And the Weird Videogame of the Year prize goes to...

...Katamari Damacy, a surrealistic treat from Namco. sandpanther gave me a copy this Yuletide, and told me she’d heard the developer who invented the original idea was thoroughly drunk at the time, and seeing the game, I can believe it. The King of All Cosmos (who doubtlessly last manifested on Earth in 1967 and was mistaken for a promotional for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) went on a bender and smashed all the stars in the sky; to deal with the complaints, he sends his son, the Prince, to roll up big balls of miscellaneous stuff on Earth (depending on the size of the ball, it can include anything from thumbtacks to baseball stadiums) so he can hang them in the sky as replacements for the constellations. (The constellation Cancer is restored by rolling up lots of tasty crabs, for instance.) I find this is a particularly amusing game for the season, as it has a certain demented parallel to Christmas: “And He was so annoyed by the complaints from the world, He sent His only son to roll up random objects and replace the stars He smashed on his drunken rampage...”

If you don’t believe me, check out the review at Gamespot, or the fan site.