, each with their own varying value and attributes. In the first game your greatest enemies were time and Sour PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata, and Trouble in Paradise adds to the meddlesome mix with Professor Pester. The story goes that thanks to the Professor all information about the PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata has been lost, and he is generally out to be a party pooper and mostly manages to be a constant shovel-whacking annoyance. “Character development” just isn’t on the itinerary, and the hinted at storyline doesn’t interfere much with the day-to-day party supply duties of a PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata gardener.

The systematic alteration of your garden’s features to attract and breed increasingly valuable PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata is the only tangible way to advance the game, and this free-form objective may be seem a bit slippery, especially to the younger gaming generation. When you are not leveling up or pursuing the next best in candy storage there is a fair amount of garden puttering to be done. Planting flowers, veggies and trees or just keeping all your collected party favors hopped up on Joy Candy offers enough casual entertainment to while away some time. Level progress is handed out like candy, and there are times when cut scene will follow cut scene. It is enough positive reinforcement for the youngest of PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata gardeners and more than a little over-the-top for the more progress-oriented adult gamer. There is no escaping my suspicion, though, that the PG film crowd just isn’t going to get a handle on all the game has to offer.

Each PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata is unique, and Trouble in Paradise brings even more into the mix than the original like PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata from desert and arctic ecosystems. With the addition of these two new environments come some new surfaces for your garden, namely ice and sand. It may be greedy, but I have to lament that even with these two new environments players are still limited to their home garden. Trapping PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata and sending them home is a fun addition, but it seems shallow when the potential scope of the game is imagined.

The sights and sounds of the garden are relatively unchanged. Saturated colors, cartoony graphics and the amusing sounds of PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata chatter are there in all their silly glory, adding to the magic that is PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata farming. Also a bit magical, the Trick Stick is a new addition to the menu that allows players to teach their PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata to perform tricks. This is a nice expansion of the game’s pre-existing “secrets” like feeding a bluebell seed to a Bispotti, or the creation of a Twingersnap. The typically tart-tongued assortment of villagers are there to help in all these gardening pursuits, but don’t expect coffee or conversation. The Village-folk are little more than garden mules, there for utilitarian purposes only. On the plus side, you won’t have to beat a garden helper senseless just to get him to take a day off this time around. Also on the list of things that have improved is the ability to break up PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata spats as the watering can maneuver is far more reliable and shipping and receiving PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata is available again so you better hope your friend with a Chippopotamus is feeling generous!

The gameplay mechanics are much the same as the first iteration, with a few additional and much-needed shortcuts to items like a seed bag as well as fertilizer. On the downside, the menu still makes me want to murder my PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata and everyone in the Village. As before, it seems like there are too many kid-friendly safeguards against accidentally selling the farm and just making a purchase at Costolot’s is a maddening series of “continues” and similar confirmations. Speeding things up and streamlining the chocolate-spending process would eliminate the bulk of the game’s headaches.

Breeding – er, romancing – PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata is very similar to the first game. Still the G version of the Discovery Channel, players must fulfill PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata Romance Requirements (typically a house and its favorite food) followed by a maze mini-game. The mini-game now includes little hearts that must be collected to win the naughty affections of the target, and also features a Wildcard Bonus that lead to twins or superstar PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata. Even though the incestuous breeding of PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata for chocolate or the joyous consumption of candy innards seems like depth best left unplumbed, these additions embrace the already quirky character of the game.

Standard Mode, in which you advance you own garden and progress through Levels, is the core of gameplay. Beyond Standard Mode, Trouble in Paradise includes Just for Fun in which players can create a game with a bank full of chocolate coins and the best in gardening tools, land and landscaping. Ultimately, it is a mode for the gamer disinterested in the easiest leveling ever, and is very casual-friendly. Just so you don’t think you have found the loophole, Just for Fun disables achievements.

