New screens of Katamari PSP

by Ross Miller { Sep 15th 2005 at 5:30PM }

Katamari Damacy PSP screen cap (225) Yesterday we reported that Katamari Damacy was indeed coming to the Sony PSP as Boku no Watashi Katamari Damacy and would feature WiFi multiplayer capabilities. PSPupdates has posted a magazine scan devoted to the portable game honoring the Prince of All Cosmos.

The game features a branching storyline centering on the Prince's visit to "Paradise Isle," whose inhabitants have recently dealt with a tsunami. The Prince, being the nice guy, decides to help them clean up the mess. The pictures look to be on target with the sheer awesome graphics of the console Katamari games - okay, so awesome may not be the proper word, but stylish and comical fit. The game will also feature seasonal changes as well as day/night changes. We will have more information as soon as we get it – and, if anyone is a master of the Japanese language and can reveal to us any more information featured in the magazine scan, feel free to let us know.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

haddo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

OK this is pissy why the hell isnt there Katamari on ds!!!!!

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

that's what i was thinking...

control for the psp will suck, because there's only one analog stick and it's kind of shitty.

metal_gear_jello @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

"control for the psp will suck, because there's only one analog stick and it's kind of shitty."

Same thing with the DS. What's your point?

Lucas Novae @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

But with the DS you can actually use the pointer, which is pretty neat...

Phil "Osirus" @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

What a stupid comment!

On PSP you have constant access to the D-Pad, the analog stick, the X Square Circle and Triangle, and the shoulder buttons.

On the DS, if you are holding the stylus, you have the D-Pad left, that's all.

Badison @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Sounds like some DS players are getting a little jealous lol. I'm glad to hear this, and agree with metalgearjello, how would the DS with it's SINGLE psuedo analog be any better than the PSP with its SINGLE analog?

christ @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

ive never played the ps2 game.. but it seems to me that the game could have a similar play mechanic on the DS that pac and roll does (bottom touch screen spins the ball where you want it)

what other controls are there for the game? i mean, it doesnt seem like its that complicated other then moving that ball thingy around.

32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

I'm kind of curious as to why many of those pics look like low-res scans of screenshots from We Love Katamari. I recognize alot of those levels.

At least with this scan, there are enough sentence particles to have this make a tiny amount of sense. Even if the title still translates out to "My My Katamari Damacy (temporary title)".

Badison @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Cool, hey footsteps, can you translate the rest of the scanned page? I'm really curious about what else it has to say.

mark @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

my personal(own) Katamari Damacy

n8 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

I would assume that the PSP version is probably just a port, perhaps with a few enhancements. Rumors indicate a 2-up wi-fi play mode, and my guess is that that's where most of the development energy went to the PSP version. Other than that, I think that those who have played this on the PS2 are going to be disappointed with the PSP version as it will offer nothing significantly different.

I really don't know why it's so surprising to people that this is showing up on the PSP. It was a big hit - at least in some circles - on the PS2 and it seems only natural that Sony would have reached some arrangement to make sure that this perfect little puzzler that crosses culture and gender lines would only appear on their platform. Not that I'm saying that the PSP has an exclusive, but at the moment, that's the way it looks.

Agent X @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

It's always the same story with the PSP detractors. They constantly groan that PSP has no good games coming out for it, as if to justify their questionable decision to purchase a competing handheld instead. Then, when some third-party publisher announces some exciting new game is coming to PSP (Katamari Damacy, GTA, Ghouls 'n Ghosts), these people get all huffy and say, "They should make this for my system instead."

The envy of those people is proof positive that the PSP is attracting all of the top handheld games that everyone wants.

Katamari Damacy would make a great handheld game, with its quick-fix gameplay that's satisfying even in short bursts. With regard to the controls, no existing handheld (that I know of) could perfectly replicate the dual thumbstick controls of the PS2 game, but I have confidence that Namco can devise a good control scheme for the PSP.

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Yeah... Probably isn't that crazy of controls to grasp. Either A)You control it with one thumbstick(Crazy, i know =P), or B) you use the face buttons as another Dpad setup, then R to 180, L to jump. You guys make it sound like they're porting a MMO to the PSP. I mean, you a roll a fucking ball. A control scheme is not that hard to conjure up.

dfd @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

n8 -- did you read the article? Storywise it sounds pretty different from I [Heart] Katamari.

K @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

erm... doesn't the graphic say "boku no watashi no katamari damashii?"

(Not Impressed) Dmitri @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

I am going to have to give this one to Sony. They were able to pull it off and get their very first half-decent PSP game. As I am disappointed it is most likely not going to be on the DS, I look behind me and notice my stack of games. So it is all good. 33+ games coming out in November, WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' KATAMARI!

Eran Hawke @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Is the full console version of this game any good? Will the PSP version be any different? I don't care WHAT system it comes out for, as long as it is good.

If the PS2 version is good, will this be better or worse? Who not pick up the PS2 version if it is better than this one?

Barry @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Hey Badison,

In regards to your first comment, the PSP analog stick isn't actually analog either, that's just Sony's name for it. It's digital, not analog. In fact, none of the analog sticks which have been used on consoles since the N64 popularized them have been analog. A touch screen being used to emulate a digital-analog stick is sending the exact same information as a stick would, it's just a different interface being used to do it. The PSP analog stick is actually not sending information in the same way, due to the fact that it doesn't sit in a pot & rather moves flat along the surface of the controller. Sure, the DS "analog" interface is flat too, but it's a larger interface than the area provided by the PSP stick, and so it can fully reproduce the range of motion found on console controllers.

I work on PSP games for a living & I'll say right now that, based on my hand-crippling day-to-day experiences with it's lousy controls, I don't want to lose all of my enjoyment of Katamari by struggling to maneuver the ball with that uncomfortable & unresponsive little slider that Sony markets as an analog stick.

Badison @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Your comments: Hey bary, thanks for the reply on that. Just curious, what do you work on with PSP? do you develop? or test? or review? or what?

As far as the functional foundation of the 'analog disc' what makes it worse/better than DS? I'm not sure other than there is no feedback, no limit other than a square screen, no way to set yourself to the origin point on a DS. So I prefer PSP's controlling set up. My best friend since grade school prefers DS, I don't, difference of opinion. So what lol.

I posted my comment hoping to hear what was the convincing difference between the two. Not that it would change my mind, just because neither is as good as a dreamcast/xbox/ps2 controller. That's all I was trying to do.

Oh, I didnt mention this before, but DS doesn't have very good graphics, I'd rather see the game on PSP also (- .-). Thumb nubs are weak.

MMORPG-Games @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

Most addictive game ever is now portable? OH NO!

n8 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

dfd - yep, I read the article. But I never played the original game so I couldn't compare the storyline with the original to tell the difference, and one of the comments on the article said something about the screenshots being very similar to the PS2 version, so I just assyoume'd.

I'm glad it'll have an original story line - that'll make it more popular for sure with those who have already played it, which means more people will be around for heads-up play on the subway.

Anyway, I'm very excited about My Me Katamari, especially because I've never played any KD game. I did not mean to imply otherwise.

White Rose Duelist @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM

I'll concede that this would be a game I'd get for PSP. That brings the total to one. And it's not worth $300 for me to play this.

The advantage the DS would have is that the touhscreen could emulate a trackball. You'd only need two other buttons - one for the 180 degree turn and one to start the katamari charge.

And the title is still stupid.