Katamari Damacy
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	Keita Takahashi
Aspect ratio	480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date	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. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video is an amusement company based in Japan, best known overseas for Video games development is an amusement company based in Japan, best known overseas for Video games development A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer Keita Takahashi (高橋 慶太 is a game director his most notable titles being Katamari Damacy and its sequel We Love Katamari. The aspect ratio of a Shape is the ratio of its longer Dimension to its shorter dimension 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode The i, which is sometimes uppercase stands for Interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction In video gaming, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of Video games into suitability-related groups The ( CERO) is the Organization that rates video games and Computer Software in Japan with levels of rating that informs the customer The Korea Media Rating Board (KMRB was a ratings organization in South Korea. The Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, Advertising guidelines and Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is The DualShock (officially DUALSHOCK and occasionally referred to as Dual Shock) is a line of vibration-feedback "Clump Spirit") is a third-person puzzle-action video game that is published and developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. is an amusement company based in Japan, best known overseas for Video games development It was first released in Japan on March 18, 2004, and was later released in South Korea on August 12, 2004, and in North America on September 2, 2004. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations and Moon, which his father, the King of All Cosmos, has accidentally destroyed. A star is a massive luminous ball of plasma. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the Energy on Earth In common usage a constellation is a group of celestial bodies that are connected together in some arrangement typically stars to form a visible figure or picture This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly larger objects, ranging from thumbtacks to schoolchildren to mountains, until the ball has grown large enough to become a star. Glue or adhesive is a compound that adheres or bonds two items together The game falls under both the puzzle and action game genres, since strategy as well as dexterity are needed to complete a mission, but the game is fundamentally peaceful and somewhat meditative. Puzzle video games are a genre of Video games that emphasize Puzzle solving An action game is a game that challenges a player's speed dexterity and reaction time

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.

Contents 1 Name 2 Story 2.1 Characters 3 Gameplay 3.1 Controls 3.2 Game modes 3.3 Areas 4 Soundtrack 5 Reception and awards 6 Sequels 7 References 8 External links

Name

In Japanese, Katamari (塊, Katamari^?) means "clump" or "clod" and Damashii is the rendaku form of tamashii (魂, tamashii^?) which means "soul" or "spirit". is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities is a phenomenon in Japanese Morphophonology which governs the voicing of the initial Consonant of the non-initial portion of a compound or prefixed word 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). is a historically and culturally Loaded word in the Japanese language. The two kanji that form the name look nearly identical (sharing the same right-side radical) in a kind of visual alliteration. are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana This disambiguation page differentiates the various historical uses of the term radical in the context of Chinese characters Alliteration is the repetition of the first Consonant sound in a phrase The name is officially transliterated as Katamari Damacy in most releases. Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice In an interview with Dengeki Online, producer Keita Takahashi said when asked about the title, "It just popped into my head suddenly, and this is what it has been from the beginning. Keita Takahashi (高橋 慶太 is a game director his most notable titles being Katamari Damacy and its sequel We Love Katamari. "^[1]

Story

The plot of Katamari Damacy is very simple, with few deviations from the singular goal specified near the game's start. Although occasional cut scenes progress the plotlines, most of the game's dialogue comes in the form of instructions and insults given by the King of All Cosmos that are focused more on gameplay tips and humor than on directly developing the story.

The many quirks and idiosyncrasies of the game are left unexplained to the player in the plot. These unusual characteristics are somewhat reminiscent of the early days of computer gaming; Katamari Damacy evokes the type of gaming philosophy common to such early titles as Spindizzy, Pac-Man or Jet Set Willy, where, due to memory restrictions, plot and characterization were typically neglected in favor of gameplay. Spindizzy is an isometric computer Puzzle game released for several 8-bit formats in 1986 by Electric Dreams Software. is an Arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution Jet Set Willy is a Computer game originally written for the ZX Spectrum Home computer.

