It’s to be hoped that Namco Bandai’s Beautiful Katamari isn’t swamped in the usual Holiday deluge of must-have software, but our fears for the series’ next-gen debut are very real. Still, those of us who manage to overlook the charms of Halo 3 and company to spend some time with the Prince could be in for a real treat, if the latest screens and information on the game are anything to go by.

Apparently, the Xbox 360 exclusive will sport a four-player online mode that lets players face off in a "Thingy Battle", where the objective is to roll up the most of one particular item (chosen by the King of all Cosmos, naturally).

There’ll also be online worldwide leaderboards to track scores in the single-player game, and a feature known as "Everyone's Katamari" that shows the combined size of every player’s Katamari, represented by a grazing, swollen cow (above). The more that's rolled up by the world’s Beautiful Katamari players, the larger the cow becomes. Barmy stuff, but let’s not forget which game franchise we’re discussing here.

Finally, there’s "Roller Roaster" mode, in which our diminutive hero must collect all objects that are hot, including pizza, coffee, and hamburgers, to get his Katamari up to 10,000 degrees Celsius. Items such as ice cream, soda, and fire extinguishers reduce your Katamari’s temperature, while falling in the river will cause its heat to expire completely.

Scroll down to see all of the above and more in the 26 latest screenshots.