Beautiful Katamari - First Screens & Details

GamePro has the first screenshots and details on Beautiful Katamari for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Namco Bandai has officially confirmed that Beautiful Katamari, the next game in the Katamari series and first on the new generation of hardware, will release later this year for Xbox 360 and PS3, and that it will be a simultaneous launch in North America and Japan.

[eques judicii]

I'm surprised at home much Bandai Namco is supporting the Xbox 360. With Ace Combat, Eternal Sonata, Beautiful Katamari, Ridge Racer, pac-man, and the rumored naruto game...

i'm wondering, even though this is multiplatform, if it will move consoles in Japan... I mean, if its on two platforms and is the same game... would Japan really choose the more expensive platform?

[Tut]

I don't mean this as a jab towards the Xbox360 or anything because this is seemingly the general consensus, even though some people will probably still get irate but whatever.

Japanese consumers have primarily shown to favor quality over price when it comes to technology, and Sony is a very established name in terms of quality. How it turns out could be anyone's guess though.

I think Eternal Sonata will get the 360 some decent-to-good sales in Japan. How multi-platform titles will perform is far beyond my ability to make an assumption for, however.

[Xi]

I disagree, they show patriotism first and foremost, then they have they own taste. That should have been evident with the last gen, or the xbox would've won, as it was far more reliable, far more advanced than the ps2, as was the gamecube. And Sony quality its out right horrendous, other than the ps3(which hasn't been out long enough for it to start having problems) nearly all my sony related products have dies, broke, or blew up. Including a laptop, 100 dollar dj headphones, minidisk player, walkman, cd player, and ps2.

[ITR]

Katamari should come out for the Wii.
I guess Namco can't figure out the controls yet...
I would think you could just use it like it's used in Marble Mania.

[zonetrooper5]

This should help shift a few 360's in Japan, not that i would buy this game though.

[original seed]

I will buy this game on my 360 on day one. Its very addicting and fun. I played the first two with my wife for hours. It was a quality game at a discount price. I believe it was 29.99 New. It will probably be 39.99 for next gen consoles. I would still buy it at full price.

[Armyless]

da dig diggy dig diggy dig diggy dig

[ps360]

is this game realy that good because it seems to have no story, substance, or complexity to it. it seems to be a one time play

[Armyless]

This is a game of scales, of size, and speed. You start very small sometimes, collecting buttons, erasers, thumbtacks and so on... Except that as you collect these smaller objects you grow in size and suddenly you're able to collect slightly bigger objects, pens, bottles, sandals. As you keep collecting with time slowly running down, you realise that the barriers that kept you confined within a certain "arena" of play can themselves be picked up and you're in a new, larger "arena". This game creates a playground scale on so many levels where you race to see how massive you can become, and what barriers you can overcome.

Without giving too much away, by the end of the game, in a 20 minute session, you will start with a dog sized katamari and scale your way up to the very island you started playing on, and entire continents... and worlds beyond.

Wildly fun, dangerously addictive, and through it all strangely hypnotic.