The King of All Cosmos accidentally destroys all the stars in the sky while drunk. A star is a massive luminous ball of plasma. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the Energy on Earth Drunkenness or inebriation is the state of being intoxicated by consumption of Alcoholic beverages to a degree that mental and physical faculties are noticeably The original Japanese release explicitly states that he was drunk, but the US release only mentions that he cannot remember what happened clearly and passed out afterwards. He sends his son, the Prince (who is five centimeters tall), to Earth to gather material with which to reconstruct the galaxy. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001

To gather this material, the Prince is given a katamari, a magical ball resembling a Bumble Ball^[2] that will stick to any object it touches of a size no larger than its own (which includes anything it has gathered). The Bumble Ball is a motorized children's toy made by Ertl toys. The Prince then pushes the katamari around various locations and attempts to make it large enough to serve as a replacement star. Initially, the katamari can only pick up tiny items, such as loose change, thumbtacks, and ants. As it accumulates a shell of objects, its overall size grows, allowing it to pick up increasingly larger items such as fruit, cartons, animals, children, cars, houses, stadia, and eventually entire islands.

In addition, a parallel storyline develops throughout the game showing the effects of the game's missions on the people of Earth. It is told entirely through cut scenes that follow each level, and focuses on the Hoshino family. A cut scene is a sequence in a Video game over which the player has little or no control often breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot present The family is intent on watching the astronaut father Tomio begin his trip to the Moon. An astronaut or cosmonaut (космона́вт) is a person trained In the end, Tomio's mission is called off because there is no Moon to which to travel. The final mission of the game, "Make the Moon", requires the rolling up of many or all of the objects on Earth, including the hapless family, Tomio's rocket, and, ultimately, the island on which the rocket was located. Following this, the Moon is recreated, and in the final cutscene, the entire family is seen on the Moon.

Characters

The King of All Cosmos: The reigning monarch of the entire universe, who has just accidentally destroyed all of the stars in the sky. He opens every level by giving the Prince the size goal and time limits of that level, and later judges the size of the finished katamari and the speed at which the goal was reached. He will also appear occasionally during gameplay to comment on the Prince's progress or the unusual objects being gathered. The King is at least three kilometers tall (although it has been described that his size changes depending on atmospheric pressure and his mood) and generally has a jovial, carefree attitude, but he is also very demanding of the Prince and insults him frequently. If the Prince fails to meet the goal for a level, he finds himself facing a very displeased and disappointed King. The audio for his speech consists of DJ-like record scratching. Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer. "Scratching" is also a Present participle of " Scratch " and may also refer to a form of street art Scratching Another of his quirks is his usage of the "royal we" in the English version and the use of spelling words mostly in katakana in the Japanese version. The majestic plural ( pluralis majestatis in Latin) is the use of a Plural Pronoun to refer to a single person holding a high office such as is a Japanese Syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with Hiragana, Kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet

The Prince: The character controlled throughout the game, whose task it is to roll up objects with the katamari to fill the sky back up. He has no spoken dialogue. The Prince is said to be five centimeters tall by the King, although at the end of the game, the King claims that he has actually grown two centimeters.

The Queen of All Cosmos: She is rarely seen, and is only visible in the opening and ending sequences of the game. She has no spoken dialogue, and is always seen by the King's side. She is shorter than the King, but still towers over the tiny Prince.

Cousins: The Prince has 50 cousins, according to all the games. The cousins are found in levels and can be rolled up like people and other objects if the katamari is of the proper size. The cousins can participate in missions, they also can be used in multiplayer mode after they have been rolled up in single-player missions. The cousins vary widely in appearance and size. Eight of the cousins are female, and the other fifteen are male. The King of All Cosmos finds their strange shapes and dispositions "disturbing".

