| Katamari Damacy | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Namco, NOW Production [1] |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Designer(s) | Keita Takahashi |
| Composer(s) | Yū Miyake |
| Aspect ratio | 480i (SDTV) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | JP March 18, 2004[2] NA September 22, 2004[2] |
| Genre(s) | Third-person puzzle-action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | CERO: All Ages KMRB: All Ages ESRB: E (Everyone) |
| Media | DVD (1) |
| Input methods | Gamepad |
Katamari Damacy (塊魂 Katamari Damashii, lit. "Clump Spirit") is a third-person puzzle-action video game that is published and developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was first released in Japan, and then later in South Korea and North America. The game resulted from a school project from the Namco Digital Hollywood Game Laboratory, and was developed for less than $1 million. In designing Katamari Damacy, the development team aimed to maintain four key points: novelty, ease of understanding, enjoyment, and humor.
The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations, and Moon, which were accidentally destroyed by his father, the King of All Cosmos. This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly greater objects, ranging from thumbtacks to people to mountains, until the ball has grown great enough to become a star. Katamari Damacy's story, characters, and settings are bizarre and heavily stylized, rarely attempting any semblance of realism, though the brands and items used are based on those current in Japan during the game's production.
Overall, Katamari Damacy was well received in Japan and North America. The game was dubbed a sleeper hit, and won several awards. Katamari Damacy inspired the development of other video games, and led to the release of five sequels in Japan and other territories: We Love Katamari, Me & My Katamari, Beautiful Katamari, I Love Katamari, and Katamari Forever.
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The primary story in Katamari Damacy deals with the aftermath of the planet-sized King of All Cosmos's binge drinking spree that wiped out all the stars and other celestial bodies from the sky. The King (who appears to be chronically dissatisfied with his 10-cm-tall son's small size) charges the Prince to go to Earth with a "katamari"—a magical ball that allows anything smaller than it to stick to it and make it grow—and collect enough material for him to recreate the stars and constellations. The Prince is successful, and the sky is returned to normal.[3]
A side story follows the Hoshino family as the Prince works at his tasks. The father, an astronaut, is unable to go to the moon after it is wiped out by the King, and the daughter "senses" the Prince's work—she can feel when each constellation returns to the sky. Ultimately, the family, along with their house and town, are rolled up in the katamari that is used to remake the moon.[4]
The player controls the Prince as he rolls the katamari around houses, gardens, and towns in order to meet certain parameters set by the King of All Cosmos. The player uses the two analog sticks on the DualShock controller in a manner similar to the classic arcade game Battlezone to control the direction the katamari rolls. Other controls can be triggered by the player to gain a quick burst of speed, flip the Prince to the other side of the katamari, and more.[3]
Objects that are smaller than the katamari will stick to it when the player comes into contact with them, while greater objects can be hurdles; colliding at high speed with any may cause objects to fall off the katamari, slowing the player's progress. The game uses size, weight, and surface area to determine if an object will stick to the katamari. This allows slender objects, such as pencils, that are wider than the katamari, to be picked up, and these will alter how the katamari rolls until more objects are picked up.[3] Animals such as cats will chase the katamari, knocking things from it, but once the katamari is great enough, it will scare the animals away, and they can be rolled up once they are chased down. As objects stick to the katamari, the katamari will grow, eventually allowing objects that were once hurdles to be picked up, and creating access to areas that were formerly blocked. In this manner, the player might start the game by picking up thumbtacks and ants, and slowly work up to the point where the katamari is picking up buildings, mountains, and clouds. [3]
The typical mission given by the King of All Cosmos is the "Make a Star" mode, where the player needs to grow the katamari to a specific size within a given timeframe. Other missions have more specific collecting rules, such as collecting as many items (swans, crabs, pairs) within a given time, or collecting the greatest item possible (such as a cow or bear).[4] The player can attempt a score attack mode for any level, in which they would try to make the greatest katamari possible in the time allotted. Certain levels can unlock an "eternal mode" by creating a katamari twice the goal size. In eternal modes, the player can explore the level with no time limit.[5]
Levels feature two secret items that can be found. The first item is a royal present that contains an object that the Prince can wear. Most gifts are non-functional, but one includes a camera that can be used to take in-game screenshots.[5] The other secret item is a cousin of the Prince, which, once rolled up in main gameplay, can be used as a character in the various multiplayer modes. The game also tracks which objects the player has collected at any time, allowing them to review all the various objects within the game.
