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We Love Katamari Review

Balbanes writes "Tim Rogers reviews We Love Katamari. He calls it Katamari Damashii: The Videogame." The original is probably my favorite non World of Warcraft game in the last year or two. I can't wait for this game. This article has a lot of commentary on the gameplay, the music, and more. And really, if you haven't played it the original you owe it to yourself to try. The infectious music and hysterical gameplay are a serious treat.

210 comments

  1. TFA is just spam by giorgiofr · · Score: 1, Troll

    come on man, why else would you be writing "it's a lot longer and tighter than the original" if you weren't selling the usual snake oil. :) (OMG a smilie on /., i'm a dead man walking now)

    --
    Global warming is a cube.
    1. Re:TFA is just spam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      it's a marker. it marks irony. if you know what that is.

      you must be new here. :)

    2. Re:TFA is just spam by TaGirl_Keri · · Score: 0

      BAH!!! Utter garbage! Supreme Commander (or TA2) by Chris Taylor (of Total Annihilation fame) will be released next year. Civ4 is due out this year, and why should I waste my valuable thought processes on this reject?

      --
      My fav units are dead Mavs
    3. Re:TFA is just spam by TaGirl_Keri · · Score: 0

      My comments aren't spam for SupCom/Civ4 :P

      --
      My fav units are dead Mavs
  2. Dupe by ZiakII · · Score: 2, Informative

    Was posted yesterday the link can be found here

    1. Re:Dupe by ThndrShk2k · · Score: 2, Funny

      Although i may be crazy, but i think someone may have found time travel and forgot to adjust to a week later.

      --

      ~--~
      Do not mind the one with the crazy, for he is sane
    2. Re:Dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No yesterday's article was
      We Love Katamari Preview
      Today's article is
      We Love Katamari Review

      Clearly this is not a Dupe.

    3. Re:Dupe by Cyrgo · · Score: 0

      Was posted yesterday

      Excuse me for being a "date Nazi", but July 7 is not yesterday, last week would be more appropiate.

      Though I'm with you about considering this story a dupe (at least most comments will be dupes), to be fair, strictly speaking it is not because the previous stories (yes, plural) were about previews and this is a review.

      The previous stories about We Love Katamari may be seen here:
      Katamari on E3
      News of release
      and
      News of sequel

      Seems that the expectation was quite high around here. :)

      Say, is a PC version expected? Or do I have to get over my psychological allergy to consoles? :)

    4. Re:Dupe by Observador · · Score: 1

      There can't be enough dupe stories about this game on slashdot...

      I picked the fist game up about a month ago for 20 bucks, I think <i>that's</i> the retail price... my wife played it... me three year old daughter plays it! People just pick it up and play, it's <i>that</i> good.

      You know, that game? The one hardcore players always talk about in the prophecy? The one that will not feature graphics but instead will focus on really good gameplay?

      I think this is the one.</Morpheous>

      --
      I wish I could filter out the annoying Pickens articles...
    5. Re:Dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's *NOT* that good. It sucks.

      Hey! It's just like your reply!

      Thanks for playing, have a nice day.

    6. Re:Dupe by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1

      Was posted yesterday the link can be found here

      I didn't see this in either of the articles or threads. Can someone tell me if non-modded ps2 owners can even run this game. It looks pretty Japanese, also are translations available?

    7. Re:Dupe by cyrix · · Score: 1

      You don't need a modded PS2. I have the game and it runs perfectly fine. Best 20 bucks I spent on a game. The multiplayer is kind of dull, but the single player is great. A bit short yes, but it's an absolute blast to play. By far the most innovative and unique game to come out in ages (next to warioware of course.)

    8. Re:Dupe by shawb · · Score: 1

      I really doubt you could do this game on a PC. There's something about the PS2 dual analogue control sticks that is almost necessary to get the feel right. Sure, Namco could probably figure some way of playing the game with keyboard/mouse, but it just wouldn't be the same. And I doubt very many people are going to go out and e-bay one (sometimes with a game or two) for less than $100? Hmm... but then again since you can get a USB dual shock for about $10 a pop, a PC version might not be that unreasonable.

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
  3. Drugs... by x.Draino.x · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can someone here tell me what kind of drugs the Katamari Damacy soundtrack producer was on? Cause I want some.

    1. Re:Drugs... by garcia · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Can someone here tell me what kind of drugs the Katamari Damacy soundtrack producer was on?

      Who cares about the soundtrack? The entire fucking game is one huge mushroom/acid twofer.

      I mean seriously, when you roll over a "meow cat" and sit there laughing hysterically, sober, meowing at the screen you know that you're stoned.

    2. Re:Drugs... by phasm42 · · Score: 1
      --
      "No one likes working in a hamster wheel, and your shop smells of cedar shavings from here." - TaleSpinner
  4. Slow News Day? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why something like this is on the main page I'll never know.

    1. Re:Slow News Day? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's on the main page because when it was posted on the games page like 4 times, noone paid attention to it. Personally, I'd love to see this review (and the game) drop off the face of the planet. I'm having nightmarish deja vu abuot Katamari.

    2. Re:Slow News Day? by nutshell42 · · Score: 1
      We had articles about HL2 and Doom3 on the main page and in both threads half the posts were bitching about the lack of innovation in the games industry.

      Now we have an article about a truly innovative franchises on the main page and the ACs are bitching that it's not HL2 or Doom3

      --
      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
    3. Re:Slow News Day? by jericho4.0 · · Score: 1
      Because it is a great, original game, in an era of stagnation and hollywoodization of the games industry. We need more of these....

      --
      "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
  5. Blah Blah Blah by dfn5 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Half way through the first paragraph I wanted to shoot myself just to make him shut up. Then I remembered the back button. That was close.

    --
    -- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
    1. Re:Blah Blah Blah by chill · · Score: 3, Informative

      Half way through the first paragraph I wanted to shoot myself just to make him shut up. Then I remembered the back button. That was close.

      You made it that far?! I'm impressed. I started skipping around thinking "it can't ALL be mindless drivel".

      I believe was wrong. I'm not sure because I refuse to read it all just to prove a point. But, I'm fairly confident about it.

      -Charles

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    2. Re:Blah Blah Blah by winkydink · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'll hold him, you hit him.

      The guy needs to hit Enter a little more often.

      --

      "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

    3. Re:Blah Blah Blah by imsabbel · · Score: 1

      Im right there with you...
      I actually managed to get about halfway through, in speed mode... only to find it he NEVER comes to any kind of point.
      Then i took the link to his review of the prequel, thinking "maybe he was a bit more precise the first time...", and it was EXACTLY THE SAME!

      God, why oh why does he need to stuff 3 weeks worth of livejournal-class blogg crap into ONE review?

      --
      HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
    4. Re:Blah Blah Blah by LordNightwalker · · Score: 2, Informative

      Heh, I made it as far as the third paragraph, I think... He was still droning on about the soundtrack being sung in an annoying voice, and how whatever her name was matured into a diva, and how she would've been a better choice for the soundtrack etc... Really, I got the point the first time... After that, I gave up. I was curious about the game, but not THAT curious...

      --
      Install windows on my workstation? You crazy? Got any idea how much I paid for the damn thing?
    5. Re:Blah Blah Blah by iomanip · · Score: 1

      Not only is the reviewer long winded, but trying to read text surrounded by that red backgound is the most difficult thing I've tried to do all day.

    6. Re:Blah Blah Blah by javaxman · · Score: 2, Interesting
      At least we now know to avoid like the plague anything attributed to Tim Rogers.

      If his writing doesn't make your head hurt, you might want to up your medication. That's not a video game review, sorry- it's a demonstration of what's wrong with the concept of everyone being a content producer. Sometimes the content just sucks. Sure, he talks about the video game, but is it really the focus of the article, or is Tim Rogers the focus of the article?

      Ouch, looking around the site, it looks like this guy writes a lot of 'reviews' and they're all like this. Now we know to stay away... thanks, I guess...

    7. Re:Blah Blah Blah by b1t+r0t · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wow, that was the worst case of blogorrhea I've ever seen.

      --

      --
      "Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
      "Open source is evil." - Microsoft
    8. Re:Blah Blah Blah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know that article existing on the Internet isn't hurting me at all, and I'm all for free speech, but after skimming over a few paragraphs I have a sudden urge to cancel my Internet subscription. Tim Rogers, I hope you suffocate in a giant Pikachu suit at the next cosplay convention.

    9. Re:Blah Blah Blah by IdleTime · · Score: 1

      I stopped reading when I understood it was a cartoon game with Japanese schoolgirls. What crap...

      --
      If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    10. Re:Blah Blah Blah by jimi+the+hippie · · Score: 1

      But don't forget, this is a VIDEO GAME. As opposed to the original which was a.....

    11. Re:Blah Blah Blah by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

      Yah; the article's author is just a little (WAY) TOO much into the game and its Deep Philosophical Consequences, for my taste.

