Keita Takahashi Rolls Up Katamari Team [Archive]

fitbabits

03-18-2006, 03:04 PM

Thanks to Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com) for the terribly disappointing news (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8571).

Namco Japan's official website for popular franchise Katamari Damacy has announced that the team behind both the original game and its sequel, We Love Katamari, has dissolved, and that no sequels have been planned.

This may not be a surprise for most, as series director and creator Keita Takahashi has publicly stated that the idea of building a franchise off of the original game was never his intention, and that his involvement in the game's sequel was forced on him by publisher Namco's willingness to green-light a sequel with or without his involvement.

"I didn't want players to be disappointed so I decided to take part," Takahashi told the BBC last November. "There are fun things in the game, though I am not happy with all of it."

The official announcement does mention that 'Professor Katamari' (presumably Keita Takahashi) is currently working on a new game design, though apparently not with the core Katamari Damacy team. "You don't roll things up, or get bigger, but you might find it interesting anyway," says the site.
I just lost all respect for Namco after reading this...

MagicAlex

03-18-2006, 03:11 PM

Namco's been on a decline for awhile IMO. I think I just noticed with Soul Calibur III, but it probably started a lot earlier. Katamari was a one-of-a-kind game, and definitely didn't need a sequel. Looks like Keita Takahashi knew that, but tried to play damage control since Namco was gonna make the sequel with or without him.

kizke

03-18-2006, 03:17 PM

I'm glad there are people like Keita Takahashi in the game design business.

Dr.Finger

03-18-2006, 03:53 PM

I just lost all respect for Namco after reading this...
Why? What did Namco do wrong? They published a great game, and made a few sequels. I'm disappointed that there won't be another Katamari game, but that's due more to Takahashi than Namco.

Heretic Machine

03-18-2006, 03:57 PM

I'm glad there are people like Keita Takahashi in the game design business.

I'm not. The guy is an ass, by most accounts. He hates gaming, he hates gamers, and thinks we should all go outside. Last I heard, his current project was a playground somewhere in Japan.

Knuckles T15

03-18-2006, 04:23 PM

I just lost all respect for Namco after reading this...
So... you'd rather have a game franchise that got really stale?
Sometimes it really is best to quit while you're ahead. Take a look at the Sonic series. The first few games were awesome, but then they started to loose some of their charm. Would you like to see Katamari lose its charm? =/

Rirath

03-18-2006, 04:24 PM

I'm not. The guy is an ass, by most accounts. He hates gaming, he hates gamers, and thinks we should all go outside. Last I heard, his current project was a playground somewhere in Japan.

Doesn't sound like he hates gamers to me, and there's nothing wrong with the opinion we should all go outside. If you're not kidding about the playground thing, he sounds like a great guy. OMG he's working on outside fun for kids instead of making us a new game?!? What a JERK!!

Really, Katamari is somewhat played out. The titles that are out are popular and swell, and that's fine by me. Not every game needs 300 sequels to be a success. Although video games don't tend to show it, the Japanese often take a quit while you're ahead attitude in these things. TV shows for example are often ended on a raise of popularity like Iron Chef, rather than the current mockery that is The Simpsons.

Magnanimous Gnome

03-18-2006, 04:30 PM

Whether this guy is an ass or not, Namco does need to stop milking this franchise. Three games in two years = overkill. The gaming industy milks nearly everything to death.

Megalith

03-18-2006, 04:31 PM

Magnanimous Gnome

03-18-2006, 04:32 PM

So... you'd rather have a game franchise that got really stale?
Sometimes it really is best to quit while you're ahead. Take a look at the Sonic series. The first few games were awesome, but then they started to loose some of their charm. Would you like to see Katamari lose its charm? =/

Um.....he meant that he has lost respect for Namco because they are milking Katamari. Namco is definitely not "quitting while they are ahead." That's phrase might as well be Simlish in the gaming world. Just look at Tony Hawk, Madden, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, et al.

