THQ today announced that it will be launching the first portable installment in the cutesy Viva Piñata series, Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, for the DS in the fall of this year. 

“Nintendo DS is the perfect platform for the Viva Piñata franchise because players can have direct interaction with the environment and their piñatas using the stylus," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. 

"We are thrilled to introduce Microsoft's critically-acclaimed Viva Piñata series to an entirely new segment of the gaming community."

The aim of Pocket Paradise is to turn a neglected garden on Piñata Island into a paradise by “tending to all aspects of cleaning the garden, growing and maintaining vegetation, caring for and breeding piñatas, as well as attracting new piñata species.”

The game will feature seven new piñata species and an all-new Playground mode which “allows players to create a lush garden full of exciting and exotic piñatas in a very short amount of time.”