Proof that We Love Katamari

By Nic Walker Published 3 February, 2006

Roll up the internet!

People like a lot of games. We enjoy picking them up, playing them, getting as far as our interest will take us and then putting them down again. But what constitutes a game that we love? What makes a game so compelling, so rich, that it develops a fanbase whose adulation of the title reaches far beyond the point where the controller is put back on the table and the game box back on the shelf?

For an obvious example, you could point to the Final Fantasy games, which have a volume of rabid fans that hints at the detail, number of characters and expansive plots that it's famous for. Notwithstanding the heavy merchandising of the games and their inhabitants, there's a lot of fan-created art, stories, costumes, role-plays. For an FF follower, there's plenty to extend the fantasy, whether it's with licensed merchandise or amateur, fan-made works.

But it's not just richness and complexity that drives a game's fans to creativity. Grand Theft Auto, which has sold tens of millions of copies and is as sprawling, deep and engaging a videogame experience as you could hope for, has inspired little other than the occasional parody. Meanwhile, Katamari Damacy, a quirky Japanese game with limited commercial success, is rapidly on its way to becoming a cultural icon. We love Katamari.

Here we have a game that rose to fame because you play a funny-looking member of the Cosmic Royal Family and push an improbably sticky ball around the world picking up objects, growing said ball to the extent that you can pick up, well, some more objects. The levels scale, your ball gets bigger. There's little storyline to speak of and before you know it you're rolling a ball the size of the moon around and picking up whole islands. Perhaps the key is that it's all over as quickly as it's begun, leaving you wanting more; not necessarily more of the game, but more of the music, the quirky idiosyncratic characters, the nonsensical dialogue. Aha.

Namco was always taking a chance when it released Katamari Damacy and presumably, to minimise the risks, decided not to go all-out merchandising the Prince and his cohorts. For a gamer who'd just finished the game, loved the whole thing and wanted to tell the whole world about Katamari, there was nothing. No stickers, badges, figures. Nothing. What's a rabid fan to do? Create merchandise? Well, that's what happened. The fanbase didn't leave it at merch, either. In fact, Katamari fandom took the Prince, his improbably sticky ball, the king and the cousins and remixed, mashed-up and spliced everything together in a million different ways. Food, clothing, figures, diorama, toys... If you can imagine it, it's probably been sketched out, built, rolled around a bit and spat out onto the internet, all Katamari-coloured. With We Love Katamari finally available in Europe this Friday, I've been stroking the game's sticky online chin.

1

For some reason, Katamari fans seem to love playing with their food. Just a foray into the tag-friendly world of Flickr reveals [Katamari cookies], at least [three] [different] [cakes], [halloween] [pumpkins] and [a sushi arrangement in the shape of the Prince], and that's just the stuff that's been made easy to search for; I'm sure this just represents the thin end of the wedge. I can imagine an enterprising chef about to cook up some Katamari gobstoppers in time for the next convention.

One of the voids people seem to have felt most acutely in Katamari World is the lack of clothing, because there's a scary amount of ad-hoc knitting going on out there. Panic.com had officially sanctioned, slightly atypical but muted T-shirt designs late last year, which received a mixed response, but before that Cafepress and ZeStuff had been selling unlicensed T-shirts by the truckload. The quality wasn't always fantastic ("Your Katamari is this big"?) but it didn't stop people buying them. Some of the best innovation came from the crafters out there: even Keita Takahashi himself has a Katamari hat designed and hand-knitted by Xiola via [her website]. There are also homemade [glass beads], [earrings] and a [giant crocheted blanket]. And then there's cosplay.

Boy, there's cosplay.

2

To understand this aspect, you have to understand that Katamari Damacy occupies a special place in the world. Caught somewhere between Japanese eccentricity and videogames, it's piqued the interest of a particular breed of dresser-up, and they've risen to the challenge of becoming a centimetre-high character with an admirable disregard for physics. Without a shadow of a doubt, the talent of this crowd was exemplified by a brilliant photographic post to Livejournal with the title ["Private Photoshoot of Liddo and Sarah's Katamari Fantasy Night"]. There's plenty of less aesthetically pleasing replications of the Prince and King, though. [Oh] [yes].

