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Games Entertainment

We Love Katamari 87

Posted by Zonk from the you-can-do-better,-you-are-the-prince dept.
We Love Katamari, the sequel to Katamari Damacy, is slated to be released in July of this year (in Japan). The U.S. release of the title is assured, but no specific date has been announced of yet. From the article: "We Love Katamari will have a whole new range of items for players to add to their Katamari, including everything from fish to world landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower. It will also feature a range of new settings both on and off of Earth, including urban, underwater, and mountainous locales." We've previously covered the July release date, but the assured U.S. release and the game's title are new.
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We Love Katamari More

We Love Katamari

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  • anyone have a clue if this or the first title will ever be released on gamecube?
    • I wouldn't think Gamecube but possibly Revolution.

    • Re:gamecube version? (Score:5, Informative)

      by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Tuesday April 26, 2005 @06:16AM (#12346488) Homepage
      ...and it revealed that, like its forebear, the game would be PlayStation 2-exclusive. - TFA

      I'd call that a pretty big clue.

      • But there's still a question whether that exclusivity will turn out the way GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas were exclusive to the PS2 and Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 were exclusive to the Gamecube.
    • The original game was one of the reasons why I bought one of the new tiny PS2s to sit alongside my GameCube.

      When the PS3 is released, PS2s will probably be given way in cereal boxes, etc. so just bide your time.

  • We Love Katamari (Score:2, Redundant)

    by mshiltonj ( 220311 )
    Personally, I prefer escargot.

  • Such Innovation In a Time of Little (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rAiNsT0rm ( 877553 ) on Tuesday April 26, 2005 @07:55AM (#12347041) Homepage
    After covering the videogame industry for years, I absolutely love when a truly innovative game comes out with poor to no graphics and takes the world by storm. They affirm that there are still true game designers out there working on doing the one thing so many miss, making a fun game. You would think that would go without saying, but instead it's the exception not the rule. Licensed product that barely passes as a game, endless sequels with one or two added features, and the endless stream of sports titles that generally weaken each year except for the graphics. Games have become so diluted and wading through the hype cane become almost impossible... but then a little known game pops up with a $19.99 price tag that stores wouldn't even accept pre-orders on because "there's no way we'll sell out" and makes a huge impact. Congrats! This is what gaming should be about.
    • Actually, my immediate purchase of the game is all Penny Arcade's [penny-arcade.com] fault. I read a few quick reviews to confirm my assumptions and then ran out and got it.

      It really is as neat as they say, as long as you're a little open-minded. And the graphics aren't crap. They're simple and stylized, and they break down as the katamari grows, but they do their job well.

      Battle mode bit, so any improvement there will be welcome, especially since my kids like to play too.

      GTRacer
      - B & B missed a golden opportunity

    • Re:Such Innovation In a Time of Little (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Phisbut ( 761268 ) on Tuesday April 26, 2005 @09:18AM (#12347684)
      After covering the videogame industry for years, I absolutely love when a truly innovative game comes out with poor to no graphics and takes the world by storm.

      I don't want to sound rude or anything, but on several occasions, I have noted that most of the "diluted" games that have cool graphics but no gameplay are usually american games, while those truly innovative games come from Japan. We have reached a point in technology where graphics can't make a game better anymore.

      Different culture and different market, but Japan doesn't care about graphics, it just wants to have fun, and that's where innovation comes from. It is really sad that so few japanese games actually make it to America, because they have a way of making games over there that could indeed revolutionize gaming. No wonder Nintendo, which is massively powerful in Japan, wants to revolutionize gaming with consoles that offer less graphics, but more innovations.

      • I found nothing rude at all in your reply, in fact it mirrors my feelings exactly. Peter Moleneux being my one main exception to the Japan only statement as far as innovation. I personally am amazed at the Japanese and their creativity and for not having any hang-ups about what will "sell." I'm always disappointed when games aren't released in Europe or America because they are too "Japanese," maybe if they were released in smaller runs with lower price tags people would catch on... but in over 15 years no
        • Peter Molyneaux, Will Wright, Warren Specter ... give me a few minutes.

          Oh, but we have to love everything Japanese, isn't their culture so superior, everything that comes out of Japan is superior, blah blah blah. Well no, 90% of Japanese games are like "Super Princess Maker 23" that involve seducing cartoon children by clicking through menu dialogs so trite as to make Leisure Suit Larry look like William Shakespeare.

          Katamari was a hit because it stood out, and it stood out by actually being fun.

          • Re:Such Innovation In a Time of Little (Score:5, Insightful)

            by UWC ( 664779 ) on Tuesday April 26, 2005 @10:38AM (#12348540)
            I'll add Tim Schafer and Sid Meyer to that list.

            And I'll add Mahjong(sp?) and terrible dating sims to your Japanese game list. I'm not saying that non-Japanese shovelware is all that much better, but the Japanese game industry is not pristine. We get the cream of the crop over here and miss maybe a couple of the good games every year. Also, Katamari Damacy would have failed over here if it was $40 or $50, and its success would likely have been diminished even at $30.

