(Even Europeans) Love Katamari Damacy

[kupoartist]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=60456

/me does the happy dance. Woo. I may even take my PS2 to Uni now :p

[TtTackler]

Early 2006? We get it in September. Can't wait..

[Berserker]

I just played the demo, damn that's one original game. I had the constant feel i was on some sort of drugs during the opening sequence. Extremely cool presentation and very addictive gameplay IMO.

[TtTackler]

Wow, you guys are just getting Katamari over there? Missing out big time. I want to get Me & My Katamari for PSP that just came out a week ago, but don't have enough money..

[Berserker]

Wow, you guys are just getting Katamari over there? Missing out big time. I want to get Me & My Katamari for PSP that just came out a week ago, but don't have enough money..

Yeah, yeah rub it in! The hype is over and the europeans are getting it...

[merylsilverburg]

Yeah, yeah rub it in! The hype is over and the europeans are getting it...
Whoa, that's really late, I feel so sorry for you guys. :( But yeah, the game is fantastic, enjoy it. Too bad Europe never got the first game...the second game won't be "complete" unless you have the first game's save.

[Berserker]

Whoa, that's really late, I feel so sorry for you guys. :( But yeah, the game is fantastic, enjoy it. Too bad Europe never got the first game...the second game won't be "complete" unless you have the first game's save.

Do you need to import a save file? Complete do you mean a 100 % score or do you never get to see the real ending without the save file??

[merylsilverburg]

Do you need to import a save file? Complete do you mean a 100 % score or do you never get to see the real ending without the save file??

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse anyone. :right: Basically, if you have the first game save file, you can load your created stars and constellations from the first game onto the second game. That way, when you're in the "Cosmos" viewer, you can see all your stars and constellations in the cosmos along with the second game's planets. To me, that's what I'd consider "complete" because I'm just crazy like that. :laugh: Don't worry about the real ending or anything, this has no effect. Hope this clears it up. :)

[Berserker]

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse anyone. :right: Basically, if you have the first game save file, you can load your created stars and constellations from the first game onto the second game. That way, when you're in the "Cosmos" viewer, you can see all your stars and constellations in the cosmos along with the second game's planets. To me, that's what I'd consider "complete" because I'm just crazy like that. :laugh: Don't worry about the real ending or anything, this has no effect. Hope this clears it up. :)

Thanx for clearing that, but they only thing I know about this game is the demo-level that I played(classroom 1,5 mtr in 5 min.), so "cosmos" viewer, constellations etc. doesn't ring any bells. But sure as hell sound interesting, so I'm probably gonna pick this game up.
BTW the demo-level was a two player thing, or is the whole game only two player(controller)??

[merylsilverburg]

Thanx for clearing that, but they only thing I know about this game is the demo-level that I played(classroom 1,5 mtr in 5 min.), so "cosmos" viewer, constellations etc. doesn't ring any bells. But sure as hell sound interesting, so I'm probably gonna pick this game up.

All the stuff, like the Cosmos viewer and everything will become clear once you play the game. :) But, like I said, it's a real, real shame Europe never got the first game because the story of the King Of All Cosmos and the Prince and how he came to creating stars/constellations/planets were all explained then...in the most hilarious way which, thankfully, the sequel still retains. :D

BTW the demo-level was a two player thing, or is the whole game only two player(controller)??

No, the main game is a 1 player, but there is a 2 player mode which you play as either co-op or battle. They improved the 2 player games A LOT so be glad that you guys didn't have to suffer through the first game's dull and limited 2-player mode. :P

[Berserker]

When was the first one released? Was it a ntsc or import release??
This normally isn't my kind of game, but I really would like to play this. Normally I would wait for the price to go down, but I'm affraid this title will be rather hard to get around here and if I wait maybe I'll miss out... :S

[kupoartist]

Was it a ntsc or import release??
Same thing surely? The game shocked a lot of people by appearing in the US in September 2004, because many believed that it was an unlikely risk for Namco to release something so quirky. It quickly became a sort of cult-classic amoung European importers (Little Gamers, those crazy swedish webcomic people, used to reference it a lot. Eurogamer were mad about it too).

People listened to the review sites for once and the original game was actually a sales success (I think it was at a lower price than most games are sold in the US, which helped). Namco sat on it too long to make a European release worthwhile (too many importers / impending release of sequel) but they decided to take a risk and release the sequel over here. I'm not sure how well it's done, though I fear it hasn't done as well as it deserves too. I think the PSP game is coming out over here though, which is good.

