Katamari Damacy 2 Due In July

A sequel to the ball rolling simulator Katamari Damacy is due out in July of this year, according to a Gamespot news blurb. From the article: "In Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy, gamers once again assume the role of the diminutive hero known as the Prince of All Cosmos. And, once again, the prince must save the universe by rolling around a giant snowballing mass of sticky debris (katamari) to pick up various objects." Update: 04/08 06:02 GMT by Z : If it's okay with everyone, I'm just going to retcon this one and pretend that I know how to read.

Comments

Addictive as Hell

[CDarklock]

I just picked this up yesterday on the advice of a fellow game developer, and the most amusing thing about Katamari Damacy is not just the way it takes VERY simplistic gameplay and makes it horrifically addictive, but the weirdo Japanese mentality behind all the messages. I'll certainly grab the sequel when it shows up.

Sold Out

[Mr.Dippy]

"It will be priced at 4,980 yen ($46)."


WTF. The first game was 20 bucks. Just because the game was a underground hit doesn't mean the maker should sell out and over price the game. 50 dollar games make baby jesus cry.

Re:Sold Out

[th1ckasabr1ck]

Relax man, games are often more expensive in Japan. For example:

Dragon Quest VIII: Sora to Umi to Daichi to Norowareshi Himegimi will be released in Japan on November 27th for 8,800 yen ($84.45 US).

Re:Sold Out

[UWC]

Well, quite a bit of effort went into ironing out the mechanics of the new card-based rolling system. I mean, is 6 cards in a hand enough? What level of deck customization should be allowed? What about resources? I think the ~$50 price is justified.

Re:Sold Out

[American AC in Paris]

WTF. The first game was 20 bucks. Just because the game was a underground hit doesn't mean the maker should sell out and over price the game. 50 dollar games make baby jesus cry.

Yeah--the worst part is that giant robotic arm that comes out of nowhere, grabs you by the waist, carries you to the nearest game retailer, and forces you to buy it.

The injustice of it all, I tell you! If only there were some way of not buying these horribly overpriced games!

Re:Sold Out

[CDarklock]

> WTF. The first game was 20 bucks.

Well, as any smart provider of addictive substances knows, you *always* discount the first dose. ;)

Re:Sold Out

[UWC]

Thank you, sir. I didn't realize that a jab at the trend of hilariously re-imagined sequels would be so violently opposed.

I do have to say that Metal Gear Acid so far is surprisingly successful at distilling core MGS gameplay elements down to a turn-based strategy format. The cards aren't just used in battles. They're used for everything, even moving, so the card-based aspect of it is completely integrated into the game. So with pretty much everything you do, you're weighing the options of turn delay (every card has an associated delay, which contributes to how long you have to wait until your next turn and thus how many enemies get to take turns in the meantime), card economy (most cards, in addition to their specific purpose, can be used for movement), and potential luck of the draw. Stealth is still hugely important, and you can still check line-of-sight of enemies and plan your route accordingly. You can even knock on walls (one of like two moves that doesn't require a card, but to knock you have to flatten against the wall after a card-based move--the other non-card move is a punch that has a chance of knocking an enemy unconscious, usable only once per turn) to attract enemy attention and set up an ambush or so you can sneak around by another route without detection while the enemy is distracted.

Re:Sold Out

[Zoshnell]

You mean it happens in places that are not under a Robocracy? OH NOES, THE ROBOTS WILL CONTROL US ALL!

Re:Sold Out

[Snowmit]

And if only, IF ONLY, the prices on video games would drop over time. Then, my friends, we would live in paradise.

Sneak Peek!

[American AC in Paris]

Through ultra-secret inside contacts, I've managed to get my hands on some never-released audio clips from Katamari Damacy 2. Here's the transcript of the "intro" dialog:

*skritcha-skritcha skratchitta-rachitta skOOOWP-a skritch skratch skratchitta-skritchitty-skritchitta skewww scratch skritchitta-sratcha-ratch sritch*

Re:Sneak Peek!