      --
      .
      == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
    12. Re:Blah Blah Blah by MasterofUnlocking · · Score: 1

      haha, too bad it's not a cartoon game with japanese schoolgirls. okay, well there might be a few schoolgirls. . . but it's COMPLETELY AWESOME and i'm not some anime-freak japan worshiper. you probably hated The Wind Waker too.

    13. Re:Blah Blah Blah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      indeed...

      It makes me vaguely afraid that, in the next installment, they'll fire their musical producer, who is maturing at a wonderful rate, and just replace him with Tomoyuki "Fantastic Plastic Machine" Tanaka, who would no doubt bring Yasuharu Konishi and Japanese girly hip-hop duo Halcali into the mix; the ball would, from that point on, get too hot to handle.

    14. Re:Blah Blah Blah by so+sue+mee · · Score: 1
    15. Re:Blah Blah Blah by Trepalium · · Score: 1

      If he learned how to write coherently, it wouldn't hurt either. His sentences ramble on endlessly, while saying absolutely nothing. In short, it's 100% pure blogarrhea.

      --
      I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
  6. What a review by ChrisF79 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can't get over the fact the guy basically wrote a book here to review a video game. That's one long review!

    --
    Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
    1. Re:What a review by dr00g911 · · Score: 1

      He does very little talking about the actual game. In fact, I'm not even sure you could call it a review.

      To summarize the not-entirely-incomprehensible nuggets:

      Some J-pop singer replaced herself, but just isn't the same and that makes the reviewer sad, yet happy.

      The producer catered to the masses by producing a more polished, yet less quirky version of the original. This makes the reviewer sad, yet happy.

      Blacking out stars and extinguishing life makes the reviewer sad, yet happy, which incidentally reminds him of how he felt when he heard some obscure piece of J-pop for the fiftieth time and actually understood the song's underlying theme.

      I'm thinking TFA was originally written in crayon on a padded wall somewhere and transcribed without any heed for punctuation or paragraph structure.

    2. Re:What a review by bogess · · Score: 1

      Or, you could read the 'short' review . Although capitalization isn't his strong point in it , the 'short' review does actually cover points about the game and not about him ( more or less ) . :o)

      --
      If a little knowledge is dangerous , I am probably lethal on a GLOBAL scale :D
  7. Release by mfloy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I just hope it ends up living up to expectations on release. Games that have loyal fans often set unrealistic and unobtainable goals and in the end the fans get upset because of unpromised features or they don't think the new one is as good as the original.

  8. Is this G4? by astyanax · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think another duplicate story about the US not releasing control over ICANN would generate more interest than this story. FWIW I love the original game as well, but would NOT expect to see a review of the sequel as a slashdot story.

  9. well by cmdrTacyo · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    In soviet Russia Katamari plays you!

    1. Re:well by Mista+LovaLova · · Score: 0

      No, In soviet Russia, katamari loves you!

      The katamari is not a playa, and you will never be played, cause it loves you.. :P

  10. King of All Cosmos by kammat · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just want whatever this guy takes daily. Seriously.

    1. Re:King of All Cosmos by garcia · · Score: 1, Funny

      From: king@allcosmos.gov
      To: Undisclosedreceipients;;
      Subj: Get huge!

      Want to get huge and have all the little asian girls from http://asiasexteens.com/ want your enormous junk?

      Click here for more info!

      You will be added to our Cosmoswide e-mail list but you will be huge!

      King

    2. Re:King of All Cosmos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously don't understand the joke. Just because you have never played the game and have never seen the King's gigantic "package" doesn't mean you should mod people down.

      It's quite on-topic but god forbid you moderate correctly.

    3. Re:King of All Cosmos by prockcore · · Score: 1

      I just want whatever this guy takes daily. Seriously.

      I just asked him.. his response was "scratcha-scratcha scr-scr-scratch"

    4. Re:King of All Cosmos by WhitetailKitten · · Score: 1

      Mod funny!

    5. Re:King of All Cosmos by coopex · · Score: 1

      Your link doesn't seem to be working. Might I recommend Naugty Asian Nymphos instead?

      --
      The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  11. Wish it was in the UK by Kazzahdrane · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Y'know it'd be great if the original was released in the UK, since I hear it was a real classic. AFAIK it's not even available anywhere in Europe. What are Sony smoking? Surely with all the great reviews the game(s) would sell here.

    1. Re:Wish it was in the UK by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      SCEE promised they'll bring over the sequel. Well, I hope they keep that promise.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    2. Re:Wish it was in the UK by sdsichero · · Score: 1

      Well hopefully they will bring in the DS version to both the UK & US...

    3. Re:Wish it was in the UK by NiteHaqr · · Score: 1

      And then they wonder why people mod-chip their PS2's. even though its illegal to do so in this country.

      Still havent gotten round to getting mine done, but Katamari is just one of the reasons.

      For some reason they wont release the US version of the game with the disc suitably regionalised or course.

      But no, policy seems to dictate that ANY disc coming to the Europe area must also have at least 2 other European language translations, and these translations seem to either delay the European release by 6 months, or mean that the game never makes it over here.

      I REALLY dont want to use a modchip for any other reason than so I can play non-european content that I buy on my device.

  12. a simple clarification by drunken+dash · · Score: 4, Funny

    The original is probably my favorite non World of Warcraft game in the last year or two.

    So, in other words, it is your second-favourite game. Just say it, god damnit.

    --
    Enjoy an e-piphany
  13. In Response to the Spam Claims by Bob9113 · · Score: 4, Informative

    In response to the "spam" claims, and general distaste for the style of article, I'd like to pose an alternate perception. Katamari Damashi is one of the all-time under-the-radar hits for any console (perhaps any game). Every person I know who has a PS/2 had not heard of it before I started passing it around. Everyone loved it. It is brilliant in its simplicity.

    In addition, it came out new at $20. An outstanding market concept that few if any had really tried - a new game that was cheap to develop, with little or no marketing, priced to sell. An unfortunate side effect is that there was very little big media attention payed.

    As for the part about fawning over the larger scope of the game - the original was short. Necessarily so given the target of a cheap-to-create, cheap-on-the-shelf game.

    It's a good game, And the review is fair and accurate.

    1. Re:In Response to the Spam Claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dont flatter yourself for buying a copy of it... it got lots of good reviews from fellow gamers... now your friends that just play madden and GTA probably didnt hear of it and granted thats just not too surprising... however if my 12 year old brother-in-law bought a copy it cant be that under the radar...less game informer is the real scoop...
      i think most people find the link dull well because we all loved the original and finding out the new ones going to be great isnt all the shocking...

    2. Re:In Response to the Spam Claims by ZagNuts · · Score: 3, Funny

      An outstanding market concept that few if any had really tried - a new game that was cheap to develop, with little or no marketing, priced to sell. An unfortunate side effect is that there was very little big media attention payed.

      Maybe the second part of their strategy is to continue to release cheaply developed Katamari games in the hopes that as the ball is rolling it will pick up more and more fans, thus eventually drawing big media attention.

    3. Re:In Response to the Spam Claims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, so you're kind of like their Savior, huh? A little console Jesus. ......damn gamers. They're just games.

    4. Re:In Response to the Spam Claims by pthisis · · Score: 1

      Every person I know who has a PS/2 had not heard of it before I started passing it around. Everyone loved it. It is brilliant in its simplicity.

      In addition, it came out new at $20. An outstanding market concept that few if any had really tried - a new game that was cheap to develop, with little or no marketing, priced to sell. An unfortunate side effect is that there was very little big media attention payed.

      As for the part about fawning over the larger scope of the game - the original was short. Necessarily so given the target of a cheap-to-create, cheap-on-the-shelf game.


      Alternate POV:

      The original was a ton of fun, the soundtrack was great. It also got old quickly, and by the time we finished it we were glad it was over. When you start out, you think "wow I'd love to be rolling over big stuff, picking up cars!". By the end you think "man, I was about done when we started picking up houses, these ships and islands are getting a little same-y".

      Took about 10-15 hours to finish, which was about perfect--any longer and we'd have been sick of it.

      I can't imagine that a true sequel would be much fun, but I'd love to see an "inspired by" or other original idea from the same author.

      That said, at $20 it was a great value. Not too many $40+ games are very fun for 20-30 hours, if I can find 2-3 games a year that are worth their cost I'm happy.

      --
      rage, rage against the dying of the light
  14. someone should roll the katamari over that page by 10000000000000000000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    seriously, look at that monolithic article with the red borders!

    MY EYES ASPLODE!

    1. Re:someone should roll the katamari over that page by zev1983 · · Score: 1

      But the long red borders would make the katamari too lopsided. You'd be doing rolling pole-vaults for at least 10 minutes till your katamari got big enough to even out. Although I'm sure you could spear some household pets along the way...

    2. Re:someone should roll the katamari over that page by Kristjan+Kannike · · Score: 1

      That would make a great screensaver.

      --
      If God manifested Himself to us here He would do so in the form of a spraycan advertised on TV. -- Philip K. Dick
  15. Re:eh? by Muddie · · Score: 1

    slow news day?

    Wouldn't all the dupes be the first clue? This is just the deal breaker.