            And I love how these game threads devolve into "Where's the innovation?", "Katamari Damacy! I am gaming elite!", and "Japan!11!!"

            The best part is that this entire thread is about a Katamari Damacy SEQUEL, and the only new features mentioned are "more items to roll up."

            The Western game industry has been behind some nice stuff, too. Everyone talks about how graphics are superfluous. The Splinter Cell games would not be the experience that they are without advanced lighting techniques. And each iteration has been adding genuinely new features and gameplay and actually getting better. Frequency and Amplitude are by Western developers. It's just not as black-and-white (another amazingly unique game, though you mentioned Molyneux already) as the Japanophiles constantly decree. There are conutless studios that routinely turn out great game experiences with unique additions. Grand Theft Auto. Jak & Daxter 1-3. Sly Cooper. These all add something unique and valuable to the gaming landscape and all are, what? Oh, wow! Not Japanese!

            Play games that are good. Don't throw blanket statements over large chunks of the world. Deciding that a game that rewards playing for 80 hours to get the Blade of Obsessive Button Mashing or that features a sticky ball against quirky music and art somehow elevates an entire country's work above that of the rest of the world does not make it so. Oh, and saying "Kawaii", "Baka", "Arigato", "Sumimasen", and "Ittadakimasu" at every opportunity does not make you any better than someone else who hasn't seen all the episodes of Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl subtitled three times on fifth-generation bootleg tapes.

            Thank you.

            • While I kinda agree with you you also make my point a bit, when a game such as splinter cell and it's eighth iteration is supposed to be amazing and GTA, Jak, etc... they simply are not. Frequency was cool, granted, but nothing majorly innovative. Quirkyness is huge in Japanese games, Mr. Mosquito, KD, Dog's Life, hell they have an arcade game where you slap a big blue rubber ass. Japan consistantly comes out with unique things, Nintendo innovates, these are facts not blanket statements.

              • Re:Such Innovation In a Time of Little (Score:5, Insightful)

                by UWC ( 664779 ) on Tuesday April 26, 2005 @11:40AM (#12349168)
                Whoa, wait a second, so the secret to a good game is just to be "quirky"? All that gameplay and smooth control and crap are just kludges, and all I really ahve to do is come up with something so far out in left field that no one in their right mind would have imagined it before in video game form? Man, I can't wait to get started on Turd Surfer: Slippy's Adventure through the Water Filtration Plant. Each level ends in you getting past all the sanitation measures. The control scheme has you use only L2, the triangle button, and the right analog stick. The graphics will mostly be neon flashing sprites. Music to be performed by some guy with a gutbucket. It won't sell worth crap, but "true gamers" will latch on to it for years. Heck, I don't even need to do that. If I want to get the Japanophile seal of approval, I just have to mold a pressure sensor in some crazy way. Bug Smasher Pro! Stomp that beetle and see how many points you get! Home version of the controller only $30! Sequels are rhythm-based and set to mindless J-pop.

                I did not deny for a second that there are some innovative games from Japan. Nintendo makes great games. I simply stated that there are innovative games that are, apparently through some little-known flaw in the rAiNsTOrm Theory of Gaming Quality, somehow NOT made in Japan. While I know you enjoy your hyperbole, Splinter Cell is only on its third iteration. Each one has added unique new facets that affect the gameplay in positive ways. And out of curiosity, what do you think of the Metroid Prime Gamecube games, developed by Retro Studios, which I assume to be non-Japanese? Wait, hold on, I'll do it for you: "Typically pedestrian hack-job of a beloved and unique franchise. I resolved never to play it when I heard that it's in first-person."

                • Wow, you got some anger issues and/or need laid... neither of which are in short supply on /.

                  I've been gaming since the Atari 2600, and a member of the Sony videogame press for over 8 years, I'm no fanboy nor am I a loyalist to any one platform/country. I also happen to be quite up on all gaming trends not just what you see in gaming mags/sites. I am quite aware of obscure and popular titles in most countries and systems, and I still will say that per year Japan has the most innovative game designers, inte
                • Whoa, wait a second, so the secret to a good game is just to be "quirky"?

                  It really helps. Atari Games created the game industry, and survived for an amazingly long time, by doing just that.

                  All that gameplay and smooth control and crap are just kludges, and all I really ahve to do is come up with something so far out in left field that no one in their right mind would have imagined it before in video game form?

                  I would love to play such a game. Unfortunately, your description doesn't fit the bill -- i
                  • Bug Smasher Pro's quirkiness is that the interface is a single pressure sensitive rubber beetle. The instructions recommend that you use socks or bare feet, but the arcade versions are tougher and designed for use with shoes. So yeah, that one was a response to the "arcade game where you slap a big blue rubber ass" that rAiNsT0rm posited as a fine example of Japanese innovation.

