Microsoft sees Nintendo DS as 'viable platform'

[The Feedster]

Microsoft-owned developers at UK-based Rare have gone on record to declare that theysee the Nintendo DS "as a very viable platform" in a recent interviewregarding the forthcoming Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise.

Rare’s Joe Humfrey told Eurogamer on a recent studio visit: "They[Microsoft] put the Viva Piñata franchise on TV to reach a broad audience, theyput it on PC to reach a different broad audience, and they're doing the samething with the DS," he said.

"They're trying to widen the audience of the franchise,basically."

TV tie-in

Lead designer Gary Richards added: "We wanted to tie it in with the TVseries more, we thought that would be enough to get the younger audience intoit. But we didn't want to lose any of the depth that Pinata had," he said.

Rare has continued to develop GBA and DS titles for anumber of third-party publishers (and, in the case of Diddy Kong

The THQ-published Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is set for release on 10th Octoberthis year.



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