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'Katamari Damacy Reroll' upgrades the original for HD
The original Katamari Damacy game is coming back, and this time it's in high definition. Katamari Damacy Reroll is a remastered version for the Switch and PC that's due in December 7th, complete with motion control via Joy-Con, HD Rumble support, and a two-player mode. The arrival of the game simply makes sense, as we argued the original Wii's motion controllers made it an ideal target for a port many years ago -- the Switch adds everything we'd hoped for and more.
'Wattam' is a wonderfully weird game about friendship
Keita Takahashi is an unusual video game designer. His breakout hit, Katamari Damacy, was about picking up objects with an increasingly large, sticky ball. He then made Noby Noby Boy, a game about a colorful, worm-like creature that can stretch around animals, houses and planets. Now, the artist is working on Wattam, a light-hearted puzzle game about a little green mayor and his quest to find a group of long-lost friends. It's a wonderfully weird experience that doesn't fall into any conventional game genre — and that's just fine by me.
'Katamari Damacy' creator's next game will be released in 2018
We noticed that Sony was taking a concerted step away from quirky indie games back at E3. One of the titles caught in the fray was Wattam, a charmer rom a few of the minds behind Katamari Damacy and Journey that made it debut at the first PlayStation Experience back in 2014. Sony's newfound reluctance toward indies left Funomena's debut title in a lurch, but PlayStation's loss is publisher Annapurna Interactive's gain. The game will drop is PlayStation 4 exclusivity and will be released next year on "console and PC."
Project Tango game 'Woorld' is here to make your life silly
This one is for all the Levovo Phab2 Pro owners out there. The Project Tango-powered augmented reality game Woorld is available today via the Google Play Store, just for Phab2 Pro people. Woorld comes from Keita Takahashi, the creator of eccentric classics Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, and it features a familiar brand of adorable, cartoonish characters and objects. However, since this is an AR game, everything is overlaid on the real world through the Phab2 Pro's screen.
'Woorld' makes a strong argument for weird Project Tango apps
It's not hard to see how Google's Project Tango can be utilitarian. Need directions through a crowded mall? Easy. Want to learn more about art installations as you wander through a museum? Done. What's easier to miss is just how weird things can get when you're holding a device that can sense the very environment around you, but Funomena's new Tango game Woorld serves as a pretty good reminder.
Katamari Damacy and Journey creators reveal new game, 'Wattam'
Did you play bizarre and charming PlayStation 2 game Katamari Damacy? If you did, you're familiar with the quirky stylings of Keita Takahashi, the game's creator. And how about Journey, the beautiful exploration game from thatgamecompany? If you did, you're familiar with Robin Hunicke, one of a small group of folks who created the gorgeous, unique experience. Now put those two artistic sensibilities together and you've got Funonema, the studio that both Hunicke and Takahashi now helm -- the duo revealed their first game today at PlayStation Experience in Las Vegas: "Wattam." What is Wattam? Your guess is as good as ours -- the brief bit shown had a personified cube trying on a variety of adorable hats. What we do know is that the game is headed to PlayStation 4 and we're willing to bet it'll be just as adorable and memorable as previous titles from Takahashi and Hunicke. We'll of course have much more from PlayStation Experience as the weekend rolls on!
Hands-on with Katamari Damacy creator's crazy 16-button game controller (video, update)
You don't often see a video game specifically designed for a 16-button bespoke controller and for a special one-time party, but that's exactly what Keita Takahashi has done with Tenya Wanya Teens. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Takahashi is responsible for the enormously popular game franchise that is Katamari Damacy along with cult favorite Noby Noby Boy. Teens is his first foray as an independent creator under Uvula, a studio he formed with his wife Asuka Sakai, and is a result of a collaboration with event organizers Wild Rumpus and video game website Venus Patrol. As for the party in question, it's one that is being held concurrently with the 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which is where we saw the controllers and the game in action. As you can see above, the controller looks a lot like a modified arcade stick. A hand-made effort by programmer George Buckenham, both boxes were built in about five days for around £200 ($302.50) each. According to Buckenham, the easiest part was assembling the electronics; it was the plywood housing that took him awhile to master. As for the game, Tenya Wanya Teens is a highly whimsical affair that is described as "a coming-of-age tale about love, hygiene, monsters and finding discarded erotic magazines in the woods." Tasks include peeing in the shower, punching monsters and taking on grizzly bears. %Gallery-184156%
Katamari creator to keynote UK's GameCity
Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi will give a keynote address at this year's GameCity festival in Nottingham, England. According to GI.biz, Takahashi will also be showing off his upcoming title Nobi Nobi Boy. Takahashi's keynote will take place Saturday, October 27. Festival participants include Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Freestyle Games, Travellers Tales, Free Radical Design, Mode 7 and Frontier; more details are expected shortly. The second annual GameCity festival will be held October 24 through 28 at Nottingham Trent University.
Nobi Nobi Boy: new PS3 game from Katamari creator
Should PS3 fans be sad about the loss of Katamari Damacy on their system? Not necessarily. Keita Takahashi – creator of the famed rolling series, ostensibly on a break from playground design – has just debuted a new game for the PS3: Nobi Nobi Boy. Considering "nobi" means "stretch" in Japanese, we can probably expect a game that does for stretching what Katamari did for rolling.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
New PS3 game by the developer of Katamari Damacy announced
At the PlayStation Premiere event in Tokyo today Namco Bandai announced a new game that is in development for the PS3. The game, titled Nobi Nobi Boy ("nobi" meaning "to stretch" in Japanese), is the brainchild of Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy. While there is no information about the game, there are a few pieces of artwork which can be seen at IGN. This is great news, as we've only just got over losing Katamari, so knowing that there is another game in the same vein being developed will help us get through these dark days. We're intrigued to find out more about this game and expect more details to become available relatively soon.
More fodder for the Katamari rumor fire
While there's still no official, announcement-style confirmation that Beautiful Katamari is coming to the Wii, we're tentatively jumping up and down with glee around the Wii Fanboy offices. The rumors have been glomming together into a beautiful, spherical whole, we're almost convinced that the King of All Cosmos will be decrying our lack of rolling skill this winter. Several sites are reporting that references to the Wii title are popping up everywhere -- most recently on GameFly, showing a release date in November. Blogosphere detectives also stumbled across a listing for Namco Museum Remix on the Wii, a title that seems somewhat superfluous considering we have the Virtual Console ... unless something special is done to update the collection. That's definitely something to watch.On the Katamari front, however, and we must stress this "however" quite strongly -- this latest "confirmation" could simply be a matter of GameFly picking up other rumors. We've seen retail slip-ups and placeholders spawn rumors before, and they often come to naught. But with so much buzz around it, we hope to hear something one way or another from Namco on the possibility of a Wii Katamari title. Creator Keita Takahashi hasn't hesitated to speak up before ... but perhaps the smashing success of the Wii has changed a few minds? We'll keep you posted.
GDC: A game worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize
What kind of game concept would be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize? That's the question GameLab CEO Eric Zimmerman posed to the group of developers competing at the third-annual Game Design Challenge.The winning concept (as judged by audience response), Peace Bomb, developed by Deus Ex lead designer Harvey Smith, would be a multiplayer game for the DS. Players would join together and trade resources, eventually leading to real world flash mobs — a crowd that assembles suddenly in a public space, performs a notable act, and then quickly disperses. It's Smith's hope that the Peace Bomb flash mobs would erupt around socially constructive movements, encouraging players to transform an entertaining game into an effective social project.
