We Heart Katamari Preview 69
1up.com has up a look at the upcoming sequel to Katamari Damacy, set to launch in Japan sometime this summer. Besides some screenshots and discussion of new gameplay, the article discusses the original title and its place in the industry. From the article: "With intuitive, non-violent action and simple but stylized visuals, Katamari was one of those rare creations that managed to transcend the stereotypes and demographics of gaming and strike a chord with a wide spectrum of gamers, both casual and hardcore, male and female, youthful and elderly. The brainchild of Keita Takahashi, an artist turned game producer, Katamari's unique appeal can largely be chalked up to its creator's unique aspirations."
shh! (Score:3, Funny)
>>The first Katamari didn't rack up sales to strike
>>fear into hearts of Madden and GTA. It's not
>>slated to be made into a big-budget Uwe Boll
>>movie.
For the love of God, don't say that loudly. Uwe Boll might hear you!
video game without violence!?! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:1)
here [1up.com]
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:1, Troll)
I'm just trying to err on the side of caution. I'm really having a difficult time evaluating what video games are ok to play. I'm sure you can come up with a million reasons why its just fantasy and doesn't matter. Yet there is good and bad fantasy, with shades of g
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:2)
I suppose any title can be offensive to some person or group, but I found KD to be rather unoffensive, and I thought it would be a good game for people of all ages to play.
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:2)
Look, we know we should all fall down in theophanic awe and worship at your particular choice of the One True God. Just will you for once shut the fuck up about it already? You're not only not changing anyone's mind, you're just making your religion look like it's populated by narrow-minded superstitious zealots like yourself.
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:2)
Could it be... SATAN?!? [chick.com]
you're just making your religion look like it's populated by narrow-minded superstitious zealots like yourself.
Well, isn't that special?
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:2)
Yeah, you're right. I quit my guild war playing a day after I got it. They have false gods in it too, in addition to necromancy. I'm finding it difficult to find a game that doesn't cross the line in some aspect.
Maybe I am a zealot. And maybe to an unbeliever, it seems strange to see a man with convictions. Yes, I try and read the bible, and I try and out reach to people as all Christians are charged to do. My ma
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:2)
You are condemning Katamari Damacy as "dark"
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:2)
Re:video game without violence!?! (Score:1)
Non-Violent? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Non-Violent? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Non-Violent? (Score:1)
People just working in their office buildings when the Katamari comes and sucks them up to their doom. It's such a sad game.
Re:Non-Violent? (Score:4, Funny)
Hmm... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Hmm... (Score:2)
Release Date (Score:3, Informative)
Re:13 year old girldish style strikes again (Score:1, Redundant)
I'm stupid and ignorant, I guess...
I actually clicked the article link after commenting the title. I just learned that the stupid-looking title is not the fault of a submitter of editors. So, my comment is unjustified.
Re:13 year old girldish style strikes again (Score:2)
Re:The real question is: (Score:2, Funny)
God I hate that level.
Re:The real question is: (Score:1)
Yes, yes, I know it's yelling. Oh well.
Non-violent action? (Score:1, Informative)
Disturbing: Yes, Violent: Not Really. (Score:3, Informative)
So I would say that while it is most
Re:Disturbing: Yes, Violent: Not Really. (Score:1)
I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:1)
Stupid really, I can't imagine there would be great costs involved in producing a PAL version of any game made for the PS2 so far.
Along with the 485,637 Gumdam games available in Japan I think there's a fair bit of money to be made if people in sales think, like, globally.
Turds.
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:2)
The 50Hz thing is daft, really - just about any TV sold these days will cope with 50Hz and 60Hz, as it saves the manufacturers having to design two different TVs where one will do. But you're still going to end up with a load of people with old TVs moaning that their games don't work.
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:5, Insightful)
You put a million little bandages into a game to get it into E3, and then onto the shelves in time, and you generally don't think about localization until it is too late. You're far too focused on getting something working, fun, and on frame / memory budget in half the time you realistically should have. It's a superhuman effort to get done in time as is. It just doesn't occur to you that the refresh rate of the screen would be anything other than 60 Hz, or that you would need to check the length of hardcoded text strings. Your design team knew it had to be under 127 characters and you hooked them up yourself. You never expected to have text being put in by 14 different development companies with varying degrees of competence, and that you would be responsible for QA'ing the bugs they mysteriously introduce. And that's just a small sample of what happens during localization.
I'm not saying that translating games isn't worth it financially. But it is definitely a pain in the tail. It's just a lot more emotionally rewarding to start on the next game than to get stuck for 6 months fixing bugs because Gaelic's apostrophy happens to use the same extended ASCII as you're using for your escape character. And the process of localization does take 3 - 6 months in a schedule, minimum.
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:1)
I am sorry to be insulting, but the reasons you have given for
Re:I'm fed up of hearing about Katamari's sequel (Score:3, Interesting)
A lot of it has to do with what you are trying to do with your b
Euro release possible: ) (Score:5, Informative)
Fingers crossed, eh?
Re:13 year old girldish style strikes again (Score:4, Funny)
Bleh (Score:2)
Re:Bleh (Score:1)
Re:Bleh (Score:1)
Re:Bleh (Score:1)
I remember playing both Frequency and Amplitude with groups of 10 - 12 people for 6 - 8 hour blocks. Those games were the most addictive things ever.
Re:Bleh (Score:2)
And thanks.
In case people were looking, Harmonix's home page. [harmonixmusic.com] Of course there is a lot more going on that we can't talk about...
Re:Bleh (Score:1)
Re:Bleh (Score:2)
The subscriber base for the subscription service you suggest would be a subset of the set that includes people who own a big PS2, a network adapter, the hard drive, and Frequency or Amplitude. They're certainly not going to store songs on $25 8MB memory cards, and downloading or streaming every time you play the song doesn't seem like a very good idea.
Now that you mention it, though, that would be a pretty awesome feature to make buying an XBox port (maybe
Re:Too Kiddie (Score:2)
dude, grow up... and play video games because they're fun, not because they're cool. :)
my friends hate Katamari Damacy. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:my friends hate Katamari Damacy. (Score:1)
for love of god... an xbox port please (Score:2)
e.
Re:for love of god... an xbox port please (Score:1)