Gardens can be played online by opening your garden up to a handful of players or by joining another player’s. Experience is shared in cooperative play, which is great if you are looking to level up. Word of warning, however: if you are a Level 6 and your buddy is at 26 be prepared for an MGS4 worthy string of cut-scenes and a critical weed attack. Two players can play locally (and a local player can join in on an online game), with the players having access to different things. I can only assume that is to make co-op play more “cooperative”, though it seems to function best at creating roaring dissonance. Seeing what other players have managed in their gardens or PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata they have attracted is a draw for the online play, but in the end the bulk of the fun is controlling the development of your own garden, not bustling about in your friend’s.

Underwhelming when viewed in the context of its predecessor, Trouble In Paradise gets so many things right it cannot be dismissed. Fans of the original Viva PiAƒAE’A‚A±ata will not want to pass Trouble in Paradise up, and the lower price point eases the sting of the add-on feel of the game. A successful gaming experience for young and old alike, it manages broad appeal without pandering and delivers some of the most fun you can have with a shovel and watering can.

On Efforts to Acquire 'HeroClix'

ICv2 recently learned of an effort by former WizKids employee Jake Theis to acquire HeroClix through new company PinataGames (see “Pinata Games Formed to Acquire HeroClix”).  We caught up with Theis for some questions on his efforts. 

We've read that there's an effort by some former WizKids employees to save HeroClix.  Can you tell us who's involved, and what their former roles at WizKids were?

The movement to save HeroClix grew out of our pride and passion for all of the hard work and vision that we've poured into the future of the brand.  My name is Jake Theis, and I have been in the core hobby industry for five years.  Previously, I worked in both brand managerial and R&D capacities for Wizards of the Coast, but for the last eight months, I have worked in Brand Development for WizKids Games.  At WizKids, I served as the primary contact for licensors, developed new product releases, and led the product line strategies for HeroClix.

I'm still in close touch with many of the former employees that supported the lines -- Management, Marketing, Organized Play, Graphic Design, Production and Sculpting.  They have all expressed their support for our effort and look forward to future developments and opportunities to help the cause.

Most importantly, we are in daily contact with the consumers and volunteers who have expressed their support and willingness to help on any and all fronts.  They have thrown their full weight behind our new game company and behind the "Save HeroClix" cause.

How was the name Pinata Games chosen?

We actually started with a fan contest to name our company.  The sheer volume of names submitted floored us and we debated for hours over the right one to select.  The brainstorm gave way to question: "What is our company's goal?"

Jokingly, someone said, "Protect the pinata that is HeroClix."  The name hung in the air, and we all laughed.  It was silly, evocative, memorable, and very different from many of the medieval and/or menacing names in core hobby.  Plus, who doesn't love pinatas?  They conjure up feelings of celebration, surprise, and are all-around cute.  Also, the availability of the URL helped.

Do you have any financing?

We're in a competitive bidding situation and wouldn't want to tip our hand when it comes to funding.  My team has 14+ years of experience in the hobby game industry, and as such, have made numerous contacts and built a rolodex of industry players.  I also have pursued undergraduate and graduate studies in business, which has yielded a pretty good network of business contacts too.  We've got a week full of phone calls and meetings already pre-booked from incoming inquiries, and we haven't even had time to make outgoing calls to our respective peer networks.

It seems like you're relying on a lot of grass roots support to get this rolling--how are you making this happen?

We just created the framework and mechanisms that could harness the passion, excitement and enthusiasm of the fans.  They trust us and our vision of the game.  In four short days we created a structure that allows fans to organize, donate and build external networks to help the cause.

In addition, we're reaching out and mobilizing small groups of the giant mass of supporters to propel our efforts and the entire fan pyramid.  We began with a full-court press on the HCRealms forums, which gave way to a Wordpress blog, which turned into the Save HeroClix site, which will eventually will roll into our game company's Website.  Needless to say, it's been an exciting week.

Our community has a tremendous wealth of different talents, many of which have been donated to support our cause.  We have volunteers that have donated web support, are creating an events database, mobilizing fans and retailers for our Calling All Clix support weekend- December 5-7, drafting professional-level press releases, launching full-fledged viral media campaigns, sculpting new non-licensed figures to support the movement, creating YouTube videos to show their support, and countless other activities.

