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• Trailer Review: Katamari Damacy Tribute

  Keita Takahashi made the right move in separating himself from Katamari Damacy. More of a good thing isn’t always what the world needs. Game sequels are, in principle, about improving on a solid foundation, molding an imperfect idea into something that is greater than its predecessor. Katamari Damacy was pretty much perfect on the first try and Takahashi knew that trying to bottle that lightning in a follow-up would end in failure. He did end up working on the first sequel, We Love Katamari, but he did it for the fans, not because he thought he could make a better game. Namco went ahead and made two more Takahashi-less Katamari games. They were not what you’d call great. Katamari Damacy Tribute, however, looks very promising. Read More... Posted Mar 31 2009, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, katamari damacy, namco, keita takahashi, noby noby boy, we love katamari, katamari damacy tribute

• Alternate Soundtrack: Noby Noby Boy vs. Daft Punk

  As John previously mentioned, Spring is in the air here in New York. Coats and coffee have been replaced by t-shirts and...well... some people still have coffee. I've been rocking the cranberry juice myself. With all of this new life in the air, I find myself returning to my summer lover, Alternate Soundtrack, and where better to begin than with Bandai Namco's newest Springtime insta-classic, Noby Noby Boy. As I'm sure you know, because you're all just that well-informed, oh wonderful 61fpsers, Keita Takahashi's Noby Noby Boy is a game all about relaxed play. In fact, the game's title is a pun on the japanese words for "loose" and "stretch," much like how the original Katamari Damacy was a visual pun in that the two kanji were nearly identical, but I digress. While Katamari was notorious for its ridiculously catchy and enthralling soundtrack, Noby's is much more subdued. Introductory tuba and bells clear the path for sedate acoustic guitar plucking. That's about it. Thankfully, Noby uses just about every feature of the PS3's Cross Media Browser, including the ability to play music from the hard drive, allowing you to make your own soundtrack with incredible ease. I found that the game works wonderfully with Daft Punk's Discovery. Read More... Posted Mar 10 2009, 10:00 AM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: playstation 3, alternate soundtrack, derrick sanskrit, daft punk, psn, namco bandai, keita takahashi, noby noby boy, spring

• Multi Multi Boy?

  A new "daydream" appeared on the official Noby Noby Boy website over the weekend. It's presented as a sort of comic strip and labelled "#1", implying there might be more of these to come. That's not actually all that interesting, though. What's interesting is the contents of this "daydream", which I've made into the animated gif seen below. Might this be a hint at a Noby Noby Boy update in the near future? Read More... Posted Mar 02 2009, 04:30 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: playstation 3, derrick sanskrit, katamari damacy, multiplayer, noby noby boy

• The 61FPS Review: Noby Noby Boy—Part 2

  Over the weekend, I spent half an hour tying my body around a cloud. I’m not really sure why I did it, and I’m not particularly convinced I enjoyed it. Something inside me told me to do it, and after a fashion I succeeded. And then I played Noby Noby Boy for a few more hours. And when I put down the controller I came to a realization: this is not something that can actually be reviewed. Let me be clear: I am not the sort of person that believes that reviews should not have scores or grades at the end. I believe that most games are built with specific goals in mind, and that the value of those goals and how successful the game was in achieving those goals can be measured in a relatively standard way. It’s not objective, and there are exceptional games that bring trouble to the grading system, which is why you see so much hand wringing about review scores (note: that hand wringing is also valuable—it keeps scoring models contemporary and reviewers on their toes). It’s the same thing that happens at almost any school. Noby Noby Boy is one of those exceptional outliers. There’s no implied contract here: you’re not trading $60 for the promise of a solid genre entry that meets all the bullet points and marketing hype. Noby Noby is $5, with the marketing hype being that it is “inexplicable” and the bullet points being “relax” and “have fun”. Without any expectations, it can’t be said that Noby Noby Boy is a failure. But can it also be said that it is a success? Read More... Posted Feb 23 2009, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: review, 61fps review, katamari damacy, psn, ps3, joe keiser, noby noby boy

• The 61FPS Review: Noby Noby Boy – Part One

  So, Noby Noby Boy. Noby Noby Noby Noby Boy. Hoo, boy. Where to begin with this one? Okay, so you know how the PlayStation Network Store has a sort of “poetry bar” section? You know, those little arthouse games that are all about music or movement, where there’s absolutely no sweaty biceps and no casting of firaga? Most people either love those titles for their innovation and high-mindedness, or hate them for their stark simplicity and liberal college pretentiousness. Noby Noby Boy could well be the most polarizing of those titles. It’s the least game-like of all the games on the PlayStation Network Store (unless you count Aquatopia as a game, which unless you are a cat you probably should not). It’s not just that there are no goals. There’s no progression, at least not any you can make significant strides towards. Controls are floppy and obtuse. Graphically, it’s on par with a CG animation demo from the early 1980s. On the other hand, it could become the only game in this loose “genre” that is uniformly beloved. The art style is undeniably charming and completely unintimidating. And because at first glance the game doesn’t seem to have any sort of message, it can’t bludgeon the player over the head with any sort of message. Do you see why this is so difficult? Read More... Posted Feb 20 2009, 01:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: 61fps review, katamari damacy, playstation network, joe keiser, keita takahashi, noby noby boy