Katamari Damacy Brings Object Conglomeration To U.S. Gamers

Thanks to IGN PS2 for relaying the news that Namco has confirmed bizarre PlayStation 2 'object conglomeration' videogame Katamari Damacy for U.S. release, as it's officially "due out on [North American] store shelves this September." The article explains of the previously featured PS2 title, thought "very unlikely" to get a U.S. release at the time: "Your father, the great king, has inadvertently eliminated the stars from the sky and it's your job as his son to clean up the mess that he's created. To do so, players become a sticky rolling mass that can collect objects and items from all over the world" - a review of the Japanese version at Game Science explains gameplay further.

COOL!

[Sevn]

"To do so, players become a sticky rolling mass that can collect objects and items from all over the world"

I always wanted to play a game where I'm Oprah Winfrey.

One of my favorite games at E3

[Blackwulf]

I spent over an hour at Katamari Damashii in Namco's booth at E3. I had seen the gameplay on a Slashdot story before, and was surprised to find it there.

Anyone who likes quirky games that aren't your run-of-the-mill FPS/stealth/platformer/racing title should at least give this one a rental. It really is a breath of fresh air and *gasp* an original game.

It's not even a sequel of anything!

Re:One of my favorite games at E3

[Allison Geode]

funnily enough though, a sequel is planned, at least for japanese markets.

I have created such a game

[S. Baldrick]

It's called S. Baldricks' T-shirt. In my game you collect sticky (and spicy -- that's a twist the Japanese never thought off) objects from cuisines all over the world.

But beware the dreaded Mom and her sinister washing machine or you'll go back to level 1!

Played It

[Deliveranc3]

While in Japan I got a chance to play this.

Graphics are kinda weak though I may just be biased against cell shading.

Physics are pretty impressive and there is less slowdown than one would expect given the technical nature of the game.

I found it pretty dull after a while though, there simply weren't enough hazards in the areas I got a chance to explore.

Beside it was an interesting game where students battle supported by adults... that game is tonnes of fun and probably worth picking up.

Re:Played It

[drinkypoo]

The issue with the graphics to me, based on the review, is that it says that the clump grows to block your view and then eventually the view will bump out to a preset range. This seems pretty dumb to me. It's a 3D game, you can put the camera anywhere, why only put it at preset steps?

no news

[BortQ]

I wish /. wouldn't post so many "XXX has announced that YYY will be released in only ZZZ months time!!!" articles. Pretty much the only responses are "cool" or "whatever, that game sucks". The game is still not available to people, so what's the friggin point?

There are hundreds of games that are available RIGHT NOW, and many of them are very good. Even if (gasp!) namco has nothing to do with them. How about some coverage of all the readily available indie games? There are plenty of great ones out there, a

Re:no news

[Anonymous Coward]

You do know that you can submit [slashdot.org] your own milestones/techniques/reviews of indie games to slashdot right?

Re:no news... is good news

[urbaer]

Bah, this is an important story, if only it shows that there is a (percieved) market for odd Japanese games in the US. If you check the review it states
A European release can't be ruled out, but a US release seems very unlikely..

So not news you say? What if rocks from Mars were coming to Earth (and would take a few years to get here). "Bah," you would say "we have plenty of rocks here already. Why can't we talk more about the rocks that are here?"

Simply put, it wasn't going to happen, it will. Yay!

Bu

Oh, you know, mind blowing pain.

[I judge you]

Your rant might be worth something if Katamari Damacy wasn't a fucking incredibly fun, original, and actually moving game.

And to the rest of you: import it now. You will not regret it.

Finally!

[Quobobo]

Thank you, Slashdot.. I've been seeing commercials for this the last few months and I had no idea what it was. Looked neat, but compared to the rest of stuff on Japanese TV it's practically normal.

European release

[spoodie]

I do hope this is released in Europe, not only does it look like good fun but very few other people will see past Driv3r (or is that Driv£r?) and buy it, so I'll be able to pick it up for budget price within a couple of months of it's release.

The soundtrack

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, the soundtrack (which is supposedly fantastic) won't be changed for the US release... and the game will probably be a budget ($30? $20) release when it comes to America?

Video (with music) of the game

[Peter Cooper]

You can watch a movie of the gameplay [namco-ch.net].. it totally rules :-)

Strangest/best Japanese games

[seouled-out]

So hook up us noobs with a list of best/strangest games for current systems and PC! I seem to remember seeing a PS1 game literally about a line that bounces in tune to music.

Re:Strangest/best Japanese games

[Alkaiser]

You're probably talking about Vib Ribbon. It came out here. Not only did it bounce to music but it would auto-generate levels (one easy, one insane) based off of the audio CD you popped in.

I haven't bought anything from Japan recently, but on the PS2, the best gimmick game I've ever seen that never made it over here is Seigi no Mikata (Agent of Justice).

You play a normal guy who gets super powers. Rather, you play a guy PLAYING a normal guy who gets super powers on TV. Evrey week, you polish off a new