DSiWare to get Katamari, Mr Driller

By Robert Purchese Published 20 February, 2009

Due out next week in Japan.

Nintendo will be adding adaptations of Katamari Damacy and Mr. Driller to the Japanese DSiWare service soon.

That's according to Famitsu (read by Offworld), which also claims a WiiWare version of Mr. Driller will appear soon.

The Wii game will be called Mr. Driller World, be completely new and have 24 stages to chisel through. The DS version, catchily dubbed SekuttohamureruHoriHoriAction, will have 17 levels. Both will be out across Japan next week.

Katamari Damacy for DSiWare, meanwhile, will be a block-based affair and appear sometime in March.

Nintendo recently said the DSi will be released here on 3rd April, presumably with DSiWare store to match. The redesigned handheld, which features bigger screens, a built-in camera, on-board memory and memory card slot, will cost GBP 149.99.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (10) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • myiagros #1 3 years ago

    "Katamari Damacy for DSiWare, meanwhile, will be a block-based affair"

    Does not compute. That sounds worryingly like whoreing a franchise.

  • AceRadd #2 3 years ago

    If they're so intent on milking the franchise to death, I don't get why they can't make a whole DS Katamari game something like the end credits of the PSP one (think sidescrolling 8-bit Katamari).

  • schnide #3 3 years ago

    You might be able to get away with the controls on the DS if you really had to with the D-pad and the four buttons, but I doubt it.

    Either way, this seems like another case of Namco diverging even further from the original premise.

  • aine #4 3 years ago

    I reckon Katamari would be brilliant with the Pac'n Roll control scheme - two sticks arent mandatory for the enjoyment of the game. Dunno what exactly they mean by this "block-based" thing though. Apparently there was a Katamari game in development for the DS that was cancelled because it wasnt powerful enough to handle all the shit. maybe this is based on the remnants of that game, with all the regular objects replaced by blocks? or maybe its just a katamari based tetris clone.

  • Toothball #5 3 years ago

    It's really sad that Katamari has just become another franchise. We Love Katamari was the best possible sequel, despite seeming somewhat superfluous at first. I went as far as collecting a million roses in that. I don't think I'll ever play a Katamari game again.

  • penhalion #6 3 years ago

    This is irrelevant news given that DSiWare is region locked. It now doesn't matter what is released in either Japan or the USA on DSIWare because we in europe can neither download it nor play it.

  • Les #7 3 years ago

    "This is irrelevant news given that DSiWare is region locked. It now doesn't matter what is released in either Japan or the USA on DSIWare because we in europe can neither download it nor play it."

    There probably are people in Europe with imported Japanese DSis so for them it actually is relevant. Though they're likely to be a very small group. But besides, it's an indication of what kind of stuff might come this way once it's released over here. And gamers just love game announcements... ;)

  • aine #8 3 years ago

    anyway, bollocks to that, i just realised that everyone's been so caught up in the katamariness that no one mentioned mr. driller! i love mr. driller. i hope its something new and not just a half-arsed cut-down rehash of drill spirits.

  • penhalion #9 3 years ago

    @Les

    All it's going to do is remind people that Nintendo seem to be starting on a path of what can only be called self destruction. Sony made the PS3 region free and I suspect that Microsoft's next console will also go that route. Why then do I think that Nintendo are going to be pulling in the opposite direction.

    I have a Wii and already I'm looking at it like I did the gamecube before it died. It's all novelty and no actual fun games beyond the official Nintendo stuff and Zak and Wiki.

  • Les #10 3 years ago

    "I have a Wii and already I'm looking at it like I did the gamecube before it died. It's all novelty and no actual fun games beyond the official Nintendo stuff and Zak and Wiki."

    As it's basically the console of my girlfriend it's the least played in our household. But the time spent with it is more fun than any on PS3 (except maybe for Buzz and in the future SingStar once the wireless mics are available). Region lock is definitely a drawback but TBH I don't think 99% of Nintendo's audience is even aware of it. But if Nintendo can keep innovating like it has the last couple of years, they have a bright future. Maybe not with the core gamer but that is a dying breed. While for years the platform holders (incl. Nintendo) tried to turn non-gamers into gamers, Nintendo finally realised that the path to success was in making non-gamers play games as but a part of a varied entertainment diet.