It's not a feeling inspired by playing his games. Katamari was great, Noby Noby Boy, also great. It's based more on what the guy says. Here he is chatting with Gamasutra, who ask him whether his current work designing playgrounds is a reaction to the fact he's over the corporate machinations of the gaming business.

"I think that's true," he said. "In fact, I've been feeling for a few years now that I'm just not suited to the games industry. Yeah, that's certainly been an impetus for working on the playground. You're right."

You know what, he may be right. And before you complain, remember, if you truly love them, you have to let them go...

Interview: The Melancholy Of Keita Takahashi [Gamasutra]

Talking with game site Develop, Takahashi explains, "I had this idea for an FPS where the player's character grows in size, gets bigger and bigger as the game progresses. But as you get bigger some weapons are too small to use, so you have to improvise; maybe throw airplanes at the enemies. That sort of stuff.
So I have this idea of making a fun and unique FPS, with the right team it would be a good FPS."

Even if it wasn't a very good FPS, it would sure be something.

Interview: Keita Takahashi [Develop] [Pic]

According to game site GameSetWatch, UK gaming even GameCity and the Nottingham City Council have announced that Takahashi will design a children's playground for Nottingham City at Woodthorpe Grange Park.

Takahashi is currently spending a month in the area and talking to children and locals as well as the City Council landscape architect. Back in 2006, Takahashi expressed interest in a playground "that's soft, and with lots of big blocky shapes, and a place [kids] can't really get hurt - very colorful - where kids can roll around and be free. But it's probably okay if they occasionally get hurt too."

Councillor David Trimbl says, "We're delighted to have Takahashi-san on board and very much looking forward to working with him on this unique collaboration."

Takahashi Designing Children's Playground In Nottingham [GameSetWatch]

The game may have been more appropriately titled in Japan, there known as Katamari Tribute. The PS3 version borrows liberally from previous levels in the Katamari series, recycling levels, objectives and characters from the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 entries. In Katamari Forever, the Prince and his cousins must obey the orders of two royals, the amnestic King of All Cosmos, suffering from a bump on the noggin, and the machine built to act in his stead, the RoboKing.

Is another spin around the katamari worth rolling up into your life?

Loved
Look, It's Katamari: It may be hard to imagine that a game this quirky, this visually distinct—partly thanks to four graphic filters—could feel old hat, but the Katamari Damacy series is in danger of wearing out its welcome. Fortunately, the act of piling on thousands of objects onto one's katamari, marveling at its increasing size, still somehow manages to remain incredibly fun, even if this is your third, fourth or fifth go. The gameplay hasn't changed at all, save for the addition of some new abilities, like the Prince's hop that makes overcoming obstacles much easier.

♥ ♥ ♥: The only other new addition to the Katamari formula are the King's and RoboKing's hearts, power-ups that cause the katamari ball to vacuum up everything (of the right size) within a certain radius. It's an exciting, albeit minor, bonus that adds a bit more strategy to one's katamari run.

Beautiful Katamari: The game looks incredibly sharp on the PlayStation 3 running at 1080p and with a suite of visual styles that give the game a pencil-sketched look, a sepia toned filter and, later, classic Katamari Damacy graphics. Many of the game's objects are low poly by design, but everything looks great up close and zoomed out.

Hated
Technical Quirks Forever: Graphically, the game is impressive, with one exception: the frame rate still comes to crawl when your katamari gets big enough, making Katamari Forever feel just as sluggish as its forebears at times. Camera problems still abound, particularly in enclosed spaces.

Me & My Least Favorite Levels: The rehashing of so much of Katamari's older content inevitably means some of the least enjoyable variations on the formula will also return. Building the biggest katamari possible is great fun—and that shouldn't be the entirety of the game—but some of the tasks, such as building a katamari on a budget and raising the temperature of the katamari by avoiding "cold" items can just be frustrating.

No Online Multiplayer: Want to roll up some Katamaris with a friend? Or an enemy? You'll have to do it locally, as the game offers offline co-op and versus modes only. They're fine additions, but Namco Bandai's rolling backwards.

