I have only played this game twice. And not even at home. And not really me.

You see, we've been going to an adoptive families party for the last two years, and we volunteer to bring a PS2 as one of the kids game stations. (WTF? Ninty is 4 teh kiddies!?!/111?!?!1) So far, the top games to set up are the Harry Potter EyeToy stuff and this version of DDR, because it also uses the EyeToy for a bunch of silly minigames.

There's nothing quite like having ten kids all jumping on a dance pad while they watch themselves shaking virtual coconuts off a tree. It's a riot.

Adding the EyeToy stuff to DDR is the biggest addition I've seen in years of DDR games. Unfortunately, at its peak, DDR turned into the Bemani Madden... yearly releases with new songs and not much else. This title was a nice upgrade. Extreme, even.

Memory Score: Everybody always likes the game where you have to feed animals.

I always preferred the understated, classy Sly Cooper to the brash, overt Ratchet and Clank. Smooth, sneaky moves. Innovative boss fights. Well-placed sidebar games. Beautiful, distinct art direction. The Sly sequel tried its damnedest to disabuse me of that notion.

Here's the problem: the secondary characters suck. Sly himself is one of the most fun and best controlling characters in recent memory, and this game continually thinks it would be fun to have you NOT play as him. It is unreasonable punishment to stick the players inside all of these lush environments and then have them play the inelegant, cliched sidekicks.

It was just this reason that put me off of the threequel, which I still haven't picked up. These are great games; but somewhere along the development train, somebody made a decision to offer less Sly. Regrettable.

Memory Score: Lose the band

I first heard of Katamari Damacy in one of the trade mags, either OPM or EGM. There was a single screenshot and a vague description about a game mechanic involving rolling a ball. I was hooked. Figuring the game to be a low-release niche title, I pre-ordered it at EB... and had to spell it ("with a K") to help the clerk find it in their system.

No one knew about this game.

And for about six weeks, lots of us were afraid it would remain that way. Those of us who were there on day one and already very much in love, well, we took to the forums and told all of our friends about it. Every early Katamari owner out there worked to sell this game to all the innocent babes who had never heard of it.

In short order, Katamari Damacy become a worldwide gaming phenomonon.

This is proof that word of mouth works, even in an industry dominated by heavy marketing and me-too! gameplay. This is proof that great gameplay rises to the top, that small, clever designs can be just as well received as massive million-dollar productions, and that "quirky" doesn't have to mean "crappy." This is proof that video gaming is as inclusive and accessible as we want to make it, and that the hard lines dividing sex and age demographics are an illusion. Katamari Damacy is a victory for gaming and for gamers.

Memory Score: Easily the top brand-new property for this generation, on any system.

Next time: A great demo brings me back to a horror franchise, high hopes set me up for a crappy music sequel, and the PS2's biggest name wastes all of its early press talking about how you can make your character fat.