Utilizing the most epic form of storytelling -- the hand puppet -- this new commercial from Japan sheds some light on the upcoming Katamari Forever game. Two animal puppets guide us through a series of gameplay clips, showing off some more of KF's classic levels (most seem to come from We Love Katamari, such as the Snowman and Race Track levels).

Katamari Forever will hit Japan on the 23rd of next month, while a worldwide release hasn't yet been determined. But don't worry, it shouldn't be too long before the game rolls our way.

In the photo above you'll see Kelly Farrell -- and she's a hell of a lot smarter than us. The twentysomething created, with the help of hacking collective NYC Resistor, a Katamari Damacy controller that uses a real ball. The big silver metal ball uses an optical mouse along with [technical jargon goes here] to make a very cool controller.

Originally, Kelly wanted to use a full-sized yoga ball, but the rubber was too resistant and didn't play well with the other components. Check out her video after the break to get a more detailed explanation of how it all works.

Can you spot the difference between the four Katamari Damacy Tribute images seen above? All four pictures showcase a different visual filter used in the game, and according to Siliconera, this change in art style and appearance can be adjusted by the player. The four filters are: classic, colored pencil, wood grain and cel-shaded.

Now, the question is: Which image corresponds to the right filter? We could just tell you, but we thought you'd have more fun playing a guessing game. So which one is which? Answers are after the break, no peeking!

Did Noby Noby Boy whet your appetite for more quirky Japanese magic? Keita Takahashi's original ball-rolling creation is returning in a brand new PS3 game, Katamari Damacy Tribute. According to Siliconera, the new title will be presented in full 1080p HD and will feature a "new visual presentation." The soundtrack features remixes from previous titles, which in conjunction with the title, suggests the Tribute may be a hodgepodge of previous games in the series.

Stay tuned for more details.

Two things surprise us about Namco Bandai's announced Tokyo Game Show lineup: the complete dearth of Katamari titles and, coincidentally, the inclusion of Katamari creator Keita Takahashi's Nobi Nobi Boy for PlayStation 3, a title we haven't heard about since October 2007. According to the publisher (via Siliconera), the game (the title literally translates to "Stretch Stretch Boy") will be shown in video form only, a bit surprising considering the playable prototype that appeared last year at GameCity.

Namco Bandai's lineup includes 29 titles, including Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and the multiplatform Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2. Interestingly, the publisher is also showing off four PlayStation 2 titles, edging out Sony's support of PS2 at this TGS by a margin of 4 to 0.

Digital Unrest's Chris Simmons originally made this comic in April 2006, and we subsequently crashed his servers. The strip has bee remade this week with new art and, given that it never got a fair shot last time, we're going to throw it in again this week. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Chris. Here are our picks for the week's best game-related webcomic. Polling after the break; be sure to vote for your favorite!

Orderly Debate (Digital Unrest)
The World May Never Know (Fanboys Online)
Bluetooth Headset (CAD Minis)
For Your Consideration (Penny Arcade)
Rupees Cannot Buy Hearts (MNC)
The Fundamental Theorem of War (2P Start)
Anguish (Penny Arcade)
Giving Birth (Castle Vidcons)

(Not game-related, but make sure you read PVP Online's five-part FoxTrot/Family Circus "tribute")

Katamari Damacy rolled onto the gaming scene in 2004, bristling with the unanticipated fury of a budget title with mass-market appeal. Damacy's success and popularity in the United States, where it has quickly achieved a devoted cult following, is remarkable for a game that's so distinctly ... Japanese. However, anyone who's played the game can instantly grasp the appeal -- a delicious layer of charm coats the inner goodness of straightforward, addictive gameplay, and that's why Katamari Damacy is this week's game that is Born for Wii.

When the irresistibly alluring, slightly fruity King of All Cosmos accidentally destroys the heavens, his solution is a novel one -- roll up piles of junk and send them skyward to replace the fallen stars. Fortunately for us, he's far too lazy to do the grunt work himself. And that's where we come in as the tiny Prince, charged with the daunting task of restoring the stars to the sky with the aid of a magical ball (a katamari, of course) that sticks to damn near everything.

It's been a very long time since we've heard anything about Beautiful Katamari and the Wii. And, seeing as how the game has been out on Xbox 360 for quite some time now, we were done thinking that it would ever grace Nintendo's console. Thanks to select retailers' online shops, however, hope is slowly being restored.

Major retail chains Target and Wal-Mart are both listing the game on their respective websites, while Buy.com lists the game with the same price ($29.99), but states it's "temporarily sold out." Even rental service Gamefly has a section up for a Wii and PS3 version of the game.

So, what's the deal? Who knows at this point, but the Wal-Mart page points to an August 29th release, so perhaps we'll hear something soon? We're not going to get our hopes up like before, but we'd be lying if we said we didn't want this to happen.

[Thanks, Zack!]

Read - Wal-Mart listing
Read - Target listing
Read - Buy.com listing
Read - Gamefly listing

Katamari Damacy meets Day of the Dead, care of Nicolas Caesar Scary-Art.com (thanks, brian). Can we call him Prince of All Dying Stars? Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
DS Fanboy Lite: Feb. 23 - Feb. 29
Joystiq interview: Crystal Dynamics' Lindstrom talks Tomb Raider: Underworld
Joystiq Podcast 039 - Leap year edition
Metareview: Patapon (PSP)
This Week in DLC: Sucking up Triggerheart Exelica

