A funny thing happened the other day: Viva Piñata was announced for the Nintendo DS. At first this seemed a little strange. After all, developer Rare is part of Microsoft’s stable and a key weapon in the ongoing console war with Sony: they’re not exactly a third party developer whoring their goods onto every viable platform. And at face value, supporting a rival’s console seems a little counterproductive. But then we thought about it a bit harder and eventually the clouds of confusion rumbling above our heads parted and the bright light of insight broke through. It isn’t strange at all. In fact, if we were Microsoft, we would be porting every single one of our games to Nintendo’s pocket rocket!

Think about it like this. There are two combatants in the handheld market: Sony and Nintendo. And there are two combatants in the next-gen console market: Sony and Microsoft. (Yes Nintendo have the Wii, but they have been very vocal about distancing themselves from the console war, and both the hardware and the majority of the software for that machine aim at a different market). In other words, if you were to sit above the industry battlefield and take-in the entire conflict, Microsoft and Nintendo may be engaging in the odd skirmish, but they are both focusing their war effort on the enormous enemy line that is Sony. And remember, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

Microsoft or Sony? That question again. But for 50 million plus DS owners the choice, even if just subconsciously, may have already been made. If you have been playing Viva Piñata DS, or have even just heard of it on your travels, there will be a certain level of brand affiliation, That’s brainwash marketing by the numbers: you think only of what you know. If you have only ever owned a Nintendo DS, then seeing the latest Viva Piñata game on the Xbox 360 shelf, maybe even packaged in with the console itself (just how smart is Microsoft?) then you’re likely to go with that option. Ratchet & Clank may be a better game, but in that key moment at the store when that metamorphosis is about to happen - a casual worm bursting into a hardcore butterfly - it will mean nothing. Microsoft has a much better chance of winning that sale. Now times that notion by 50 million.

And at the moment we are only talking Viva Piñata: surely if you’re Microsoft the more DS owners that are thinking your brands and not Sony’s the better, right? Why not pump more out there. Viva Piñata is so cheery it makes the Mushroom Kingdom look like the planet Sera, thus making it an obvious fit for the Nintendo DS, but they have a much bigger stable to mine. Forza Motorsport, Blinx, Conker, Banjo-Kazooie, Kameo, and Perfect Dark are just a few that pop to mind. Maybe Microsoft is already thinking along these lines: we’ve all heard those Halo DS rumours after all and some of the industry giant’s PC brands have begin showing up in ‘tendo land… like Age of Empires.

Indeed, the verdict is clear: Microsoft should become the DS’s bitch. It’s a long-term tactic that may not win them any immediate battles, but could slowly feed the overall war effort well into the conflict, possibly even into the next-next-generation. So keeps your ears and eyes open gamers: Fable: The DS Chapters will be announced before you know it!

Let’s break it down one further step. It’s in Nintendo’s best interests to have a great range of games on the DS as it will help shift the console and widen audience appeal. And it’s in Microsoft’s interests to keep handheld buyers away from the PSP, where Sony is building strong brand recognition through its titles and building impressive long-term plans for PS3-PSP connectivity. But surely it’s not worth Microsoft’s effort to help sell Nintendo’s handheld just to keep punters away from Sony’s… or is it?

It’s all about the brand. The Nintendo DS is a phenomenon that dwarfs the next-gen consoles in sales and popularity and is rapidly on its way to topping the epic sales figures of the PS2. To put it in perspective, in seven years the PS2 did some 120 million worldwide sales with two genuine competitors. In three years the DS is already over 50 million and with only the one competitor you’d have to think that it is still a good few years from peaking. What this means for Viva Piñata on DS is mass brand exposure to a potential market of 50 million odd handheld gamers or, to put it bluntly, it means a shitload of gamers that Sony can’t reach, but Microsoft can.

But this is only the short-term and indirect benefit to Microsoft in having DS users playing their games - the long-term advantage is the key here. Think demographics: the Nintendo DS and Xbox 360 appeal to the casual and hardcore gamer respectively. These are two different phases in the evolution of the gamer: if Marijuana is the gateway to harder drugs, then the DS is the gateway to harder gaming, and it’s breeding a new generation of interactive addicts. Let’s take a closer look…

Of course MS should support the DS with Rare's casual titles.

It'll allow the fanbase of a given game (like Viva Pinata) to grow, as gamers get a fantastic game. But of course, when VP 2 gets announced, it'll be X360-only. Hopefully MS can pull a succuessful switcharoo and garner more sales for VP2, as VP1 was vastly understold.

Not only this, MS needs the cash :-p Viva Pianta is a million-seller on DS. Lets just hope it winds up doing that + the same for VP2.

doing so could definitely help there gaming division look much more attractive to investors and such, as well as allow MS to take a jab at the PSP without actually having to put out their own handheld...

If they did they would be supporting their a competitor.

Viva Pinata is also coming to Wii btw.

I think MS should support DS 100%, as this will keep pressure on Sony.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And this brings us back into a previous chapter of the epic console war, "Wii60".

And we have already revealed why that will never work.

Sounds more like a cheap way for MS to get out a handheld by supporting someone elses.
That Halo DS looks cool aswell.

Rare already released Diddy Kong Racing on the DS.

It makes perfect sense for Microsoft. If for no other reason than making some more profit for their games division. They could sure use it.

 Microsoft isn't in the handheld business.

I don't own a DS but I think it would be a very smart move by Microsoft