So, today Namco Bandai announced three of their Vita titles that will launch alongside the Vita when it comes out on February 22nd, 2012. Those three titles are, Ridge Racer(rrrrrrr), Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen (Which....is certainly a sub-title), and the above-mentioned Touch My Katamari. So named because it's going to fully implement usage of the touch panels on the Vita for you to be able to stretch your Katamari to go places that would be inaccessible otherwise, such as between cracks and...possibly under cracks? I don't know. I haven't really thought about it a lot; just that it's named that and that it has any bearing whatsoever on the gameplay itself seems valid enough to point out. The article says that it's also so your Katamari can gather more things at once, which makes sense, as if your Katamari is stretched wide, he'll be able to reach more things. I would assume (hope, even) that the downside to this would be a slower gait.
While I've never actually played a Katamari game, it's not for a lack of desire or interest, just that I've always felt I've had 'other' things to play than a game where you roll a ball around and pick up things with it to make it bigger. While I'm not going to suggest it's not a great game, because I don't know, the premise has always seemed just a little too simple for me to give more than a passing thought to. ....Which sounds wholly negative of me to say and not what I was going for at all. It's sort of like Nobi Nobi Boy (for good reason) in that, the game, the premise of it is quite simple and it's a blast to play, but when you're not playing it, you can only wonder why you would play it, if that makes sense.
The simple answer would be, basically, "Because it's fun", of course. But a lot of things are fun; shooting dudes in Uncharted 2 is fun, Punching guys in Yakuza 4 is fun, creating Murder Engines in Final Fantasy Tactics is fun. They're all -fun-, it's just that the latter examples offer something a little more engaging, whereas the former would be something you play when you just don't feel like playing anything else. That's when I loaded up Nobi Nobi Boy anyways; I didn't feel like playing anything else, but I wanted to play something, so I had Nobi Nobi Boy, stretched around a bit, wrecked some days and just generally chilled out. I guess they're chill games you turn to when The Sims, Harvest Moon and the like prove to be a little too 'hectic', even.
Anyway, the point to all this was me leading into surmising that I might check out Touch My Katamari when it comes out or shortly thereafter. I would hope, along with the policy that every game must have a digital version, every game would then be at least "Suggested" to put out a demo as well, when the Vita comes out, because if there is, I'd definitely check it out. As I said, I've always kind of wanted to check out the series, but just never have, so hopefully the portability of this one will also add in a little more accessibility, as this type of game (one to have around for times when you don't want to play anything else) seems just a fit for a handheld. Especially this one, since I'll likely never go anywhere without mine.
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