[joeytsai]

Here's the super secret ending:

Poor people sure are different!

June! Now Longer and with Bonus Features!

[WorkerGnome]

And by June, they actually mean June 38th, in that The Powers That Be have declared an extension of June into the domains previously granted to July.

Re:What is the point of this game?

[American AC in Paris]

I haven't played it, and yes I am feeling lazy...what is the point of this game? How does one "win"?

...one "wins" by growing the katamari (ball o' crap) to a certain diameter before time runs out.

You should really just go out and rent/buy a copy. There's just no good way to describe the game using mere words--you really need to experience whole the giddily bizzare thing for yourself.

Giant Rolling Ball

[jcuffe]

I want to see how they can make another game where you roll a giant ball around, and manage to make it fresh again... it's like making Tetris 2. How much different can you make it without crippling what makes it fun?

A couple of things.

[schild]

Zonk,

1. How did you manage to get the date SO WRONG?
2. It's only coming out in Japan in July, not America. We'll probably get it late summer early fall if we're LUCKY.
3. Is finding actual news really that hard? This is a press release. A non european/US press release at that.

You've been naughty. You get a copy of Eve Online for Christmas.

Re:A couple of things.

[davez0r]

if it's going to be released in japan in early july, then you might be able to download it off the intarweb in late june. maybe that's what he meant by "out"

and finding actual news IS hard. i tried it once. the headlines i came up with were:
- davez0r has pizza for lunch...again!
- it's raining
- the weird dude hanging outside of gamestop says that star wars: galactic battlegrounds is the game of the year

gamecube?

[fireduck]

Every time I hear this game mentioned (the original actually), I can't help but think this would be a perfect Gamecube title. "Stick everything in your big ball o' crap" fits beautifully next to "town full of animals that trade shirts" and "diminutive astronaut throwing sprouts at pill bugs". I wish Nintendo would be a bit more proactive when it comes to nudging developers to release games for their system.

Re:gamecube?

[PyroMosh]

You realize that it's both developed and poublished by Namco, right?

You know, the Namco of Pac Man fame?

And Soul Caliber II fame? (You know, the game, where Nintendo granted them the rights to use Link from The Zelda series in it?)

Check out Nintendo.com's master games list.

Also there are dual analogs. One's called a C stick. It might be a tad more awkward due to the non symatry, but it's entirly doable.

Re:gamecube?

[badasscat]

I agree with you completely. This gamne would fit nicely in the 'Cube library. Infact, I think that games like Katamari owe their existence to Nintendo.

Yeah, because it's not like Namco made Pac-Man before Nintendo even created their first home console, or anything.

Namco is an old-school developer just like Nintendo (and if you want to go further back, both Namco and Nintendo have been around far longer than video games have even existed). They've both been making video games since the early days of the video arcade, and they've both got their seminal classics and "quirky games" that helped establish genres. I wouldn't say Katamari Damacy "owes its existence" to Nintendo any more than I'd say Donkey Kong owes its existence to Namco.

Katamari Damacy is just the latest in a long list of Namco puzzle/maze games that started with the original Puckman (later renamed Pac-Man) in 1979 and has continued right up through the modern age with games like Mr. Driller, Star Trigon and now Katamari Damacy. The fact that KD is one of their best, most innovative and most recognized puzzle games in years doesn't mean it's outside their tradition, or more of a "GameCube" style game, or whatever.

Re:gamecube?

[HAKdragon]

Nintendo doesn't get small games like this because they shun all but the largest 1st and 2nd party developers.

I take it you've never played Ikaruga or Alien Hominid

Can't wait

[Gwenna]

to pick this up in June. Like that's possible....

Re:Can't wait

[CoffeeJedi]

you'll be able to pick it up eventually...

you just need some more stamps, erasers, bugs, pencils, and thumbtacks first!

Re:What is the point of this game?