  16. They never released it! by Jack+Taylor · · Score: 1

    if you haven't played it the original you owe it to yourself ot try

    I've never played the original, though I really wanted to - they never released it in the UK! Rah!

    --
    One good turn - gets all the covers.
    1. Re:They never released it! by fixmyship · · Score: 1

      I live in Sweden. I modded my PS2 only to be able to play Katamari Damashii. It cost me 895 SEK for the chip and 219 SEK for the game, about $143. It was worth it.

    2. Re:They never released it! by Jack+Taylor · · Score: 1

      I would do, but I wouldn't be able to get the ps2 online if it was modded...

      --
      One good turn - gets all the covers.
  17. Not too much sex? What?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where've you been? Japanese are second only to Germans when it comes to sheer sexual freakness. Christ, just look for the eel girl video and see what I mean! And that tentacle rape stuff? Good God! And we in the USA are spend so much time worrying about a little homosex that we let this kind of freak show go on... we need legislation! And we need it now!

    And, as an added bonus:

    In Soviet Russia, tentacle rapes y... oh wait.

  18. Re:Man... by orderb13 · · Score: 3, Funny

    sex but not too much sex

    Excuse me for asking, but what the hell is too much sex? Can such a thing exist?

  19. Those wondering what it's all about... by GillBates0 · · Score: 3, Informative
    and lacking access to a PS2 and/or motivation to get the game, I found a rudimentary flash version of the game here.

    Not sure how close it is to the original, but I'm certain the original one is much better if folks are liking it so much.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    1. Re:Those wondering what it's all about... by kryptx · · Score: 1

      It's pretty much just like that. The main difference is that it's in 3D, so it affords some additional challenges (mainly that the katamari must be a certain size, either small enough or large enough, to go certain places). Plus the engine seems particularly adept at identifying collisions, so a katamari with oblong objects attached is often very awkward to control, which is fun. It's also more entertaining when you start picking up living creatures, particularly people, or things you were rolling on top of only a few minutes prior.

      It's fun, but I personally don't think it lives up to the hype. It's worth $20, though. Any more than that and I'd say pass it up.

      --
      Mods: Do you disagree with me? Go ahead and mod me down. Meta-mods will sort it out. Good luck!
    2. Re:Those wondering what it's all about... by SynapseLapse · · Score: 1

      That flash game is to Katamari Damacy what Lou Albano is to Super Mario Bros.

    3. Re:Those wondering what it's all about... by Bones3D_mac · · Score: 1

      Interesting attempt, they have the basic elements down, but could stand to assign weight values to the objects rather than depending on the number of on-screen objects collected to move up to larger ones.

      This could probably be moved into isometric 3D fairly easy, which would tremendously add to the value of this version.

      If not anything else, it's an interesting look at where the Nintendo DS version of the game may go.

      --


      8==8 Bones 8==8
  20. Get it Together, Taco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Between the dupes and the spelling errors in the body of the post, Taco is f*ckin blowing it lately. Seriously, guy, put some effort into it, at the very least.

    1. Re:Get it Together, Taco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just take your toys and go home, asshole

    2. Re:Get it Together, Taco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well ok I will..

      waitaminute..they're all up your ass.

      you keep em.

  21. Re:Man... by Holi · · Score: 1

    Yes it can, oh yes, now some one please either get me some advil or shoot me.

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  22. WTF!? by paco3791 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Can someone please explain to me what the point of this game is? I read about 2/3rds of the linked review and still have no idea; what the objective of the game is or what game play is like.
    All I know is that the author feels really bad about swallowing a continent, and that he/she really likes the music, maybe, I think.
    The only explination I can come up with is that this article was translated, and lost what little coherence it had to begin with in the process.

    1. Re:WTF!? by icefaerie · · Score: 1

      You roll a sticky ball around and pick up objects, and the ball grows as you pick up more objects, enabling you to pick up bigger objects. The idea is to get your ball to be a certain size, which varies by level. You can pick up anything from thumbtacks to buildings to islands to countries.

      When I first heard about it, I thought it was silly, too. But once you start playing it, it's really fun and addictive.

    2. Re:WTF!? by Saige · · Score: 5, Informative

      Find out more about the original here.

      In general, the game is about you controlling a "prince" who has to replace all the stars in the sky. He does this by rolling around a "Katamari", which objects stick to. When you start out, you've got a 1 cm tall Katamari, and you're rolling over thumbtacks and coins. As you collect items, the Katamari gets bigger, and can pick up bigger items. So the mouse that was chasing you around and knocking items off your Katamari eventually finds itself PART of the Katamari.

      And the great part is that the items don't just disappear into the Katamari - they're all quite visible on the outside, and actually affect how the Katamari rolls. Grab a pencil, and suddenly it doesn't roll well at all in the direction of the pencil, and you need to roll a different way to even it out.

      The later stages are really fun - you can start off rolling items sitting under the car next to a house, to rolling over items around the car, to rolling up the pets, then the owner of the house, then the car itself, then the house.

      It really is an amazing game.

      --
      "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
    3. Re:WTF!? by pthor1231 · · Score: 1

      In the original, the point of the games was to re-create the stars and constellations in the sky, because your father, the king of all cosmos, got drunk and destroyed them one night. You do this by rolling around this sticky ball, a katamari, until it gets to a certain size.

    4. Re:WTF!? by paco3791 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There has to be something fundamentaly wrong with the slashdot-iverse when I get more information from those few lines than the entirety of the article to which the front page links. Surely things cannot be MEANT to work this way.

    5. Re:WTF!? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      You must be new here...

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    6. Re:WTF!? by BaudKarma · · Score: 1

      One thing I've noticed, as a game type person who's never seen this game. None of the reviews or explanations I've read describe how the game is won, or how it's lost. I gather the object is to keep gathering things and growing bigger and bigger until...? Are there enemies opposing you, or a timer you have to beat, or something like that?

      --
      It's the land of the brave, and the home of the free
      Where the less you know, the better off you'll be.
    7. Re:WTF!? by imsabbel · · Score: 1

      I never played the game, and it was VERY hard to actually get the any usefull information out of the article, but:
      It seems in the first part, you could lose size when the ball was attacked (by rats, for example) or hit spikes,ect, but the main enemy was the time-limit.

      The second part seems to be more like classical puzzle games: find the right way to pick stuff up to get size and thus the option of picking heavier stuff up (which opens new ways). Otoh, it has no time limit, the difficulity is in puzzling out which approach to take in clearing the level.

      --
      HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
    8. Re:WTF!? by Nick+of+NSTime · · Score: 1

      You are working against a timer. The game ends when you put all the stars back in the sky. Then you roll over the world and try to pick up every country.

    9. Re:WTF!? by Apotsy · · Score: 1
      A "level" is a specific task that must be completed within a time limit. For example, in one of the middle levels you might have to go from 10cm to 12m in 20 minutes. That's one level. There are 10 main levels in which you have to reach a certain size, plus 10 side quest levels which have various other goals (such as pick up as many of a specific object as you can during the time limit). And of course, you can save between levels. Once you finish them all, the game is over, although you can replay as much as you want.

      The first game has a vs. mode, but it feels tacked on and isn't very fun past the first few times. The sequel is supposed to have a really good coop mode which I'm looking forward to.

  23. I RTFA by Godeke · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... and want to know what drugs this guy takes.

    I liked the original game quite a bit. It was short, clever, fun to play. Even "innovative". However, I find it *scary* that the guy spent that many bytes fretting over so many minor details. In the end he could have said:

    "The sequel is better technically but perhaps a bit overproduced (particularly in terms of music) for what it is. Fans of the original will enjoy the cleaner level design and improvements, but it doesn't stray far from the original. People who missed the first game shouln't miss it them time. 8 out of 10"

    --
    Sig under construction since 1998.
    1. Re:I RTFA by Knos · · Score: 1

      But that would not have been as fun to read, will surely have been written by myriads of game reviewers in 1440 days and ... And well, it could even be written without having seen the game, just from plain logic.

      At least this article has tons concept-hyperlinking.

      --
      . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
      may u!sh 2 sm!le at dz!z bad nn.!m!tat!ion
    2. Re:I RTFA by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      ... and want to know what drugs this guy takes.

      I think that's the point of the whole game, based on a Geek Tech review of it I saw on PBS.

      Basically, it's like taking Lemon Fun Candy ... and then designing a game.

      So, if you're not in that mindset, you probably have no idea as to why one would play it.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    3. Re:I RTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But that would not have been as fun to read,

      Worst use of the "fun" word ever.

  24. Is that site a blog? by Valdrax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I ask because that was the longest-winded, most self-indulgent review I've ever read of anything.

    I'll sum it up:

    "Blah, blah, I have rarified tastes in J-pop, blah, blah, I know the producer's name, blah, blah, the game is more of the same and it's good, blah, blah, the game succeeded because of Japanophiles with less knowledge of Japanese culture than me, blah, blah, the game is more of the same and it's bad, blah, blah, I suggest that the producer drop his name in connection with newer projects that have nothing to do with Katamari."

    The review was incoherent and was 20-30% about the author of the review more than the game. I smell blog.