Heretic Machine

03-18-2006, 04:33 PM

I like how nobody in the real world actually likes Katasushi Damadkaslfkjdkdsa. It's just another game for Wapanese cult members.

Also, Namco happens to have one of the finest development teams in the world; Aces.

Your posts get stupider everytime I read them.

Magnanimous Gnome

03-18-2006, 04:33 PM

I like how nobody in the real world actually likes Katasushi Damadkaslfkjdkdsa. It's just another game for Wapanese cult members.

Insightful as always. :rolleyes:

thecrazyd

03-18-2006, 04:42 PM

bapenguin

03-18-2006, 04:46 PM

Good to see a developers standing up to a publisher under pressure of sequelitis. Katamari was a great game, unique and refreshing. No point in running it dry.

Rafer

03-18-2006, 04:54 PM

I liked the Katamari sequel, it didn't have quite the charm and novelty of the first one, but I did like the levels a bit more, like the school, the bonfire level, the snow level. The first game was so short it felt like half a game but I felt the two games combined had the length and content of a full $50 game.

I was hoping that they were going to announce a next-gen Katamari game Friday. I don't want to see the series milked to death like Mega Man or Tomb Raider, but I would like to see a Katamari game where you could go from small to big without transitions, better physics, a snow level where you could actually roll up snow and see grass underneath...

fitbabits

03-18-2006, 05:13 PM

Why? What did Namco do wrong? They published a great game, and made a few sequels. I'm disappointed that there won't be another Katamari game, but that's due more to Takahashi than Namco.
Try this for size:

This may not be a surprise for most, as series director and creator Keita Takahashi has publicly stated that the idea of building a franchise off of the original game was never his intention, and that his involvement in the game's sequel was forced on him by publisher Namco's willingness to green-light a sequel with or without his involvement.

"I didn't want players to be disappointed so I decided to take part," Takahashi told the BBC last November. "There are fun things in the game, though I am not happy with all of it."
Got it now?

fitbabits

03-18-2006, 05:16 PM

fitbabits

03-18-2006, 05:18 PM

So... you'd rather have a game franchise that got really stale?
Nope, and I didn't even say that. Read, process, then reply.

Heretic Machine

03-18-2006, 05:33 PM

I'd just like to point out that while Megalith is an idiot, we have no proof (in this topic at least) that he is a racist. "Wapanese" is a term many (including myself) use to describe people who are obssessed with an idealized version of Japan. But I don't think anyone has displayed that in this topic, and Katamari Damacy is a great game that can be enjoyed by all... Megalith is just a moron.

thecrazyd

03-18-2006, 05:48 PM

I'd just like to point out that while Megalith is and idiot, we have no proof (in this topic at least) that he is a racist. "Wapanese" is a term many (including myself) use to describe people who are obssessed with an idealized version of Japan. But I don't think anyone has displayed that in this topic, and Katamari Damacy is a great game that can be enjoyed by all... Megalith is just a moron.
Yeah, this is at least the third quasi racist slur he has given. At first, I was willing to let it slide, but he keeps pushing that shit.

Spigot

03-18-2006, 06:24 PM

And Megalith strikes again with yet another idiotic post. Sadly, we keep rising to his blatant troll bait (I'm as guilty of this as any).

You'd think that if he hated Japan, Japanese games or people who like Japanese culture, he'd just skip over the posts regarding those things.

But no.

Ah well.

With regards to the OP, I'm sad that there will be no more Katamari games, but I also was quite familiar with the views of Takahashi and the way that he was pressured into making We Love Katamari.

At least he didn't let Namco do what they had originally planned for the sequel. Katamari with Christmas and winter skins. Yup. That's what it was going to be. Yarg.

Kagger

03-18-2006, 06:30 PM

2 Comments:

We <3 Katamari is awesome. I really got into it this week, and it improved so much over Damacy. You aren't just getting bigger, they have alot of ridiculously original levels like the sumo wrestler stage.