[UWC]

While I admit that I'm amused and annoyed that just about everyone advocates it like it's some unknown underground treasure that no one has ever heard of (though I also recognize that its current success comes at least in part from word-of-mouth... though Penny Arcade's coverage of it certainly couldn't have hurt), you give the game a bit too little credit. Even if you strip away the potentially off-putting style that everyone so loves to claim to love, the game is still fairly unique, I think mostly because of the "rolling stuff up" part that allows for interesting changes of scale and perspective as a level progresses instead of maze-running/solving like Marble Madness or Monkey Ball. As for the control scheme, I'm not sure whether I would prefer a single stick or not. I don't have any problem with the dual stick control, though.

And yeah, I don't think there's any way that the game could have succeeded at $50. It's like a novel toy with some guided play and objectives, and I don't think many would see justification in paying $50 for that.

Relax, the $40 is just in Japan.

[Blackwulf]

That's the same price the original was in Japan, as well.

I bet you anything when they release it in the US, it will be at the same $19.99 price point.

DS Release

[Blackwulf]

Namco has somewhat announced that they are making Katamari Damacy for the Nintendo DS.

Personally, I'm glad it's out for the PS2. That means the most amount of people can enjoy it.

Cheap at $50

[MilenCent]

I went in halfsies on a PS2 specifically for *this game*, making its effective cost to me $85, and it was worth it. I've ranted a number of times about how Nintendo is practically the sole source of originality in the game industry anymore, but their release schedule has been so *light* lately....

And Katamari Damacy is simply great, it beats anything Nintendo has come up with this generation, even their more original stuff this time around, Pikmin and Animal Crossing. Here's hoping other developers take a hint from its success.

But even with all this... I wouldn't have bought a PS2 by myself for it. $170 is too much for one game.

Re:food

[biglig2]

You're thinking of the Calamari Damacy.

Re:What is the point of this game?

[tepp]

I disagree. It's much more than an "Average" game.

I have other ball-rolling games. Most notably - and most horribly - Fusion Frenzy for the xbox. You know, the game they have to GIVE away cause nobody in their right mind would buy it.

But Katamari is the only ball rolling game that's horribly addictive. It's because I love to see the world from different perspectives, and I love the whole klep-o-mania aspect of being able to reach out and steal everything into my big ball.

The soundtrack is adorable. It's the only one nobody asks me to turn down or turn off when I play video games. I sometimes find myself whistling the "roll you up into my life" song while doing housework. The opening title, with the psychadelic mushrooms, is so happy and peaceful. In fact, there's nothing violent in this whole game... and yet it's still fun. Well, you can pick up people, but they're still alive when you do that, and don't seem to be harmed that much.

The king's dialog is hysterical. That's another big part of the charm. The king is massively high on drugs, I think, and his inane comments really perk up the game. "155 maidens! The sky will be so lovely! Still, I am far, far, prettier than them..."

I've played a good number of games this year, but usually once I finish the game, that's it. I don't play it again. With Katamari, I often pick it up for a few minutes of happy ball rolling, constantly trying to beat my old scores and unlock the eternity levels on stars 4, 8, and the moon. Or find all the presents. Or finish my collections of objects. The replay value is incredible.

I can't wait for the next version. I only wish they'd announce a date so I could get my pre-order in. I worry that NAMCO will underestimate the demand and not make enough copies... it's very hard to get a hold of the original Katamari Damacy, due to NAMCO not wanting to flood the market, so I've been unable to give copies of this game away as presents to my relatives. I just want to make sure I get my order in early so I don't have to wait. :)

So, we meet again!

[Minna Kirai]

Alack, my evil half-brother, Minna Daisuki, has somehow survived our last confrontation and returned to bedevil me again! Shall I never be rid of that meddling do-gooder?

The beauty ofthe game...

[British]

..was the fact it had crude graphics for certain items.