In the two-player mode, a player can choose to play as either the Prince or one of his numerous Cousins. The screen is split vertically; player one is on the left, and player two is on the right. Players compete simultaneously in a small arena to collect the most objects within three minutes. The playfield is replenished with new objects periodically. Players can ram into each other, knocking items from their opponents' katamaris, and if one player leads by a fair amount, then it is possible to roll up the opponent's katamari.[5]
Toru Iwatani, head of research and development for Namco, stated that the idea for Katamari Damacy resulted from Keita Takahashi's[6] school project from the Namco Digital Hollywood Game Laboratory, a sponsored institute for game development education similar to Nintendo sponsored DigiPen.[7] Keita Takahashi's final thesis bore out the core gameplay ideas, while a team of ten (including the student) developed the final product. The game was developed for less than US$1 million, a tenth of the cost of Namco blockbuster titles such as Ridge Racer or Soulcalibur.[7] The game took a year and a half to develop, with eight months of prototyping.[8]
Lead developer Keita Takahashi said that the team was aiming for four key points in developing the game: novelty, ease of understanding, enjoyment, and humor.[9] Iwatani compared the game to Namco's Pac-Man, which focused on simplicity and innovation, and served as a template for future games from the company.[7] At one point during development, Takahashi "proactively ignored" advice from Namco to increase the complexity of the game.[9]
The game was not originally planned to be The Prince's first appearance; Takahashi had designed a racing game where the Prince would control a boy steering a go-cart, running over buildings across the world; the game was dropped by Namco.[9]
Katamari Damacy was first revealed at the 2003 Tokyo Game Show, at which the press dubbed it a "snowball simulator".[10] The image featured on the cover of the pre-release demo showed a "Tamakorogashi", a large ball used in "undoukai", a game played by Japanese schoolchildren that was an influence for the game.[8] Plans for releasing the game in Western countries were tied to its performance in Japan.[11] Katamari Damacy was first shown in the United States at the Experimental Gameplay Workshop during the March 2004 Game Developers Conference. Due to its popularity at trade shows and a write-in campaign, Namco decided to release the game in the United States.[12] Katamari Damacy was released in Japan at about two-thirds of the cost of a new title,[13] while the cost was less than half the cost of a new game for its United States release.
In Japanese, Katamari (塊) means "clump" or "clod" and Damashii is the rendaku form of tamashii (魂) which means "soul" or "wit". Therefore, the phrase approximates to "clump spirit" (in the same sense as "team spirit" or "school spirit", meaning "enthusiasm"; cf. the use of "damashii" in Yamato-damashii). The two kanji that form the name look similar (sharing the same right-side element 鬼), in a kind of visual alliteration. The name is officially transliterated as Katamari Damacy in most releases. In an interview with Dengeki Online, producer Keita Takahashi said that when asked about the title, "It just popped into my head suddenly, and this is what it has been from the beginning."[14]
The music in Katamari Damacy was widely hailed as imaginative and original (winning both IGN's[15] and GameSpot's[16] "Soundtrack of the Year 2004" awards), and was considered one of the game's best features. The soundtrack was released in Japan as Katamari Fortissimo Damacy. Its eclectic composition featured elements of traditional electronic video game music, as well as heavy jazz and samba influences (Shibuya-kei). Most of the tracks were composed by Yū Miyake, and many feature vocals from popular J-pop singers, such as Yui Asaka from the Sukeban Deka 3 TV series, and anime voice actors, including Nobue Matsubara and Ado Mizumori. One track is sung and written by Charlie Kosei, composer of the Lupin III soundtrack.
Katamari Damacy enjoyed moderate success in Japan. The game was sold at about two-thirds of the price of a new game at the time. It was the top selling game the week of its release with 32,000 units sold.[7] Nearly 156,000 units were sold in 2004.[13] However, Namco originally estimated that over 500,000 units would be sold in Japan.[11]
Katamari Damacy was one of the recipients of the 2004 Good Design Award in Japan, the first time a video game has won this award.[17] It also received what was at the time the highest ever review score given by UK website Play TM (formerly Ferrago). The site awarded the game 96%, stating that it is "one of the greatest video games ever made".[18]
The game was not released in PAL territories such as Europe and Australia, since publishers thought it was too "quirky" for these markets; however, Electronic Arts picked up both sequels, We Love Katamari[19] and Me & My Katamari,[20] for release in Europe.
