Microsoft Renews Viva Piñata and Blast Corps Trademarks

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
gamerant.com

Microsoft Renews Viva Pinata and Blast Corps Trademarks

Microsoft sparks revival rumors as it renews the trademarks of two titles from Rare’s back catalog that have been dormant for some time.
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Microsoft has recently renewed the trademarks for two of Rare's IPs on the Global Brand Database after years of dormancy. Blast Corps launched in 1997 for the N64 and while it didn't reach the sales heights of other N64 classics such as Banjo Kazooie, the game was still fondly remembered by fans for over-the-top destruction. Viva Pinata was released in 2006 on the Xbox 360 and was a very different game, essentially a first-person farming simulator featuring adorable animals was a hit and spawned multiple sequels.
 
Elder Legend said:
I miss Viva Pinata so much.

Give me a next gen Viva Pinata on UE5 with a ton of content and Season Pass and I will buy it in a heartbeat.
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Yeah I played the first one not long ago, it's still great and so so unique. Kids love it too, it's the only game they play on Xbox. Rare should make a new one, or even just a remake.
 
Viva piñata is actually a great game. I played through in my teens and loved it and would recommend to those with little kids for anything other then Fortnite/Roblox.
 
Blast Corps...
star wars GIF
 
Powersliding a giant earth mover through buildings to a surprisingly poppin' country soundtrack was a big part of my youth. Interested.

Though whatever it is, they need to keep the secret transit van with the cockney "out ma' way" voice as the horn.
 
ElCasual said:
Good bringing back those old IP, meanwhile the others company dont give a shit about they legacy IP.
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MS has done nothing with their old IPs what are you talking about? Unless if by old IPs you mean Halo and Gears or if you are giving them credit for unreleased games.
 
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nominedomine said:
MS has done nothing with their old IPs what are you talking about? Unless if by old IPs you mean Halo and Gears or if you are giving them credit for unreleased games.
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While your statement is for the most part is true. There was an excellent revival of Killer Instinct on Xbox One. Perfect Dark and Fable are also being rebooted. So I wouldn't say that they don't give a shit completely in regards to legacy IPs.
 
chixdiggit said:
Blast corps was fun. I could see a remake being like Teardown.
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It would be really fun if Rare did a Blast Corps sandbox. Not a serious full-scale game necessarily, just a downloadable something to add to Xbox Games Pass that has that spirit and that plays with wild physics and is just meant as a little timesuck tribute. Wishful thinking, but I feel that would be a good workout project for the team, and maybe they need a workout project right now with how hard it has been to get something new going. (It seems like they committed too hard to Everwild and the scope and obscure concept got complicated and crushing; it'd be better IMO to not keep that all-hands-on-deck approach and have small groups try some things new while the core team sets direction for the next big project; Sea of Thieves DLC has also been good for the crew there IMO and has been nicely varied and interesting, although unfortunately it also has been the only thing they've shipped since 2015, unless you count co-producing Battletoads.)

Maybe they could also do a demolition minigame inside Thieves (with more primitive weaponry, building off of what they're doing with sea forts in Thieves Season 6,) although that would be hard to make as fun as destroying a city with a rolling mech or Backlash.
 
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Given the massive success of Animal Crossing, it's a surprise they haven't made a new Viva Piñata. Actually it's not that much of a surprise given that Microsoft seems to mostly cancel games (and studios).
 
renewing a trademark does not mean it is in development. it just means the trademark was close to lapsing and they renewed it so they can retain possession of it.
 
A new Blast Corps. is something I've been wanting for over 20 years now.

It would be absolutely mind blowing if they did it.
 
We need more off-genre games like Blast Corps. That's what I miss the most about A/AA studios getting bought out or going out of business.
 
Pejo said:
We need more off-genre games like Blast Corps. That's what I miss the most about A/AA studios getting bought out or going out of business.
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I mean, you could argue this is about all Rare has actually done since being acquired by Microsoft.
 
Pejo said:
Such as? There's Sea of Thieves I guess, but everything else has been Kinect or awful. Maybe I'm not remembering something.
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Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Viva Pinata
Kameo
And love it or hate it, Nut & Bolts is pretty out there.
It seems to me that Microsoft would much rather have had them making big production, genre games, and it seems like they have largely done the opposite.
 
Blast Corps huh? You've got my attention. I rented the original over a weekend as a kid, which I think was enough to see just about all it had to offer, but it was cool.

I don't see it being revived as a full-blown AAA game, but not everything needs to be.

Or this is nothing I guess.
 
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