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Katamari Team Disbands
Gamasutra reports that the team behind Katamari Damacy, We *heart* Katamari, and My My Katamari has dissolved. The official Katamari site states that there are no plans for sequels to the hit rollin' games. From the article: "The official announcement does mention that 'Professor Katamari' (presumably Keita Takahashi) is currently working on a new game design, though apparently not with the core Katamari Damacy team. 'You don't roll things up, or get bigger, but you might find it interesting anyway,' says the site." Which is good news, considering his earlier comments about making playground equipment.
I'll be looking out for anything Takahashi is a part of in the future. The Katamari series is brilliant and a real break from some of the uninnovative games we've been subjected to lately. Whether it involves rolling things up in a ball or not, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next.
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Well, he never wanted to do a sequel in the first place, so I guess it's best not to ruin it. I would love to see an anniversary comeback in a few console generations. Katamari on a PS5 would be awesome.
This is really terrible news. I've always had fun playing the Katamari games in the past and the news that there would be no more sequels is truly shocking. Somebody should go out there and roll the entire team back into a katamari!
As much as I love a good game like Katamari, I don't want to be fed the same crap over and over. Katamari came, and it was good, now it's over. Time for some new stuff.
They'll be rolled into other departments.
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Katamari is a COOL game. But aren't 2 sequels enough?
Given the creativity, wouldn't it be nice to see something else, rather than yet another "roll crap up" sequel?
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Whatever new project they get rolling on, I'm sure they'll have a ball.
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Who didn't see it coming, though? From one of the endings to "We Love Katamari": link
I've always preferred that good movies, TV shows, book series and games, etc go out on top, before becoming nothing more than a money factory devoid of any artistic merit.
How many times have we all read that game series X is getting yet another installment with much-hyped additions that render the game just a marginal improvement over the earlier incarnations? How many times have we all purchased the latest game in a series only to discover we've been sold essentially the same game we already own? Sometimes it's good to just let a good thing die if you're not sure you can really take it any further without compromising the quality.
There are plenty of games out there waiting to be made, riding the same franchises year after year, decade after decade usually ends with a group of hardcore fans that will likely lap up whatever you throw their way, while the masses that flocked to your games move on to something better.
Personally, I thought that was a series that just shouldn't be sequel'd too much, but there's one thing I'm disappointed about...where's the Nintendo DS version!? It was sort of psuedo-announced, even Nintendo Power reported on it, but then it just faded off. The game was so perfect for the DS, with it's touch control, and so not perfect for the PSP, with it's one analog nub. It's really a shame, because the DS was the only system that really had the perfect control scheme for it...and that would have been the perfect sequel for the series to go out on. The two sequels really don't live up to the original game in my opinion, but I think with the innovation of the DS, it really would have felt like a new game rather than just a quickly put together expansion on the original.
Imagine all the people freed up to do other, even cooler things...
As to the DS port, it can still be done pretty easily. Porting a game is not at the same creative level as creating a good one, and a technically compentent team can still do so. Hopefully keeping in mind a good control scheme.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The game was so perfect for the DS, with it's touch control, and so not perfect for the PSP, with it's one analog nub.
There's too much stuff to roll up to fit on a Nintendo DS. Do you think the DS's 3D hardware, with its limit of 2,000 triangles per scene, could have held up?
We really enjoyed playing the two Katamari games that have been pushed in the U.S. so far. While they were simple in their concept, they had a very addictive game on their hands. Let's hope someone collects them into good projects in the future.
Katamari Damacy was (is) awesome.
Gone are the days when Tetris, Katamari, and DOOM show up again, in a different, original form.
it'd be nice to see what the dev team could have done after Katamari beyond sequals.
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Honestly, yes, I do. And I think that figure you pulled out of the air is bull too. I don't think the developer's would have had any trouble fitting it. Of course it wouldn't have looked as good as the PS2 or PSP version, but gameplay is the only thing that truly matters in a video game, graphics take a back seat. And if there was ever a game that's all about the gameplay, it's definitly Katamari...
I was actually really hoping for a version of Katamari Damacy using the revolution controller. Watching my nieces play this game, while they flail the controller all over the air, made me think it would be an absolute perfect fit for the revolution.
I hope that the developer works on something new and interesting again and gives everyone another unique game to play. That would be much better than a third katamari. I had read elsewhere that what he wanted to do was make more appealing playgrounds for children with lots of round parts.
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