The pinata, according to Wiki: The piñata is a brightly-coloured paper container filled with sweets and/or toys. It is generally suspended on a rope from a tree branch or ceiling and is used during celebrations. A succession of blindfolded, stick-wielding children try to break the piñata in order to collect the sweets (traditionally fruit, such as sugarcane) and/or toys inside of it. It has been used for hundreds of years to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas and Easter.

As usual with Wiki, that`s not the full story. Notice, if you will, that there is no mention made of where pinatas actually come from, although there are theories: “There are various other hypotheses as to the origin of the piñata. One version, for example, speculates that the piñata was found in China by Marco Polo and brought to Italy.” Well, I`m here to tell you that that theory is wrong, wrong, wrong. They actually come from a place called Pinata Island. Now, surely at this point you`re saying to yourself, “Who is this man that`s so wise in the ways of science?” “How dare he disagree with the venerable, all-knowing Wikipedia??” Well, normally I would consider anything from Wiki to be the unvarnished truth (snort!) but in this case, I have proof: it says so right on the box for Microsoft`s Viva Pinata, or as I call it (in order to save keystrokes), “Viva.”

If forced to describe Viva in just a few words, I`d have to say that it`s a combination of Sim City and Pokemon. An odd combination, I grant you, but one that works surprisingly well. You start out by receiving the deed to an old, decrepit Pinata garden somewhere on the uncharted Pinata Island. This garden was formerly tended by the “most well-known and gifted gardener,” Jardiniero. You wouldn`t know it, though, given the deplorable state of the sad looking piece of land you`ve inherited. Covered with weeds and old junk, it`s clearly going to require herculean effort to attract any pinatas to this little square of hardscrabble. Fortunately, there are residents on the island that are willing to help you get up to speed with just what it takes to create and maintain a pinata garden. The first that you`ll meet introduces herself as Leafos. She will walk you through the basics of using a shovel to remove hard packed ground and unsightly, space-wasting junk. She will also help you by providing you with directions on how to use your journal, giving you a never-ending pack of grass seed, and a watering can. All of those items will play big roles in the career of a successful pinata gardener.

After just a few minutes of preparing the ground for your garden, your first pinata will arrive. In fact, as you progress through the early stages of the tutorial, new pinatas will arrive faster than you can keep up with them. This is a critical component of a game targeted for the pre-teen set: early efforts are rapidly rewarded and progress is instantly apparent. The progress may even be a little too fast at times, and could be potentially overwhelming. You may find that the new arrivals are coming in so fast that you don`t have time to refer to the journal to find out which pinatas do that whole “circle of life” on other pinatas. So, over-crowding can (and will) be a self-correcting problem, if you get my drift, but if your young `uns aren`t quite comfortable with the whole food chain concept, you might want to gloss over that for awhile. Believe me, it won`t be the most uncomfortable conversation that can (and will) be triggered by the goings-on in your garden.

Yes, I`m talking about that whole procreation thing. Now, this isn`t Sex and the City we`re talking about here, but the fact of the matter is that two pinatas of the same variety can (and will) do the “romance dance,” resulting in the arrival of a thir...