Hoshino family: A seemingly ordinary family that is followed in a plot parallel to the main one. The son, Mutsuo, seems to be the only one noticing most of the strange events that occur. He actually sees the katamari rolling in one of the cutscenes, and sees the King of All Cosmos in another. The daughter, Michiru, senses changes in the cosmos, and reacts with joy after each of the constellation levels. Her messages after these levels are often unusual, cryptic references to the constellation in question. The mother, Mizue, never sees the effects of the katamari, and tells her children to stop imagining things when Mutsuo tries to point them out. The father, Tomio, is an astronaut whose mission to visit the moon is canceled due to the absence of the moon and stars.

Gameplay

When the game begins, Prince is on the surface of a small planet called Home Planet. On the Home Planet, Prince can check his collection (an inventory of all of the items that he has rolled up), view the constellations that he has created, view and decide to wear one of the presents that he has collected, save, and change sound or vibration settings. When he leaves the Home Planet for Earth, the Prince can begin actual gameplay. The prince can also go to the Space Mushroom to view the cousins that he has collected and play in multiplayer mode.

The player steers their katamari around a three-dimensional game world populated with many everyday objects. Rolling over smaller items causes them to stick to the katamari, increasing its size and allowing the player to collect larger objects.

When the katamari grows to certain target sizes, which differ in each level, the screen blurs for a few seconds and the player's perspective changes slightly. The world and its objects become smaller in relation to the katamari, making the objects slightly easier to pick up, but with less of an effect on the size of the katamari. In addition, any objects that have become too small to affect the size of the katamari disappear from the world.

The difficulty of picking up each object is not directly related to mass or volume; every object has a threshold value indicating that once a katamari is the same size or larger than that value, it can be rolled up. These threshold values are not determined by the size or weight of the object, but rather the volume of its bounding box, an invisible box that barely contains the object. For code compliance see Bounding. In Computer graphics and Computational geometry, a bounding volume This sometimes defies common sense, as an open beach umbrella is more difficult to pick up than a small car. Another striking example of this anomaly is that of a manhole cover and a small dog: the small dog actually has a threshold value six millimeters larger than that of the manhole cover. 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. The protruding object will briefly lift the katamari off the ground when it is rolled over until it is knocked off, or until more objects are accumulated to counter the imbalance.

The game's graphical style is more simplistic than realistic; the graphics have a blocky appearance that saves CPU time by using fewer polygons. Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation Polygons are used in Computer graphics to compose images that are three-dimensional in appearance The cut scenes are similarly styled, with everything composed of simple shapes, comparable to Lego or Kubrick toys in appearance. Lego, officially trademarked LEGO, is a line of construction Toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately is a line of collectible Block-style figures and associated products created by Japanese toy company MediCom Toy Inc The individual objects have few details, allowing for a large number of things to be efficiently rendered on the screen without slowdown or popup. This includes the objects attached to the katamari, all of which are constantly rendered.

The abstract nature of Katamari Damacy represents a departure from recently popular video game genres, but precursors to its style of play can be seen in earlier games such as Namco's Phozon arcade game. See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction Phozon (フォゾン is an Arcade game that was released in by Namco in 1983 only in Japan.

Controls

The katamari is moved using the two analog joysticks in a manner similar to the classic arcade game Battlezone. An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature (variable of the signal is a representation of some other A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in businesses such as Restaurants Pubs Video arcades and Family Entertainment

The control is very similar to driving a tank, where the left thumbstick controls the left tread independently of the right thumbstick and tread. Thus, pushing both joysticks the same direction will move the katamari in that direction, while opposite directions will cause it to spin.

A few additional movement controls are tied to the analog joysticks, such as building up speed for a quick dash, or hopping over the katamari to quickly turn 180 degrees.

Using the L1 button gives free view of the room while R1 makes the prince jump in the air to gain a birds eye view.

Game modes

There are three kinds of levels in Katamari Damacy's 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). A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International The katamari must grow to the indicated size before time runs out. Whether or not the player is successful, play continues until the time limit has been reached. At the end of the limit, if the target size is reached, the katamari, along with the objects attached to it, becomes a new star. The larger the katamari, the larger the star in the sky. 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 make the katamari much larger than required.

