Katamari Damacy 2 Due In July

A sequel to the ball rolling simulator Katamari Damacy is due out in July of this year, according to a Gamespot news blurb. From the article: "In Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy, gamers once again assume the role of the diminutive hero known as the Prince of All Cosmos. And, once again, the prince must save the universe by rolling around a giant snowballing mass of sticky debris (katamari) to pick up various objects." Update: 04/08 06:02 GMT by Z : If it's okay with everyone, I'm just going to retcon this one and pretend that I know how to read.

Addictive as Hell

[CDarklock]

I just picked this up yesterday on the advice of a fellow game developer, and the most amusing thing about Katamari Damacy is not just the way it takes VERY simplistic gameplay and makes it horrifically addictive, but the weirdo Japanese mentality behind all the messages. I'll certainly grab the sequel when it shows up.

Giant Rolling Ball

[jcuffe]

I want to see how they can make another game where you roll a giant ball around, and manage to make it fresh again... it's like making Tetris 2. How much different can you make it without crippling what makes it fun?

Re:What is the point of this game?

[UWC]

While I admit that I'm amused and annoyed that just about everyone advocates it like it's some unknown underground treasure that no one has ever heard of (though I also recognize that its current success comes at least in part from word-of-mouth... though Penny Arcade's coverage of it certainly couldn't have hurt), you give the game a bit too little credit. Even if you strip away the potentially off-putting style that everyone so loves to claim to love, the game is still fairly unique, I think mostly because of the "rolling stuff up" part that allows for interesting changes of scale and perspective as a level progresses instead of maze-running/solving like Marble Madness or Monkey Ball. As for the control scheme, I'm not sure whether I would prefer a single stick or not. I don't have any problem with the dual stick control, though.

And yeah, I don't think there's any way that the game could have succeeded at $50. It's like a novel toy with some guided play and objectives, and I don't think many would see justification in paying $50 for that.

Re:Sold Out

[UWC]

Thank you, sir. I didn't realize that a jab at the trend of hilariously re-imagined sequels would be so violently opposed.

I do have to say that Metal Gear Acid so far is surprisingly successful at distilling core MGS gameplay elements down to a turn-based strategy format. The cards aren't just used in battles. They're used for everything, even moving, so the card-based aspect of it is completely integrated into the game. So with pretty much everything you do, you're weighing the options of turn delay (every card has an associated delay, which contributes to how long you have to wait until your next turn and thus how many enemies get to take turns in the meantime), card economy (most cards, in addition to their specific purpose, can be used for movement), and potential luck of the draw. Stealth is still hugely important, and you can still check line-of-sight of enemies and plan your route accordingly. You can even knock on walls (one of like two moves that doesn't require a card, but to knock you have to flatten against the wall after a card-based move--the other non-card move is a punch that has a chance of knocking an enemy unconscious, usable only once per turn) to attract enemy attention and set up an ambush or so you can sneak around by another route without detection while the enemy is distracted.

Cheap at $50

[MilenCent]

I went in halfsies on a PS2 specifically for *this game*, making its effective cost to me $85, and it was worth it. I've ranted a number of times about how Nintendo is practically the sole source of originality in the game industry anymore, but their release schedule has been so *light* lately....

And Katamari Damacy is simply great, it beats anything Nintendo has come up with this generation, even their more original stuff this time around, Pikmin and Animal Crossing. Here's hoping other developers take a hint from its success.

But even with all this... I wouldn't have bought a PS2 by myself for it. $170 is too much for one game.