this is pretty old but i still find it funny.

The debate about whether videogames are art or not is not new. And bidding on eBay for rare gaming articles didn’t start yesterday either. Even so, paying more than a thousand bucks for an artwork poster from a game is still worth mentioning, especially if it’s coming from Rare.

The recent DICE summit featured an auction with all the selected artworks from the Into The Pixel art exhibition. And, among some works that included some of the latest Valve and Ubisoft hits (Half Life Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, Red Steel, Rayman Raving Rabbids), we could find a big digital painting of Viva Piñata from its lead artist Ryan Stevenson. This colourful piece of artwork was composed of several piñata species, as seen in the photograph below.

The curious part of this global auction is that Stevenson’s work was the one closing at a higher price: $1400 (or 970€). And who was the winner? Epic Games co-founder vice president Mark Rein! In fact, according to Kotaku, he “hovered near the bidding sheet like a hungry wolf until the auction closed, growling at anyone who attempted to outbid him.”

This is not the first time that an important employee from Epic proves his staunch love for Piñata. When the game was released, Epic’s pretty charismatic lead game designer, Cliffy B, supported it in the Viva Pinata Confessions campaing that Microsoft held through Windows Live Spaces. This kind of excitement has also moved several people to join the infamous “Adults who play Viva Piñata” Facebook group.

In any way, we want to remember that while Epic guys are fans of Piñata, we are also fans of Gears of War! So if you haven’t experienced the fun of kiling some Locust hordes in a cooperative match, check out our Outside Rare review and don’t wait any longer to express your love.

http://mundorare.com/news/2008/02/an-epic-pinataphilia/

Dang. He should'av saved up to buy a pikmin painting or advertise pikmin 3 for free

You know the font color for the quote is the same color as the background

@matt247
no i didn't notice, but thanks for letting me know

$1000 dollars is probably like... a nickel to the vice president of epic. It's a private company and it costs millions to get their engines.... and it's the most widely used engine today (to my knowledge.)

@kasz216

i know, i just thought it was funny that, "hovered near the bidding sheet like a hungry wolf until the auction closed, growling at anyone who attempted to outbid him.”

To use it as a doormat?

now Epic make additional single player campaign or multiplayer map pack for Gears of War 2 that will take place in Viva Pinata world - slashing Locusts and Pinatas with chainsaw in uber colorful world would be awesome.

I would so hang that on my wall!

I would buy a 360 for a game like that.