And, is the PSP one still happening. I just told a friend about it, he seemed pretty excited.

MagicAlex

03-18-2006, 06:36 PM

And Megalith strikes again with yet another idiotic post. Sadly, we keep rising to his blatant troll bait (I'm as guilty of this as any).

For the curious, here's a wiki entry (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith) on him.

Edit: Oh, this one (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith_Team) is even better.

Last of the Red Hot Mamas

03-18-2006, 06:39 PM

Heretic Machine

03-18-2006, 06:39 PM

And, is the PSP one still happening. I just told a friend about it, he seemed pretty excited.

I think Me and My Katamari is getting it's US release on the 21st. It's already out in Japan.

ribbot

03-18-2006, 07:07 PM

crap i forgot to reserve the psp version so i could get my carrying case!! no im serious i want one.

TrackZero

03-18-2006, 07:36 PM

Why? What did Namco do wrong? They published a great game, and made a few sequels. I'm disappointed that there won't be another Katamari game, but that's due more to Takahashi than Namco.

Seconded. I notice fitba has been making some real flame-tas-tic comments in article posts of late.

Edit: Maybe his postcount has gone to his head? ;)

TrackZero

03-18-2006, 07:42 PM

For the curious, here's a wiki entry (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith) on him.

Edit: Oh, this one (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith_Team) is even better.

Wow. I knew I added Zeal to my ignore list for a reason, didn't know he was a known "troll" on forums in general. Nice.

Edit: You know, after checking this out, I wish EA had it's own wiki up and running....

mkelehan

03-18-2006, 07:51 PM

I don't see why anyone would fault Namco for wanting to make a sequel to a successful game, and letting the original creator have the option of directing it or not.

rein

03-18-2006, 07:57 PM

For the curious, here's a wiki entry (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith) on him.

Edit: Oh, this one (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith_Team) is even better.

That has to be the lamest thing I have ever seen on the internet. My favorite part. The Megalith Team Victims portion has one broken link and the following.

Megalith Team Victims

Since the team itself is fairly new, not many threads have fallen prey to it. However, the quest will CONTINUE ON.

fitbabits

03-18-2006, 07:58 PM

Seconded. I notice fitba has been making some real flame-tas-tic comments in article posts of late.

Edit: Maybe his postcount has gone to his head? ;)
So you're okay with a publisher strong-arming a developer into creating a sequel for a game that he'd already stated he didn't want franchised?

Whether you see it this way or not, Namco forced Takahashi into making the sequel. The alternate was letting Namco farm out the development to someone else - and you would have been okay with that?

ChamberX

03-18-2006, 08:02 PM

To be fair, this is less a problem with Namco specifically but the software industry in general -- unless you're a superstar developer like Miyamoto or Kojima or Will Wright, individual employees have virtually no control over the stuff they create while under contract and they know this. This isn't to let Namco off the hook for ignoring Takahashi's preference, but the real issue here is that Takahashi has no legal claim to the hugely successful property he created and Namco isn't uniquely evil in that regard.

Agreed. I'd like to address that also, but my apologies if I repeat anything that's been stated already.

By fitbabits logic, Stan Lee should have been the only one to ever pen a Spider-man story.

For years, video game companies have been "milking" certain properties. I ask you, however, to entertain this thought: if not for Nintendo going back to the "Mario well" repeatedly, we may have never seen anything like Mario 64. For that matter, what if there'd been no GTA III? Not everyone's favorites, but rehashes none the less. Sure for every GTA there's a Snake's Revenge or (Namco's own) Pac-man Fever, but that's the nature of the beast.

Point 2: Just because the man took his ball and went home doesn't mean there won't be another Katamari. Considering Namco's relationship with Nintendo of late, one wonders what it would feel like to roll around the ol' Katamari ball with the Rev's controller...

thecrazyd

03-18-2006, 09:06 PM

By fitabits logic, Stan Lee should have been the only one to ever pen a Spider-man story.
And he should... if he wanted to be the only person to write them.

