katamari-damacy posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Namco Bandai has announced that their upcoming PS3 exclusive Katamari Forever has gone gold. That means it's done. Finished. Kaput.

The upcoming Blu-ray release will retail for $49.99, which is about 17% cheaper than the average PS3 game, and about 250% more than what we wanted to pay for the game. While Forever promises a good deal of content and a variety of visual filters, we're not entirely sure if PS3 owners are willing to pay such a high premium on what is, essentially, an HD remix of past Katamari games. The temptation of an easy Platinum may attract Trophy hunters, but we have a feeling many of you will be skipping on this release until the (inevitable) price drop.

A little over a month ago, we received a Japanese trailer for Katamari Forever that piqued our monolingual curiosity -- what could these adorable hand puppets have to say about the latest entry in Namco Bandai's ball-rolling franchise? Today, Playstation.Blog released the English version of the trailer, and our query was answered: They're talking about food, and one sounds like Matthew McConaughey. We didn't really expect that.

We'd just like to take this chance to say, we get it, Namco Bandai. Your games are unusual. You can stop with the unsettling and bizarre trailers now.

Don't expect any major revelations from this set of Katamari Forever videos. The upcoming PS3 hodgepodge of Katamari classics looks exactly like you'd expect, i.e. the prince continues his crazy job of rolling an ever-growing ball. It's cute, but will it warrant a full Blu-ray release? Or, should this be a PSN-only affair?

More video after the break.

Most iPhone games don't necessarily benefit from the speed boost granted by the 3GS outside of load times, because they were designed to run well on a 3G. That means that the most noticeable changes are found in games that run poorly on a 3G, like Namco Bandai's portable Katamari game, i Love Katamari. The difference is significant enough that Namco might as well have launched the first 3GS-only game six months before the release of the 3GS.

1UP's Jeremy Parish offers some hard numbers about the improvement in speed in the first part of his 3GS review, comparing the speed of the in-game clock on a 3G to one running on a 3GS. The clock still doesn't run in exactly real time, so this is a bit confusing, but for four minutes of game time on a 3G, over nine minutes elapsed. The same segment of the game passed in under six.

For another, less mathy comparison, check out the (slightly shaky) video after the break, which shows the game running on both phones.

[Thanks, Brian!]

Utilizing the most epic form of storytelling -- the hand puppet -- this new commercial from Japan sheds some light on the upcoming Katamari Forever game. Two animal puppets guide us through a series of gameplay clips, showing off some more of KF's classic levels (most seem to come from We Love Katamari, such as the Snowman and Race Track levels).

Katamari Forever will hit Japan on the 23rd of next month, while a worldwide release hasn't yet been determined. But don't worry, it shouldn't be too long before the game rolls our way.

It hasn't been all that long since we last got to check out Katamari Forever, and one of the levels being demoed was actually the same as the previous demo (rolling the Katamari around to plant flowers), so we didn't spend much time with it. Instead, we sought to explore the other stage, which was traditional Katamari fare.

While we were checking out upcoming PS3 compilation/remix title Katamari Forever, which takes "the best" levels from previous Katamari games and updates them for the PS3 release. While we were with the Namco rep, we asked if there would be any DLC for the title, as there will definitely be players who feel their favorite level did not make the cut. The rep told us that Namco had no plans for DLC and that it would probably not happen.

In the photo above you'll see Kelly Farrell -- and she's a hell of a lot smarter than us. The twentysomething created, with the help of hacking collective NYC Resistor, a Katamari Damacy controller that uses a real ball. The big silver metal ball uses an optical mouse along with [technical jargon goes here] to make a very cool controller.

Originally, Kelly wanted to use a full-sized yoga ball, but the rubber was too resistant and didn't play well with the other components. Check out her video after the break to get a more detailed explanation of how it all works.