When I was at primary school we did a lot of arts and crafts. I made a fairly saggy-looking ashtray out of clay and gave it to my Dad who doesn't smoke. When I left to go to secondary school I stopped with the crafts. Some people evidently didn't stop, and thank goodness! It is these people, once written off as sad, lonely bastards who liked the smell of PVA glue who today have given us such a well-fed stream of katamari-related arts and crafts to play with. You can do this one at home, people. The [origami Prince] is your beginners' level. Print it out, get your Mummy or Daddy to cut it out for you and assemble into a lifelike representation of his holy smallness. Excellent! If you lack a printer, then nip down to the shop and get some tubs of playdoh. Employ digital camera and some creativity and [re-enact scenes from the game]. That's a whole afternoon lost, right there. If you're an Alpha crafter and you have some serious creative voodoo to burn, then hit up a Hobbycraft and make yourself a bigger katamari out of whatever you find. I have no idea what they used to [make this model], but it'd look lovely on my shelf. Presumably it was one of these types that was resposible for the [giant katamari] at E3 last year, which caused such a buzz that [secret phone pics] emerged before it was even unveiled.

3

Everyone understands that certain games stay with you long after you turn them off. There was an extended period years ago where I kept seeing little blue crates from Command & Conquer everywhere I went. I could be in the middle of a shop and my eye would be caught by a flash of turquoise - I was helpless to do anything but look. Katamari seems to have had the same effect on a broad scale, and now we have people photographing things for the sake of identifying "unintentional katamaris" - quite the internet phenomenon. When I was in Berlin a little over a year ago, a friend returned from a day out excitedly informing me that they'd found a giant katamari close to Checkpoint Charlie. [They were completely correct]. The first person to put a tiny model prince next to it and snap a photo wins my profound respect. Even more respect if they dress up as the Prince. Other sightings of real-life imitating art - ranging from spot-on to "dubious" - have come in the form of [Dilbert cartoons], [somebody's garden] and [something found on the shelves of an electronics shop].

Most of the Katamari fanworks have found their fame on the internet through social software like delicious, blogs, Flickr and LiveJournal. [Katamari graffiti] scrawled on a toilet wall, [mashups of Indiana Jones] and [Da Vinci], [Katamari chequebooks], a noisy but [virtually] [unlimited] [supply] [of] [YTMND] pages dedicated to the game, [a mock-up of an 80s text adventure], [more knitting], a [rather neat set of Animal Crossing patterns] in the shape of the Prince's head.

There's even one video born of Katamari fandom that I haven't managed to find yet, but it sounds superb. I'm reliably informed there exists a video of some kids making a real life katamari ball out of some kind of sticky material. They go on to unveil this marvellous thing to the camera and test it - whereupon they realise that things stuck to the katamari don't magically become sticky like they do in the game, and their disappointment is palpable and sphincter-clenchingly hilarious.

There are so many of these disparate little nods in the direction of Katamari on the internet that it's hard to think of any other game that measures up to its quality of output. And before you try to counter that point in your mind, make sure that whatever you're about to bring up can match the sheer absurdity of the Katamari porn I've witnessed while researching this. And if you think the incestuous, dimensionally dubious pairing of the King and Prince is bad enough, well, you clearly haven't witnessed the slash fiction.

Man, We Love Katamari.

We Love Katamari is released today on PS2 in Europe. See the game-page for reviews. The original game, Katamari Damacy, is available on import from the US or Japan and will not work on PAL PS2 consoles.

Comments (44) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Benjaminos #1 6 years ago

    I thought 'We Love Katamari' was cack, to be honest - you can tell the guy didn't really want to make it, it was just the same concept stretched a bit too thinly. No real innovations over the first, and the music wasn't as good.