The North American release of the game was very well-received by professional reviewers, was mentioned and praised on TechTV, and was a featured sidebar in the May 23, 2004 edition of Time magazine. Time continued to praise the game in its November 22, 2004 "Best games of the year" special, calling it "the most unusual and original game to hit PlayStation2".[21] Most retailers underestimated the demand for such a quirky game, and only purchased a few copies of this sleeper hit; it rapidly sold out nationwide, with sales surpassing 120,000 units in North America.[22] It also won the U.S. award for "Excellence in Game Design" at the 2005 Game Developers Choice Awards,[23] and G4techTV awarded Katamari Damacy its "Best Innovation" prize in its G-Phoria of that year.[24]
Although the game has rapidly achieved a cult following and has been praised by many reviewers, it also has its share of criticism. A common complaint is that the game is relatively short and repetitive—it can be completed in under ten hours, and the gameplay stays virtually the same all the way through. However, others, such as Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewer Mark McDonald, argue that the game's limitations are made up for by its strengths: "Sure, you're basically doing the same thing each mission, but Katamari's elegant controls, killer soundtrack, and wicked humor make it perfectly suited for replay."[25] As a well-executed, non-traditional game, Katamari Damacy has been influential in the game development community. Since its release, a number of designers have developed works inspired by Katamari: among them Isostar, The Wonderful End of the World, and Cloud.
The first sequel to Katamari Damacy, We Love Katamari (みんな大好き塊魂 Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii, literally Everyone Loves Katamari Damacy), was released in Japan on July 5, 2005, North America on September 20, 2005 (some retailers, such as Target, released it early), and Europe in February 2006. We Love Katamari is essentially the same as Katamari Damacy in its gameplay, controls, and graphics, but adds several new options, such as co-operative play and new scoring system in different levels; monetary value of the objects picked up, the weight of a sumo wrestler depending on the food he has eaten, etc. The sequel is substantially longer, and its plot is very self-referential—it deals with the fans the King of All Cosmos and his son have attracted since the first Katamari game.
Namco has also brought the Katamari franchise to the PlayStation Portable in the form of Me & My Katamari (僕の私の塊魂 Boku no Watashi no Katamari Damashii, literally My My Katamari Damacy using the two words in Japanese for "I" which connote a masculine ('boku') or neutral ('watashi') speaker). This sequel is set on an island ravaged by a tsunami (brought upon by the Royal Family's vacation, where they were splashing around in the ocean), and features a day and night system, as well as different seasons. WindySoft, a South Korean developer, has announced plans for a Katamari Damacy Online game, which was due to be released later in 2007, but never made it to the US.[26][27] Beautiful Katamari was released for the Xbox 360 in October 2007.[28] A PlayStation 3 version was announced but was canceled shortly after.[29] Director Jun Morikawa stated, however, that a PS3-version, as well as a Wii-version, will make it to the consoles soon.[29]
There was also a mobile version released called Katamari Damacy Mobile, which was actually a sequel to Katamari Damacy-kun,[30][31] which was a 2D side scrolling mobile version of Katamari, and was later used in the closing credit mini-game of Me & My Katamari.
In November 2008, Namco released a cellphone version of the game titled "Rolling With Katamari"[32]
In December 2008, Namco also released an iPhone and iPod Touch sequel called I Love Katamari, available at the Apple App Store.[33]
In February 2009, the Official Japanese Katamari Website, posted news about an upcoming Nintendo DSi download game via DSi Ware, based on the Katamari world. There has been no information released to date concerning availability outside of Japan.[34]
In March 2009, Famitsu revealed that a new game, Katamari Tribute later renamed Katamari Forever was released for the PS3 in July 2009 in Japan and in North America on September 2009. The article also mentioned that this would be the first game in the series to be rendered in full 1080p HD. [35][36]
Also, in March 2009, NamcoBandai released Korogashi_Puzzle_Katamari_Damacy for the DS. It was a falling-block puzzle game similar to Tetris, with little resemblance to the rest of the Katamari series. To clear a puzzle, the player used the prince to drop a Katamari into the playing field. Still though, it tied into the series in a tangential way.
