I have to say it’s kind of scary that the game has released. You may find it fun or you may be disappointed. I hope you enjoy it, and I’m ready for any of your comments.
Anyway, has anyone looked at the Pac-Man and Noby Noby Boy commemorative banner that released today on the PlayStation Store? Those who have already played the game may have seen it. This photo was taken on January 1st when I came in to work to fix bugs.
As you can easily imagine, there was no one in the office that day except for the security guards. I had a lot of fun freely taking pictures with Boy! I remember carrying him to the main entrance laughing and taking pictures of Boy wrapped around the Pac-Man statue. When I was planning on using this photo for the banner, I was told that Pac-Man stood out more and the picture made it look like it was a Pac-Man game. I just answered back saying, “Players may buy the game by mistaking it for a Pac-Man game! Wouldn’t it be nice?”
Anyway, I was very lucky to be a part of such a miraculous collaboration. I tried to have Boy in various poses to make for interesting pictures, even with a Daruma doll. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out well so I gave up.
Daruma dolls are actually Japanese wish dolls. When your wish is fulfilled, you’re supposed to fill in the right eye, so we wished Noby Noby Boy would be released on the 19th. Speaking of the 19th, it was also the release date for Noby Noby Boy T-shirts. They were created by Panic Inc, the same vendor who did the Katamari ones. There will be four different designs with two variations for a total of eight types.
Above is one of the T-shirts. It’s an obvious Boy design, isn’t it? It would look cute on kids, but unfortunately there are no kid-sizes…maybe you could make a request to Panic Inc?
I didn’t talk anything about the game this time. Well, I’ll update sometime soon. Bye for now.
@98 I’m not spamming anything.
Considering I’ve asked this time and time again and Sony has *never* responded, I have a right to bring it up until I get an answer.
@95 Discs are physical, tangible things that are simply superior. I have games from 10-15 years ago that I can *still* play *anytime* I want. Will that happen with DLC? No.
@100
First of all…
“I’ll buy this game when it comes on a disc.
I’ll buy this game when it comes on a disc.
I’ll buy this game when it comes on a disc….”
Is considered spamming, especially when you do it more than once in the same topic.
Second, you stand a higher chance of a disc getting scratched an no longer being playable than you do of the DLC not being available. What makes you think you won’t be able to redownload files in the future? What makes you think that a hard drive will die before a disc?
@102 Well if Sony would actually open up and discuss the issue instead of ignoring customers who *are* willing to give them money, I wouldn’t have to.
Do you seriously think you’re going to be able to just download all of your PSN purchases whenever you want (or XBox Live or Wiiware for that matter)? Companies make tons of cash from charging consumers for this stuff *repeatedly*.
When the next batch of consoles comes, your DLC will be *gone*.
Umm don’t forget reading about my idea? Okay?
@97
DLC is only here if you let it be.
It *doesn’t* make sense for games to simply be delivered and stored on hard drives.
The only reason games are being moved to digital is so game companies can kill the used market.
@Gumby
You are spamming..Your the same guy Wuggy that kept doing the same thing on here before. DLC isn’t going anywhere.Sorry if you can’t accept it.
Asking on every post that you won’t buy if isn’t physical media is childish. People are here to discuss games and not get spammed with the same post 10 times. Time to move on.
If Sony wants to release DLC, fine. But give those of us who want the disc the *choice* to buy it on disc.
That’s not too much to ask for.
@105
Actually it is too much to ask that a game designed to sell for very little incur the massive costs associated with physically producing disc, cases, instruction books, distribution, retail negotiations, and every other cost that comes with getting you your disc.
The person who said you would have to pay $10 was really off on the pricing. It might only be $10 if the majority of the market thought buying on a disc was worth it. Since the potential market is smaller, the overhead costs per disc is higher. If they only sell 1,000 of the disc versions, you’re probably looking at around $100 minimum based on the costs of distrubtion alone(you’re not going to be able to produce and ship discs to retailers around the country for less than $100,000).
You’re accusing sony of trying to kill the used game market… the truth is, you’re just selfish and want things to always be done your way even when it doesn’t make any sense at all.
And nice job of changing the topic before… you said you only spammed your message because sony ignored you, but my point was that you were wrong when you said you weren’t spamming. I don’t care why you thought you had to, just don’t claim you’re not a spammer when you clearly are.
