Adam Park, an Assistant Producer over at Rare, has been kind enough to answer a couple of questions that we fired his was a little way back, unfortunately the timing of the questions wasn’t the best as they arrived just when these guys were trying to get the game out of the door.

So let’s take a look shall we..

Q. Do you feel that the marketing for the original Viva Pinata stunted its sales by avoiding adult purchasers?

Part of the reason we made Viva Pinata was to attract a new audience to the Xbox 360. We set out to make it look different to the other games that were available so we can’t really complain that it was marketed in that way. I always hoped that discerning gamers would discover the great little game we’d made and I hope we’ll build some sort of trust for future titles.

Q. Is Trouble in Paradise going to be aimed more towards the adult market?

Not really. As far as the design goes we’ve added the Just for Fun mode for younger and newer players. This meant we could make the main game a bit tougher because we knew those people would have somewhere to play away from the weeds and ruffians. I’m hoping the people  that were brave enough to try a game with bright coloured animals in it last time wil know they’re onto a good thing this time.

Q. Will I be able to join my gardens so that I can scroll through them without going back to the menu, or allow my pinatas to move across gardens?

No. You can still post items in crates between your gardens. We have some new areas you can visit to catch some new species but you can’t build a garden in those areas.

Q. Will I be able to send Grethchem Fetchem to Fetch more than one animal at a time?

No again I’m afraid. We have a new bouncer board where you can ban piñata you don’t want. This makes it easier to get the species you want without using Gretchen so often.

Q. Will we be able to cross pollinate plants and make a spicy apple bush or something along those lines?

No. We have a lot of new plant species for you to master, and you’ll find that the Tinker can make some very interesting new items out of the new fruit and vegetables, but there isn’t any cross pollination.

Q. How do you come up with the names of the Pinata’s?

We sit down with a list of names of different kinds of candy and a list of names of our animals. We keep bashing them together until we get tired or we laugh so hard that it hurts.

Q. Are the seasons going to change dynamically or will we set them?

We don’t have seasons but there are some new surfaces to put down in the gardens. So you can create a hot summer desert type garden, or a cold winter snowy garden or a weird mix of all the bits together.

Q. I see a lot of the achievements are based on completing challenges in different regions… can you tell us what this about?

The game has an optional challenge system where parties all around the world ask for very specific piñata. It’s a good test of your gardening skills and completing the challenges gives you some new items to dress your piñata in.

Q. Will we be able to plant all plants in all areas or will we get dfifferent parts for the desert compared to the normal garden? And what grows in the snow?

There are new plants from the snowy region and from the desert. You only get to plant stuff in your garden, not in the other regions. You’ll be surprised about what can grow in the snow. (Or maybe not).

Q. Are there any mini games being ported from Party Animals into Trouble in Paradise?

No. Party animals is a completely separate title not developed here at Rare. We do have a new racing game in VP:TiP where you can compete using any animal from your garden against 3 opponents.

Q. I have heard a demo is coming but do we know when it will arrive?

The demo should be available any day.

Q. I have heard something about P-Factor but don’t know what this is… could you help us out?

The P-Factor is a talent show in the new game. You can use your pinata’s in a contest to see which is best. Prepare your piñata with accessories or fill them with candy then pick a judge that you think will favour your piñata over your opponents. Again you can play with up to 3 other friends.

Q. And lastly, since we don’t have official Xbox Live support in South Africa yet will we still be able to use the new card trading system?

Absolutely. One of the reasons we liked the card idea so much was that it allowed anyone with the LIVE vision camera to trade piñata between gardens.