In addition to the major goals of each level, there are some other prizes that can be acquired. Hidden throughout the levels are a total of 15 presents from the King of All Cosmos. If the player rolls a present into the katamari and keeps it until the end of the level, the Prince is rewarded with an accessory that he can equip. One of these is a camera, which can be used to take screenshots during gameplay; the rest are simply decoration. Other prizes that can be found on a number of levels include the Prince's cousins, which are playable in multiplayer mode.

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. Cancer ( Crab, symbol, Unicode ♋ is one of the twelve Constellations of the Zodiac. Crabs are decapod Crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (βραχύ / brachy To recreate Virgo, the required item is "maidens"—any human female, from young girls to old women, and even representations, like dolls and statues, will count. Virgo ( Virgin, symbol, Unicode ♍ is a Constellation of the Zodiac. For Pisces, the player must collect fish; for Gemini the player must collect identical pairs of items. Pisces (ˈpaɪsiːz Fish (plural symbol, Unicode ♓ is a Zodiac Constellation which lies between Aquarius to the west and Aries Gemini (ˈgɛmɪnaɪ Twins, symbol, Unicode ♊ is one of the Constellations of the Zodiac known as "the twins" There is only a certain number of these items in each constellation level, and there is also a time limit, usually more strict than that of the other missions. The player's katamari is judged on the percentage of the desired objects the player rolled up out of all of the objects of that type available. The higher the percentage, the brighter the constellation.

Other Constellation levels have more specific goals. To recreate Ursa Major, the player must find and grab the largest bear (real or fake) they can find. Ursa Major ( is a Constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere In addition to having a time limit, the level will end if the katamari picks up 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. Taurus (it looks like a bull (ˈtɔrəs bull, symbol, Unicode ♉ is one of the Constellations of the Zodiac. Note that for most of the Constellation levels, the type of item that qualifies is rather loosely defined, applying to almost anything that resembles the goal—for example, a man in a bear suit counts for the Ursa Major level, and anything with a cow-pattern print on it counts for the Taurus level, even pylons and boxes. This was carried over to the second game's Cowbear level. We Love Katamari (or We ♥ Katamari, known in Japan as is a Video game published by Namco for the PlayStation

There is also a level to make the North Star, which is considered a constellation in the game. The North Star is the prominent Pole star that lies closest in the sky to the north celestial pole and which appears (approximately directly overhead to The player's goal in the level is to get the katamari to exactly 10 meters, or as close to it as possible, with no size indicator to show how large the katamari is at any point. 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 limit. 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 Eternal levels are nearly identical to the standard versions of the three levels, but they produce separate five-pointed stars in the sky, instead of the more rounded stars produced by the Make a Star levels.

During the final credits, the player can roll around the Earth and attempt to pick up as many countries as possible. Smaller countries must be picked up before the largest can be picked up. The "country" mini-game can be accessed after finishing the game and the King will comment after playing on how many of the 195 countries you managed to collect, but this is simply a minigame which does not affect the primary maximum size statistic.

There is a two-player game in Katamari Damacy. A player can pick either the Prince or one of his numerous cousins to play as. The screen is split vertically; player one is on the left, and player two is on the right. Split screen is a display technique in Computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts typically two or four rectangular Both players compete simultaneously in a small arena to collect the most objects within three minutes. The playfield is replenished with new objects periodically. In addition, if one player leads by a fair amount, they can even collect their opponent and the opponent's katamari.

Areas

The game takes place in one of three types of areas, each of them used in multiple missions. In some missions, only certain parts of an area are accessible, but in others the entire area can be explored. Although the three area types maintain the same scenery and layout, placement of the objects to be rolled up by the katamari differs between missions.