[Berserker]

I meant from Meryl's point of view, but it was a us release as I understand now from your story.
Thanx for the background info!

[kupoartist]

I meant from Meryl's point of view, but it was a us release as I understand now from your story.
Thanx for the background info!
Ah, but Japanese games are NTSC releases as well :P

[Berserker]

Ah, but Japanese games are NTSC releases as well :P

Ahaaaaa, ok! Didn't know that always thought they had some secret format, that they didn't want to share with the world :laugh:

[merylsilverburg]

When was the first one released? Was it a ntsc or import release??

Like kupo said, the first game was released in 2004. And yeah, US and JP games are NTSC coding, but I got the US version since I live in the US.

the original game was actually a sales success (I think it was at a lower price than most games are sold in the US, which helped).

Yes, it was only $20! Twenty bucks compared to the usual $40-50...there's almost no excuse not to try/get the game since it was so cheap. I think Namco made the right choice to drop the price so low in order to get people to try it, but I felt they were cheated out since it's such a unique game that $20 is just too low. Well, it still prevailed in the end, so that's good news. :)

I just found out that Namco was planning on releasing a DS version of Katamashii but the US release was cancelled. :( I wonder why...?

EDIT: Check out this Panic site (http://www.panic.com/jp/goods/) from Namco where you can buy Katamashii t-shirts! Unfortunately they only ship to US, Canada, Japan, and Korea. :( I want the Balloon and Dripping Prince! :love:

[kupoartist]

I finally got this the other day! I was holding off buying it until it was affordable. Uni students don't pay £30 for any game :P It's really fun, one of those rarity games you can be happy to say you've played :) I really wish I could play Katamari Damacy now though :/ I'm trying to get all the best scores in the different tasks, but I'm really crap at the game :P I love the soundtrack, it keeps me rolling through various defeats. I hate both cows and bears :)

[merylsilverburg]

I finally got this the other day! I was holding off buying it until it was affordable. Uni students don't pay £30 for any game :P It's really fun, one of those rarity games you can be happy to say you've played :) I really wish I could play Katamari Damacy now though :/ I'm trying to get all the best scores in the different tasks, but I'm really crap at the game :P I love the soundtrack, it keeps me rolling through various defeats. I hate both cows and bears :)

Congrats that you got it! :D The best advice I can give you is to have a really good controller where the analog sticks are in proper working condition - you'll need it to be responsive and your reflexes need to be up there if you want the best score. Also, try to find your own strategy when picking up objects of the same type, like the school level with the origami cranes. Oh, and in those World Stages (particularly the Elephant and Parrot) don't bother to stop and pick up every item you see because you'll waste time. Just keep moving forward and your katamari will get bigger and bigger (after quite a few tries, my biggest katamari in this stage is 3591m 38cm 6mm). Good luck! (Oh and I hate, HATE the CowBear stage too!)

[kupoartist]

Congrats that you got it! :D The best advice I can give you is to have a really good controller where the analog sticks are in proper working condition
Considering how few games I have for the PS2, my existing one is probably just fine :) Though I have "stupid fingers" for console gamepads so they probably need fixing most!
Just keep moving forward and your katamari will get bigger and bigger (after quite a few tries, my biggest katamari in this stage is 3591m 38cm 6mm).
:O My best so far is a teeny 800m!
(Oh and I hate, HATE the CowBear stage too!)
Incidently, what the hell does a Cowbear look like? That's the ultimate goal of the level right?

[merylsilverburg]

Though I have "stupid fingers" for console gamepads so they probably need fixing most!

:laugh:

:O My best so far is a teeny 800m!

You'll get better and be able to make it much bigger, trust me. If you just set your mentality to that of a lunatic who must collect everything in sight (like me, ohohohoho!) then you'll be able to perform it with no problems. My score isn't even the largest - there are some people were able to make it up to 3800m! O_O;;; That's like, impossible, LOL.

Incidently, what the hell does a Cowbear look like? That's the ultimate goal of the level right?

Yes that's the goal of this level. Unfortunately, even to this day, I still haven't been able to get the damn CowBear...but you can see it. It's just an animal with a bear's head and a cow's behind - hence "CowBear." If you get close to the racetrack and use your first-person camera, you'll eventually see it running along the track with a pack of, I think, little bears running behind it. Of course you have to get your katamari bigger than the stupid thing in order to dash into it and get it. But doing so would require, as you may already know, picking up every object while avoiding every stupid cow or bear print in site...those stupid bear figurines...grrrrr.....I wish you all the luck man because this is truly the toughest stage.