Enough, Jumboman: The cut scenes, once quirky and uniquely entertaining, may have worn out their welcome more so than anything else. Now they just feel obligatory, as do some of the preambles from the King and RoboKing.

Late in the game, in the middle of a level, the King of All Cosmos (or was it the RoboKing?) says something to the effect of "This is Katamari Damacy. Nothing more, nothing less." It's an accurate description of what Katamari Forever has to offer. It's a trip down memory lane, literally for the King, but one that manages to still be highly entertaining, if only to see just how big one can manage to make that katamari in 12 minutes.

Should you have never played a Katamari Damacy game before, by all means, get the PlayStation 3 version. It's wonderfully fun and there are hundreds of little things to unlock, explore and play with. If you've run through more than one Katamari Damacy game, however, it might be worth carefully considering just how interested you might be in reinvesting your time, because there's little new in this unusually expensive package.

Katamari Forever was developed and published by Namco Bandai for the PlayStation 3, released on September 22 in North America. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through all levels, tested co-op and versus modes.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

While in the U.S., Tsunoda showed off the controller-free motion controller with the help of a 3D brick breaking title and a build of Burnout, in Japan they brought along copies of Katamari Damacy and Space Invaders Extreme to show off to the press, developers and publishers.

Tsunoda, dressed in a white t-shirt, jeans and trademark over-sized sunglasses, first walked a small gathering of press through the concept of the project.

The device, which uses a camera and infrared sensor, not only detects movement, but the person playing a game, he pointed out.

To prove his point Tsunoda, who has long hair, had one of the press try their hand at the breakout game. When the writer started playing the transparent icon on screen changed both the hair and body type to more closely match the player.

Tsunoda said that the device doesn't require a special background or lighting to play, despite the fact that the game was set up in a well-lite, almost completely white room. In fact, he said, because it makes use of an infrared sensor, a person could play a Project Natal game in total darkness.

Because Microsoft is meeting with Japanese publishers and developers, Tsunoda said they worked up prototype ports of Katamari Damacy and Space Invaders Extreme that would work with the controller-free controller. That doesn't mean, he added, that those games will ever see an official release date.

In Katamari Damacy a player holds their hands out in front of them and slides them through the air in the direction they want the growing ball to move. A player holds their hands straight up in the air to shift the camera to the other side of the ball and starting moving in that direction.

Playing around with the game for a few minutes I was impressed with how responsive the controls seemed to be, allowing me to move around moving objects fairly deftly and pick up only the items I wanted to with the ball. It was a fun way to play an already fun game. One that would inevitably expand the potential audience for the game.

Next up, Tsunoda started up Space Invaders Extreme. In the Project Natal version of Space Invaders you have to shuffle side-to-side to move the defending space ship across the bottom of the screen. To shoot you raise both hands in the air. You can either hold your hands in the air, making the ship fire as if you were holding the button in, or raise your hands and drop them as if you were tapping the fire buton.

The game, with its more immersive play and increased physicality, was a delight to play. I've made no secret of the fact that I love Space Invaders, and this was a welcome addition to the already prevalent franchise.

The team on Project Natal have been busy porting lots of games over to the new control system, but not to release them. Instead, I was told, they're doing it to see how the controls translate and if it helps or hinders game play.

This seems like a great way to point point the strengths and weaknesses of a new type of controller. Hopefully, that will mean that when the device comes out less games will have this type of control slapped on and gamers will instead be able to choose from a more substantive selection of games with controls that make sense.

1up's David Ellis put in a heroic effort during last week's Listen Up podcast trying to describe the game Osmos. He was describing the game that I voted as best entry in this spring's Independent Games Festival (it didn't win.) And I pitied his attempts to describe it to his co-workers.

A little set-up, not that I think I can do much better than Ellis.

Osmos is a 2D PC puzzle game played from the overhead view that makes you think of flOw or the cell stage in Spore. You control one globule - or mote, in Ellis' descriptions — with the goal of moving that globule into contact with smaller globules, automatically absorbing them and eventually being the largest globule in the playing field. Two complications: 1) If you go near larger globules in the playing field, they will siphon off your size, making you shrink as they gain size... 2) You can only propel yourself by jetting some of your mass behind your globule, shrinking yourself in the process and injecting more globules into the playing field in the process (Imagine retreating from a larger globule but having to fire off some of your mass into that larger one to escape — thereby making it larger).