The Prince also made an appearance in Pac-Man_World_Rally
In March 2010, Namco announced that it is releasing a patch for its games that are available on the iPhone to be available on the iPad. I Love Katamari will be one of these games. [1]
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Katamari Damacy is a video game series. In the original, the King of All Cosmos had the vast majority of the dialogue. However, in the sequel, We ♥ Katamari, many fans of the King of All Cosmos get to say additional things.
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These descriptions of items that are picked up by the katamari are apparently the King of All Cosmos' explanations of them to the Prince.
This page is a stub. Help us expand it, and you get a cookie.
| Katamari Damacy | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| System(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Rating(s) | |
| Series | Katamari Damacy |
Katamari Damacy has you controlling the Prince of the Universe. Your father has destroyed all the stars in the sky and you have to get things back to normal by rolling gigantic balls to replace them. You start off with a ball of a certain size, and there is a target size that must be reached in a time limit. Special levels have different objectives, like collecting a number of a certain object or collecting the largest of a certain object.
editKatamari Damacy series
Katamari Damacy · We ♥ Katamari · Me & My Katamari · Katamari Damacy Mobile · Beautiful Katamari · I Love Katamari · Korogashi Puzzle Katamari Damacy · Katamari Forever
| Katamari Damacy | |
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Designer(s) | Keita Takahashi |
| Release date | March 18, 2004 (JP) September 22, 2004 (NA) |
| Genre | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Versus |
| Age rating(s) | ESRB: E |
| Platform(s) | PS2 |
| Media | DVD |
| Input | Controller |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
Katamari Damacy (塊魂, Katamari Damashiii) is a video game designed by Keita Takahashi and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2, released in Japan on March 18, 2004 and the United States on September 22, 2004. The sequel, Minna daisuki Katamari Damacy (We Love Katamari), is due out in 2005 and will be released in the North America and Europe. A Nintendo DS version is also in development.
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Katamari means "clump", Damashii is the rendaku form of tamashii (soul or spirit). Therefore, the whole phrase approximates to "clump spirit". 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.
The King of All Cosmos got drunk one night and accidentally destroyed all the stars in the sky. He sends his son, the Prince (who is five centimeters tall), to Earth to gather material with which to reconstruct the stars, constellations, and ultimately the Moon.
To gather material, the Prince pushes around his katamari, a magical ball capable of sticking to anything smaller than itself that it rolls over or against. Initially, the katamari can only pick up tiny items such as loose change, thumbtacks, and ants. As it becomes covered with things, the larger clump can pick up larger items, such as fruit, milk cartons, small animals, children, cars, houses, stadiums, office buildings, and sperm whales. There are also Royal Presents hidden in the levels for the Prince to pick up, including a camera which can take photos.
The story is told mainly through cutscenes following each level. The scenes follow a mother and two children intent on watching the father, an astronaut, begin his trip to the Moon. During the game, the son seems to be the only one noticing the changes in the sky and the appearances of the King and the Prince; the daughter senses the changes in the constellations, reacting with joy when a new constellation is remade.
The game's graphical style is simple rather than realistic; the graphics have a blocky appearance that economizes polygons. The cutscenes are similarly styled, with everything composed of simple shapes, far from any kind of realism. The individual objects are low in detail to allow for a large number of things on the screen to be rendered quickly without slowdown or popup.
Katamari Damacy is a radical departure from traditional video game concepts: there is no attack button, there are no "special moves" to unlock as the game progresses, and there are no bosses, yet it also doesn't fall into the familiar mold of a "puzzle game" like Tetris. The katamari is moved entirely by the two analog joysticks in a manner similar to the classic arcade game Battlezone (both sticks up to go forward, both back to go backwards, one forward and the other back to turn, etc.).
The Prince pushes his katamari over smaller objects, picking them up and increasing the size of his katamari, which in turn allows him to grab larger objects. The difficulty of picking up each object is not directly related to mass or volume, but rather the object's height, width, depth, including the empty space within these dimensions. This sometimes defies common sense, as an open beach umbrella is more difficult to pick up than a small car. Long, narrow items, such as pencils, fences, and lampposts, are easily grabbed, even if the length of the object is significantly greater than the diameter of the katamari. This can make rolling awkward for the player as the object protrudes from the katamari.
There are three kinds of levels in the single player mode: "Make a Star", "Constellation", and "Eternal".