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
    1. Re:Is that site a blog? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This your first Tim Rogers review?

  25. screenshots by Talisto · · Score: 3, Informative

    C'mon, what's a videogame review without screenshots? Here's some for the curious, courtesy of IGN.. http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/716/716651/imgs_1.h tml

    1. Re:screenshots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is Thursday....but I forget: do we care about the gameplay or the graphics today?

  26. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Man this article is like, wow man, it's cool. I can't believe how cool it is, with all the words, and letters! I can't wait to see the posts after it. The sentences are like expressive and stuff.

  27. I think this sets a record... by codergeek42 · · Score: 1

    ...for the shortest time between /. duplicate articles. :D

  28. Re:eh? by Cat_Byte · · Score: 1

    There were several things I thought were slashdot worthy today. Triple star system with a planet located, new mission for deep impact, etc. I just gave up spending 20 minutes typing up a pretty article on something relevant only to have it rejected every time. Usually I would see the same story linked by one of the editors a day later (sometimes twice) so it isn't worth the time really.

    --
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
  29. Game Review or Discourse on Japanese Pop? by atteSmythe · · Score: 1

    For the love of god, man, review the farging video game! I couldn't give two craps less about some japanese pop star for which you have massive wood. Just tell me about the sequel to the game I love.

  30. One letter... by Evro · · Score: 1

    One single letter prevents this story from being a dupe. ONE LETTER!

    http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/07/ 134220&from=rss

    YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF ME, SLASHDOT!

    --
    rooooar
  31. To looong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can anyone summarize what this game is about? I read about 3 pages into this article and all I got out of it was something about a ball and paperclips...

  32. MOD PARENT UP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    funny++

  33. Skip this Review by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A horrible horrible rambling "review". This guy doesn't know when to split off paragraphs and though the review is too damn long, he still didn't make his points very clear.

    Stay clear of this and wait for someone who knows how to write to review it.

  34. What review? by stoph+ct · · Score: 1

    The first few pages read like a J-popstar hagiography.

  35. Re:Who cares. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Agreed. Katamari is lame cartoon gameplay for lollipop suckers.

  36. Re:Who cares. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't love Katamari. How did this make the front page?

    To divert attention away from Taco's Kancho addiction!

  37. Yeah, but now with added typos by Mike+Connell · · Score: 1

    Good job editors!

  38. Re:Man... by Valdrax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm a Japanophile, too, but there's something about that culture that really attracts some creepy (or at least unsettling) gaijin.

    I think it's the fact that nobody obsesses like the Japanese. Think about it. The culture prizes knowledge but excludes people outside the norm. Both forces push those with obsessive tendencies way further out over the edge than in many other countries. You don't get otaku and hikikomori in other countries to the level that whole industries cater to them.

    Because of that our own obsessive and socially outcast people get the false impression that obsessing over their entertainment and so on is socially acceptable there. Therefore, it's not bad to be like that. Other people understand. Listen, covering your walls in anime posters and keeping figurines of female characters is even more of a turn-off for women there than it is here. It doesn't help that (much like tabletop gaming and first-person shooters in the states) anime fandom has been tarnished by a few murders by fans Where the media latched onto their hobbies as the cause of their mental degeneration.

    (FYI, otaku is not a nice word. It inherently carries connotations of creepy, socially-stunted hermits. The term use for obsessed geeks comes from its use by such people who would use it to greet each other (as a polite form of "you") because they couldn't remember other people's names. Don't wear it like a badge of pride.)

    I think if more people realized that the Japanese didn't like their creepy fanboys anymore than we do, it might lose a bit of its sheen. As for the other factors, I'd say that, yes, technology, kid-like spirit, obscurity, and sexual undertones in addition to action and escapist elements strongly influence anime fandom. For those of us that gain no joy from reality television, sit-coms sports, or other drivel, anime makes a nice escape. The problem is the people who don't know how to come back to reality afterwards.

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  39. Try diagramming this sentance... by Bootard · · Score: 1
    Skilled players (or players using the free mode) can get the katamari up to 900-some meters, and the effect of doing so, sucking up rainbows and clouds (which recent studies as of a year ago show to weigh, individually, more than all the elephants that have ever existed on the planet) and eventually bobbling around, fat and useless, in the middle of the ocean, is a big eye-opener.

    That's the sentence you decided you go with? Writing once and not revising isn't writing at all. It's typing.

    --
    exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis
    1. Re:Try diagramming this sentance... by aftk2 · · Score: 1
      No shit. I don't usually bitch about grammar or writing style on Slashdot (I mean, come on, this is Slashdot, after all), but I can't help. From the first sentence of the article:
      The first Katamari Damashii game featured a song sung by a girl whose name I didn't know at the time, whose name I learned a little later by way of something inconsequential and later forgot completely.
      Ack. ABORT!
      --
      concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
  40. Dupe filters. by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1

    Bayesian. Too many duplicates required to train?

    Other suggestions?

    --
    Deleted
  41. Re:Two Words: Vomit Porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You talk about all this great stuff and don't provide a torrent. Come on!

  42. Did we play the same game? by SynapseLapse · · Score: 1

    From TFA, "when the lonely depression that game was trying to make the player aware of finally settled in..."

    Uhhhhh..... ok... I'm sorry you feel sad, but that game was charming and fun.

  43. Why not on PC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't want to buy a PS2, because I already have a PC and I want to play my games on that.

    Why won't they release this on PC? Keeping the games exclusive to one system won't make me buy the system, and it will prevent me from buying the game.

    And it will upset me.

    1. Re:Why not on PC? by jclast · · Score: 1

      I'm all for PC ports, but how would you control KD on the PC? I can't imagine playing this without the DualShock 2's analog stick configuration.

      --
      e2 | LJ
    2. Re:Why not on PC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank MS for killing PC gaming(other than mmog, strat and fps games, and even fps are starting to be more centered around xboxes now).

    3. Re:Why not on PC? by randyest · · Score: 1

      Ther are many dual-analog gamepads available.

      There are alsp ps2/xbox to pc/usb converters if you must use an exact console controller.

      --
      everything in moderation
    4. Re:Why not on PC? by Goaway · · Score: 1

      Oh my! They have upset a Slashdot reader! When they hear this, they will no doubt make every effort to bring the game to your platform of choice!

  44. this game is great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i imported the japanese version, and it is just GREAT, though i thought the original had a more variety of soundtrack

  45. Re:Man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You should watch an anime called Genshiken. It's about a college club of otakus. I think it does a decent job showing how otakus are perceived by "normal" people. It's quite a good show.

  46. What's wrong with Damacy? by Have+Blue · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why do people insist on spelling it "Damashii"? "Damacy" is the official transliteration of the name used by the original creators of the game; who can overrule that?

    1. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by Rycross · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Otaku insistence at maintaining "purity" in the name. The same people will quibble over whether or not the character in FF7 was named Aeris or Aerith (an example off the top of my head).

      It's all rather silly when you consider that Japanese have a completely different character system than us. But Japanese fanboys tend to place great importance on appearing to have a superior knowledge in these sorts of things.

    2. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by TommyBlack · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well if you're reasonably familiar with Japanese and you hear people sing "Damashii" enough times over the course of playing, "Damacy" just doesn't seem right.

      --
      Why do my serious comments get modded "funny"?
    3. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See also the Japanese film "Ring", which was popular a few years ago. These people insisted on calling it "Ringu", despite the fact that the title was an English word and was only written in Japanese characters for the benefit of viewers who couldn't read English.

      The publicity materials referred to it as "Ring", the director referred to it as "Ring", and even the credits in the film itself referred to it as "Ring". But that didn't stop the pretentious otaku crowd, who obviously know so much better than the people who made the film in the first place.

    4. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by Trixter · · Score: 1

      "Doesn't seem right" doesn't make it wrong. It *seems* wrong, but isn't. They spelled it Damacy in the title, in the game, in the manual, on the cover, and everywhere else. It's Damacy.

    5. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by Leynos · · Score: 1
      Kindly go and gouge your eyes out with a rusty fork.

      Thank-you,

      The Otaku Crowd

      --
      "Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?"
    6. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by pcgabe · · Score: 1
      Because English speakers prefer proper pronunciation to proper spelling? The reverse used to be true of Japanese (margarine, for example, is pronounced mah-gah-rin [even though Japanese DOES have a 'jah' sound], because that more closely matches the English spelling).

      Here's a snippet from the Wikipedia article that I found interesting:
      Katamari means "clump", Damashii is the rendaku form of tamashii (soul or spirit). Therefore, the whole phrase approximates to "clump spirit," or, somewhat more loosely, "clump of soul." It might also be considered a pun -- dama means ball while shii can be translated as circumference, and the two kanji that form the name look nearly alike in a kind of visual alliteration. The name is officially transliterated as Katamari Damacy in all releases.
      It's a very well thought out name, so perhaps some people purposely choose to use the Japanese pronunciation, to honor that?

