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Katamari Team Disbands 45

Posted by Zonk from the no-more-damacy dept.
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.
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Katamari Team Disbands More

Katamari Team Disbands

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  • This is terrible (Score:4, Funny)

    by CriminalNerd ( 882826 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @04:56PM (#14949174)
    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!
    • I know you probably just wanted to use the line about rolling the dev team into a katamari, but I have to say that I'm actually glad they won't be rehashing the game. One of the major reasons Katamari Damacy was so neat was that it actually had innovative gameplay and it'd be a shame to waste the talent behind it on remakes and sequels.
      • i read in an interview before the release of We Love Katamari that Takahashi Keita actually had to be roped into doing the sequel at all.. apparently it was only when he saw what namco had planned for the afforementioned sequel (a clone of the first, with a bunch of christmas graphics spliced in) that he got involved again. it IS a shame, though.. i could handle playing new levels of the same old katamari for YEARS to come.. :)
        • I doubt Namco actually intended to do that. I'm thinking it was deliberate blackmail. ;)

          Also, I imagine someone will make a Katamari clone at some point--it's a pretty simple concept, something of a cult hit, and all but begs to have a level editor...
    • If you like the Katamari games, you know, you can still keep playing the old ones! They don't have to make new ones for you to keep playing, you know!!

  • Great! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Zarxrax ( 652423 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @04:58PM (#14949178)
    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.
  • We *heart* Katamari
    You mean we ♥ Katamari!
    • Failing that, I do believe "We <3 Katamari" is the commonly-accepted substitute.

      Alternately, the Japanese title of "Minna Daisuki Katamari Damashii" or "Everyone Loves Katamari Damacy" should also be acceptable.
      • Smilies have gotten out of hand. I used to be able to decode a smily just by tilting my head. But what is a <3 or a o_o supposed to look like?
        • o_o == telephone
          3 == um, boobies?
        • Surely you jest? Or maybe have a very peculiar font.

          A o_o is a two eyes and a mouth, don't even have to turn your head. Horizontal emoticons of that variety are commonly used in Asia (and by Japan-fixated anime fans). <3 is, if you tilt your head in the opposite direction of a :) face, is clearly a heart, hence the "We < Katamari".
          • Thank you. It comes as no suprise to be told that I'm tilting in the wrong direction.

            But why on earth did o_o replace :). Less cute?

            • (*^o^*)

              kill me now...
            • Additional variety, I suppose...
              o_o = blank stare
              O_O = surprised?
              ô_o = raising an eyebrow, possibly
              o_O = confused-ish
              ò_ó = pissed
              ó_ò = sad or something
              >_< = $^#&^#$&*!!!!!
              ^.^' = typical us/japanese cartoon eyes with the ol' giant drop of.. sweat, I suppose

              And in addition, you can combine them with other characters for added personality ;)
              (>_<) = $^#&^#$&* CARTMAN!!!!!
              [-_-].zZ = sleeping
            • But why on earth did o_o replace :). Less cute?

              Well, ^_^ would actually be the replacement... the ^ representing anime style arch-shapped happy eyes, apparently. The o_o face is more of a blank stare, as someone else said. And it wasn't a matter of replacing so much as I don't think the :) style ever caught on in Japan (and wherever else the horizontal style is used). It's a cultural thing, don't worry about it. If you're really curious, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon [wikipedia.org] .

  • It's something that happens (Score:5, Funny)

    by 0racle ( 667029 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @05:04PM (#14949197)
    They'll be rolled into other departments.

  • Why the wailing and nashing of teeth? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by nweaver ( 113078 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @05:06PM (#14949209) Homepage
    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?
    • 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.
  • Whatever new project they get rolling on, I'm sure they'll have a ball.

  • Good. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by drwiii ( 434 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @05:18PM (#14949256) Homepage
    It was a good game, but now everyone can move onto creating the next big thing instead of trying to strangle the life out of a title from 2003.

    Who didn't see it coming, though? From one of the endings to "We Love Katamari": link [ytmnd.com]

  • Might be a good thing (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Y-Crate ( 540566 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @05:58PM (#14949450)
    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.

  • grrrrrrr... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nmaster64 ( 867033 ) on Saturday March 18, 2006 @07:34PM (#14949903)
    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.
  • 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.

  • Katamari Revolution (Score:2, Interesting)

    by saboola ( 655522 )
    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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