Katamari Creator Wasn't Interested in Sequel

MTV Games, in a report on the Katamari sequel, reports that game creator Keita Takahashi wasn't slightly interested in making a sequel. From the article: "Suddenly celebrated for his originality, Takahashi would soon have to tackle the possibly contradictory idea of doing a sequel. He told his bosses at Namco several times that he wouldn't do one. 'But it came to a point where the company was willing to release a sequel without me,' he said. He discovered that the company's planned sequel seemed more like a re-release, primarily swapping Christmas graphics into the original game. 'That went against everything I wanted to do with Katamari,' he said. So he agreed to get involved. "

Well, I (We) Love Katamary Damacy!

[garcia]

Well, being that I typically hate video game (and movie) sequels, I was worried when I decided I *had* to buy this one. I ordered it on Amazon and after noticing that the delivery date (from 9/25) was in late November I had a friend buy it for me at Gamespot.

The gameplay is nearly the same (look and feel wise) but they have added new and different challenges and removed most of the annoyances that the first version had (getting stuck under objects or moving to slow when you were huge during eternal levels).

I enjoy the new soundtrack immensely and love the crisper and clear graphics they've added. It's basically the same damn game but 100x better.

Thank you for releasing a worthwhile sequel that was still true to the original! If you haven't played We Love Katamari yet, I suggest you do.

That sucks

[frederec]

I was actually hoping that We Love Katamari would have been developed by a separate team. This way the original group could continue doing innovative things, but then all of us who really liked the first team and wanted more could have that too.

Though from the sound of it, the sequel was much better for the presence of Takahashi. Sad that he was pushed into it.

It always gives me hope to hear about teams like the group working on Shadow of the Colossus. A group that has apparently been allowed to work on their project with no outside involvement. Being able to make basically whatever they want and take as much time as they needed on it. That sort of artistic freedom has me sold. That and the sheer beauty of their style.

You can tell! (in a good way)

[sycomonkey]

You could sort of tell, from the way the game is presented. The King of All Cosmos seems terribly bored with the whole idea, and amazed that we're still interested in katamaring. He only obliges because the fans flatter him and insist. I am very glad the game came out, it's all kinds of fun, but it wasn't exactly nessicary. Katamari Damacy was quite sufficient in the first place.

Sounds like they psyched him out...

[hackwrench]

It doesn't seem like they were actually planning to release what they showed him. (Christmas graphics? Oh please!) They just wanted him to go "Oh no! I can't let them ruin my vision!" so he'd do the second one.

If Namco isn't careful

[iamnerd]

They could lose one of their best designers. There has been alot of game designers who have quit working at a company because they were forced to make sequels or weren't allowed to be creative. The first two that come to my mind are when Gunpei Yokoi and Masahiro Sakurai. One of which wasn't even allowed to make games and the other was forced to create sequels. To be fair to Nintendo, they didn't allow Gunpei Yokoi to create games because he created the failure that was the Virtual Boy.

Re:You can tell! (in a good way)

[frederec]

To a certain extent Katamari Damacy was sufficient. But at the same time, for me playing that as well as the new one just increases a desire to roll up new and stranger things.

They make me think of things like rolling up microscopic objects. Sure, the game is awesome when you get huge. But wouldn't it also be cool if you could roll up the whole world after starting at the subatomic level? Or perhaps setting stages in other times and settings. Like rolling up the battle of Waterloo. Or maybe a haunted house or something. The joy of rolling up new stuff in different places to me seems like it could just keep going in so many different ways.