OK. If I haven't lost you yet, then here's Ellis trying to describe the game's wonderful Milky-Way-galaxy-style level at 9:34 of the podcast:

David Ellis: There are other levels where you start in orbit around this sun and all the globules are like asteroids and planets and meteorites, also orbiting around the sun, and you actually have to adjust your orbit on the fly to avoid larger motes but also...

Garnett Lee, Listen Up host: So you already have momentum.

Ellis: You already have momentum. So you're trying to actually adjust your orbital track while trying to catch up to other ones, but also not adjusting it in such a way that you lose your orbit, because then you'll have to use a lot of the make-up of your character to actually get back into orbit. So you'll actually be a lot smaller then. So you want to try to keep it pretty consistent all the way around. But you also want to adjust it so that you're not just following in the same track but you are changing it every time around so you're picking up more and more motes to make yourself much larger.

Don't blame the messenger. Blame the complexity of even the simplest games. I've told people that the breakthrough of Osmos is that it tweaks the design fundamentals of Katamari Damacy. That game is all about gaining mass in order to absorb whatever is, at the moment, smaller. That dynamic is here, but coupled with the stress that larger things in the level are always a threat to roll you up. It's like a Katamari MMO, except that it's single-player.

Does that make sense?

Maybe you should just watch the trailer and try the demo from Hemisphere Games.

08-28-2009 Listen Up Podcast

Osmos Trailer from hemisphere games on Vimeo.

So what better way to celebrate the season of weddings than with a quick look at some of the best wedding dresses shown off in video games? A lot of video game characters we know and love have walked down the aisle over the years. Ken got married at the end of Street Fighter II, the entire plot of Dragon Quest V centers around a bride and it looks like Aya's getting down to marital business in the upcoming Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday.

But when it comes to that most important of wedding props — the dress — only a few video game characters and even fewer gamers really get it right. Here are a few fashionable examples:

Princess Peach, Super Paper Mario
Peach almost exchanged vows with Bowser at the beginning of the game, but even though the arranged marriage goes bust before the "I dos," Peach is rocking that puff sleeved gown with the opera gloves. Observe how the pink ribbon on the bouquet accents the gem in her crown, too. Classy.

Meryl Silverburgh, Metal Gear Solid 4
The cool thing about Meryl's dress is the story behind it. I fangirl'd out over spoke with Hideo Kojima at the Game Developers Conferences this year to tell him how much I liked her dress. He replied through his translator that the animators didn't really know what a Western-style wedding dress looked like, so they had an assistant go out and rent a dress to model for the animators. Good thing the assistant picked a sleeveless number — Meryl is way too ripped to pull off bell sleeves. And kudos on the tiara, but could we loose the gun?

Meryl Silverburgh, Metal Gear Solid 4
The cool thing about Meryl's dress is the story behind it. I fangirl'd out over spoke with Hideo Kojima at the Game Developers Conferences this year to tell him how much I liked her dress. He replied through his translator that the animators didn't really know what a Western-style wedding dress looked like, so they had an assistant go out and rent a dress to model for the animators. Good thing the assistant picked a sleeveless number — Meryl is way too ripped to pull off bell sleeves. And kudos on the tiara, but could we loose the gun?

Meryl Silverburgh, Metal Gear Solid 4
The cool thing about Meryl's dress is the story behind it. I fangirl'd out over spoke with Hideo Kojima at the Game Developers Conferences this year to tell him how much I liked her dress. He replied through his translator that the animators didn't really know what a Western-style wedding dress looked like, so they had an assistant go out and rent a dress to model for the animators. Good thing the assistant picked a sleeveless number — Meryl is way too ripped to pull off bell sleeves. And kudos on the tiara, but could we loose the gun?

Princess Ashe, Final Fantasy XII
With it's ruffled train and extreme gold accessory count, this is a gown fit for a princess. Sadly, though, the veil doesn't quite fit the dress. The length and tiered lace fringe work well, but the giant blue feathers on top and golden cheerios that seemed to be hot glued to the cap scream "I let my little sister decorate this."

