Round Up: Viva Piñata, Video Games Live, 10tacle/Ferrari

Today's round-up includes news of a partnership between 4Kids Entertainment and American Greetings Corporation concerning Viva Piñata, Video Games Live heading to South America and London, and a development deal between 10tacle Studios and Ferrari, as well as the latest Game Career Guide updates, Serious Games Source posts, GameSetWatch posts and Gamasutra job postings. - Children's television programming and licensing firm 4Kids Entertainment announced that it has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with the American Greetings Corporation to develop a line of “social expression products” for the current children's cartoon and upcoming Rare-developed video game, Viva Piñata. Products detailed in the new deal include party goods, greeting cards, gift wrap and gift bags, stickers and Christmas ornaments with initial products launching in Fall 2007. The Viva Piñata video game is scheduled to ship this week for the Xbox 360, and allows players to attract and raise a variety of Piñata species who dream of leaving Piñata Island in order to entertain blindfolded party goers worldwide. - Representatives of Video Games Live, the touring production of live music from various popular video games, announced that the event will soon head to South America and England. The touring event will present a concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 12, and in Sao Paulo, Brazil on November 19. Following this, Video Games Live will head to London, England on November 25 to perform at the Hammersmith Apollo. “Although there are a huge number of gamers in Brazil, we’ve never had a show as big as Video Games Live here,” commented Fabio Santana, editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly Brazil. - Officials from German game developer 10tacle Studios have announced that the company has signed a license agreement with Ferrari for the development of video games featuring the automobile manufacturer's line of vehicles. As part of the deal, 10tacle Studios' London studio, Blimey! Games, which employs many of individuals who worked on GTR - FIA GT, GT Legends, and GTR 2 – FIA GT, is working on a new title focusing exclusively on Ferrari's automobiles throughout history. “It is a tremendous opportunity to be able to develop a game under the Ferrari licence, the world's finest car manufacturer! I’m sure that our project will bring home the rich racing heritage and pedigree that has earned them a place in history and our dreams,” commented Ian Bell, CEO of Blimey! Games. “We will strive hard to create a product that honours the Ferrari brand and image of style, sophistication and raw speed.” - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include a feature sizing up both the 3D0 and Atari Jaguar, news of the impending release of PC indie game Kingdom Elemental, and the rather off the wall relationship between Shining Force and GeoCities. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Serious Games Source include details regarding 3Dsolve's OV3D training application and a feature covering the concept of bringing games to hospitals to help children better deal with their hospital stay. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Game Career Guide include a student postmortem on Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy's The Blob and a call for submissions for the new issues of the Journal of Game Development. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Buro Happold, Derivco, Flagship Studios, Human Head Studios, Midway Games, Sierra Online, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Totally Games, and Wideload Games.