      As a language instructor, I think those people are twits, as dumb as whomever mistranslated margarine into Japanese. When someone who speaks a different language GIVES YOU THE TRANSLATION, YOU USE IT!
      --
      Don't put advice in your sig.
    7. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by The_Incubator · · Score: 0
      Check out the Japanese characters on the cover. The one on the right is pronounced "damashii." When a Japanese speaker reads that character it sounds nothing like the way an English speaker pronounces "Damacy."

      You can blame "them" for being inconsistent.

      Nick

    8. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by The_Incubator · · Score: 0
      See also the Japanese film "Ring", which was popular a few years ago. These people insisted on calling it "Ringu", despite the fact that the title was an English word and was only written in Japanese characters for the benefit of viewers who couldn't read English.

      But a Japanese movie, by definition, is released to an audience of 125 million people who can't speak English. So even if they can read the word "Ring" they will say "Ringu." They will do this even if it offends your sensibilities as an English speaker!!!

      Just try going to Japan and pronouncing words that are written in English (on signs, menus, etc.) properly. See how far it gets you.

      Nick

    9. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1
      Because they're Wapanese weirdos who want to show off the fact that they learned a bit of Japanese?

      Even better are the ones who misspell it "Damashi", which is a completely different word. That won't stop a Wapanese!

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    10. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by ceeam · · Score: 1

      I guess it's because this affects how you gonna pronounce it. "Damacy" provokes English reading (deh-meh-see or something, close to "damage" in other words), "damashii" provokes Romaji reading (dah-mah-shee(ee)).

    11. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by Fenris+Ulf · · Score: 1

      You might look at the title once per play, but you *hear* the word being pronounced as "damashii" hundreds of times in some levels.

    12. Re:What's wrong with Damacy? by mink · · Score: 1

      Sometimes they do have a good point.

      Serial Experiments Lain for instance, had a girl named Alice. In the english translation Pioneer insisted on using the romanization "Arisu" and many Anime fans pointed out (rightly IMO) that her name is Alice, no matter how differnt it sounds due to Japanese pronounciation (r/l sound) and should be written for english speakers as Alice because they will recognize it.

      On top of all that in several places in the Anime, art books, and other related items her name is written as Alice.

      --
      Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
  47. i would've loved to have tried it... by sbma44 · · Score: 1

    but I don't own a PS2, and at the point when the original came out, there wasn't much reason to buy one (it was so late in this console cycle that buying any machine prior to the inevitably price-drops is questionable; and particularly the PS2, which was pretty obviously eclipsed by that point).

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an Xbox 360 release, though.

    1. Re:i would've loved to have tried it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no dumbass. the end of the console cycle is exactly when to buy since games are dirt cheap.

    2. Re:i would've loved to have tried it... by MasterofUnlocking · · Score: 1

      I highly doubt there will ever be an Xbox 360 version. But if the Playstation 3 is backwards compatible then you COULD wait and buy that along with Katamari Damacy. Though I'd still recommend just picking up a PS2 with the game now. There are PLENTY of other great games to warrant a purchase. And while you're at it, buy a Gamecube.

  48. Screenshots - yech by DaveOke · · Score: 0, Troll

    Judging my the screenshots posted on IGN, this game looks ubber-ghey

    1. Re:Screenshots - yech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judging by your use of the word "ubber-ghey", you look like a complete fuckwit.

  49. except its PS2 only by Devistater · · Score: 1

    If I had a ps2 I might. Too bad I dont. Anyone want to send me one? :)

  50. wtf by Thaelon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That was the most incomprehensible body of text I've ever attempted to read.

    I got tired of him imagining the girl singing the music (in the video game?) after about 3 paragraphs, so I skipped closer to the end only to find out he was still talking about her and relating the game to Armageddon the movie?

    --

    Question everything

    1. Re:wtf by InfiniteVoid · · Score: 1

      That was the most incomprehensible body of text I've ever attempted to read.

      You are obviously not familiar with Time Cube

    2. Re:wtf by bhima · · Score: 1

      I'm not all together sure it is possible to really become familiar with time cube... probably because I am educated stupid!

      --
      Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
  51. Obligatory Tenacious D by emilng · · Score: 4, Funny


    This is not the greatest game in the world. This is just a review.

    1. Re:Obligatory Tenacious D by That's+Unpossible! · · Score: 1

      This situation is only analogous if the review was, itself, actually a game.

      --
      Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
  52. Obligatory PA: by konmem · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    --
    This sig intentionally left blank.
  53. Re:I haven't read the article yet... by BalbanesBeoulve · · Score: 1

    Yes he does. He talks about one of female vocalists, and how the new soundtrack is japanese hip hop, which is nothing like american hip hop.

  54. Re:Man... by Kaa · · Score: 1

    (FYI, otaku is not a nice word. It inherently carries connotations of creepy, socially-stunted hermits. The term use for obsessed geeks comes from its use by such people who would use it to greet each other (as a polite form of "you") because they couldn't remember other people's names. Don't wear it like a badge of pride.)

    William Gibson, Idoru :

    "Masahiko is seventeen," Mitsuko said. "He is a 'pathological-techno-fetishist-with-social-deficit ,'" this last all strung together like one word, indicating a concept that taxed the lexicon of the ear-clips. Chia wondered briefly if it would be worth running it through her Sandbenders, whose translation functions updated automatically whenever she ported.

    "A what?"

    "Otaku," Mitsuko said carefully in Japanese. The translation burped its clumsy word string again.

    "Oh," Chia said, "we have those, We even use the same word."

    --

    Kaa
    Kaa's Law: In any sufficiently large group of people most are idiots.
  55. Re:I haven't read the article yet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why would he talk about the music? It is a game review, reviewing the music is a waste of time.

  56. The point of the game by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can someone please explain to me what the point of this game is? I read about 2/3rds of the linked review and still have no idea; what the objective of the game is or what game play is like.

    Well, imagine a first-person shooter without shooting. Ok, now cross that with an RPG with no underlying point. Now mix that with a Dance Dance Dance soundtrack, and pass that thru a mix machine.

    Now imagine it's in a foreign language and your babblefish is sick and translating everything incorrectly.

    It's like that.

    Only more so.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:The point of the game by stephenisu · · Score: 1

      So THATS! how they got the King of all Cosmos....

      It actually makes sense..

      --
      Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
    2. Re:The point of the game by CapnGrunge · · Score: 1

      You didn't mention rolling a piñata all over getting things stuck on it.

      --
      I see 57005 people
    3. Re:The point of the game by shawb · · Score: 1

      My old roomate has a friend who met the guy who did the translations (only two degrees of seperation as I met the friend once.) English is his native language: the team just thought that engrish would be more funny/appropriate. I happen to think it adds to the atmosphere.

      I think a better way of explaining the game rather than gameplaywise is by explaining other uses of the game. If you know someone who is debating trying drugs, just have them play Katamari Damacy. If they beat the game, tell em "yeah, it's kinda like that."

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
  57. Damn.... Now I'm hungry by Old+VMS+Junkie · · Score: 1

    I thought it said "Calamari"....

    1. Re:Damn.... Now I'm hungry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read "Guts" by Chuck Palanuik and you'll never want to eat Calamari again....

  58. Re:Two Words: Vomit Porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude, you're a freak.

  59. Simulation Game by Guppy · · Score: 3, Funny

    After watching this game, I think it's high time Maxis came out with Sim Dung Beetle.

  60. Short, but I'm still playing it. by javaxman · · Score: 1
    As for the part about fawning over the larger scope of the game - the original was short. Necessarily so given the target of a cheap-to-create, cheap-on-the-shelf game.

    It may be short, but it's not like you play through it once and never look at it again. I'm playing it almost every night, mostly because I want to get the Eternal level on "Make the Moon", damn it! It's making me crazy.

    So, it's short, but replay value is high. Not just because of locked "eternals" either... it'd still be fun to play even without that. Actually, I think it'd be more fun to play without a time limit, that's why I'm working to unlock it. Stupid locked features. I just want to be able to roam the world, sticking huge islands to my big silly ball of stuff, why make me do some impossible stunt first? Darn it. Making the moon and stars are their own reward, I shouldn't have to make an 800m moon to unlock a doesn't-matter-a-wit free-play level. Seriously. It's just so frustrating to unlock the eternals that one is tempted to cheat, and that's not cool. That's probably my only complaint about the game... it's stupid how fun it is otherwise.

    Every now and then, though, I need an antidote, and have to fire up GTA...

    1. Re:Short, but I'm still playing it. by stephenisu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I am not trying to be rude.. But the eternals are pretty easy to unlock. My best advice to getting Eternal #3 (the moon level) Don't fret on the small stuff, and learn where all the good clumps are. Also at about 600 meters, use the charge run thing. You need it to find islands fast enough.

      --
      Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
    2. Re:Short, but I'm still playing it. by javaxman · · Score: 1
      I am not trying to be rude.. But the eternals are pretty easy to unlock. My best advice to getting Eternal #3 (the moon level) Don't fret on the small stuff, and learn where all the good clumps are. Also at about 600 meters, use the charge run thing. You need it to find islands fast enough.