TrackZero

03-18-2006, 10:07 PM

So you're okay with a publisher strong-arming a developer into creating a sequel for a game that he'd already stated he didn't want franchised?

Whether you see it this way or not, Namco forced Takahashi into making the sequel. The alternate was letting Namco farm out the development to someone else - and you would have been okay with that?

Considering Namco owns the property, it's up to them to decide on sequels or not. Takahashi did not own his ideas, this is true for most of the market. If he didn't want to do anymore, that's his choice. I'm not going to disrespect Namco for wanting to make money and not catering to the whims of one of their employees because his inner artist wasn't on board. Get real.

Edit: Of course ignoring all this, your flaw in the first place is giving "respect" to a company (which is just an amalgamation of people trying to make money). That's just silly.

jeffool

03-18-2006, 10:26 PM

The first flaw here is that the people who think up and design games often don't own them. They should. And if Namco truly agrees to stop the series, despite how much I would love a DS or Revolution version, because the guy who created it doesn't want it to go on any longer, then I see it as a boon to them.

Can you imagine if other novels were treated like this? How many sequels would every Stephen King novel have? Hell, his name would only be in tiny print on the back of the book and on the third page. Instead we'd have "Doubleday's It" with who knows how many sequels of other clowns turning into monsters.

Deadend

03-18-2006, 10:54 PM

I am glad that there will probably not be more Katamari games. As the entire point of the Katamari project was to show that games can be diffrent both gameplay and storywise than what is out there and that there is room for small budget games.

The game proved it's point, it doesn't need sequals.

On the subject of trolling... instead of a wiki, I kind of wish we could attach comments to other users, not rate them really... but attach comments, so that you could look and see that 300 people with good post counts think that Red Cloak is a MS fanboy of the lamest degree.

Cool AN

03-19-2006, 12:51 AM

Disapointing.

ChamberX

03-19-2006, 01:59 AM

Can you imagine if other novels were treated like this? How many sequels would every Stephen King novel have? Hell, his name would only be in tiny print on the back of the book and on the third page. Instead we'd have "Doubleday's It" with who knows how many sequels of other clowns turning into monsters.

Kind of like this. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425201686/qid=1142762625/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2743394-8632900?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

jeffool

03-19-2006, 02:07 AM

Kind of like this. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425201686/qid=1142762625/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2743394-8632900?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)Wow. Exactly like that. *shudder* Though I thought the first thing that Amazon had on that page almost summed it up perfectly.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Paperback)
by David Michaels "IT'S like being in a state of nonexistence..."Now just add"..., even though tons of people have read your work," said David Michaels about his writing career.But hey, maybe I'm just too cynical.

fushi

03-19-2006, 05:57 AM

For the curious, here's a wiki entry (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith) on him.

Edit: Oh, this one (http://gfw.condign.org/wiki/Megalith_Team) is even better.
And here I was, planning to post a thread to ask who's gimmick he is. Ah well.

I'm overjoyed that there won't be any Katamari games anymore.

easi

03-19-2006, 06:03 AM

Really, Katamari is somewhat played out. The titles that are out are popular and swell, and that's fine by me. Not every game needs 300 sequels to be a success. Although video games don't tend to show it, the Japanese often take a quit while you're ahead attitude in these things. TV shows for example are often ended on a raise of popularity like Iron Chef, rather than the current mockery that is The Simpsons.

DBZ, Naruto.

One Piece is good though and I hope it lasts FOREVAR

Heretic Machine

03-19-2006, 06:57 AM

On the subject of trolling... instead of a wiki, I kind of wish we could attach comments to other users, not rate them really... but attach comments, so that you could look and see that 300 people with good post counts think that Red Cloak is a MS fanboy of the lamest degree.

