My two boys have been in love with Viva Pinata since I downloaded two episodes of the TV show to the Xbox 360.  I think they've watched those two episodes 50+ times apiece.  Well, today I received my copy of Viva Pinata (one of the perqs of being owned by Microsoft).  I have to admit, I had kind of low expectations for this game, and mostly was going to just play it for my kids' benefit.

But I have to say, it's pretty addictive, in that Animal Crossing / Harvest Moon kind of way.  Lots of pinata wildlife to observe and figure out, lots of building and buying and gardening to do.  The whole way in which the pinata world brings sex (I mean "romance", where the pinata does the "romance dance" and summons an egg) and death (the pinatas actually hunt one another as part of an ecosystem).  The matter is handled quite tastefully and kid-friendly of course, but it is definitely a little off the usual subject matter in kids' games.

All that said, I'm quite enjoying it and the production quality is pretty decent.  A pleasant surprise from Rare, which has been a bit off their game lately... nice to see them back a bit in form.