      No, really, thanks for the advice. I've been getting really close, around 740m, actually, and haven't really been playing very long. I unlocked the first Eternal right away, and haven't even worked on the second one... I like rolling up really big stuff the most...

      It's just that it's getting frustrating because I seem to *always* roll up between 590-740m, without getting obviously better. So I've got to do something different, but I don't know really what. At least you've given me some ideas to try, thanks for that.

      I think my problem has been that I *am* sweating the small stuff, trying to get everything possible, and thus wasting time going from area to area, avoiding larger stuff out of ( possibly pointless ) fear that I'll not be able to pick up smaller stuff because it'll disappear when I get too big to see it. I picked up this bit of advice :

      if you want the Eternal version, you must get it up to 800m... The key to completing this goal is getting as big as you can early on by collecting many items very quickly. It may not seem like much, but those extra telephones, bikes, kids, and animals really do pay off in the end.
      from IGN and the more I play, the more I'm not sure it's actually correct. It seems that "don't waste time, get bigger stuff as soon as it doesn't make your katamari too lumpy" might be better advice... I'm not sure about that, though, maybe the good advice is just "go fast", "don't run into things too large to pick up", and "get everything", and "don't pick up too large or odd shaped things which make your katamari hard to roll, save those until it's bigger" each of which are too obvious and general to be really helpful, though.

      The charge-run after 600m, though, that sounds interesting, and is something I haven't done. I've not really done the charge-run much, actually, I find it kinda awkward to do. Not using it may be my whole problem.

      And yea, I get the impression I'm not really good at this game. It's still pretty fun, though.

    3. Re:Short, but I'm still playing it. by shawb · · Score: 1

      Just so you know, once you've rolled an 800M katamari, having more time to roll a bigger Katamari isn't all that much more fun. What the eternals _ARE_ good for is just exploring, and trying to find those last few items in the inventory.

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
  61. How can video games teach you a lesson? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "It teaches us a lesson, only we're not so sure what the lesson is. We walk away from the game feeling as though we are changed people, only we can't pinpoint what change, exactly, has taken place."

    Calm down buddy. Its just a video game. If a video game has the power to change you and teach you something that is profound to you, then you must be a very, very shallow person. Put down the controller and go learn something about life instead of using video games as your teacher.

  62. Re:Man... by realityfighter · · Score: 1

    (FYI, otaku is not a nice word. It inherently carries connotations of creepy, socially-stunted hermits. The term use for obsessed geeks comes from its use by such people who would use it to greet each other (as a polite form of "you") because they couldn't remember other people's names. Don't wear it like a badge of pride.)

    Actually, the word "otaku," like the english terms "geek" and "nerd," have softened over the years, as less "creepy, socially stunted hermits" and more normal fans began to wear it as a badge of honor.

    I was quite taken aback that you believe that words have "inherent connotations". The word connotation literally means "something written together with it", a meaning outside the actual meaning of the word. In other words, an allusion or metaphor attached to the word based on outside knowledge of myth, history, or allegory.

    Say I had a best friend named Heavy, and one day Heavy turned on me and helped murder me. Everyone who heard the name "Heavy" would think of my friend and my untimely death. They might even go so far as to create adjectives such as "Heavylike" to describe a sudden and monstrous act, or to call murderers, the callous and the uncaring "Heavies." That wouldn't change the meaning of the word "heavy", would it? It would still mean something that weighed a lot.

    If I were Julius Caesar the above story would be true. "Brutus" in Latin means heavy or unweildy (and also, by roman metaphor, dull in the mental sense.) We call sudden attacks "brutal" and mean people "brutes" because of Brutus. Likewise, if I named my child "Brute" and he turned out to be christlike in his compassion and gentleness, the connotation of the word would reverse. But that doesn't change the core of the word. It all still means heavy.

    In other words, self-identifiers define connotations. Every time someone takes it upon themselves to say, "I am an otaku," the connotation changes depending on what that person is like. They define the connotations of the word, not you. You can sit and spout about how "otaku" means crazy all you like, but when smart, sociable, balanced people use the term to define themselves, you're instantly wrong.

    --
    A strain of paranoid prevention can be worse than the disease, whate'er the intention.
  63. We Hate Elitists by robocrop · · Score: 1
    You know, there's nothing I love more than some self-proclaimed expert declaring that the music I loved from Katamari Damacy was "loose" and "unrefined", or that I only like it because I don't know as much about music as he does. Thanks a pantload, Chet!

    Seriously, does anybody really listen to "Pizzicato Five"? I thought that people only said they did to sound cool and obscure - like how people claim to enjoy the works of Tarkovsky.

    1. Re:We Hate Elitists by 108 · · Score: 1

      Hey, fucko, I didn't say the music was loose and that you liked it because I know more about music than you do, I said it was loose because I thought it was loose, and I liked it, too. Music can be loose and still be good, asshole.

      And yes, I used to actually listen to "Pizzicato Five," only I didn't put their name in quotation marks. They were a real music group!! Download "the world is spinning at 45rpm" or something. You'll see!! I promise you you'll listen to that song and say, "Hey, this is a real pop song."

      That, and calm down. Not everyone hates you and/or wants to kill you, you know.

      In closing, die.

    2. Re:We Hate Elitists by robocrop · · Score: 1
      Hey, fucko

      In my experience, any post that begins with 'hey fucko' can be safely ignored. But I'm bored. So ...

      I didn't say the music was loose and that you liked it because I know more about music than you do, I said it was loose because I thought it was loose, and I liked it, too. Music can be loose and still be good, asshole.

      You're the same guy who wrote the article? I'm amazed. Why didn't you name the article "Hey Fuckos, 'We Love Katamari' Rocks Your Cock!" or something similarly eloquent?

      And yes, I used to actually listen to "Pizzicato Five," only I didn't put their name in quotation marks.

      I have actually tried listening to "Pizzicato Five" and found it to be meandering Casio-keyboard-quality electronic boredom. To each his own. The difference between you and me is that I can say 'this music wasn't for me'

      In closing, die.

      When the time comes.

  64. Yawn by Mad+Ogre · · Score: 0, Troll

    I for one welcome our creepy Japanse geek overlords. - Going back to play my GTA:SA now.

    --
    MadOgre.com
  65. Great game by flatface · · Score: 1

    I just beat the game last night... It's longer than the first one, and overall, MUCH better. I couldn't understand it (JP version), but you don't need to know any Japanese to play it. I'm definitely picking it up and beating it again as soon as it's released in North America.

    1. Re:Great game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you know...is the version they're selling at Lik Sang playable on a US playstation with a US television? I don't know my PAL from my NTSC, but I'd like to get this game as soon as I can. I'd hate to spend sixty dollars only to end up with something that won't work, though.

    2. Re:Great game by flatface · · Score: 1

      It will work fine. Japan uses NTSC. Make sure your PS2 is modded though, or else it won't work. But you knew that, right?

  66. Read again by ReKleSS · · Score: 1

    I don't think you're paying attention... it *has* been released. This is a review, not a preview.
    -ReK

    --
    md5sum -c reality.md5
    reality: FAILED
    md5sum: WARNING: 1 of 1 computed checksum did NOT match
  67. Re:Man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wouldn't take Gibson's word for it - he couldn't even get the title of his book right. (The Japanese word is "Aidoru".)

  68. Unofficial Soundtrack by paul248 · · Score: 1

    Here's a torrent for over 2 hours of music ripped from the new game:

    http://torrentspy.com/search.asp?mode=torrentdetai ls&id=352259&query=katamari

  69. all that and no pictures?? by Quazi · · Score: 1

    Katamari is more about visuals than listening to some long-winded super-emotional Pitchforkmedia/Livejournal discussion.

  70. Wow. You bet it's a good game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    Must be a hell of a game if even its review gets me this -
    You have tried to access a web page which is in violation of XYZ Office internet usage policy.

    URL: www.largeprimenumbers.com/article.php?sid=katamari 2
    Category: Pornography
    Must be my kind of game :)
    1. Re:Wow. You bet it's a good game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, that's Rez.

  71. Dear God... by rlbond86 · · Score: 2, Funny

    That was, without exception, the WORST review I have ever read. That wasn't even a review. It was a love letter to Nomiya Maki.

  72. I Heart Tim Rogers by PhosterPharms · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Personally, I love Tim Rogers' writing.

    The problem is that many of you go into this "Review" thinking that you are going to be reading a review of a game, but in actuality you are reading a story. An experience, if you will. Kind of a review of what was going in Tim's life when he played Katamari Damacy, rather than a review of the game itself.

    It might put off a lot of the people here, but I think it is quite interesting. His writing is frenetic at times, and most certainly stream-of-concious, and he oftentimes assumes the reader already knows about every obscure thing which interests him, but that is what makes his writing interesting. It serves to really get the reader into Tim's mind, and see things the way he sees them. It's this great internal perspective that really shows why things are wonderful to Tim, and captures certain insights that we would never make or experience ourselves, but are somehow made our own through Tim's writing.