• House: The house is the area where the first missions, with a katamari size up to about 1. 30 meters, are played. It is simply a small, traditional Japanese house with a kitchen, dining area, bedroom, entry hall (genkan), bathroom, and a small attached yard. There are two styles of Toilets commonly found in Japan. The oldest type is a simple Squat toilet, which is still common in public conveniences. Also included are the streets in the immediate neighborhood. The roof of the house can be accessed, but with difficulty.
• Town: The town is the area where missions involving katamari between 30. 0 centimeters and 25. 5 meters take place. The town consists of an upper section of densely packed homes centered around a very small park. In the center of the park is a sandbox, and down the hill from this area is a shopping district and a large park area with a lake. The shopping district has several small farm fields and a river running through it. The area around the lake has more fields and a baseball field as well.
• World: This is the largest area in the game. It is used for katamari sizes larger than thirty meters. The world includes many cities, islands and other towns. The katamari starts off in a small park area, but usually outgrows this locale very quickly.

Soundtrack

Main article: Katamari Fortissimo Damacy

The music in Katamari Damacy was widely hailed as imaginative and original (winning both IGN's^[3] and GameSpot's^[4] "Soundtrack of the Year 2004" awards), and was considered one of its best features. is the Soundtrack to the Video game Katamari Damacy. The music in the game was widely hailed as imaginative and original and was considered one of IGN (abbreviated and formerly known as I magine G ames N etwork is a multimedia news and reviews Website that focuses heavily on Video GameSpot is a video gaming Website that provides News, Reviews Previews Downloads and other information The soundtrack was released in Japan as Katamari Fortissimo Damashii. is the Soundtrack to the Video game Katamari Damacy. The music in the game was widely hailed as imaginative and original and was considered one of Its eclectic composition featured elements of traditional electronic video game music, as well as heavy jazz and samba influences (Shibuya-kei). is a sub-genre of Japanese pop music which originated in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Most of the tracks were composed by Yu Miyake, and many of the tracks feature vocals from popular J-pop singers such as Yui Asaka from the Sukeban Deka 3 TV series, a vocal sung and written by Charlie Kosei, composer of the Lupin III soundtrack, and anime voice actors, including Nobue Matsubara and Ado Mizumori. J-pop is an abbreviation of Japanese pop. It refers to Japanese popular musicians and was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese musicians from foreign musicians Yui Asaka (浅香唯 (born 4 December 1969 is a Japanese actress and J-Pop singer is a Manga series written and illustrated by Shinji Wada. The series follows a delinquent schoolgirl (" Sukeban " who is taken in by the government is a Jazz musician and performer from Japan most known for his contributions to the soundtracks of the Lupin III anime series is a Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the Pen name of " Monkey Punch " (anime in Japanese, Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters (including those in feature films television series animated shorts and Video games) and

Reception and awards

Katamari Damacy is an unusual game,^[5] and it was originally believed that it would have limited appeal, preventing a release outside of Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Indeed, even in Japan the game was only a moderate success, with 155,869 units sold in 2004 despite its low price tag of ¥4725,^[6] about two thirds the price of a regular PS2 game.

Katamari Damacy was first shown in the United States at the Experimental Gameplay Workshop during the March 2004 Game Developers Conference. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Game Developers Conference ( GDC) is the largest annual gathering of professional Video game developers focusing on learning inspiration and networking Due to the popularity of Katamari Damacy at trade shows and a write-in campaign, Namco decided to release the game in the United States. Furthermore, to spur sales of the game, it was priced at only around US$20. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 00, less than half the usual price of a new game. The game was very well-received by professional reviewers, was mentioned and praised on TechTV, and was a featured sidebar in the May 23rd edition of Time magazine. TechTV ( May 11, 1998 &ndash May 28, 2004) was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Time continued to praise the game in its November 22 "Best games of the year" special, calling it "the most unusual and original game to hit PlayStation2". ^[7] 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, its sales passing the 120,000 units mark in North America. A sleeper hit (often simply called a "sleeper" refers to a Film, Book, single, Album, TV show, or Video game ^[8]

