Didn't see this one coming...
And not only do I own it, I happen to LIKE it. Quite a bit, in fact.
LSD was clearly involved in the genesis of Viva Pinata, but thankfully the developers were experiencing a good trip. The game is shockingly addictive and substantive, and I hazard to guess that if you spend 30 minutes playing it, you might very well be locked in for another 30 hours or so before you finally pause to take it all in. What's remarkable--and kind of aggravating, too--is that all the pretensions about next-gen hardware being necessary to create the best games are proven spurious with a game like this. You're telling me we had to have three processors, 1080p and Dolby Digital support, and wireless connectivity just to grow a few pinatas in a little ol' garden plot???
I kid because I love. Viva Pinata does take advantage of the 360's power but it doesn't abuse it needlessly. Animations are simple and the rest of the audiovisual package is executed beautifully, but in an understated fashion. The emphasis is on fun, and Rare put more of that in the package than I would have ever guessed.