What is Katamari amore?

New trademark filings suggest quirky collection series Katamari is set for a return.

Two filings, one for Katamari amore and another for Katamari amore Rolling Whopper, were spotted by Siliconera.

Both trademarks were registered last Friday by Namco Bandai for use in Europe.

The last Katamari game was 2009's Katamari Forever, released on PlayStation 3 and recipient of a Eurogamer 7/10.

Series creator Keita Takahashi quit publisher Namco Bandai last year after 11 years working for the company.

"The reason why I quit Namco was because I started to feel like I didn't belong there any more," Takahashi told Eurogamer.

"The games I was making were not necessarily the best-selling ones. I realised Namco was, as a business, going down a bit.

"Also, my colleagues were leaving to do another project. I started to feel like I didn't belong there any more."

Takahashi directed three games during his time with Namco Bandai: Katamari Damacy, sequel We Love Katamari and Noby Noby Boy, but his original Katamari game spawned the release of five sequels.

While Takahashi's games have enjoyed critical acclaim they have failed to find commercial success. Why? "Maybe because they're not so interesting," a downbeat Takahashi replied.

After leaving Namco Takahashi set up a new company, called uvula, with his composer wife Asuka Sakai.

Namco Bandai told Eurogamer this morning it had no comment to make.