SAN JOSE, Calif., (July 30, 2012) – Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that its classic hit, Katamari Damacy will be on display at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City from July 29, 2012 through November 05, 2012 as part of their Century of the Child: Growing by Design exhibit. Originally released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system; Katamari Damacy quickly gained critical acclaim for its unique design, highly stylized art direction and addictive gameplay.
Katamari Damacy is a third-person puzzle-action game that centers around the story of a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild stars, constellations and the Moon which his father, the King of All Cosmos, has accidentally destroyed. Using a magical adhesive ball called a Katamari; he begins collecting material ranging from people, to cars, to mountains from various locations; until the Katamari has collected enough mass to become a star. With its unique gameplay and highly stylized and whimsical art style, Katamari Damacy became an instant hit with video game audiences when it launched in 2004 and is still a corner stone of innovative video game design today.
“NAMCO BANDAI Games’ Katamari Damacy has touched countless people, from children to adults, and is truly a modern video game classic,” said Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “The inclusion of Katamari Damacy in this ground breaking exhibit is a testament to the creative designs embodied in NAMCO BANDAI’s games and shows the importance of video games in peoples’ lives in addition to being a validation of video games as a modern form of interactive art.”
Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000, is the New York MoMA’s ambitious survey of 20th century design for children. The exhibit is the first large-scale overview of the modernist preoccupation with children and childhood as a paradigm for progressive design thinking. The exhibition brings together areas underrepresented in design history and often considered separately, including school architecture, clothing, playgrounds, children’s hospitals and safety equipment, nurseries, furniture, and books. Katamari Damacy will be featured within a section of the exhibition that concentrates on toys and game design.