News
Ironclad's Sins sells more than 100,000 in less than a month
SCi plans radical restructuring with mass layoffs and project cancellations
Call of Duty 4 feature patch is now live
See the Battlefield Heroes debut trailer
GDC08: First screenshots of Mirror's Edge
Eidos returns to open water with Battlestations: Pacific
Borders Books testing game sales in London
Trism brings tilt-sensitive puzzle gaming to iPhone
Rock Band Weekly: Grateful Dead six-pack
Sony reveals Home integration for Resistance, Uncharted, Warhawk
Pong creator Nolan Bushnell working on MMO
Take-Two: More companies want to buy us
US/Euro MGS4 lacks Japanese voice over tracks
Rocketmen blast off onto XBLA, PSN next week
Major League Eating crammed into WiiWare
Future Futurama flick features extra Xbox episode
Voice of Marcus Fenix talks Gears of War 2
Street Fighter IV test machines in Japan, features Sagat and Balrog
Former EA exec: Kotick's WoW remark meant to scare competition

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Lost Odyssey sequels on the way

Culture & Community
GDC '08 breaks attendance record, press may need invite next year
Game Developers Choice Awards on G4 tonight
Jason Ocampo leaves Gamespot for IGN

Microsoft Europe's Xbox community manager Graeme Boyd dropped a "wee" note on his blog this morning to let everyone know that only Xbox Live Silver members can download the Beautiful Katamari demo (released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand just yesterday). Yep, you paying folk will have to wait.

Boyd assures us that the situation will soon be resolved (maybe it already is), meaning, Gold members will get the exclusive access they've been promised, and Silver members will be back on the outside looking in. But, for the moment, all you freeloaders should revel in this brief episode of trading places.

It seems that Katamari Damacy continues to roll on, inspiring imitators and homages long after the original title's release. This time, it seem everyone's favorite clump of souls has rolled onto cable television, with the Cartoon Network program Chowder presenting an extended Katamari-esque sequence involving a rather large piece of bubblegum.

Chowder is the latest in a long line of original Cartoon Network animated shows, created by the mind behind Spongebob Squarepants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. The show is about an apprentice cook named Chowder. In fact, every character is named after food. There's a girl named Panini. Panini. We think that's just awesome.

[Thanks, Mark]

Notebooks, silverware, copper bowls, bowling pins, dishes, Pocky and Milky boxes, clothes pins, yarn balls, cakes, barrels, milk crates, cats and dogs, farm animals, giant mushroom, kitchen table, shrubs, flowers, trees, a giraffe and a van. These are all the objects to be "rolled up" in Jenne Maneri's wonderful Katamari model. There are plenty more pictures at her website. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Joystiq visits Harmonix to talk Rock Band DLC and incidentals
Metareview: Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)3
Metareview: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
Nega-review: Crysis
Today's Segway one-upping video: Personal Yoshi
Wii Fanboy Weekly: November 7th, 2007 - November 14th, 2007

News
Atari CEO resigns as company exits game development
See new World of Warcraft patch trailer
2K Games: No Bioshock on PS3; stop asking
TimeShift gets multiplayer demo on Xbox Live
DualShock 3 rumble works with PS2 games
Nintendo disputes WiiWare limitations
Variety says Mario Galaxy shows Wii's weaknesses
Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk getting in-game ad treatment
Xbox Originals are not without issues
BBC reminds that Wii supply is still an issue
Class action lawsuit over Xbox Live consumer fraud
Overline gives Wii owners "The Shaft"
Fallout sale to help fund Earthworm Jim, Descent comebacks
Cyanide confirms Blood Bowl for Xbox 360, PSP, DS
Dutch teen arrested for stealing virtual furniture
Mad Catz purrchases Saitek, Joystiq shoots headline author
Guitar Hero III PC/Mac hybrid 'later this year'
Rock Band DLC priced! Cheaper than Guitar Hero's, more choice
Mass Effect banned in Singapore over lesbian scene

Culture & Community
Bungie's Weinland and Cowan to keynote Game Design Expo
See the 10 most expensive video games
Zero Punctuation hates Jericho

[Thanks, JP]

Ever the eccentric, Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi went on stage at a video game conference and tried to tell the audience that video games are NOT the most important thing in the world.

We couldn't believe it either.

Standing barefoot in front of London Nottingham's GameCity conference, the obviously brain-damaged Takahashi alleged that "it would be impossible for us to be here... if the world was not peaceful." He tried to convince the crowd that real world suffering and problems were occasionally more pressing than games. "If you're suffering from poverty and disease, could you worry about collecting coins? I don't think so," he argued, unconvincingly.

Takahashi also implied, rather laughably, that things like recycling and being friendly were just as important as beating Halo 3 on Legendary for the third time. "I'm not trying to be the next Al Gore but I'm not sure if we could afford to have video games in ten or twenty year's time," the fearmongering designer said, adding that white is black and up is actually down.

After the confusing opening, Takahashi showed off a demo of Nobi Nobi Boy, thankfully distracting the audience from the problems of the real world once again.

Hoping that the Japanese have a better sense of humor than their American counterparts, EA has released a trailer featuring the previously-discussed "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Land" section of The Simpsons Game, which parodies Japanese culture as well as (apparently) Japanese video games.

Pardon the parentheticals, but the only game we see spoofed in this trailer is Katamari Damacy. Yes, we see Mr. Sparkle; We see the anime-inspired cutscene; We (unfortunately) hear the high-pitched "engrish"; But where are the games? Are we missing something obvious?

Take a look for yourselves after the break, and please enlighten us.

Namco got us all hot and bothered when it listed Beautiful Katamari heading to the PS3 on its website a few weeks ago. However, all hope of playing Beautiful Katamari was dashed when 1up confirmed with the game's director Jun Morikawa that the title will not be coming to Sony's console.

Wait! Don't jump off the bridge yet; all hope is not lost! Morikawa said "the series will definitely be making its way to the console soon," which is great news for the junk-collecting faithful.

So instead of getting just a port, we can now look forward to an entirely new entry in the series.