In Make a Star, the player is given a time limit (in minutes) and a goal (in centimeters or meters). The player must grow the katamari to the indicated size before time runs out (and, if successful, is allowed to continue growing the katamari until time runs out). At the end of the limit, the katamari, along with the objects attached to it, becomes a new star. The final level, Make the Moon, is played the same way. Unlockable rewards are given if the player can reach the goal size very quickly or grow the katamari to much larger than required.
In the Constellation levels, the goal is tailored to match the constellation given. Most levels are centered around collecting as many themed items as possible. For example, to recreate Cancer, the katamari must collect enough crabs. To recreate Virgo, the required item is "maidens"; any human female, from young girls to old women; even representations, like dolls and statues, will count. For Pisces the player must collect fish; for Gemini the player must collect identical pairs of items. Other Constellation levels have a more specific goal. To recreate Ursa Major, the player must find and grab the largest bear (real or fake) he or she can find. Rather than give the player the full alloted time, the level ends the moment the katamari grabs a compatible item. The player must keep the katamari away from tiny bears before it is big enough to grab a more substantial bear. Taurus has a similar goal, to catch a large cow.
There is a level to make the North Star, which is considered a constellation in the game. The player's goal in the level is to get the katamari to exactly 10 meters, with no time limit or size indicator. There is a bit of leeway, however, as the resulting katamari is only measured in meters and centimeters, not millimeters.
In the Eternal levels, there is no goal, and no time. The player is free to roam around the level getting as big as possible, until they decide to quit. There are only three Eternal levels available, and they must be unlocked by building a katamari much larger than the required size on Make a Star 4, Make a Star 8, and Make the Moon. The Eternals are nearly identical to the standard versions of the three levels, but they produce separate five-pointed stars in the sky.
There is a two-player game in Katamari Damacy. The screen is split vertically; player one is on the left, and player two is on the right. Both players compete at the same time in a small arena to collect the most objects within three minutes. The playfield is replenished with new objects periodically.
Katamari Damacy is an unusual game, and it was originally presumed that it would have limited appeal and this would prevent a release outside of Japan. However, due to its popularity at trade shows, and a write-in campaign, Namco decided to release it in the United States, though a European release is unlikely. Furthermore, to spur sales of the game, it was priced at only around US$20.00, less than half of what most new games are priced. The game was very well received by professional reviewers, and was mentioned and praised on Tech TV and in the popular gaming cartoon Penny Arcade. Most retailers underestimated the demand for such a quirky game, and only purchased a few copies- it rapidly sold out nationwide. Also, the game did not switch from the metric system for the release as opposed to measuring in inches and feet.
Katamari Damacy won the gold prize at the 2004 Japanese Industrial Design Promotion Awards, the first time a video game has won that award. Furthermore, it also won 9th place at PSM's Game of the Year Awards for 2004 and also:
| Katamari series |
|---|
| Katamari Damacy - We ♥ Katamari - Me and My Katamari - Beautiful Katamari |
| Characters: |
| Prince - The King of All Cosmos |
| Katamari Damacy | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Designer(s) | Keita Takahashi |
| Aspect ratio | 480i (SDTV) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | JP March 18, 2004 SK August 12, 2004 NA September 22, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Third-person puzzle-action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | CERO: All Ages KMRB: All Ages ESRB: E (Everyone) |
| Media | DVD (1) |
| Input methods | DualShock |
Katamari Damacy (塊魂 Katamari Damashii?, lit. "Clump Spirit") is a third person puzzle-action video game made by Namco for the PlayStation 2 game console. It's had many sequels, including We Love Katamari, Me & My Katamari, and Beautiful Katamari.
In the game, you play as a small human-like being, who is a prince. His father is the king of the cosmos. [1] In the beginning, the king destroys all of the stars in the galaxy without meaning to do so. He then asks his son to take a magic ball (the Katamari). The king then sends the prince to Earth. The ball can make things stick to it. The point of the game is to roll enough things onto the ball. Once this limit is reached, the Katamari is sent to the king for evaluation. If it is big enough, the ball will float into the air and turn into a star. [2]
The game got really good ratings. IGN rated the game 85.75% [3]. Gaming Age gave it a B+ [4]. GameSpot's review said that it was "far and away one of the strangest, most original games to come along in years" [5].
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