All of the humans and such looked like Playmobil figures. It looks as if the developers tried using as few polygons as possible to make them. The result are eye-catching characters with weird tweaks(like diving board hairstyles). The cop reminds me of the cop from South Park.

I also like some of the sounds the people make when you pick them up. One of them is a woman making a weird cackling laugh "ahihahiahhaihaih".
Probably an unlocalized sound, unlike the ones that are in plain English.

The other favorite sound is one of the big office where there's a phone ringing and some woman screaming.

As for a sequel there's some room. You could introduce a puzzle segment where you have to get your katamari a certain size to pass a tunnel, otherwise it goes down a pit(like billiard balls).

Re:What is the point of this game?

[GTRacer]

Two sticks, one for each of the Prince's hands/arms. Easy.

If you can play Battlezone, you can play Katamari Damashii.

GTRacer
- Have soem cheese.

Re:All that matters is....

[snorklewacker]

> You don't pick up the cows

Gads, you should have my girlfriend playing on the Taurus level. She barrels around a corner and I scream "LOOK OUT, A COW! ARGH!"

And she restarts for the 20th time, she's hell bent on getting that cousin. When she finally finds him, she's gently "sneaking" around the cows guarding him in a way that'd put Solid Snake to shame.

Finally did it. Don't think she got the gift though, so we'll be dodging cows for a while yet.

Re:What is the point of this game?

[Minna Kirai]

AC: You roll stuff up using the least intuitive controls I've ever used.

Games require a certain amount of difficulty to be engaging and fun.

The classical example is Doom, a game about killing monsters. The easiest, intuitive interface would be to have a 2d overhead map where you can click on each monster to explode it with an orbital laser... but that way is slightly less entertaining.

AC: I mean, no one has ever done a ball rolling game before using just one directional control, obviously you need two.

Yeah, but somehow none of those make rolling even half as fun...

Re:What is the point of this game?

[Rysc]

And why is it so important to win? Oh well, I will humor you.

You 'win' the game when you create enough stars to repopulate (so to speak) the sky. In practice this is only about 15.

You 'win' each level by making your katamari big enoigh in the time alotted, or by rolling up enough of a certain type of thing, or by rolling up only a certain type of thing, or only the largest thing of a certain type.

But the fun isn't getting to the end. As the story sequences will clearly show you, the story is not exactly the focal point of the game.

How you actually win Katamary Damashii is by having fun rolling things up, with some added satisfaction if you excel at the activity and unlock new places to play in.

Now go rent it. Then, after the late fees start to get to you, buy it.

Re:In case anyone cares...

[generic-man]

I've heard that the story involves you rolling up things to appease fans (because Everybody Loves Katamari Damacy) instead of to replace the stars/moon in the sky.

Early movies have suggested that actual gameplay is very very similar to the original.

Re:In case anyone cares...

[Minna Kirai]

AC: Minna Daisuki basically means "Everyone (loves/really likes)"

True, but sentence order in Japanese is not the same as in English. Instead of "subject verb object", it is "subject object verb", or even "object subject verb", as each noun has a suffix telling which role it plays in the sentence. That suffix can be omitted, in which case the listener takes her best guess as to what role it plays. If you just say "Minna daisuki" by itself, that may be interpreted as "I love everyone", because that's more likely than "everyone loves me". (Test it yourself, such as by pasting words from it into Bablefish)

So, if the verb isn't at the end, its not really a grammatical Japanese sentence at all, and the true meaning is anyone's guess. It could just as easily mean "Katamari Damacy loves everyone"... or, it could be an intentional mimicry of English word order (as in "Everyone Loves Raymond")

Re:soundtrack

[GrosTuba]

How is this search engine called again ? Ah, that's it : Google.

After a quick search, here is the first relevant link : Katamari Damacy Soundtrack. And no, I won't gain anything from you clicking on this link.

And yes, it completely deserves to be bought, especially the Japanese version, which is IMHO slightly better thant the US version.