Princess Ashe, Final Fantasy XII
Here's a veil-less breakdown.

Aidra the Katamari Bride, Real Life
Never mind the nerd factor, look at the detail on that dress in the vines and flower pattern. It's delicate, pretty and perfectly coordinated to her headgear. Plus the dress can double as a prom gown thanks to the modest cut and straight fall, if the bride should choose to let her potential future daughter wear it.

There are probably more weddings and even more gowns in more games than I've played. Leave a comment if you spot any. And before you start in on me about the default gown in The Sims 2, I'm not a fan; the Sims don't know how to accessorize.

As you can see below, the Katamari theme extended beyond just the bride and groom. The entire bridal party were decked out, there were Katamari invites, gifts, lamps, flower accessories, even an adorable little Katamari cake. To get an idea of the scope of the madness, check out this gallery.

Katamari Damacy wedding [Offbeat Bride, via The Epitome of Profundity]

My brother and I spent those sweltering days in Maryland, Thailand and Korea coming up with ways to torment one another and sometimes even have fun together. From the fabled pine cone wars faux fought in the nearby woods, to endless games of tag, cops n' robbers and spotlight, we never ran out of things to do.

I can't pretend that children today have those same sorts of childhood experiences. Many spend their days inside watching TV, reading books and even playing video games. That's not a bad thing, but it does lack some of the sweaty charm of a day spent running with friends.

Here, mostly for my amusement, is a collection of games meant to be enjoyed outdoors. I've taken some of my favorite video games and tried to turn them into the sorts of games you play with friends on the lawn, in a park or anywhere there's space.

Included are homages to Katamari Damacy, Super Mario Bros. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, and Metal Gear Solid. Enjoy, but don't blame me if you break something... even a sweat.

Instead of straining your eyes trying to read all of these, how about just downloading the PDFs instead?
Katamari StickWithMe
Pac-Tag
Leapfrogger
Dodge Space Invaders
Metal Hear Hide and Sneak
Super Hopscotch Bros.

Images remixed by Kotaku. Originals by Eleanor Campbell, Keith Ward and Robert Childress.

Katamari StickWithMe
Pac-Tag
LeapFrogger
Dodge Space Invaders
Metal Gear Hide and Sneak
Super Hopscotch Bros. Part 1
Super Hopscotch Bros. Part 2

To be released to help promote the upcoming Katamari Tribute (or Katamari Forever as it's known here), Japanese users will soon be able to pick up a Katamari t-shirt and adorable little shoulder...parrot...conscience...guy. They'll be available on July 23, with no word as yet on whether you'll be able to pick them up in the US or European branches.

Also released today: this new trailer. With sock puppets, kittens and dung beetles.

One of the musical artists tapped to contribute to the Katamari Forever soundtrack is Japanese chiptunes outfit YMCK. The group covers "A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic" from the original Katamari Damacy, giving it a more old-school digital spin.

Care to take a listen?

The original version can be heard at YouTube.

The Katamari Forever soundtrack won't be a strictly chiptunes affair, as the game's sound director Yuu Miyake writes on the official PlayStation.blog that the warmed over Katamari will feature both "electric" and "organic" jams.

I haven't touched a Katamari game since the PlayStation 2 release We Love Katamari, due to a feeling of sameness with the most PSP, Xbox 360 and iPhone releases and a lack of Keita Takahashi inolvement, but I may check out Forever. Not sure if the cel-shaded look appeals to me in this particular entry, but we'll see.

Katamari Forever - The Music [PlayStation.blog]

In honor of Father's Day, we celebrate dads in video games: from the good to the bad to the "Luke, I am your father kind," that don't fulfill any fatherly duties beyond lopping off a limb. Join us now in separating the Bill Cosbys from the Darth Vaders.

