『 Katamari Damacy Mobile - 塊魂 モバイル 』

It was just a matter of time before mobile phone manufacturers started implementing motion sensing technology in their latest products. While the world has its eyes on iPhone, Japan lives its own life and the local market has its own rules.

In most cases it feels almost as if Japan is not one, but two steps ahead when it comes to technology and mobile phones are no different. But wait! What does it have to do with Katamari Damacy: Mobile? We'll get there in a second.



There are hundreds of mobile phones manufactured for japanese market alone and we'll never get to see them. Why? Profits in Japan are enough, so why bother risking it? Panasonic phones failed outside of their own country and that's why you'll never get your hands on a P904i [aka Foma P904i / Panasonic P904i]. And what a damn shame that is, since it's probably one of the most gamer friendly phones out there and it has some surprises in stock.

Did you already take Nintendo's Wii for a spin? Was it fun playing with the Wii Remote? Imagine same kind of motion sensing capabilities in a mobile phone, and what you get is the P904i for which Namco [or Namco Bandai / NBGI to be exact] decided to release a special version of their Katamari Damacy.



That's right. Fully 3D prince rolling his Katamari to some nice midi tunes. And instead the old and boring button pushing, you have to tilt your phone to move. Tilt it forward, and forward goes the Prince! If for one reason or another this idea seems hard to grasp, please check out the video file below. This is how it works and yes, it does work. Rolling backwards was always slow, and having matches stuck to your Katamari doesn't help, but believe me, the animation is smooth enough.


Feel like getting a P904i? You'd have to sign up with DoCoMo to get one and that's not going to happend if you live outside of Japan [There are ways of course. If you know someone in Japan who is crazy enough to get one for you and pay the fees, you're all ready to go!]. Oh and by the way, Katamari Damacy: Mobile is pre-installed.


A small update! Since it wasn't possible at the time of writing this whole entry, I couldn't add a direct feed quality gameplay video of Katamari Damacy: Mobile. Well, now I can. As far as I know it's the only gameplay video out there, so enjoy it. I assure you, you won't find it on YouTube or any other site. But you can always look.