    Katamari Damacy however, is awesome in every regard.

  • Cloudane #2 6 years ago

    I personally think Katamari is better than ALL of Nintendo's input for the GameCube.

    I Love Katamari too since I imported the original.

  • djchump #3 6 years ago

    Great links - really made me laugh :-D
    Thanks Nic Walker and EuroGamer!

    :-)

  • Psi #4 6 years ago

    Cloudane, you played donkey kong on the bongos?

  • Benjaminos #5 6 years ago

    I personally think Katamari is better than ALL of Nintendo's input for the GameCube.

    Nice troll. Not only is it wildly untrue and designed to provoke conflict, what possible relevance does Nintendo's output have on an unrelated PS2 title?

  • Viktor #6 6 years ago

    Brilliant article. Thank you, Eurogamer!

  • IAmBatman #7 6 years ago

    >Not only is it wildly untrue

    So he doesn't personally think that? Just as well you're here to keep him straight, eh?

    I don't know whether I love Katamari or not, but I do know that I hate its extremely vocal fans. Christ, it's only a game okay?

    Also, Nic Walker should be shot for using (or inventing) the term "merch".

  • reality_cheque #8 6 years ago

    Also, Nic Walker should be shot for using (or inventing) the term "merch".

    Maybe he reads Penny Arcade.

  • kdsh7 #9 6 years ago

    what a great read - cheers for that! More articles please!

  • JayScott #10 6 years ago

    As an Australian gamer who has not had the pleasure of actually playing a Katamari game yet but has been salivating (messy business) at the prospect, I have to say that the photos of Liddo and Sarah were spectacular. My housemates and I have had a great laugh, and now it has almost surpassed Colossus as my most wanted on the PS2 (no, we haven't got that over here yet either - oh the pain of living in a backwater prison outpost!).

    Oh, and anyone who suggests that the Nintendo's GC output has been poor is clearly confusing quantity for quality. But I agree with you Benjaminos, this is hardly the place for fanboy bloodletting.

  • Scientist #11 6 years ago

    "Nice troll."

    This from someone who starts the posts with "cack". How can the first one be awesome in every regard and the second one be cack if it's more of the same? Seems like your trolling or saying "Look at me I play import games."

  • Zero_ #12 6 years ago

    JayScott, I too am an Australian gamer, however, I modded my PS2 (Legal down here, nya nya nya nya nya) and imported We

  • erp #13 6 years ago

    me and some friends went to berlin last weekend and were thrilled when we also stumbled across the giant katamari ball. damn you eurogamer for beating me to posting a photo of it on here! (but hey, here's my photo anyway: http://www.thoughton.net/gallery/berlin_01-06/res_644010698 ). incidentally, we never did find out what it actually is - but then, hey, what else could it be?!?

  • Fozzie_bear #14 6 years ago

    Going to give this a rental over the weekend. I've read no end about it, i've hard all the pimpage in the forum. But it just sounds dull to me. And the screenies all look like amateurish crap. Sorry....

    Maybe i need to play it to understand it. Will give it a go anyway.

  • Carlo #15 6 years ago

    "have no idea what they used to [make this model]" Stylofoam. Painted afterwards.

  • JayScott #16 6 years ago

    Hey Zero. I'm jealous! I have often thought about getting my consoles modded, but I remember what I was like back in my Commodore 64 days (showing my age here!) when I'd get 100 games at a time (on delightfully flimsy 5 and a quarter inch floppy's), and the lack of respect I had for most of them (if they didn't grab me in the first 10 seconds - I'm not kidding, that's how bad I got!), so I decided I'd avoid the temptation and just buy games that really interested me so I would actually play the things and immerse myself in the experience (and get my money's worth).

    Still, the temptation to import Katamari and Colossus has been wearing me down...

  • Concept #17 6 years ago

    I enjoyed the sequel. Thought it was more balanced, varied and enjoyable compared to the original.