Fathers in… Role-Playing Games
Much like mothers, fathers in role-playing games often are killed early in order to inspire the hero to leave home and avenge dear daddy (and mommy) and the rest of their destroyed village. However, there are some dads who stick around. When they do, they're usually playable support characters their son or daughter's active fighting party, or they show up in flashbacks and hallucinations to offer pep talks and parental criticism. Here are a few of these fatherly figures:

Jecht, Final Fantasy X – Father of Tidus: He's an alcoholic all-star blitzball player who insults his son to toughen him up. Instead, he winds up alienating him. Only after son and father find out they're dead do they make up with a manly high-five.

Kaim, Lost Odyssey – Father of Liram: Kaim believes his daughter is dead, but when he rediscovers her as an old, sick woman, he gets around to some parental duties like making funeral arrangements and babysitting the grandkids.

Pankraz, Dragon Quest V – Father of The Hero: Pankraz travels the world with his son and eventually sacrifices himself to save The Hero from monsters. Alas, he can't save his son from being sold into slavery from beyond the grave.

Walter, Suikoden Tactics – Father of Kyril: Walter goes into exile to protect his lover and bastard son but decides to keep Mommy's identity a secret. He gets turned into a fish monster and attacks Kyril before another party member puts him out of his misery.

James, Fallout 3 – Father of You: Daddy dearest ditches you in Vault 101 and goes to find a cure for irradiated water. When you finally catch up with him, he sends you on a deadly quest and then bites it in the name of science. And, uh, saving you – that too.

Uriel Septim VII, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Father of Martin: Had several legitimate sons to stock the throne with heirs, but wisely kept a child out of wedlock just in case a Daedra Lord killed all of his other kids. Instead of fostering the boy to a vassal or something noble, Septim stuck Martin in the church to keep him out of trouble.

Best Dad… Pankraz, because, while he couldn't keep his son from being sold into slavery, he didn't hesitate to take on a horde of monsters to save him.

Worst Dad… Uriel Septim VII, because, really, it was bad enough for Martin to be born a bastard – even worse to have Daedra Lords come after you because of some dude you've never even met. Thanks for nothing, Dad!

Fathers in… Fighting Games
Fighting games have a high volume of fathers. Apparently, popping out a few kids is the thing to do after winning world martial arts tournaments. But no father in any fighting game seems to have thought the decision to become a father and a world martial arts champion at the same time all the way through: Either you're abandoning the kid at a young age so they invariably follow in your footsteps just to find you. Or – worse – you actively train them in your fighting style so they can grow up, follow in your footsteps and then kick your ass.

Raphael Sorel, Soulcalibur series – Foster father of Amy: Raphael got kicked out of his own family for killing some crazy noble and found the orphaned Amy wandering the streets of some French town. He took her in, raised her, trained her and went completely crazy trying to create a perfect world for her.

Frederick Schtauffen, Soulcalibur series – Father of Siegfried: Frederick left his infant son to go fight in the Crusades. While he was gone, Siegfried fell in with a bad crowd and wound up beheading his own father in a misguided act of patriotism.

Seong Han-myeong, Soulcalibur series – Father of Mi-na and wannabe foster father to Hwang: Teaches both children how to kick some serious ass, but winds up favoring Hwang with family heirlooms. When Hwang refuses Han-myeong's offer to adopt him, he tries to marry Mi-na to Hwang. Mi-na runs away.

Cervantes de Leon, Soulcalibur series – Father of Ivy: Somehow fathered the hottest thing in the Soul series and then tried to devour her when she comes looking for his sword, Soul Edge.

Heihachi Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Kazuya: Throws his son off a cliff to toughed him up, throws him down a volcano out of spite and basically does nothing but try to destroy his son for the entire Tekken series.

Kazuya Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Jin: He may not have thrown his son off any cliffs, but Kazuya's revenge aspiration against his own father eventually turns his son against him. Also, it turns his son into a flying demon thing.

Marshall Law, Tekken series – Father of Forest: Law sees more of the insides of restaurants than he does of his own son, but he stops at nothing to pay the hospital bills when Forest wrecks his motorcycle.

Lau Chan, Virua Fighter – Father of Pai: Abandons his daughter to fight in the World Fighting Tournament and has the nerve to act surprised when she devotes her martial arts career to kicking his ass.

Bass Armstrong, Dead or Alive series – Father of Tina: Two words sum up his entire parenting technique– over and protective.