Remember Katamari Damacy Online? Yeah, neither do we. A refresher: Katamari Online is a PC iteration of the weird and addicting franchise being published by WindySoft for Korea. First revealed two years ago, 4gamer.net has new details about the game (translated courtesy of andriasang.com). New artwork has been unveiled for the game, featuring two new characters, Mint and Mellow. A new map, Seoul, has been revealed as well. As one might expect, the map features some of Seoul's landmarks.

The story revolves around the King of All Cosmos creating a black hole during a picnic. Naturally, it's the player's job to create a katamari big enough to plug the hole. While not exactly the same, the plot sounds an awful lot like the one used in Beautiful Katamari. It might seem like a small matter but, really, what is a Katamari game without an excellent plot to back it up?

The game is set to have plenty of new modes and features, including a new House system, which we now know allows players to create their own islands using the items collected on their katamaris. The site also mentions the game's Pet system, though no new details have been revealed just yet.

Remember when there were never going to be any more Katamari Damacy games? It must have just been a bad, bad dream, because Katamari (is) Forever. The new game, announced for US release yesterday, was previously announced in Japan as Katamari Damacy Tribute. It's rolling Stateside later this year exclusively for PS3 -- in full 1080p -- and we've seen it in action. Is it more than just crisp graphics and fancy new visual filters? You betcha. Join us after the break for more.

Unsurprisingly, Namco Bandai has announced a US release for Katamari Damacy Tribute. The PS3-exclusive remix of classic Katamari games is coming this Fall according to a reveal trailer on GameTrailers. Forever will feature four different visual filters, from cel-shaded to wood grain. While series creator Keita Takahashi is not working on the game, the promise of 1080p graphics should be more than enough to entice fans to check out Forever.

We'll have our very own hands-on preview with the game soon (once the embargo ends!). Until then, you can check out the debut trailer after the break.

[Thanks, Alex C.!]

Can you spot the difference between the four Katamari Damacy Tribute images seen above? All four pictures showcase a different visual filter used in the game, and according to Siliconera, this change in art style and appearance can be adjusted by the player. The four filters are: classic, colored pencil, wood grain and cel-shaded.

Now, the question is: Which image corresponds to the right filter? We could just tell you, but we thought you'd have more fun playing a guessing game. So which one is which? Answers are after the break, no peeking!

We didn't think that Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi had returned for the PlayStation 3's Katamari Damacy Tribute after sitting out Me and My Katamari and Beautiful Katamari -- though there was a vague hope in the back of our mind. Having the eccentric Takahashi at the helm would immediately transform the game from a sad exploitation of a dead franchise to MUST BUY NOW.

Namco Bandai officially confirmed our suspicions, telling Eurogamer that Takahashi has not returned to the franchise for the new 1080p installment. However, the company said that the game is "in good hands," even if those hands aren't inside a Noby Noby Boy scarf.

Although it's hard to believe that the ideas for Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy weren't birthed from some serious drug use, Keita Takahashi stated at GDC that he's completely straight-edge when it comes to partaking in the chemical vices of man. In the same session where he revealed Noby Noby Boy for iPhone, he also claimed, "I don't use drugs at all, I don't drink at all. Please don't worry about me."

Hmmmmmmm .... okay.

We know we should keep our enthusiasm for Katamari Damacy Tribute at reasonable levels. After all, creator Keita Takahashi has officially moved on, and the games haven't maintained the same charm since his departure. But then the trademark Katamari Damacy music kicks in (this time, performed by a variety of Japanese musicians), stuff starts getting rolled up, and we're enthralled. This trailer is fantastic, and not just because of the animal pictures.

The animal pictures do help a lot.

The trailer confirms the return of stages from previous Katamaris -- the gingerbread house is easily identifiable enough as originating in We Love Katamari. But there also seem to be new stages, like one in which your katamari causes plants to grow wherever it goes. There is further new content in the new music, the new 1080p presentation, and an optional (or restricted to certain stages) cel-shaded look. Just like that, we're in love with Katamari Damacy again! How disturbing.