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game design
Posts Tagged “
Katamari
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game design
xbox 360
Beautiful Katamari Rolls Onto PAL Next Month
PAL players! Well, European Xbox 360 owners! Beautiful Katamari is *finally* rolling onto at least European PAL machines this February. We imagine Australia as well. If you've never played a Katamari game, might be worth checking it out. If you have, well. You've already played it, but better.Katamari Coming [CVG]
holiday cards 07
Happy Katamari Holidays from Namco
One of my favorite things about the holidays is the fun collection of Christmas cards I get. This year has been a little sparse, but what they've lost in quantity they've more than made up for with quality. Wouldn't be great to get a little box of cousins? I wonder what they'd taste like.
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katamari
Keita Takahashi, Living the Playground Dream
It's happening. Katamari creator actually is designing playground equipment. A while back, Takahashi said he wanted to leave the gaming industry and design playground equipment. GameCenter Iain Simons read this, wrote a proposal and began trying to rally support with the Nottingham city council. It's still in the early stages, but Takahashi envisages a wind turbine with a climbing net decorated with hundreds of LEDs. Close your eyes and imagine that. Yeah. He adds:
Being totally honest with you, I'm beginning to get a bit bored making just games. I wanted something in a different area, but quite similar. Being able to move physically, to exercise, I thought that would be a good idea to start with.
Okay dude, whatever you say!
On Making Playgrounds [Next-Gen]
namco
Katamari Creator Thinks Gaming Has "Lost Its Direction"
When not harboring dreams of designing playground equipment, Katamari creator Keita Takahashi makes games and says kooky things. Some of those kooky things make sense, and some of them don't whatsoever. What's Keita think of creativity?
Defining the word creativity is difficult in a sense. Even the likes of God of War, for instance, it is really well made. It's a great graphic game with an interesting story. It's not fair to tell them that their games have no creativity. Having said that I do feel many games do lack the wow factor in a sense.
Sure, the law of averages agrees with you, Keita. Most games aren't going to be as creative or surreal as Katamari. More »
art
Katamari Sculpture Rolls Into Our Hearts
How bad do we want to roll up all of the world's contents into a ball that can chase us ala Indiana Jones? Real bad. But this handmade Katamari sculpture would go a long way in quelling our somewhat frightening impulse. A 12" 1:12 scale model, everything was assembled through a painstaking process, requiring sewing, gluing and a little help from an inkjet printer. We so wish this were 1. for sale and 2. inexpensive enough for us to afford. Unfortunately, this beautifully crafted ball of stuff meets neither of these criteria...which is probably exactly why it's so fantastic.
Katamari Sculpture [via gaygamer]
console wars
Katamari Creator Wants One Console Future
When Keita Takahashi isn't predicting an impending apocalypse or warning of destructive climate change, he's making video games, a job he seems to hate. He also hates Katamari Damacy, saying he's "sick of it." Also worthy of Takahashi's bile? Multiple console manufacturers! His numerous flights of fancy include one that sees a single console future, where Nintendo PlayBoxes (or whatever!) are a thing of the past. Instead, shift power to developers and pass the savings on to consumers. More »
keita takahashi
Nobi Nobi Boy Demoed At GameCity 2007
Namco Bandai revealed Keita Takahashi's follow up to We Love Katamari earlier this year, giving us the title Nobi Nobi Boy, a handful of screen shots and some regrettable photos of execs holding what appeared to be a co-op dildo. This past weekend, Takahashi himself publicly played the game—more prototype than not, at this point—giving attendees of the Nottingham based event GameCity a taste of what to expect. So what is it? We, and maybe even Takahashi, aren't quite sure yet. The PlayStation 3 game's focus on stretching hasn't clicked as a gameplay concept yet, but it sure looks interesting. More »
katamari damacy
Life Words from Barefoot Keita Takahashi
Boy, that Keita Takahashi is plum nutty! At Nottingham's GameCity, the always delightful Alice introduced him for the keynote he gave. Barefoot. Here are the highlights:
It would be impossible for us to be here... if the world was not peaceful. If there was heavy fighting or pollution in the cities could we talk about video games like this? If you're suffering from poverty and disease could you worry about collecting coins? I don't think so.
Durr. More »
downloadable
Beautiful Katamari DLC Available in Japan/Asia
Beautiful Katamari has barely been out a week and downloadable content is already available for Asia and Japan. Logic would dictate that it will probably show up on US XBL sometime in the coming weeks, but is this a little to early? The four new levels, "Milky Way Constellations", "The Weaver Girl", "Shopping Spree" and "High-calorie Katamari", are available at 200 MS points EACH. So, we're talking over eight dollars all together for the new levels, adding to the $40 plus tax we just paid for the game itself. It seems like a little time between the release of the game and producing the DLC might take the sting off a little but as it stands, it seems a little money grabbing in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Katamari fan and I'm usually pretty ambivalent about DLC, but this just seems like a bad move that is likely to turn a lot of people off and has certainly made me rethink my position on DLC in general. More »
clips
I went through a phrase, a phase in which I was doing posts on popstar sim THE iDOLM@STER — sometimes every day. I've slowed down and only to only once or twice a month. And with that, I bring you this month's iDOLM@STER post...
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THE iDOLM@STER Clumps to Beautiful Katamari
roundup
Frankenreview, Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360)
We're just outside of Tokyo, Flynn and I, taking a day after TGS to explore Kamakura—a city famous for its temples, and of course, the Great Buddha. After a spontaneous, mislead and treacherous hike through the deserted wilderness, we pop out on the side of a busy street loaded with bus caravans. We'd arrived at the Great Buddha.
