Katamari and Age of Empires Coming to DS

March 21st, 2005, 18:01 Posted By: wraggster

You can always rely on Katamari Damacy to shine a bit of mental sunlight on even the dullest day, so news that the little lozenge-headed extraterrestrial could be rolling onto DS has us breaking out the tanning lotion.
Appropriately, word of Katamari's DS debut has entered our lives in extremely inconspicuous form. In a list of upcoming DS games published in official US mag Nintendo Power Katamari nestles quietly amongst other, previously announced Namco games like Baten Kaitos, Xenosaga and Pac 'n Roll.

If you were feeling minty you could draw comparisons between the way Katamari himself sneaks onto Earth unnoticed before tumbling himself into a sticky ball of cataclysmic proportions. Which is what we'd like to see happen with the DS game, obviously.

Of course, the PS2 version of Katamari Damacy has never yet received a release in the UK, so we shouldn't get hopes up too high. Still, the slightly less than commercially viable (although undisputedly fantastic) premise of the game would suit the DS better than a home console and the touchscreen would be perfect for Katamari's roly-poly action. And wi-fi multiplayer? Lovely.
We've been in touch with Nintendo to enquire about the DS version of Katamari but no information is available at present. Fingers crossed on this one.

Also appearing in Nintendo Power's extensive list of upcoming games are GoldenEye: Rogue Agent from EA and Age of Empires 2, which is a port of the Microsoft PC original being developed by Majesco.

Unfortunately, GoldenEye is not a straight port of the N64 original, as rumoured last year when EA announced the game. Wishful thinking, that. Rather, it's a DS-specific port of the rehashed GoldenEye that EA unleashed on home console before Christmas, and it's due this summer.

The touchscreen will act as your controller, Metroid Prime-style, as well as displaying status info and letting you trigger your GoldenEye's special powers. Wireless multiplayer for up to seven players is also confirmed.

Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings is a slightly tweaked conversion of the PC original and should bring a much-needed dose of strategy to DS. The action will be turn based rather than real-time, with the top screen being used for status info while the bottom screen displays maps and battles. Touchscreen controls are promised so you can literally craft the future of your nation with your fingers.

DS games bonanza or what? Expect Age of Empires 2 and hope for Katamari Damacy DS before the end of the year

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