  • Floppy #18 6 years ago

    I took delivery of my copy today at work, and is in my bag. I never played the original, and hope all the recommendations are well founded.

    I hate EA (those who know me know why), but reluctantly thank them for being a conduit to giving this a UK release.

  • Benjaminos #19 6 years ago

    This from someone who starts the posts with "cack". How can the first one be awesome in every regard and the second one be cack if it's more of the same?

    Uh, for exactly that reason? The sequel is a case of 'Been there, done that, so what's new?'. 'I Love Katamari' doesn't add anything to the formula, it may as well be sold as a £20 expansion pack to the original.

    I'm sorry if the fact that I shelled out £10 for a copy of HDLoader makes you feel inferior - if you think people who play import games are somehow 'elite', then you're a touch behind the times in my opinion. In my experience, importing is now the norm (Animal Crossing for the GC and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! for the DS spring to mind).
    Edited by Benjaminos at 03/02/06 @ 14:04

  • Feanor #20 6 years ago

    "I thought 'We Love Katamari' was cack, to be honest - you can tell the guy didn't really want to make it, it was just the same concept stretched a bit too thinly. No real innovations over the first, and the music wasn't as good."

    Bizarre. The gameplay is exactly the same, because there was no reason to change it. And the small innovations like the campfire and racetrack levels are great. The music is a matter of taste but at least in WLK you can pick your song for each level, so you don't have to listen to any song you don't like. Everlasting Love, Bluffing Damacy, Baby Universe and the animal noise song (sunbaked Savannah) are all brilliant and as good as any song on the original.
    Edited by Feanor at 03/02/06 @ 14:10

  • Benjaminos #21 6 years ago

    I'd forgotten about the racetrack level, actually - I will make a small concession, in that case. The high-speed katamari rolling was pretty cool - oh, and the final level in WLK is better than the one in KD. But it still all felt a bit hackneyed by that point (merely my opinion, YMMV, etc).

  • Hog-lumps #22 6 years ago

    Everlasting Love, Bluffing Damacy, Baby Universe and the animal noise song (sunbaked Savannah) are all brilliant and as good as any song on the original.

    Out of interest, does it have any of the originals music in it, or are they all re-mixed/new songs?

    I thought 'We Love Katamari' was cack, to be honest

    Well for most of us, this will be the first time to experience Katamari. So although it's admittedly not as groundbreaking as the original it's still bloody relatively revolutionary in context. So to call it 'cack' is a tad unfair i think........

    (edit spelling)
    Edited by Hog-lumps at 03/02/06 @ 14:20

  • Benjaminos #23 6 years ago

    'relatively cack' then?

  • Scientist #24 6 years ago

    " 'relatively cack' then?"

    You said it best with "Been there, done that"
    ;-)

  • myiagros #25 6 years ago

    it's just a shame the EA have messed up again!! Many GAME and HMV stores have been left without stock until tuesday due to them recieving the game at their distribution centres to late for them to be delivered for today!!

    ARHHHH STUPID EA!! namco did the hard work making a great game, and it comes down to EA to ruin it.

    edit: spelling
    Edited by myiagros at 04/02/06 @ 22:34

  • Hog-lumps #26 6 years ago

    'relatively cack' then?

    Well, what I trying to say is that we're not all privelaged enough like you to have imported the orignal.

    So to me, the fact that it is so similar, is a GOOD thing!

    (i.e I wont be missing anything)
    Edited by Hog-lumps at 03/02/06 @ 14:33

  • Scientist #27 6 years ago

    "it's just a shame the EA have messed up again!! Many GAME and HMV stores have been left without stock until tuesday due to them recieving the game at their distribution centres to late for them to be delivered for today!!"


    Oops! Virgin Megastore at Piccadilly had a load, as does the HMV round the corner.
    (That's in London)

  • Zuiyo #28 6 years ago

    Do you reckon this will sell? Or is it going to be another PR hit?

