Gaming site says Viva Pinata has serious issues

Developer Rare Ltd. have always poised their party title Viva Pinata as a game for kids. Given the colorful and sun-shiny bright environment, it’s surely for them little tykes. Add to that the game’s objectives such as maintaining the garden and meeting new pinatas. We have no problems whatsoever that Viva Pinata is for kids. Online gaming site Destructoid does.

While we found most of their argument queer, we thought we’d still share them with you. The criticism, interestingly, begins with the opening of the game. Accordingly, you are greeted by a girl wearing a festive mask once your character arrives in the island. Immediately, Destructoid finds something amiss here:

Obviously if the island is full of pinatas and the little girl is wearing a festive mask, then she must be Mexican. Having her tell you how to fix the garden instead of having her do it herself, it’s Microsoft‘s way of saying Mexicans are lazy.

The moment we’ve read that we were like, “Come on, chill out man!” But no, it doesn’t end there. Destructoid then moves to tackle the gameplay, especially the mini-games. You see, players are required to build these poor little creatures a home, then players must feed and mate them for them to survive. Destructoid explained,

The Tafflies are required to navigate a maze of bombs that is in the shape of a pile of poo with stink lines. There are even mazes that are phallic shaped for pinatas like the Worm or the Syrupentthe. Taffly’s dance has them sucking on each other with their mouths and then one even goes as far as to suck up the other one and then spit it back out with some weird green slime.

Have you ever seen the game in this light before? While the events described above are correct, we think that is reading too much between the lines. Their issues with mating even go further when they pointed out an offspring can actually be partnered to its parent.

It felt like their issues are stemming more from a cultural perspective rather than a sexual one. The site pointed out again and again how Hispanic people are being abused in the game. Finally, the “violence” in the game ticked off the site as they mentioned,

Your children will be forced to watch as piñatas kill other piñatas and feast upon their chocolate candy insides or watch as they are bashed to death and poisoned by the evil Ruffians that live on the island. One evil Ruffian will even kill your piñatas for just getting sick

Developer Rare Ltd. have always poised their party title Viva Pinata as a game for kids. Given the colorful and sun-shiny bright environment, it’s surely for them little tykes. Add to that the game’s objectives such as maintaining the garden and meeting new pinatas. We have no problems whatsoever that Viva Pinata is for kids. Online gaming site Destructoid does.

While we found most of their argument queer, we thought we’d still share them with you. The criticism, interestingly, begins with the opening of the game. Accordingly, you are greeted by a girl wearing a festive mask once your character arrives in the island. Immediately, Destructoid finds something amiss here:

Obviously if the island is full of pinatas and the little girl is wearing a festive mask, then she must be Mexican. Having her tell you how to fix the garden instead of having her do it herself, it’s Microsoft‘s way of saying Mexicans are lazy.

The moment we’ve read that we were like, “Come on, chill out man!” But no, it doesn’t end there. Destructoid then moves to tackle the gameplay, especially the mini-games. You see, players are required to build these poor little creatures a home, then players must feed and mate them for them to survive. Destructoid explained,

The Tafflies are required to navigate a maze of bombs that is in the shape of a pile of poo with stink lines. There are even mazes that are phallic shaped for pinatas like the Worm or the Syrupentthe. Taffly’s dance has them sucking on each other with their mouths and then one even goes as far as to suck up the other one and then spit it back out with some weird green slime.

Have you ever seen the game in this light before? While the events described above are correct, we think that is reading too much between the lines. Their issues with mating even go further when they pointed out an offspring can actually be partnered to its parent.

It felt like their issues are stemming more from a cultural perspective rather than a sexual one. The site pointed out again and again how Hispanic people are being abused in the game. Finally, the “violence” in the game ticked off the site as they mentioned,

Your children will be forced to watch as piñatas kill other piñatas and feast upon their chocolate candy insides or watch as they are bashed to death and poisoned by the evil Ruffians that live on the island. One evil Ruffian will even kill your piñatas for just getting sick