2004 is often the year I see the AAA gaming scene making its foothold and changing gaming from a nerdy hobby to mainstream media empire. Huge sequels everywhere, more in-your-face marketing than gamers could handle, $50 buy-ins every week, Halo 2, Metroid Prime 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The gaming world underwent some serious changes that year, and quirky releases that represented the days of old were short and far between…
And then Namco, sans Bandai back then, stepped in and released Katamari Damacy. The $19.99 oddball went on to become one of the most popular games of the year, even in the face of Half-Life 2 and its ilk, and publications even toppled Halo 2 during awards season, giving Katamari Damacy the "Best Soundtrack" category.
Several releases later, Katamari Damacy became the monster it originally stood out against: annual sequels, little improvement between titles, and that quirky sense of mystery gone. The last release on a traditional console was Touch My Katamari in 2011 on the PS Vita where fans reacted with a huge… "meh." The rest have been iOS and Android apps that barely made a dent in their markets.
As with any franchise though, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Katamari Damacy would be a welcome throwback at this point….
And with that, we have Katamari Damacy Reroll popping up in the European trademark system. No news or information just yet, but the title implies that we'll be back to scooping up everything from tea cozies to elderly grandmas in an attempt to remake the constellations once more.
The title also throws back to Dungeons & Dragons, implying that this is Katamari Damacy's second chance to get it right. I certainly hope that Bandai Namco does on traditional consoles. A quality Katamari Damacy game on the Switch is a dream come true!
We'll let you know when we know.