    The State of Tokyo Transit is one of his fiction stories which I first stumbled upon two years ago, and from the first sentence I was entranced. I highly reccommend giving it a read. He has a whole series on Tokyopia entitled, "The State of Tokyo" & randWord, but I think this is his best. Seriously, go read it. I think it's just great. I liked it so much that I e-mailed him after I read it the first time, and he told me that it's part of a book that he's written but has never been published. He seemed like quite a nice guy.

    1. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hallelujah

      I'm glad to see there's at least ONE intelligent person in the sea of short-attention-spanned, myopic phillistines of this otherwise interesting news site.

      This attitude of "There's a lot of words! MY BRAIN! I therefore hate Tim Rogers!" is about as unintelligent and insipid as the idiotic emoticons and internet shorthand that follow.

      Seriously, can't you people respect another person's views and opinions on anything? Or are you just doing your best to pollute the community with your knee-jerk reactions, split-second judgements, and overall mental wastes?

      Maybe someday computer scientists will discover a way to sterilize people through the internet. Then maybe I can rest easy, knowing your childish, mouth-breathing, masturbatory, self-righteous mental garbage could possibly be quelled.

    2. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by calculadoru · · Score: 1

      Oh, man. Of course he's written a book but he's never been published. All bloody English teachers in Japan have to do that to justify their existence.
      Thank you for making me waste half an hour of my life trying to read that story. It was dull, and nothing else.
      Why is it that some people find living in Japan such an alien experience? I've been here for 12 years and feel right at home. Have a Japanese wife and a son, a job with a Japanese company (NOT teaching English, thank you very much), speak the language, pay the taxes, read the papers, go out with my mates, go back to Europe every couple of years to see my family, etc. What is the big bloody deal?
      And don't get me started on that Damacy review. Whatever kind of gear this guy has got, I need some too.

      --
      The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. -- G.B. Shaw
    3. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This attitude of "There's a lot of words! MY BRAIN! I therefore hate Tim Rogers!" is about as unintelligent and insipid as the idiotic emoticons and internet shorthand that follow.

      The attitude truly is "there are a lot of words that talk constantly about how he likes some j-pop star in the middle of a freaking game review".

      The author looks to be the short-attention-spanned one, not the (rightly) annoyed readers.

      But then again, if you think reading some huge pointless badly-formatted chunk of text and saying you like it makes you more intelligent... power to you. But that "holier than thou" attitude makes you look like an asshole.

    4. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, can't you people respect another person's views and opinions on anything? Or are you just doing your best to pollute the community with your knee-jerk reactions, split-second judgements, and overall mental wastes?

      The self contradiction here is simply hilarious.

    5. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by PhosterPharms · · Score: 1

      Well, I think on his website he says he's actually written 30 books or something, and it's possible that Tim Roger's experience was entirely atypical due to his Yakuza run-ins, and the fact that he lived homeless in Japan for a while, but that's neither here nor there, nor does it really address the root of what you are writing about.

      And it seems that what you are writing about is just that different people enjoy different kinds of things. I am not going to try to argue that the "The State of Tokyo Transit" is a piece of literature on par with "Crime and Punishment," or anything like that, though I could point out some parallels about how are focused upon putting the reader into the main character's mindset, if you really wanted me to. TSoTT is nowhere near as good as C&P, admittedly, but I do find it exceedingly interesting, and worthy of some sort of merit. I am sad that you couldn't get into the story and enjoy it the way that I do, but I know that there is nothing I can do to make you enjoy it. Similarly, I am certain that you have some personal favorites who I would find obnoxious and boring. That's just the way the world works.

      Tim Rogers has a writing style which is somewhat unique (and I await the people who will denounce it as not unique and instead simply bad and full of itself), which I personally enjoy. I don't herald Tim Rogers as the next great author, whose books we will be studying alongside Shakespeare, but the dude has style, and his stories are exceedingly interesting to me. The problem is that you can't go into what he has written expecting a single, clear, coherant story, or review, or whatever. Tim Rogers's writing jumps around the same way that the human mind does, from thought to seemingly unrelated thought, but the glory comes from the fact that, through reading, you can see how all of Tim Rogers's thoughts are interconnected, and it all makes sense to you. It is a very personal experience, almost like you're reading his diary or something, but you are left to interpret what happened for yourself rather than having it explicitly spelled out.

    6. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by jayerandom · · Score: 1
      I Heart Tim too. He is marvelous: Imagine you took Neil Stephenson, minus about 10 years of maturity, and marooned him in Tokyo with no money.

      (I was laughing my ass off when I read the other day on his site that he had just now started reading Stephenson. Tim, stop now before it's too late!)

      And today, I am laughing my ass off again when I see that Slashdot is linking to Tim for a "game review." Let's see, linear-minded Slashdotters meet decidedly non-linear Tim. CALAMITY ENSUES.

    7. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by Knos · · Score: 1

      I don't exactly know what it is that I like, but Tim Rogers' writting are the first (yes, the first) fiction work I actually managed to read in the screen of an internet browser. Means something to me, even if I don't know what :)

      Think it was first his MGS2 review.. which conveniently was mentionning that famous haruki murakami book I was reading at the time, then his fukubukuro 2004. Gave me at least a hint that one could do stuff I can seek into online.

      --
      . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
      may u!sh 2 sm!le at dz!z bad nn.!m!tat!ion
    8. Re:I Heart Tim Rogers by 108 · · Score: 1

      Actually, Stephenson was born in 1959, according to the back flap of my copy of Cryptonomicon here. I was born in 1979. So if I'm ten years less mature than he is, that means I'm also ten years ahead of him on maturity. I'm . . . not sure I really WANT to be that mature. Not that Stephenson is the most mature guy in the world.

      Having your hobby Slashdotted is fun.

      Also, to the guy above -- I don't teach English anymore. I only did that for a little bit. Now I translate manga. Ahh, manga! . . . I hate manga. It gives me plenty of time to play guitar and think about writing something significant. I sure do play a lot of guitar, under these circumstances.

  73. Re:Man... by listen · · Score: 1

    You've never been to prison, have you?

  74. Properly prepared, Katamari is quite tasty... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...oh wait, I meant calamari...

    1. Re:Properly prepared, Katamari is quite tasty... by ylikone · · Score: 1

      Calamari was the first thing I thought of when I read the title to. I find that it can have quite a rubbery texture which really grosses some people out. I don't mind it. The plump squishiness of shrimp and the rubbery tenderness of calamari... mmmm... i'm getting hungry.

      --
      Meh.
  75. Here is *MY* We Love Katamari Review by MilenCent · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's a much wider variety of objectives this time. All of the major level types from the first game are back (the infamous cow level and infamous bear level have been replaced by the extremely frustrating cow-and-bear level) plus some new ones, asking the player to roll up objects that cost the most, roll up the most flowers or fireflies in super-saturated stages, roll up the most food (the player's ball in this level is actually a sumo wrestler -- this is a highlight of the game), roll up clouds in a level where the ball seems like it's full of helium, an underwater stage with floaty physics, roll up a burning ball while continuing to feed the fire so it doesn't go out, a level where the ball constantly rolls forward at high speed and you can only steer where it goes, one where you get 100 items as fast as you can, one where you try to make the biggest ball you can within 50 items, and best of all, the Cosmos stage, which contains all the planets you made in the previous levels, and have to make a ball bigger than the freaking sun. The collect-the-nations level is back (with a kinder camera this time), but I still can't seem to get them all in time, dammit.

    There are still a few size levels, but they seem like less of the thrust of the game this time around. Many levels now feature multiple versions; at least two, maybe it was three, have three versions. (Including the Sumo level, hooray!) Many levels, including most of the raw size levels, have a normal version that works like the prior game, and a time attack version where you can't fail, but the level ends once the target size is reached.

    My favorite part of the original game, what I affectionately call The Big Level, the one with the largest scale and the one that makes people say "wow" the most, is now surpassed by The New The Big Level.

    The problem with the original The Big Level is that, once you know what you're doing, you can quite easily clean out the whole place, leaving you and your ball alone in an ocean of blue, with four or five minutes left on the clock. Once this happens, you will probably have a ball size of 878m, give or take one meter. And that, as we say, is that. The New The Big Level has a tighter time limit (17 minutes as opposed to 25), and seems a lot harder to max out; I've been up to 2200m+ with no end in sight. One really cool thing: The King of All Cosmos is in the level! He's so large in size that it looks like he'd be super hard to collect... but not impossible.

    There is one super-disappointing thing about the game so far, and that is there doesn't seem, at this point, to be any Eternal levels. While I never played the original Eternals more than twice each, The New The Big Level is so vast (featuring capsule versions of several countries: you gotta love a game containing the Hollywood Sign, the Effiel Tower and the Great Wall of China, among others) that I can't help but think the only way you could get everything is without a time limit.

    As for the music... it's great, but not at catchy as the first game. It's growing on me, though. It has at least three really nice songs. The beatbox version of Katamari On The Rock, surprisingly, isn't as engaging as the originsl (which, unlike what the the linked-to review thinks, I think was *wonderful* for the first game's last level theme).

