Well, the title seemed sort of clever at the time. "The B[ack]log" represents one gamer's fight against that seemingly insurmountable and entirely self-inflicted obstacle, the ever-sprawling backlog of games that are either unfinished, unplayed or unloved. That's the "Backlog" part. After surgically inserting some brackets, it becomes "B[ack]log," a reference to both the blog format and the unique sound emitted whenever I view the stack of games I keep adding to every month. And every week, I hope to subtract at least one and ramble about it for a few paragraphs... if you don't mind. A review this is not.

It seems simultaneously appropriate and depressing then, that the first game to be ejected and examined (and then ejected again) is one primarily concerned with hoarding as much stuff as you possibly can -- We Love Katamari for the PlayStation 2.

The Prince of All Cosmos sporting his Katamari music player, found by Flickr user nuzz -- "not my doing, but hilarious," he writes. We didn't fare too much better in our admittedly brief search, but we did stumble upon an iRoll button with a similar image. It's green like Xbox, but that's probably just a coincidence. Check out the highlights for the weekend:

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While we fear the series has run its course -- and rolled up the shark -- seemingly Xbox 360 exclusive and XBLA downloadable title Beautiful Katamari wins us over for today's video pick. The extended gameplay clip looks nearly the same as what we remember from the PS2 until the camera keeps pulling back and the Prince rolls up countries and continents. That's a big katamari, full of so many dreams and so much stuff.

See the video after the break.

[Update: We shouldn't have doubted you, Ross! Gamespot has stated that the information in the article was indeed "total crap". Original post follows.]

As the extreme and possibly insane cynic might ask, "Isn't there already a colossal ball of junk on Xbox Live Arcade?" To that we answer, "No sir, but there soon will be. Although, Feeding Frenzy was a bit rubbish, wasn't it?" The destined arrival of Bandai Namco's next Katamari game on Xbox Live Arcade is announced in a rather blasé manner by the first sentence in Gamespot's hands-on preview of the title: "The big, huge Katamari ball of junk just keeps on rolling, this time with a new installment called Beautiful Katamari slated to hit Xbox Live Arcade in October."

The news sticks to yesterday's word from Newsweek's N'Gai Croal that Beautiful Katamari would be an Xbox 360 exclusive, and neatly contradicts previous XBLA portfolio manager Ross Erickson's "total crap - not happening". Something obviously changed in the months since then, an observation not befitting of the Katamari franchise, it seems. Gamespot's Brad Shoemaker labels the game as "more of the same," noting the presence of new levels, high-definition graphics, 4-player online gameplay and, perhaps most importantly, an original soundtrack. Despite losing momentum in terms of moving the series forward, we suspect there's still plenty to heart about Katamari -- especially if the price is right.

Striking a blow to symmetrical ball-rolling controls everywhere, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal reports that Beautiful Katamari's royal rainbow will extend only to the Xbox 360. He explains that an exclusivity deal is already "very close to fruition" and is likely to be announced formally at July's Min-E3 event in Santa Monica. The trail of digital crumbs leading to the deal seems especially obvious in retrospect, with Ridge Racer 6, Ace Combat 6, Eternal Sonata and Pac-Man: Championship Edition all indicating quite the chummy relationship between Namco Bandai and Microsoft.

With the Katamari franchise not being nearly as unstoppable as its clutter-collecting cosmic prince, PlayStation 3 alarmists shouldn't view this as the end of their fragile and constantly beeping world. That being said, seeing a distinctly, almost obviously "Japanese" game picking up Microsoft's system alone certainly points to interesting times ahead. It also makes completing the level that much harder.

[Thanks, Matthew]

We dug through doc18's Flickr album yet again for this Katamari mockup -- take note of Master Chief stuck in the upper right, looking very put out by his situation. Check out the highlights for today:

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No sooner does Japanese cell phone giant DoCoMo announce a new line of phones with tilt-sensitive controls then the game announcements come pouring in. Well, trickling in, at least. Bandai/Namco's You Are Gundam and Katamari Damacy will both take advantage of the phone's unique motion-sensitivity: the former by letting asking players to "[wave] the phone vigorously to match the character's movements;" and the latter by letting you move the eponymous sticky ball by tilting the phone.