I'm with you. That's way better than an arbitrary 'rating' number. Evil should probably look into implimenting a system like this.

Zeal

03-19-2006, 07:09 AM

It is quite funny to me how easily you people are led around by the mouth. This is done with little effort, too.

As for Namco's development houses, I stopped caring after they permanently ruined the Soul series. The team behind Ace Combat could better employ its talents on a console with an actual network, i.e., 360 Live.

Imagine fully networked dog fights and cooperative missions. Now couple that with photorealistic visuals.

Waste of talent.

fitbabits

03-19-2006, 08:09 AM

It is quite funny to me how easily you people are led around by the mouth. This is done with little effort, too.
Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, meet pot. I'm sure you two will get along famously.

Magnanimous Gnome

03-19-2006, 08:59 AM

On the subject of trolling... instead of a wiki, I kind of wish we could attach comments to other users, not rate them really... but attach comments, so that you could look and see that 300 people with good post counts think that Red Cloak is a MS fanboy of the lamest degree.

Oh, I like that idea! I wonder what my comments would say?

Spigot

03-19-2006, 09:34 AM

Those wiki things were neat. I didn't know there were actual troll teams in existence though. Scary, yet sad at the same time.

HALO 32

03-19-2006, 10:09 AM

WTF Namco!?!?! no Breakdown sequal, Frame City Killer looks like crap and now this!

MagicAlex

03-19-2006, 10:13 AM

As for Namco's development houses, I stopped caring after they permanently ruined the Soul series. The team behind Ace Combat could better employ its talents on a console with an actual network, i.e., 360 Live.

Right, it always seems like the best games come out for the wrong system. In fact, that describes every good title that's come out for PS2 and had shitty loading times.

bean19

03-19-2006, 10:34 AM

Good to see a developers standing up to a publisher under pressure of sequelitis. Katamari was a great game, unique and refreshing. No point in running it dry.

I agree. . . BUT this is a game that I can see being innovated and expanded in tons of ways. How cool would it be to:

1. Play cooperatively and competitively with a friend or friends on Xbox Live?

2. Have more functionality in how you build the cosmos. Unlock special abilities by getting stars or constellations in place.

3. Special abilities like: hopping your Katamari, shrink it temporarily to fit through small places, get a passive boost to acceleration, have a special ability that temporarily makes your katamari have a gravitational pull on objects (strong enough to pull objects that are close to it and able to stick all the way on to the Katamari. . . not strong enough to pull objects too big (though it could tug them noticably).

4. Whole new maps that take advantage of these abilities. With more acceleration, they could make "Sonic" tracks that feel like you are in a roller coaster of sorts and you have to roll up everything (like Sonic's rings) as you go down. Or an area where you are continuously falling and must zap objects onto your Katamari by timing your gravitational power to get them as you fly past.

5. Single-player Katamari battles. Oh noes! The rival prince is trying to reshape the galaxy and you must build a bigger Katamari. Do a good enough job and you can roll up HIS Katamari (and the evil prince). Do poorly and you have to avoid his Katamari.

Besides just updating the graphics, this is a fun game concept that has not been innovated and advanced at all really. I sure hope that this is not really the last iteration of the title.

Adam Blue

03-19-2006, 10:39 AM

Let's see.....every SC after SC1 sucked.... SC3 PS2 exclusive? What the hell is Death by Degrees???? All the Tekkens after tag????

Yeah...Namco's been gone to me.

thecrazyd

03-19-2006, 10:43 AM

I agree. . . BUT this is a game that I can see being innovated and expanded in tons of ways. How cool would it be to:

1. Play cooperatively and competitively with a friend or friends on Xbox Live?

2. Have more functionality in how you build the cosmos. Unlock special abilities by getting stars or constellations in place.

