We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

Many people do not realize it because of the simplistic gameplay and cuteness, but Katamari Damacy is fairly artsy-fartsy. I mean, in the credits you roll up all the countries of the world and are praised for eliminating their borders. The second game is some weird meta-commentary on fanservice.

Oh, definitely. In Japan, kawaisa is very often treated as another aesthetic that’s there to use (or abuse), instead of as an aesthetic that is always lower on the pecking order of art (not that it doesn’t have its critics).

We can translate that word as “cuteness”, but it can be a little more inclusive than that, particularly compared to English where we often hear or use the word “cute” dismissively as well. Game designer Zack Wood (who studied the craft in Japan for a couple years) says, “it is not as simple as just being ‘cute’; my understanding of kawaii characters is that they are expressive, endearing, and easy-to-read.”

Also, by coincidence I was looking at the cover of Doom the other day, and for the first time I realized there was another space marine in the background. Poor guy only existed on the box art. Either that or he is Doomguy and the space marine front and center being dragged to Hell is just plain toast. Or they’re both insignificant; that’s also possible.