While we're excited about the idea of new control schemes for cell phones, we're a little wary about the particular implementation being used here. DoCoMo's 904i series uses GestureTek's EyeMobile system to calculate tilt based on digital camera images, unlike the Wii and PS3 controllers, which use internal gyroscopes. An IGN review of EyeMobile-compatible 3D Tilt-a-World warns that the system fails "if your movements are too sudden for the game to translate" and that the setup requires "a well-lit area so the camera can get a good 'fix' on an image." Not to mention the inherent problem of keeping the phone steady on a bumpy subway ride.

Read - Katamari Damacy Mobile
Read - You Are Gundam

Though series creator Keita Takahashi never intended to roll his Katamari into a deflated mass of has-been ingenuity, according to the latest Famitsu scoop, Namco Bandai is content to do so without him. As rumored, the Japanese publisher will revisit the katamari concept for a fourth time, now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Director Jun Moriwaki has also expressed interest in adapting the series for DS and PC (using a keyboard), but remains reluctant about a Wii version. Moriwaki explained that Wii's controller presents certain difficulties that the dev team has yet to overcome. Update: 1UP has posted Moriwaki's comments about a possible Wii version: "The Wii is also one of our platform choices... However, the controller for Wii is quite unique so being able to overcome the different issues will be the key."

Dubbed Beautiful Katamari Damacy, this new version won't reinvent the sticky ball, but will super-size it. Famitsu reportedly displays a katamari growing to 10,000-km proportions (Earth is just 2,742 km larger). Beautiful will also introduce online play, likely featuring co-op and competitive modes. Famitsu reports that the game is roughly 50% complete, but still without a release date in Japan.

After the cake presentation yesterday, we decided to show off this Katamari cake Thomas Mannino showed us. Enjoy the video, be hungry, and check out the highlights for today:

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If Shanda's Rolling Ball isn't a trademark violation then we don't know what is. Slap a green Martian suit on this kid and the image is indistinguishable from Katamari Damacy. How long before Namco's lawyers make the call to Shanda headquarters?

FYI: Shanda is a Shanghai-based publisher that specializes in online games.

[Thanks chen]

The authenticity of the post has purportedly been verified by forum admin Tomacco. For those who can't let the dream die, it could still be an Xbox 360 retail title, but we'd have to see a massive drop in the standard price or some heavy-duty features (Katamari MMO? 720p?) to justify a $60 price point.

The EGM-fostered rumor also mentioned PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii iterations; the former seems likely, as the Katamari franchise has historically been linked to Sony, but we're not holding our breath for a Wii Love Katamari.

[Via bits bytes pixels & sprites]

We went to a rock concert the other day. We did not like it very much. Too many people thrashing about and playing noise that did have the joy of the universe flowing through it. We much prefer music that captures the true happiness of the soul.

Therefore, we, the King of all Cosmos, have rolled up a collection of Katamari Damacy music performed by a solo guitarist, a klezmer band, and even a one-man a capella quartet into a fun-sized ball of joy. We hope it will bring some elation to your minuscule-sized soul.

Previous game music days

Ryan Stanci has finished his three-part academic exercise critiquing Katamari Damacy on GameCareerGuide. Will critiquing video games instead of reviewing them get you a job in the industry? Possibly. It sure is a great way to be pretentious! And doing it you might become a professor at M.I.T. or the University of Wisconsin.

In part three of the work Stanci continues his critique to "create" Katamari Damacy into a piece of art. Apparently critiques create art, it's all so s-m-r-t. This installment reviews, er, critiques Katamari from the feminist, psychoanalytical and post-colonial schools of criticism. Plebeians will most certainly enjoy the feminist critique for its pedantic nature.

Katamari Damacy is expressed as a "male-centric" game and an offshoot of the "mono myth." It speaks to the oppression of women and of the King of All Cosmos spreading his seed (the stars), while the "phallic" looking Prince continually attempts to impress his father by presenting bigger balls. Is this a feminist critique or repressed homosexuality critique -- or are they one in the same? So kidding, calm down!

Seriously, Stanci gets some fascinating thoughts out on the table and it is certainly an interesting read for an intellectual exercise.