iLounge

Whether you consider it a game or an odd little demo, Namco Bandai’s Noby Noby Boy has been ported to the iPhone and iPod touch, and will arrive in the App Store roughly one year after its debut on the PlayStation 3. Developed by Keita Takahashi of Katamari Damacy fame, Noby Noby Boy similarly utilizes deliberately unfamiliar play mechanics and a galactic theme to attempt to hook players: Katamari titles involved rolling up balls of junk that eventually increased to planetary scale, and Noby Noby Boy places you in control of a worm-like creature named Boy who is stretched like an ever-expanding rope from a tiny centimeter size to eventually—with help from other players working collaboratively online—reach and unlock other planets. Unlike the joystick-based PlayStation 3 version, which the game oddly acknowledges in a text bubble “received a mixed reaction,” the iPhone and iPod touch version has you touch Boy’s left and right sides to stretch him out.

Decidedly experimental in design, the iPhone and iPod touch version of Noby Noby Boy incorporates a variety of fascinating iPhone OS 3.0 multitasking features, including a play mode that links Boy’s stretching to your use of Google Maps, a button that lets you browse a collection of web sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google from within the game, and a floating music player that has album art for a torso and control buttons on its hands and feet. Camera modes enable you to take pictures to use as in-game backgrounds, and overlay the game on top of live video from the iPhone 3GS, as well. Namco Bandai also leverages social networking services to enable players to share their current progress with friends. The title is due to appear in the App Store soon, but pricing has not been announced. Additional screenshots can be seen by clicking on the title of this article.