3. Special abilities like: hopping your Katamari, shrink it temporarily to fit through small places, get a passive boost to acceleration, have a special ability that temporarily makes your katamari have a gravitational pull on objects (strong enough to pull objects that are close to it and able to stick all the way on to the Katamari. . . not strong enough to pull objects too big (though it could tug them noticably).

4. Whole new maps that take advantage of these abilities. With more acceleration, they could make "Sonic" tracks that feel like you are in a roller coaster of sorts and you have to roll up everything (like Sonic's rings) as you go down. Or an area where you are continuously falling and must zap objects onto your Katamari by timing your gravitational power to get them as you fly past.

5. Single-player Katamari battles. Oh noes! The rival prince is trying to reshape the galaxy and you must build a bigger Katamari. Do a good enough job and you can roll up HIS Katamari (and the evil prince). Do poorly and you have to avoid his Katamari.

Besides just updating the graphics, this is a fun game concept that has not been innovated and advanced at all really. I sure hope that this is not really the last iteration of the title.
I don't think you really get this game. It is about pure, simple fun. When you add all kinds of complexity, and game modes, and stories, then you sort of kill it.

bean19

03-19-2006, 10:48 AM

I don't think you really get this game. It is about pure, simple fun. When you add all kinds of complexity, and game modes, and stories, then you sort of kill it.

None of those ideas are complex. They are fairly basic, but still fun. Sort of like the additions to Super Mario Bros. 3 as oppossed to the original.

The core of the game would still be using 2 analog sticks to roll stuff up into a big old ball.

laggerific

03-19-2006, 11:15 AM

Considering Namco owns the property, it's up to them to decide on sequels or not. Takahashi did not own his ideas, this is true for most of the market. If he didn't want to do anymore, that's his choice. I'm not going to disrespect Namco for wanting to make money and not catering to the whims of one of their employees because his inner artist wasn't on board. Get real.

Edit: Of course ignoring all this, your flaw in the first place is giving "respect" to a company (which is just an amalgamation of people trying to make money). That's just silly.

I'm going to fault them...too many times publishers let loose sequilitis on games, that in this case the developers didn't want...and then they hold tight on IP that is so scarce the only way I can believe it ever happened is by looking at my original boxes, like System Shock and Ultima Underworld II (two games that didn't need hugeass boxes with no filler to sell their game). Bioshock? While I am looking forward to it, I would give anything for a remake of the original System Shock...a truly beautiful game, one of mystery and fear (in a good way for once), and one of scifi madness...truly brilliant.

It's not just an incident like this that makes the publishers so evil...just look at EA...publishers just do not deserve the same respect as the developers. This was a lot different back in the days when developers practically were their own publishers....and you got awesome games like the above mentioned. You got really unique games...I'm sad that EA had to destroy so many great companies before it realized that unique and developer centric is the way to go. Does this mean that they are going to hand back the destroyed companies to their rightful owners? No...so fitbabits is right...publishers are no longer deserving of our respect, the developers are. Even EA admits it, and they are so far in the hole, that admission alone just raises them enough that if you screamed down the hole you'd finally be able to hear an echo off of them. I don't know the developer personally or even beyond what has been said in this thread, but he deserves our immediate backing over the publisher unless evidence proves otherwise.

emjoi

03-19-2006, 11:44 AM

If it wasn't for the sequel, I wouldn't have seen the game at all.
The original never got to Australia.
So I cant complain too much about sequelitis.

eEK!

03-19-2006, 02:33 PM

Publishers only force out sequels because people want to play them. Gamers are always crying for sequels and remakes and I'd have to question your judgment if you said you've never enjoyed a sequel. At the end of the day publishers will make whatever will sell. Theres a room full of people that work on Takahashi's ideas and they need paying and the bosses and shareholders of Namco need to keep up the payments on their gilded yachts. I hate to break it to you but a lot of great new games fail completely (Beyond Good and Evil) but sequels to successful games do well (with a few exceptions). Do you think publishers like being completely reliant on one or two big selling series, of course not its terrible business practice, its why plenty of publishers have gone under and its why even EA want to create original games. But the sad truth is that most gamers won't risk their £40 or $50 on an unknown so publishers can't risk their $5 million (or whatever it costs to make and sell a game). Theres no formula for making popular games so they just throw out something new every now and then and if it sticks milk until it dies. It stupid but most of the fault rests with the audience. Thats you and to a lesser extent me :rolleyes:

Thenetcase

03-19-2006, 04:10 PM

I just lost all respect for Namco after reading this...