And when we finally laid our eyes on the 93 ton, 700+ year-old statue Flynn said, "Never in my life did I think I'd see this. I remember rolling it up in Katamari..." It was a special moment.
Hit the jump for our Frankenreview on Beautiful Katamari for the Xbox 360: every review you ever need on a game from a franchise famous for rolling up the Great Buddha.
music
Bob's w00t-Worthy Sound Collage
Kayak instructor and Professor of Technocultural Studies and Music at the University of California at Davis, Bob Ostertag, has rolled up a katamari-like collection of 8-bit to 64-bit samples in his video game "sound collage" titled w00t. Featuring carefully arranged blips and beats from games like Contra, Halo, Super Metroid, World of Warcraft and Ico, to name but a few, Ostertag's 50 minute piece is available as a free download for the curious.
I spent about 15 minutes with the musical journey this morning before I became too distracted with the experimental arrangement, but fans of game music who loathe paying for things should give the MP3 a whirl. Thanks to Geoff for turning us on to Bob's work.
w00t (and Other Recordings) [BobOstertag.com]
roll up
AKA a big ball of nerd heroin! Close up after the jump. More »
The Best Beautiful Katamari Display in Akihabara
Posters are boring! If you are going to capture savvy Tokyo shoppers' wallets, you must capture their imagination. What better way than to do that through crazy in-store displays. Later this week, Beautiful Katamari will go on sale in Japan. To whip Akihabara shoppers up into a frenzy, Sofmap has a display case with a katamari made from figurines. Besides the ubitiquitus iDOLM@STER toys, there are figurines of girls wearing sailor uniforms and swimsuits. The sign on the display reads something like:
That's mine...!! A katamari of evil corruption!!
AKA a big ball of nerd heroin! Close up after the jump. More »
new games
Week in Games: Beautiful Katamari Edition
My game purchases this week will be woefully small as not only am I staying with a friend in NYC who is a non-gamer and therefore has no consoles, but I am leaving on Wed. for LA to go to E for All. But one thing I will definitely be picking up is Beautiful Katamari just so I can hold it in my hand and wish I could play it. What's on your must have purchase list this week?
Beautiful Katamari (X360)
The Prince and The King are back for more Katamari rolling goodness.
Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East (PC)
Now with more Orcs.
Fury (PC)
PvP to your heart's content.
Crash of the Titans (PSP)
Crash is back and making waves on the PSP.
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (X360, PS2, WII, PS3, DS)
My kid can ollie over your honor roll student.
Spider-Man 3 (PSP)
Trapped in the web of love.
Victorious Boxers: Revolution (WII)
Beat the crap out of people while simultaneously wearing your arms out.
SWAT: Target Liberty (PSP)
Take out terrorists threatening NYC.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition (PS3)
Together again for the first time... on the PS3
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (WII)
All hail Bridget.
exclusives again
Namco Bandai Pulls PS3 Listings For Xbox 360 Titles
Some of our more eagle-eyed web surfing readers spotted on the official Namco Bandai Games web site "TBD" release dates for PLAYSTATION 3 versions of both Eternal Sonata and Beautiful Katamari. The latter also included hints about the rumored Wii SKU. Both titles are currently only confirmed for the Xbox 360. Not long after the stories on each title were posted, Namco Bandai hive workers pulled the listings for the non-Microsoft consoles, leaving only the Xbox 360 release dates up.
Clerical error or something far more sinister?! It's hard to think "sinister" when one is discussing an RPG occuring in the mind of a dying Polish composer or rolling things up with a katamari, so we'll remain simply skeptical of the listings. Maybe we will know more after our trip to Tokyo next week.
Thanks to our tipsters for the heads up.
multi-plat blow out
First this, now this: The Bandai Namco Games US page lists Beautiful Katamari as a PS3 title and a Wii title. Previously, the game was supposedly a multi-platform title, but then the PS3 version was apparently abandoned due to porting issues and sluggish PS3 sales. Since this past spring, there has been rumblings of a Wii version, and the game's designer confirmed it was under consideration. Still, Beautiful Katamari was then announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive, and the released box art even carries the "Only on Xbox 360." According to Bandai Namco's site, the PS3 game's release date is TBA as is the Wii one (Xbox 360 should be out in October). Does that mean "Only on Xbox 360" is totally meaningless? If this is true, guess so!
Katamari Listed as PS3 Game [BNG, Thanks Kotakuland! Send tips next time, you bastards :)]
Beautiful Katamari Rolling onto PS3 and Wii
First this, now this: The Bandai Namco Games US page lists Beautiful Katamari as a PS3 title and a Wii title. Previously, the game was supposedly a multi-platform title, but then the PS3 version was apparently abandoned due to porting issues and sluggish PS3 sales. Since this past spring, there has been rumblings of a Wii version, and the game's designer confirmed it was under consideration. Still, Beautiful Katamari was then announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive, and the released box art even carries the "Only on Xbox 360." According to Bandai Namco's site, the PS3 game's release date is TBA as is the Wii one (Xbox 360 should be out in October). Does that mean "Only on Xbox 360" is totally meaningless? If this is true, guess so!Katamari Listed as PS3 Game [BNG, Thanks Kotakuland! Send tips next time, you bastards :)]
revenge of the nerds
University of British Columbia Victim Of Katamari Roll-Up
Kotaku reader Henry passed on what may be considered a clever homage or a the work of a lazy graphic designer, as the Alma Mater Society's handbook for the coming school year at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver sports some strinkingly familiar imagery. We can only hope that no one was hurt during the tragic rolling up of the school and that someone issues a zombie army against these dogs of the AMS in retaliation for their swipe.
Big pic of the geeky handbook after the jump.
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