The most astounding show of support thus far has been the donations that fans have given us to fund our efforts.  Our players have donated their hard-earned money, in the worst-economic climate of their lives, to show that they want us to continue their game.  These donations let us work at the blistering pace that we've set.  It has been an amazing, sleep-depriving experience. 

How would you characterize that support?

Zealous, overwhelmingly positive and guerilla.  Our fans knew where HeroClix was heading before the branch closure, and want to see the game reach the point that was promised to them.  Should we secure the rights, not only will we never lose sight of the hard work contributed during this movement, we will endeavor to keep the feel of community and commitment that fans showcased at this crucial tipping point.

Have you spoken to Topps--how likely do you think it is that you will be able to acquire HeroClix?

We're pulling together our offer and will reach out to Topps shortly, but we feel like we are in as good, if not better, position than others based on a few factors:

1.   We have a solid five-year plan for the line.

2.   We have the expertise and experience to back that plan and execute on it quickly.

3.   We can retain key human capital to do so in the flick of a switch.

We developed a close working relationship with our former colleagues at Topps back in

New York.  They've (both the individuals and the corporate entity) have acted with kindness, sincerity, class and fairness through this difficult time.  We can't reiterate the previous point enough.  Had it been any other way, we wouldn't even consider pursuing the rights.

We have great relationships with Marvel and DC.  I've personally worked with both of their licensing teams for a year now, and feel a close kinship with these partners.  They liked where we were heading.

Ignoring HeroClix for a minute -- In ANY acquisition there are a couple of non-income statement questions you have to answer before you can make an offer on a business.

1.   Do we have or can we raise the money?

2.   Can we without prohibitive expense, quickly turn the business back on?

3.   Are key personal willing to work for the new owners?

4.   Do you have a long-term plan for the business?

5.   Will customers "accept" the vision of the new owners?

We think we have a very definitive "yes" for question #2-5 and that has made getting to a yes on #1 so much easier.

What are your next steps?

There are so many. We will continue to keep the Save HeroClix movement going at full-speed.  We are preparing for the Calling All Clix events at hobby shops around the globe on December 5-7. Retailers are starting to contact us regarding the events, and the former WizKids Envoy network has thrown their support behind the events.

The number of investors and their share of the business is still an open item, and in general, we are doing some clean-up work on our financing.  The Pinata Games Website will be a work-in-progress this week as we add content, sizzle, and an event database.  Some important calls remain left to be made with some of our former licensing partners, too.

Also, while we are kicking off our communication with the premier retailer website, ICv2, we are planning an all-out media blitz later this week.  The press interviews are starting to rack up as the movement has hit viral status.  This will mean even more blogs on the Save HeroClix Website in addition to promotion of our Save HeroClix Facebook group.

All in all, we're gearing up for another busy week.

Are you trying to get retailers involved?

Absolutely.  Everyone that has ever worked at WizKids knows how important the retailer is to our business.  WizKids was the birthplace of the world's best premier hobby retail promotion-- "Buy It By the Brick."  The brick program largely crushed Internet discounting of product, and helped put more coin in mom-and-pop's pockets.

WizKids' corporate culture revolved around the retailer and the fan.  It should come as no surprise that we believe that retailers are critical to the cause; we have a good number of them contacting us pledging support in the form of donations, events support, and word-of-mouth marketing, but we aren't stopping there.  We understand the hesitation in the channel, but hope we can earn the remaining retailer support by showing them how strong the fan base, product line and our all-volunteer, grass-roots movement is during this transition time.

As I mentioned earlier, we have begun organizing a "Calling All Clix" event for the beginning of December (the weekend of the fifth).  Retailers interested in supporting our cause can get involved in many ways (hosting a tournament, providing prize support or simply just lending a friendly voice to the cause).  A volunteer created event scheduler and event locator should go live shortly.

Will the Diamond-Alliance exclusive go with any sale of the brand, or is that over with the WizKids shutdown?

I can't speak for Topps, but based on my experience Diamond-Alliance was great to work with and their support lead to many successful product launches and helped us grow the HeroClix brand.

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