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. The Good Design Award (グッドデザイン賞 is Japanese comprehensive design evaluation and commendation system operated by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO ^[9] It also won the U. S. award for "Excellence in Game Design" at the 2005 Game Developers Choice Awards,^[10] and G4techTV awarded Katamari Damacy its "Best Innovation" prize in its G-Phoria of that year. The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually hosted by the Game Developers Conference and presented by the International Game Developers Association for outstanding G4techTV ( May 28, 2004 &ndash February 15, 2005) was a cable and satellite channel resulting from a Logo gphoria biggif|frame|G-Phoria 2004 logo]] G-Phoria is an annual Video game awards show started in 2003 and produced by G4. ^[11]

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. Electronic Gaming Monthly (often abbreviated to EGM) is an American Video game magazine. "^[12]

As a well-executed, non-traditional game, Katamari Damacy has been influential in the game development community. Now, more than three years after its release, a number of designers have developed works inspired by Katamari: among them Isostar, The Wonderful End of the World, and Cloud. Cloud, also known as That Cloud Game or Cloud The Game, is a third-person Computer puzzle game, designed by Jenova Chen

The original game did not get a release 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^[13] and Me & My Katamari,^[14] for release in Europe. We Love Katamari (or We ♥ Katamari, known in Japan as is a Video game published by Namco for the PlayStation is a Video game on the PSP platform It is the third game in the Katamari Damacy series the first game on a portable system and the first

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor James Paul Gee has stated that he believes that Katamari Damacy is one of, if not the, most beneficial games released in terms of how it helps brain development. ^[15]

The creator of the cartoon Chowder, C.H. Greenblatt, says he's a "Katamari" fan, and pays homage to the series in the episode "Grubble Gum", which also includes a remixed version of Katamari Damacy's opening theme. Chowder is an American animated television series that debuted on Cartoon Network on November 2 2007 Carl H Greenblatt (born June 17 1972 is an American cartoon Writer and Storyboard artist.

The lost episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy ('May I Have This Ed') also contains what may be a Katamari Damacy reference, when Rolf's round, green pufferfish suit begins adhering to the children, the floor, and eventually peels away so much of the school that the school collapses in on itself.

Sequels

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. A sequel is a work in Literature, Film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work We Love Katamari (or We ♥ Katamari, known in Japan as is a Video game published by Namco for the PlayStation Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Target Corporation ( is an American Retailing company that was founded in Minneapolis Minnesota in 1902 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. Also, 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. Self-reference is a phenomenon in natural or Formal languages consisting of a sentence or Formula referring to itself directly or Fans in Little Italyjpg|thumb|right|Fans in Little Italy Manhattan celebrating the victory of the Italian association football team after the 2006 FIFA World Cup]][[Image Wm-oly-de-cr

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). The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP) is a Handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. is a Video game on the PSP platform It is the third game in the Katamari Damacy series the first game on a portable system and the first The Japanese language is unusual among major Languages in the high degree to which the speech of women seen collectively differs from that of men 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. A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when

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. ^[16][17]

Beautiful Katamari was released for the Xbox 360 in October 2007. Beautiful Katamari, released in Japan as, is a video game by Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is the second Video game console produced by Microsoft, and was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS. ^[18] A PlayStation 3 version was announced but was cancelled shortly after. ^[19] Director Jun Morikawa stated however that a PS3-version, as well as a Wii-version will make it to those consoles 'soon'. ^[20]

References

External links

Official websites

• (Japanese) katamaridamacy.jp —
• (English) katamari.namco.com

Other websites

• Web Katamari, a 2D Flash game by Namco with Katamari Damacy's design, characters and basic premise
• Katamari Damacy at GameFAQs
• Katamari Damacy at MobyGames
• Katamari Damacy reviews at Game Rankings

Adobe Flash (previously called Shockwave Flash and Macromedia Flash) is a set of Multimedia software created by Macromedia and currently GameFAQs is a Website that hosts FAQs and Walkthroughs for Video games It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and MobyGames is a Website devoted to cataloging computer and video games, both past and present Game Rankings is a Website which keeps track of Video game reviews from other sites and combines them to present an average rating for each game

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