                    As for Slippy's grand adventure, I'm at least proud to say I didn't have to try very hard to come up with it; I just wasn't able

            • Shut up, baka. I can be as kawaii as I want.
            • Play games that are good. Don't throw blanket statements over large chunks of the world. Deciding that a game that rewards playing for 80 hours to get the Blade of Obsessive Button Mashing or that features a sticky ball against quirky music and art somehow elevates an entire country's work above that of the rest of the world does not make it so.

              Hey now, Katamari Damacy is genius. It would be so if it were made in Rhodesia.

              Japan *does* tend to have a greater degree of originality in their games than in t
              • All of those are still funded by the latest Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, or Gran Turismo game. And Katamari Damacy was lucky. It was apparently the result of Namco lending a game designer to a group of students, and lo and behold they came up with a marketable and very good game design.

                And as I replied to you earlier, I do like Katamari Damacy. You just can't hold it up and expect it to be proof that Japan has a creative edge over the rest of the world's game developers as so many here seem all to eager

                • And as I replied to you earlier, I do like Katamari Damacy. You just can't hold it up and expect it to be proof that Japan has a creative edge over the rest of the world's game developers as so many here seem all to eager to do.

                  And as I said, the Japanese are not more original than Americans (in fact my money's on *less* because of their cooperative culture), but because of the various ways their game industry evolved separately from ours they have a better chance, for example, of a quirky game like Katam
            • Nit Pick: Splinter cell is canadian/french. And thus not US made, also the french influence makes it completely evil.
            • New items to roll up, more environments, more stuff for the Prince to wear. The first game is so awesome, and was only $20... and isn't that the price they are shooting for the sequel as well? Why complain about something as beautiful as this? :) The soundtrack of the first game alone was worth $20!
      • > I have noted that most of the "diluted" games that have cool graphics but no gameplay are usually american games

        Final *cough* Fantasy

        Nice movies on that DVD. Wish there was some game there too.

        • While they were at times a little melodramatic, the first 6 Final Fantasies really don't qualify as "Movies" :) Besides, even in the later games, they seem more to me to be a godsend to neurotic compulsive people, who want to spend 200 hours getting EVERY little item, EVERY little spell, EVERY summon. To claim that there is no game...well I would assert that maybe it isn't YOUR type of game, but it is for some people, for sure. Personally I love the early final fantasies, and even the newer ones I can sp
      • Perhaps on consoles. But look at puzzle games online and you will see a whole lot of them are extremely innovative, and a lot of them are American. I think there's more of a focus on big huge new games from American companies, who perhaps don't focus on innovative gameplay as much as they could.
    • When will people stop saying that Katamari Damacy has bad graphics?! They're great! Not the most technologically advanced, but great nontheless.
  • And yet, its looking like the original will never come out in Australia. le sigh

  • Co-op mode (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JonBob ( 556956 ) on Tuesday April 26, 2005 @08:27AM (#12347296)
    The article mentions a cooperative mode in this iteration, with two players working in sync to move a single katamari. I think this is the most exciting part of the announcement; we could guess most of the rest, really. This is a great reason to buy the new edition. Personally, I didn't enjoy the battle mode in the first volume (which the article says will be improved as well), but co-op sounds like a blast.
    • I wonder if you can roll your partner into your mass.
      • I'd be surprised if you can. While this is possible in battle mode, the description of co-op seems to indicate two princes and a single katamari, with each player controlling one of the two sides of the ball (a single analog stick each) rather than one player controlling both.

  • Same-o sequel? (Score:2, Funny)

    by 7grain ( 583823 )

    "... a whole new range of items for players to add to their Katamari, including everything from fish to world landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower."

    Hmm. I vaguely recall picking up lots of fish in the first one, and something that looked a lot like the Eiffel Tower at the end of the 'World' level.

    No matter. A few new maps would be enough to make me happy! Hopefully they'll keep the "punks" on motorcycles that say "bim-bim-bim-bimbimBIMBIM-bim!"
    • I think it was the Tokyo Tower that you picked up in the first game. :) And there was an entire level where you had to just pick up fish - the Pices level.
    • Hehe.. this is one of the funnest things for me, the things people scream and shout out while you are rolling them up. "NOOOO...WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" :) "ARRRRRRGH" Or when you pick up the barber shop and everyone in there is yelling at you :)
  • The only weak point I could find in the original Damacy was the multiplayer. The arena was aggrivatingly small and once someone got ahead it was too easy to stay there. I think a vs mode that abolished the picking up of the other player's Katamari would've been better (it's way too easy to win that way), just determine the winner based on size alone. The 2 player mode announced in the article where both control the katamari sounds like it would be aggrivating. I'd be much happier with a race to the bigg
  • There's a /brand name/ on a tennis ball.

    If those guys took bribes for product placement, they could make a mint without ever selling a game.

    (Imagine players struggling to find those last -- goodness. Anything. Or borrow a page straight from PA's playbook, and play a level while keeping your Thirst Bar full with refreshing Sprite bottles.)

    The bonus level where you pick up alcoholic beverages with a katamari and have the Lord of All Cosmos mix you a drink would be silly, I suppose.

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