  • IAmBatman #29 6 years ago

    > In my experience, importing is now the norm

    You don't talk to many normal people, do you?

    > ARHHHH STIPID EA!!

    Nerd rage transcends spelling.

  • Benjaminos #30 6 years ago

    You don't talk to many normal people, do you?

    I mean 'the norm' within the context of people who have a keen interest in gaming, and the majority of people *I* know who fall into that category import on a regular basis. With advents like HDLoader, Freeloader, the DS/PSP/GBA being region-free, I can't think of a decent argument *against* importing games.. you're only limiting your own horizons, frankly.

    If that's not how it is among the people you associate with, then congratulations, you have managed to prove me wrong. (On the internet! How prestigious). Like I said, 'in my experience' that's how it is.

  • Feanor #31 6 years ago

    "Out of interest, does it have any of the originals music in it, or are they all re-mixed/new songs?"

    Well, the music is new, but some of it is based on songs from the original if that makes sense. For instance, Disco Prince is done by the same people who did The Moon and the Prince song on the original, and has the chorus from that song in the background. And the animal noise song is based on various tunes from the first game but with the lyrics sung by animals.

  • Zuiyo #32 6 years ago

    Dude. Nobody says import is bad. I love import. But import is a minority. Veeeery small minority.

  • JDub #33 6 years ago

    Just tried to buy in four places around Brent Cross. All waiting for stock to come in - Some distributor error or something. Should've ordered it online... :*

  • Daryoon #34 6 years ago

    That Des Lynam mask I made has become infinately infamous D:

  • Tomo #35 6 years ago

    Nice article Nic.

    I haven't played any Katamari yet, but am eager to get We Love Katamari after I finish Psychonauts and Fahrenheit.

    Mini-hijack: Psychonauts really is incredible, the level design is phenomenal. Go buy it.

  • laur #36 6 years ago

    This wasn't available in 6 high street stores I visited today.

  • nicehobo #37 6 years ago

    Yeah the distribution is a bit odd..... HMV and GAME in Ealing never had any.Yet Gamestation about a mile down the road had it (which i snapped up rather quickly!) and Skill (An indie game shop practically opposite GAME) also had it..... but sold out due to the vast quantatity of dissapointed people leaving GAME i guess.

    None of this makes sense!!! Anyway its my birthday tomorrow so my presents are we love katamari and Ossu Tatake Ouedan! Crazy Japanese games for me!

    i think thats pretty bo!

  • Daikon #38 6 years ago

    While it lasts:
    Someone's selling homemade Katamari Damacy toys on Yahoo Japan:

    http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h33156074

  • MrGrumpy.au #39 6 years ago

    Isn't this being sold as a half price game in the UK? So even if it's not as good as the first Katamari Damarcy game it still would be worth it (assuming you've already had the luxury of playing the first game, which most people haven't).

    I guess we are lucky (for once) as here it's a half price game ($AU49.95 -> £21.25).

  • Daikon #40 6 years ago

    The second one is better ^_^

  • DDevil #41 6 years ago

    It must be noted that We Love Katamari is being sold as a FULL price title here in the UK. £37.99 in Gamestation and £29.99 on Play.

    I think it's worth it though :-)

  • Golgo #42 6 years ago

    Out of a sense of doom-laden perversion, I checked out my two local Games stores on Saturday to see if they were stocking it. Both confirmed that they wouldn't be ordering any in as it was too niche. I note also that the Game store online has it as 'sold out'. That's not the only thing...

  • captain-future #43 6 years ago

    all the hype from the first game led me to buy the game.

    man, I hate Katamari.

    the game is just not sooo special and gets fast boring IMHO. while I enjoy the unique sense of humour and like the quirky artwork, I just don't see why this game should be that good.

  • JDub #44 6 years ago

    After hunting around for a week, I finally got the last copy in Game/Brent Cross. I've never had so much trouble buying a game...