Fame Douglas, Dead or Alive series – Father of Helena: Fame knocks up a world-famous opera singer and then doesn't marry her; but he does leave his daughter his effed up company, DOATEC, after being assassinated. Thanks, Daddy!

Raidou, Dead or Alive series – Father of Ayane: Raped her mother. ‘Nuff said.

Dhalsim, Street Fighter – Father of Datta: Dhalsim serves as a father to his entire village by entering the World Warrior tournament to raise money for them.

Best Dad… Bass, because he loves his daughter too much to let her dress like a slut – unlike Cervantes.

Worst Dad… Heihachi, because he throws his son off a cliff and into a volcano; and he imprisons his grandson. Somebody call Child Protective Services!

Fathers in… Action Adventure and Survival Horror Games
It's hard to feel warm and fuzzy about fathers in these types of games because they're almost always an antagonist. Even the well-meaning Dads who just want to protect their offspring usually wind up doing the opposite by turning evil, letting work consume them or by losing the family farm to a rival rancher. But, even if they're real jerks, they're still fathers and they deserve their due on this day.

Joe Hayabusa, Ninja Gaiden – Father of Ryu: Leads an entire ninja clan and raises a badass ninja son.

William Birkin, Resident Evil 2 – Father of Sherry: The guy's got no time for parenting – he's so married to his work he becomes the last boss.

Mr. Burnside, Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Father of Steve: Not only did he raise his son to be a whiny loser, but Mr. Burnside also thought it'd be a great idea to steal from the Umbrella Corporation, thus getting his wife shot full of holes and landing him and his son on a zombie-infested prison camp island. Great going, old man.

Harry Mason, Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – Adoptive father of Cheryl and possibly Alessa, depending on which ending you get: Harry probably shouldn't have picked up a strange child on the side of the road, but damned if he doesn't do his best to hang onto her – even when the monsters start showing up to kill him.

King Zora XVI, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Princess Ruto: He loves his daughter, but is too fat and lazy to go save her when she goes missing inside a giant fish monster.

Talon, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Malon: Talon is a narcoleptic rancher who makes a good living for himself and his daughter on Lon Lon Ranch; but unfortunately, he has poor taste in employees. Pro tip: don't hire somebody with the hots for your daughter.

Deku King, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask – Father of Deku Princess: Overprotective doesn't quite sum it up – this is a guy who tortures small animals when his child goes missing instead of looking for her himself.

Bowser, Super Mario Bros. series – Father of Bowser Jr. and seven other Koopalings: He lets his kids run wild with pirate ships and magic zappy wands. Not exactly parent of the year material.

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong series – Father of Donkey Kong Jr.: He'd rather hang out with his nephew, Diddy Kong, than his own son. What does that say about his fatherly reputation?

Kratos, God of War series – Father of Calliope: He's away from home a lot, fighting wars and when he does come back, he kills his kid in a God-induced rage. She goes to heaven and he tries to visit, but that would kind of break the world, so he leaves her be.

Kento Marek, The Force Unleashed – Father of Galen, aka Starkiller, aka Vader's Secret Apprentice: He escapes the Jedi purges with his wife and young son and hides out on Kashyyyk. Vader shows up, kills him and takes his son to train/raise.

Dr. Light, Mega Man series – Father of Mega Man: Okay, so he didn't provide Mega Man chromosomes; but Dr. Light built him and raised him. So he's like both father and mother to Mega Man.

Nate Harlow, Red Dead Revolver – Father of Red: If nothing else, the old man sure taught his son to shoot.

King of All Cosmos, Katamari Damacy – Father of The Prince: His binge drinking wiped out the world, and he sent his son to clean up the mess. What a role model.

The Mourning King, Prince of Persia – Father of Elika: He makes a deal with the dark god Ahriman to resurrect his daughter, sends his men to capture her and then unleashes pure evil by destroying the Tree of Life.

Best Dad… Harry Mason, because he could have adopted some other orphan, but no – he went through Silent Hill for his Cheryl. That's a dad who cares.

Worst Dad… Steve Burnside's dad, because, while Kratos might've killed his kid, too, at least his daughter went to heaven instead of a zombie-infested prison camp island.

