Although Nintendo didn’t officially make a show at the Comic-Con: International event in San Diego, California, last week, that didn’t stop others from boosting the fortunes of its platforms. In what’s bound to be a popular announcement, Rare’s Viva Piñata was announced for the Nintendo DS.

The original game concept, which tasks the player with turning a neglected plot of land into a glorious garden and attracting Viva piñata residents will be ported to the DS, in what is one of the Microsoft Xbox 360’s most novel open-ended concepts and one of the only triumphs for Rare (gameplay wise if not in sales) since jumping ship from Nintendo to Microsoft in 2002. The title will be switched to a top-down perspective, presumably to make control within the environment as simple as possible.

More good news for the Nintendo DS.

Microsoft’s Shane Kim hinted at the news a few months back, saying, “A Kameo or a Viva Pinata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective, so perhaps the announcement isn’t too much of a surprise.

Either way, the title’s award winning credentials and universal appeal could see it becoming quite a hit on Nintendo’s dual screened mammoth.