That's funny.. I lost all respect for the idiot who refused to make his own games.

Oh well.

-TNC-

fitbabits

03-19-2006, 04:21 PM

That's funny.. I lost all respect for the idiot who refused to make his own games.

Oh well.

-TNC-
Take a cold shower and think about what you just wrote. :rolleyes:

emjoi

03-19-2006, 04:41 PM

Personally, I just hope someone makes a Katamari-ish mod for Unreal Tournament (or just let Epic licence the gametype for UT2007! C'mon Cliffy, something lighthearted in the game!)

The game pretty much screams out for people to make new levels for it, and UnrealEd would be a perfect tool to do it in.

TrackZero

03-19-2006, 05:00 PM

It's not just an incident like this that makes the publishers so evil...just look at EA...publishers just do not deserve the same respect as the developers.

Does this mean that they are going to hand back the destroyed companies to their rightful owners? No...so fitbabits is right...publishers are no longer deserving of our respect, the developers are.

As I already said:

"Of course ignoring all this, your flaw in the first place is giving "respect" to a company (which is just an amalgamation of people trying to make money). That's just silly."

Thanks for joining us.

ChamberX

03-19-2006, 05:29 PM

I don't think you really get this game. It is about pure, simple fun. When you add all kinds of complexity, and game modes, and stories, then you sort of kill it.

That sounds incredibly elitist. It's like someone saying I can't like a Van Gogh because I don't "get it." Isn't someone having a different idea of what the game is about a good thing?

Metalhaze

03-20-2006, 10:46 AM

There is no reason to be upset with Namco or lose respect for them just because they wanted to produce a sequel.

I can tell you right now, every game company has done this once... if not dozens of times to the games that they have produced....You act like this is something out of the ordinary??

Video games are a business....and if KD2 was going to make Namco more money and make the fans happy at the same time...then why the hell not??

If the creators wanted to be elitist punks who wanted to make their own games without pressure from a big name company like Namco they should have made the game themselves in their own game studio....

Artistic visions almost never coincide peacefully with business plans. Namco is looking to keep their fanbase happy and make money....Nuff said!

Metalhaze

03-20-2006, 10:56 AM

Let's see.....every SC after SC1 sucked.... SC3 PS2 exclusive? What the hell is Death by Degrees???? All the Tekkens after tag????

Yeah...Namco's been gone to me.

I can't say that if I had to choose that I would take SC1 over SC2....SC2 was such a huge improvement in my eyes......3 sucked....But I am glad it was exclusive....Gaming systems need to have more exclusive games...That way people actually have to buy the system to play them and you will actually be able to call a game an original title....This mass produced, cliche, generic game shit is terrible and in no way influences me to buy one game system over another....Why the hell would I want my best titles on other systems?? Besides whoring myself out to make more money.....

Tekken 4 sucked....Tekken 5 and Tekken 5 DR are some of the best Tekken games ever produced....so what the hell are you talking about?? Did you even play them??

Death by Degrees was just some bored fanboys sitting around Namco who got bored between projects and pull this crap out of their ass to probably test their skills for some other game they are planning on making...hahah....But yeah that game def sucks....Doesn't mean Namco should be shunned now...every company comes out with suck ass stupid crap that should have never been made....Not every game is going to be a success....I can tell you right now....I am just counting down the days til Tekken 6....And you know you are going to play it so shut up...hahaha