    Overall it's a worthy sequel. It doesn't seem to have as much of the odd grandeur of the original game, but the Cosmos stage is *awesome*. There are so many clever little touches: for example, the "NA" "M" and "CO" letters from the save screen, as well as the (R) symbol, are on the Collection screen! (I'll leave it to you to figure out how to get them all on one file....) I wish it focused more on size objectives, but there's still a lot to like here.

    The game, it must be said, is ultimately just more levels of the same, but considering the the original was one of those games that was just *begging* to have more levels added to it, I'm not complaining. If there's room for disap

  76. Re:Who cares. by HeroreV · · Score: 1

    Plus the linked website's layout really sucks.

  77. Re:Man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And you say that "otaku" is socially acceptable in Japan now based off of what experience?

    Outside the realm of greater-Akihabara, I'm afraid you are quite mistaken. Even Akihabara itself has been transformed into an adjective to describe unfashionable and socially undesirable people... ("Aitsu ha chotto akiba-kei dane")

    And trust me, proudly proclaiming that you are an Otaku will only further pigeonhole yourself into the mold of "Hen na gaijin." Some people may find it funny, coming from a foreigner and all, but the connotation is never good.

  78. Why it got Censored by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It contains the words 'large' and 'men' in the domain name.
    I had the same problem when slashdot ran a story on tiny RC cars from a company called BitCharG it got caught for 'Bitch'

    Stupid filters.

  79. We Love Katamari by M$+Agent+2 · · Score: 1

    I have the Jap version of this game and while I cannot read a single word or symbol or what ever it is they write in... I do however love the game I loved the first one and the second one is fun even I cant understand what they are saying ! I suppose also if I could read it I would know how to get to this free mode they speak of..... (would like to try that)

  80. Coffee anyone? by natefanaro · · Score: 2, Funny

    So when is the hot coffee mod coming out for We Love Katamari?

  81. Don't forget EA... by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 1

    ... and their strategy of:

    Buy out a smaller game developer.
    Pick their top-selling title.
    Kill off development of all other titles from said developer.
    Milk the franchise with endless sequels and expansion packs until it sucks.
    Repeat.

    EA has been crushing the innovation and fun out of PC gaming since WELL before billy-boy got his x-box.

    Remember when Maxis has fun, silly, and even educational titles like Sim Ant, Sim Life and Sim Earth, instead of endless remakes and add-ons to The Sims? (Amazingly, Maxis did wind up with their top TWO titles surviving... though I still maintain that no sequel has lived up to the fun of SimCity 2000.) Remember when WestWood did cool things like that Blade Runner game, instead of endless crappy rehashes of C&C? Remember when Origin was more than just Ultima Online? (Hell... remember standalone Ultima titles?)

    cya,
    john

    --
    Imagine all the people...
  82. Re:Man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Yes yes yes. This has angered me for a long time as well, and the bit you put in about the industry catering is totally true.

    I like living in Japan for the food, because I've spent a while learning the language so it'd be nice to get it to some level of proficiency, and because Tokyo's interesting. It seems like more and more whenever I admit to having spent time in Japan I have to put up with the stereotypes formed by the general public based on these juvenile twits. Not everybody chooses samurai, anime and video games as their reasons for liking Japan.

  83. SA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An example of how Hallucinogens can help people understand more about their psyche, hopefully written in a way that even some non drugs users can understand.

    Much attention is given to the word perception in writings that deal with hallucinogens. "The Doors of Perception" for example. Some would go so far as to say that hallucinogens can provide methods of perception not normally atainable. I think this is definately a stretch, but there are many reasonable and understandable changes that do occur to perception.

    The image you see as your vision is pretty different from the image entering your eye. A significan't amount of error correcting needs to be done. An area somewhat near the perifery of your vision, your optic nerve blocks the function of the retina. You cannot see anything in a small circular area there. You brain though, is very good at guessing what will be there, and since it's not in the center of your vision, you really don't notice it. I might edit in instructions to demonstrate this, but i'm sure you can find a way if you look on google quickly.

    One of the remarkable things hallucinogens do for perception is to show, or to make obvious, the way your perception is adjusted to look the way it does. You can even almost override the autoadjustments...

    Not only that, but the image hitting the back of your eye is upside down from the image you see. This is a simple example but it makes it very clear that important error correcting is done to the image. Scientists had people wear glasses that made everything look upside down. People wore the glasses almost 24/7. After about 2 weeks, the people saw things normally again with the glasses on, and when they took the glasses off, they saw everything upside down. The effects only took a few hours to wear off though I think. (I'm 97% sure this happened, but I heard it from a friend so it may be untrue - it's interesting at least if it is fiction).

    Another important effect of hallucinogens, aside from an alterance of perception, is an increase in suggestablity. This is a big reason the army tested it so much - as a truth serum for example. Because of this, I think that people tripping on acid and wearing the upside down vision glasses, would have their vision compensate much more quickly than people not on acid. Especially if they were repeatedly told during the trip that they would quickly adjust their vision.

    Have you ever seen a stick on the ground out of the side of your vision, and jumped back because you thought it was a snake. You think that you have sort of one consciousness working to control most things completely (not heart-rate and stuff, but the movement of skeletel muscles definately.) This is not the case tough. When an image first goes in through the eyes, it is sent to two places. On is the first, of many, steps in normal vision. The image also goes to an extremely streamlined primal brain vision system. The primal brain's job is to immediately, like as quickly as possible, identify threats and react to them. This is why you jump back suddently and without planning to.

    Normal vision processing goes through crazy steps you have no idea goes go. For example, edge detection. You don't realize how important and complicated edge detection is. If you look at a computer screen, and you have multiple windows open, you see a lot of edges. They are just there on the sides of all of the windows. They are just part of the picture. You can easily differientient the content in one window from another because of the clear borders between the windows.

    The thing is though, you don't just automatically see edges. I mean they're there, but you don't identify them as edges you just can't understand them. You can see them, but they don't help you understand the meaning of the image you are seeing.
    You probably really can't imagine, but try to imagine losing your automatic edge detection. It's really impossible to explain, because you've lived your whole life with automatic

  84. Hmm... How about some formatting and editing? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1
    Just for fun, I thought I'd see how this article might look with some decent formatting and an editor to clean up the rough edges...

    The first Katamari Damashii game featured a song sung by a girl whose name I didn't know at the time; whose name I learned a little later by way of something inconsequential and later forgot completely. She has the charming voice of a petite Japanese girl with two beers in her stomach, singing an anime theme song at karaoke.

    Yet the song she's singing, called "Lonely Rolling Star," is no cheesy anime song. When you break down the lyrics, it's kind of sad, given its poppiness. The girl sings away, like grinning and gripping a microphone with two hands. You can almost see her flashy, white, uneven teeth. The same girl sings the theme song for Namco's Japanese-only word puzzle game Mojipittan, and her voice, more than anything else, has become the first thing I think of when I hear the name of that game. "Lonely Rolling Star" was the highlight of Katamari Damashii's soundtrack.

    I didn't understand this until toward the end of my playing session, when the lonely depression that game was trying to make the player aware of finally settled in. I realized that, just as this girl singing is young, so is our protagonist, now standing back and looking at the giant ball of chaos he has created and left for dead, wallowing in the middle of an unsympathetic ocean.

    The first time I heard the song, I was rolling up paperclips and getting annoyed at mice; I was struck by this girl's immature, nasal singing voice, and how it reminded me of a young Nomiya Maki's early solo song "Usagi to watashi" ("The rabbit and I").

    Nomiya Maki later grew up into a striking woman, both professionally and artistically. She married up-and-coming Shibuya-bound freakout DJ Yasuharu "Readymade" Konishi. Yasaharu would later remix the opening march from the film "Son of Godzilla" into what I considered consider to be "music that people will be listening to in fifty years." The two of them became known as the Pizzicato Five, and changed the landscape of Shibuya-kei music.

    In the decade plus years she spent with Yasuharu Konishi, Nomiya Maki grew up, and her voice demonstrated a rich range, initially establishing my theorem that any young Japanese girl who sings enough will start to sound like a diva (of course, this theorem would later be disproven by pop star Ayumi Hamasaki, who can't perform live without the help of a very, very large computer).

    Crazy how that makes such a difference, eh?

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  85. Re:eh? by Cat_Byte · · Score: 1

    And 8 hours later slashdot said "let there be the story about the suns". here

    --
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
  86. Re:Man... by Joehonkie · · Score: 1

    As far as I can tell, that's just something anime geeks tell themselves in order to make themselves feel better. Most Japanese folks I know seem to feel that it's a pretty bad thing to be called.

  87. These would be... by acb · · Score: 1

    Even better are the ones who misspell it "Damashi", which is a completely different word. That won't stop a Wapanese!

    Let me guess; these are the people who use "bishonen" as a synonym for "bitchin'", right?

  88. Foil the filters by tepples · · Score: 1

    I had the same problem when slashdot ran a story on tiny RC cars from a company called BitCharG it got caught for 'Bitch'

    Given that the Katamari game series is a rough simulation of what a dung beetle does, and dung figures into a lot of sick porn, I can see how the filters might pick up Katamari as porn even without buggy "Dick Sexton" filters.