Fathers in… Shooters
Dads are the stars of shooters. Even if they're not the main character, they very often drive the plot even from beyond the grave. This is probably because a lot of cultures have a manly mythos of the son surpassing the father and it's bled right into the manliest of video games. Even with all that testosterone, there's room for really great dads. And some really awful ones, too.

Eli Vance, Half-Life series – Father of Alyx: Eli lived the simple life of a scientist at Black Mesa Research Facility with his wife and young daughter. Then things explode as they often do in the profession and his wife dies. He eventually falls in love with another woman, but to his dying day, he never stops loving his daughter.

James McCloud, Star Fox series – Father of Fox: Clearly James did something right in parenting Fox; he inspired such filial piety that his son hallucinates him during boss fights.

Andrew Ryan, BioShock – Father of Jack: Andrew had Jack out of wedlock with stripper/dancer Jasmine Jolene and didn't get to spend any time parenting him. Mommy Dearest sold the embryo off to Andrew's enemy. Ryan Sr. might make a big fuss about a man choosing; but, the truth is, you can't choose your children.

Big Daddies, BioShock series – Father of Little Sisters: Big Daddies have no blood relation to Little Sisters and probably no soul, either. But they do what all good daddies do: protect the bejesus out of their babies with power tools.

Roy Campbell, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Meryl: He lies to his daughter and says he's her uncle for most of her life, but then relents and calls her his "pride and joy" at the most inopportune moment. Later, he gives her away at her wedding.

Jack Raiden, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Rose's son: To his credit, Raiden probably would have been a great dad if his wife had lied and said she miscarried the baby. But, since she did lie and tell him that, he let himself be turned into a high-tech version of a Ken doll and now his son is really going to have daddy issues despite his parents getting back together.

Big Boss, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Liquid and Solid Snake: Daddy must be so proud of his clone sons. One of them is a chain smoker with a terminal illness and the other one keeps trying to bring about a nuclear holocaust. He probably should have spent more time raising them instead of trying to kill one or both of them.

Adam Fenix, Gears of War series – Father of Marcus: Supposedly he's some kind of genius and like James McCloud he must've done something awesome to inspire filial piety that borders on insanity. His son winds up in prison for abandoning his post to save Fenix Sr. during an alien invasion.

Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell series – Father of Sarah: Sam is so devastated by his daughter's death he spends an entire game avenging her. Drunk drivers and assassins beware a bereaved father, especially one who's a secret agent.

Best Dad… Eli Vance, because he loves his baby girl without smothering her independent spirit.

Worst Dad… Big Boss, because one lousy man-hug does not make up for the sheer number of times he tried to kill his son.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
Shinnok, Mortal Kombat – He's only Raiden and Shao Kahn's dad in that awful movie, Annihilation, so he doesn't count as a video game dad.
Homer Simpson, Don Corleone, Darth Vader – They've all got a presence in video games, sure, but their status as good or bad fathers comes from the shows and films they're from, not from the games they appear in.
Dr. Tenma, Astro Boy – Father of Astro Boy and Tobio: Like a lot of Dads, Tenma was married to his work until the day his nine-year-old son Tobio died in a car accident. Then, he turned his work into his son, created Astro Boy as the son that would never die. Unfortunately, he wouldn't age, either – so Tenma sold him to a robot salesman.
You, Fable II, The Sims games and Harvest Moon games - Just as with moms, even if you play as an upstanding paragon of parental vigilance as a dad, you're going to be guilty of neglect at least half of the time.

That does it for dads this year. Think we missed somebody important? Drop a line in the comments. And don't forget to call your dad on Father's Day!

Sure, maybe the game already took perfect advantage of the PlayStation 2's dual analog thumb sticks, but that didn't stop Esty product manager Do-it-yourself type Kellbot from churning out her own Katamari controller.