@107 Care to give a breakdown, in specific numbers, of the “massive” costs of producing a game on disc? You seem to the expert on it.
It’s not just Sony trying to kill the used games market – MS and Nintendo would love to see it gone as well.
This is why games are moving to a digital format.
Explain to me how asking for a *choice* of both DLC and a disc is selfish, because I’m really curious as to how you’d justify that. Oh wait, you *can’t*!
Not going to jump into the debate, but Gumby, you CAN redownload things.
My friend Alex had his PS3 on during a lightning storm and he was told to turn it off, and as he was doing so, a power-surge went out in his house and destroyed his harddrive. He had to send it back to Sony and after a week or two, he got it back. Do you know what he got? He got everything he downloaded again, because thats why there’s a Downloads List on the Store.
And personally, no one gives a damn about how much money it costs exactly to distribute games, because Sony isn’t going to put a game out on shelves that’ll only keep you buys for two hours total. 98% of games sold on the PS Store or whatever keep you busy in a shorter amount of time than it takes you to beat a COD game on the easiest difficulty.
To be honest, you can’t explain yourself because these people see you as some paranoid guy. Its either buy it or don’t, but there’s nothing the king of Katamari can do about it.
Can I download things now? Maybe.
Will I be able to download things in five years time? No.
Gumby, I have to think you’re just joking. Your logic is so flawed… you’re playing devil’s advocate for granny’s everywhere. Get with the times. Games like Noby Noby Boy wouldn’t even exist without this ultra-convenient medium, and I can tell you that I’ve more than made up for your lack of spending with my own. Silly, backwards argument.
@111 What are you talking about?
I don’t have to “get with the times”.
If people speak up and make their voice heard, instead of just sitting back and accepting things, things *can* change.
If I speak up long enough and loud enough, Sony *will* see reason.
Costs of producing a game on disk?
Artist- manual,box art,blu ray art,etc
Packaging/Production- producing the disk,case,printing data to disk,distribution of disk to retailers
All of this costs money you know.
@112
The problem is you are the only one complaining about this. No one else has a problem but you and you really don’t have much ground to stand on with your arguement.
You can redownload at any time and if your harddrive failed then your save games are gone regardless and the disc still does no good.
@113
Yes, but how much? Everyone says it costs so much more but no one is willing to provide actual figures.
Until someone does, it comes across as a lazy excuse.
Would 100k on a major retail title be a lot of money? Doesn’t matter how much,you wouldn’t accept the value.
Trying to recoupt money back on 100-500mb titles after the cost would be pointless
I’d just like someone to give me some actual, confirmed figures on the costs – not estimates, but actual, confirmed figures.
Since no one can give me a figure, I win.
Disc is superior to DLC.
And if discs are so expensive to produce, why would Sony release games like Echochrome and Super Stardust PSP on disc in Europe but not here? If you’re going to spend the costs to make a physical game, shouldn’t you reach the widest possible market to recoup your costs?
Doesn’t make sense……
Ahhhhhh Takahashi-san this is really embarrassing. On my last post I exceeded the maximum amount of characters and forgot to ask my other question.
Does BOY dream? Does GIRL dream? If they dream, what do they dream about? What do they hope for?
Thank you!
All other costs being equal, a disc is superior to a download. However the costs to manufacture a disc are much higher than a download, especially given that 95% of people who would bother to buy the game in the first place, would be happy with the download.
Assume 1,000,000 people would get the game. 9,990,000 are happy with the $5 download.
If they produced 10,000 BD discs for the remaining people, assuming those people were willing to pay a $55 premium for the disc, i.e. $60 at retail, they would gross $600,000.
Subtract the cost of pressing, packaging, shipping, and retail margin, and you might not even have a positive number. Won’t happen.
Other semi-related but not really points:
MTBF on hard disks is generally lower than the expected lifespan of a CD/DVD/BD, somewhere around 4 years usually.
Sure you can redownload the stuff if you erase it, HD fails, whatever, assuming PSN is still alive, and you still have/can find a PS3 that works. Of course, if you couldn’t find a working PS3, having discs wouldn’t matter.
Vote with your dollars, but dont spam. State your case in every topic if you must, but don’t freak out and break out the copypasta.
