“A Kameo or a Viva Pinata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective,” Shane Kim told 1UP last week at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. Kim, a Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Game Studios and Phil Spencer, head of Studio Development for Microsoft Game Studios, reinforced Microsoft’s commitment to Rare’s Pinata-stuffing IP, despite lukewarm performance at retail.
“[Viva Pinata] is the beginning of an IP that will be a pillar for Microsoft Game Studios for a long time,” Spencer said. Kim continued “Whether that is in the form of a [new Xbox 360] sequel, a product line extension or through merchandising, whatever the case may be, that’s something that we’re going to stick with.” Or, as he pointed out, as a new Nintendo DS title.
The Microsoft developer of both games, Rare, is already working on “Banjo-Threeie” for Xbox 360 due 2008, after releasing the previous title in the series “Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge” on Game Boy Advance in 2003. Thus far Rare have made Diddy Kong Racing DS, so there’s a good chance more are coming as long as the fans are buying.