That is pretty sweet box art.

I don't get it either.

So you can play as a female in Fable 2?

Rumor has it that Too Human's multiplayer has been cut from 4 players to 2. That's a huge disappointment to people wanting a new Diablo-esque multiplayer experience if true.

Yes, it was almost cut out but apparently the female staff at Lionhead demanded it not be.

It's pretty sad that that's still not an option for any character creation type games.

Confirmed, plus it's online only.

"Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" Fact Sheet May 2008 Title: "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise"
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Developer: Rare Ltd.

Format: DVD for the Xbox 360 video game system

ESRB Rating: Rating pending (all ages)

Availability: September 2008

Product Overview: The original Rare Ltd. team behind "Viva Piņata" has reunited to bring gamers "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise," the newest piņata adventure that invites gamers to return to magical Piņata Island. Unfortunately, not all is well on the island, as Professor Pester along with his gang of Ruffians have wiped out Piņata Central's computer records, which poses a threat to parties everywhere. To help Piņata Central, players must gradually rebuild the computer database by sending piņatas at full candiosity to parties all around the world. While thwarting Professor Pester's evil plot, players still build and maintain piņata gardens — using their creativity and imagination to attract, trap, protect, train and manage more than 100 different piņata species.

Available exclusively on Xbox 360, "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" reinvigorates a colorful and engaging gaming experience on the Xbox 360 platform. Now with full cooperative and online gameplay modes, the "Viva Piņata" franchise opens its doors even wider with a new game that provides hours of fun for gamers of all ages, fans of the animated series and animal lovers alike.

Top game features include the following:
• Social. The world of Piņata Island is an inviting and rewarding place to be. Family members and friend now can share in the joy of creating a garden by simply plugging in an extra controller. The second player has access to all tools, actions and activities, but he or she also can collect magic by helping. Player two can spend magic by tinkering items, healing a sick piņata or filling a piņata candiosity meter. It's a new way to play.

• Customizable. "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" allows players' imaginations to run wild by providing them with expansive freedom and choice.

o Your garden. "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" also offers a vast level of customization within your main garden. Now, along with planting grass, trees and flowers, and digging ponds and lakes, players can place sand and snow in their garden to make exotic species of piņata feel more at home. Players also can choose to enhance their garden with themed object packs — make your garden into a space center, a pirate cove or a haunted graveyard. Buy objects to change the weather, or new toys for your piņata to play with. You have total freedom to create any kind of paradise you want!

o Your piņatas. Thirty-two new species of piņata can run, crawl, fly and swim into your garden in "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise." Large, small, fierce and cute, the new piņatas will join all your favorites for thriving activity throughout your garden. Among these new species are sour piņatas that will infiltrate and wreak havoc in the garden. In "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise," players can choose to either tame sours, or feed them candy to keep them sweet.

o Piņata Vision. A never-before-seen feature called Piņata Vision allows players to plug in an Xbox LIVE Vision camera and interact with the game through the use of printed cards that feature a unique barcode. With Piņata Vision, gamers can simply flash a piņata card up to the Vision camera, and the content will drop directly into the game.*

• Accessible. "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" reinvigorates the franchise with additional game modes and features that make it even more accessible to players of all ages and skill levels.

o Just for Fun Mode. Designed for beginner players, kids and those just looking to explore Piņata Island, this mode allows players to jump into the garden and interact with the unique piņata world. In this mode the difficulty has been turned down and the fun has been turned up. Sour piņatas stay away, resident piņatas remain healthy, weeds don't plague your garden and you have an infinite chocolate coin bank account, allowing you to turn your garden into a veritable utopia of colorful creatures.

o Standard Mode. Presenting a challenge for experienced piņata gardeners and dedicated gamers, the Standard gameplay mode provides a more tricky option, where players must keep a watchful eye on their garden. Sour piņatas, feuding species, weeds, illness and limited money call for you to exercise problem solving and creativity to build and maintain an environment where piņatas can flourish and grow.

o Player Guide System. Replacing the traditional tutorial, the optional Player Guide System directs players through a series of loose goals to help them master the fundamental aspects of "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise."

o Show Off. Using the new photo mode in "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise," you can snap, print and upload pictures of your unique garden or customized piņatas showing them off to your friends. You also can photograph your piņata and turn it into a piņata card, share it with your friends so they scan it and put it into their own garden using the Xbox LIVE Vision camera.

o Piņata and character interaction. All your residents are now capable of performing dazzling tricks, which you can teach them using the new trick stick tool. Watch as piņatas play together, perch on each other and interact in new ways to make them more appealing.

• Spontaneous. "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" is a constantly changing world where anything can and does happen. Rivalries, injuries, illness and fights — if you turn your back, who knows what your piņatas will do?

o It's happening outside. Pester knows where your garden is, and he's got a few nasty tricks up his sleeve to make piņata life difficult. Foil his plans by sending your piņata around the world to save parties everywhere. Also, you must deal with new, untamed sour piņatas with bad attitudes and more troublesome Ruffians who will try to spoil your creation.

o It's happening inside. Pester will try to block piņatas from ever reaching your garden, but you can break the blockades and teach him who is in charge on Piņata Island. However, don't underestimate Pester — he's likely to make some personal appearances to attempt to put you in your place.

Developer Information: Founded in 1985 and based in the United Kingdom, Rare Ltd. is one of the world's leading video game developers and has masterminded some of the most popular video games in history, including multi-million-dollar sellers "GoldenEye", "Perfect Dark", "Banjo-Kazooie" and the "Donkey Kong Country" Series. From 2005 to 2006, Rare released "Perfect Dark Zero", "Kameo: Elements of Power" and "Viva Piņata" for Xbox 360. Rare continues to entertain the world with the release of "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts" and "Viva Piņata: Trouble in Paradise" later this year. For further information visit www.rare.co.uk."

I really have high hopes for Too Human. I really like the Dev studio; thinking back Eternal Darkness still blows me away at how well they incorporated freak out effects.

This is from Banjo 3 or Piņata 242, I'm not 100% sure which, I just know that it's a big tease.

WARNING! Images with no context inside:

please make the controls good, please! Not that I really give 2 shits about Halo, but a new RTS - I do care about.

This is getting annoying. Is it Viva Pinata 2, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, or Viva Pinata 242?

Is there a release date for Fable 2?

Looks like MS is borrowing from the same playbook as Nintendo and Apple. Announce a title and it is available in 4 short months? I like it.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

Methinks the Viva Pinata242 was simply a reference to username pinata242 - nothing more, nothing less.

Actually i just hope they release it for Windows as well. I have yet to ever play a RTS on the console that didn't have horrific controls. They always claim that they have finally done the perfect console control scheme.... and they always lie.

I don't think I can thought of much less around here anyway.

What's there to be annoyed about? Either way there's another title coming in the series; doesn't really matter what the exact title of the game right now is, does it?

This is correct.

I'm assuming you've never played Oblivion?

You assume correctly.

Yes. I am anal.

Maybe on consoles. On PC games, it's been the standard for years.

But it's an action-RPG, which should be right up your alley - oh wait, it's not a "karope" style RPG from a Japanese developer...

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts gameplay video.

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of platforming thus far