@120 (nice name btw)
That still doesn’t give me a figure as to how much it actually costs to produce a disc game and it doesn’t explain why Sony would *make* a disc based game and not release it in the biggest game market in the world. (North America)
Does that make sense to you?
Are the distances accurate? like is the distance from the earth to the moon astronomically correct?
@121
Wow man, just won’t stop. First, don’t blame Sony – they’re just a distribution channel. Blame the developers who choose to release their games as download-only. Second, five years later (at least) you will be able to re-download dlc, as Sony consoles have at least a 10-year cycle. And for their next iteration, PS4 will use PSN as well – if it is PS3 dlc compatable who knows, but you’ll still be able to use your PS3. If Sony goes out of business, yeah I might not be able to redownload if HD fails, but that ain’t happening soon. That is a negative, but disc based games have negatives as well, they aren’t perfect either.
And stop asking for exact production figures, none of us here produce games so we wouldn’t know. You don’t know figures either, so you can’t use that as a counter-point either. But common sense tells us putting a game out on DLC is cheaper than producing a disc w/packaging, etc.
Way to hijack Noby Noby Boy, a great game for those who have $5 to spare – skip coffee for 2 days and you’re good to go.
@123 That’s exactly my point.
Everyone keeps saying disc games are so much more expensive, but as you said “none of us here produce games so we wouldn’t know”.
You just admitted that everyone using that argument has no idea what they’re talking about.
A disc based version is not an unreasonable request. It’s *not* that expensive, since Sony has already done disc based released for specific markets. The DLC conversion is only being done out of greed.
I want my disc based games!
I would love a Noby Noby Boy plush!
Maybe you can get Panic to sell them :D
Gumby, just stop already. I can’t believe you hijacked 3 pages of the PSN blog with your luddite nonsense.
If you want to complain, take it straight to Sony through their email addresses, corporate contact information, etc. But please, quit stinking up this blog. I beg you.
I also admitted that common sense tells us putting games out as DLC is cheaper than producing a disc w/packaging. So, everyone using that argument is using common sense. Yeah, we don’t know “exact figures”, as you requested – that’s what I meant, which I’m sure you’ll see if you read the whole sentence again. We do know what common sense tells us, though.
On another note, those disc based games are for PSP, which uses a different tech than PS3. Blu-Ray is more expensive to produce at the moment (as with all newer tech).
Finally, I usually don’t like to argue too much on the internet, so I’ll just end with “It’ll probably come out on a PSN compilation disc eventually”.
@126 Haha I guess I’m partly to blame too, for mucking up Noby Noby Boy forums. Sorry.
On topic: @125, Yeah I’m kinda secretly wanting that Noby Noby Boy plush, as a couch pillow or something. Good conversation starter? Haha, I think trying to explain the Noby concept to guests would just get weird looks.
What does Blu-Ray have to do with producing PSP games? Nothing.
Common sense says “If there is a demand for it, provide it”. In this case, the demand being disc based media.
Common sense says “Reach the widest market possible to generate the maximum amount of profit” – yet they’ve deliberately held back on four different occasions from a specific market when there’s been demand for disc based media (the Suikoden I&II ports that Japan got, Breath of Fire III port, Echochrome and Super Stardust PSP).
How is that, in any way, common sense?
@126 If you like being shafted with DLC, fine. But don’t you *dare* call superior disc based media Luddite.
I will be on this blog, on EVERY post about a DLC game until they finally smarten up and give customers what they have been demanding for *years*.
@124 – What’s the cheapest new game you can buy at a GameStop? If I remember correctly, even the shovelware sells for $20 new.
However, you finally (through your multitude of posts) came up with two reasons why it would make sense to have a disc-based game. The first is that it is impossible to find DLC content for a used or secondhand price. I made the mistake of buying the non-GOTY Oblivion, and the $30 price tag on the Shivering Isles DLC expansion is highway robbery. Now the prices may drop with time, but they might not. The second is that it is conceivable that the ability to re-download will stop at some point in the future, in which case the games definitely will be gone if the hard drive crashes or the system fails.
I still disagree with your opinion, but at this point I’m OK with agreeing to disagree. I just wanted to understand what arguments you were trying to make.
@130 – Sorry you wasted your money, and at least you’re willing to listen.
If I can keep getting quality niche titles that load way faster from the hard drive, cost less than retail discs, can be re-downloaded at any time, and encourage small developers to take a chance on a new concept without running the risk of hugely expensive retail distribution, then yes, I will continue to be “shafted” by DLC. Myself and the other 20 million PS3 account owners.