"It uses an optical mouse to track the ball." Kellbot explains. "I gathered up some cheap PS2 controllers, ripped out the potentiometers on the analog sticks, and replaced it with a digital potentiometer and an arduino. The arduino takes signals from a PS/2 mouse and adjusts the potentiometer accordingly. "

It's the first circuit she's ever designed, and Kellbot originally wanted to use a giant yoga ball "to really get the scape", but had to settle with a mirrored ball. According to Kellbot, those giant yoga balls "don't roll very well on ball bearings". DAMMIT!

More in her post below, including a video what through and a diagram of the circuit she created.

Life-Size Katamari Lives [Kellbot Thanks, Dan!]

To reintroduce gamers to the wacky puzzle/action/adventure/weird thing Japan created to ensnare gamers in mindless fun, Namco Bandai has given the original game a graphics makeover, a new story, a "handful" of new levels and some remixed music from the original Katamari Damacy. Sadly, the title wasn't hands-on at the Editors Day event, but one look at Katamari Forever was enough to bring back giddy feelings akin to the first rising vibes of an acid flashback. Even better – it's in 1080p.

The plot – if that's what you can call the disjointed explanation offered by Namco Bandai – features a world where the King of All Cosmos is in a coma and Robo King steps into run the show. This results in some kind of badness where Robo King goes a bit nuts and the normal King loses his memories. Hence, we get a few new Robo King levels, plus all the old levels from the original PlayStation 2 game, which need to be replayed with new gameplay rules to "restore" the King's memories and potentially wake him up.

The new Robo King level on display featured the Prince rolling his katamari ball around a desert dotted with oases. Rolling the katamari into the water filled up a gauge in the upper left hand corner of the screen and gave the ball a blue outline. As the Prince rolled the katamari out of the pool and across the sands, dirt, grass and flowers began to spring up. The strategy to the level was finding the shortest distance between oases and opening up new oases by knocking down walls with jump moves. In the move to the PS3, Katamari has picked up a single Sixaxis motion control – flicking the controller upwards makes the katamari jump the same way it does if you press the shoulder buttons. I guess total Sixaxis control would be a bit much for Katamari, but the watering-the-desert level does make for some obvious Flower comparisons that make me want there to be more Sixaxis.

The one King's-lost-memories level I got to see put me in mind of Rainbow Brite; it was a colorless version of a classic level where the Prince rolls his katamari around to make everything shiny and weird again as it was meant to be. There were classic items I remember seeing from the first game – but according to Namco Bandai, there will be new special and hidden items in each level for the truly committed to seek out and activate. Additionally, there are now different visual filters you can apply to levels – like Wood or Comic – that lend replay potential to Katamari Forever for both newcomers and fans of the first game along with local co-op and multiplayer modes and Trophies.

The sad thing about the Katamari Forever demo was that it was too noisy in the venue to hear the music. I guess I'll just have to settle for watching the trailer over and over to get my fix ‘til the game comes out this fall.

Check out the screens:

"I have a repurposed painting (not a print, original painting) waiting for the addition of the prince of the cosmos in the colors and placement of your choosing," writes loudxmouse. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

custom katamari painting [esty via Simon Carless via Offworld via Boing Boing]

Those games were great.

However, Takahashi did not work on Me & My Katamari, Beautiful Katamari, I Love Katamari. Those games were less great, but whaddayagonnado.

What about the forthcoming Katamari Damacy Tribute? Is Takahashi involved in the game?

Namco Bandai told game site Eurogamer that the designer is "not involved", but that the game is "in good hands." Yeah, it's not like these game developers make these games by themselves!

Takahashi not involved in PS3 Katamari [Eurogamer] [Pic]

You'll notice in the trailer that, apart from the fact there are animals providing a play-by-play, the graphics for the game have changed. Which is a first for the series! The last four titles, across PS2, PSP and 360, all shared the same art style.

But here, there's options! You can play it like the originals, yes, or you can play with cel-shaded visuals, or even a mode that just looks nicer, with things like fancy shadows. Which is bound to upset Katamari "purists", but then, for an upgrade, it's as tasteful as you can hope for. It's not like the game's gone brown on you.

According to Famitsu, this game is the first in the series to output in 1080p, aka full HD. The in-game placed items have been increased drastically, and there's a new black & white stage as well as a new game play mode.

There are tunes from the likes of Leah Dizon and YMCK, among others.