Viva Pinata DS: A smart move

As if by magic Rare announced a sequel to the cult-hit Viva Piñata coming up not for the Xbox360 but instead for the dominant handheld, the Nintendo DS. This doesn't come as a shock, but I believe that Rares' efforts on the Xbox360 actually improves their odds for success in the handheld market.When Microsoft aquired Rare we suspected their efforts would be toward an FPS, vís a Perfect Dark Zero (oh my did that game suck!), no one expected them to try & blaze into the "family-friendly" market -- this was a system for the Halo fanboys after all. With a market flooded with First Person shooters set in both alien and World War Two settings Rare was 100% of their intended genre, you couldn't ask for a better software line-up.Compare this with the software base on the Nintendo DS; Nintendogs, Catz, Hampsterz, Pokéman, Animal Crossings -- Truly heavy hitters on every platform their on. Rare wouldn't have stood a chance at the limelight. Now they have a core group of gamers vocal enough to tell their friends and family about how gosh darn fun the original was, their chances of gathering attention on the handheld market is that much stronger.If this works out well enough for both Rare and Microsoft, we might see more sequel-esc games coming out for our cheaper handheld systems. Perhaps even game developers putting concerted efforts into using the 360 (or PS3) platform to sell more profitable quality handheld titles. ¡Viva Piñata!