That’s my last reply here. Keita-san, please forgive me for encouraging the trash in your blog posting and thanks again for Noby Noby Boy.
I am also one of those 20 million PS3 account owners, and I have just as much right to speak up as anyone else.
Hey Gumbydunzeeto, I was going to post more counterpoints, but I’ll just have to admit defeat for now =)
Just know that I’m not trying to disagree with you – I do like physical media and holding tangible objects – I guess I was just irked that you couldn’t find one positive thing about downloadable games. To each their own, eh?
Anyways, I’ll leave this post alone with a good luck to you and your endeavers, and maybe one day you’ll get your physical copy of Noby Noby Boy and other PSN games. You sure are persistant, so perhaps you will succeed =P
Great, thanks for messing up this blog guys, most likely Takahashi-san won’t even read around here because of all the “nagging”.
@Gumbydunzeeto: ugh.. This conversation was completely inappropriate/annoying for this nice post from one of the forthright interesting directors of all time.
Spamming + darnright harrassing [he], commentators, + Sony is no way to get your point across [even]! [It will never get it’s proper response, no matter how much you do it, either.] Don’t be lazy + spam up an area; as if, spam-per-area did anything. When you do this, we all(Sony included) see your so-thought ‘enthusiasm’ for total laziness + will never see the issue seriously [also, assume that you don’t either]. Some-time, half-researched, opinionated ‘spammers’ aren’t going to change anyone’s investment ideas, let alone have them consider another. —
Listen: If you really want to facilitate any sort of useful dialog, build the proper infrastructure!
This was not fun.
@133 I’m surprised you like games at all. You seem to lack an imagination if you can’t imagine that it costs much more money to publish a game via discs. Like someone else said – If it wasn’t for DLC, this game probably wouldn’t exist. Same with games like Blast Factor and Pixeljunk Monsters. It’s like burning a single picture onto a dvd. It’s a stupid idea and a waste of money. The bigger games like Socom and Warhawk have both options for a good reason.
All games should have both options or they are not legitimate.
It is kind of fun. Very addicting. I find it hard sometimes to eat certain things. I hope we get to Mars soon. I’m getting very bored of the moon and the earth. We need a PS3 version of Katamari. I kept the first 2 from my PS2 which I pop in once in a while.
haha ok
@129
“smarten up and give customers what they have been demanding for *years*.”
Based on the very few people I’ve seen longing for disc-based versions of larger games like R&C:Q4B and wipEout HD around the web, I don’t think there are as many people that share your thoughts as you think.
Give up gumbydunzeeto it’s never going to happen this is the only way games like this will ever be put out. They aren’t going to spend all that money to put a 4.99 game on da disc that costs like 10.00 by its self not to mention the people that have to be paid for box art the cases and distribution. They are never going to listen to you give up. You I’m not going to buy unless you put it on disc in every blog post and all your doing is wasting your time. This isn’t like a bug in a game where if enough people complain about it they will change it. Steam has successfully operated free of charge and digital distribution for the last 5 years and they proved people prefer digital distribution. Not having to drive to a game store waste gas and then end up with a stack of games that just takes up room once the disc is installed. Discs get lost or damaged but a digital download is always there unless you get yourself banned from the service.
this game is a trip, way out there.. i like it..
Takahashi, I’m a huge fan of you and your games. Noby Noby Boy is absolutely wonderful and I’m so happy something like this was made.
I really would like to know who is behind the art direction in Noby Noby Boy. I’ve noticed that you were not listed as the lead art director on any of your games but were you involved in the creation of the art (sketching the characters, for example)? Does Noby Noby Boy have the same art team and art director behind it as Katamari Damacy did?
I ask because I love the look of your games.
Any chance you could do a blog update about the look of Noby Noby Boy? Maybe with some unreleased artwork? :]
I saw the banner! I thought it was great! Also well done on the game Takahashi-san, it truly is a superb experience.
I would like a Boy doll please, and t-shirts and other merchandise!
Also please ignore all those people who insist on saying “I’ll buy it when it comes on disc” they’re obviously missing the point in the Playstation Network, and if that’s they’re attitude, they wouldn’t contribute much, or anything to Girl anyway.
Keep up the good work!