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Katamari Damacy Sold Out
mausmalone writes "Katamari Damacy is completely sold out at most game retailers." The relatively unknown game is completely out of stock because retailers base their orders on preorders...which they didn't allow for this title.
Since I've never heard of it, and now I want it. Gonna go have to go find it now.
Baaaaa
-- I have fans? Wow.
Is it relatively obscure as Zonk describes it, or is it "Namco's highly anticipated, indescribable, rolling, sticking action/puzzle title" as Gamespot describes it?
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
The relatively unknown game is completely out of stock because retailers base their orders on preorders...which they didn't allow for this title.
If that's true, then why does the article say this:
This time, your local game store employee's dire warning came true--if you didn't preorder a copy of Katamari before its release date, you were out of luck.
According to the article, the reason why Katamari Damacy was sold out so quickly is purely that retailers thought that no one would want a quirky Japanese game.
Rob
Why do people pre-order?
Hold on to your money and buy it when it comes out. If it sells out, they'll get more. Pre-ordering just allows game shops to keep crappier sellection on hand all while providing them with contact info for them to market to you through. If they're going to get your $50 anyway, why give it to them 3 months in advance?
> What a STUPID game.
No, you're stupid.
> DUMB.. god damn... are japanese people really so easily amused?
No, you're dumb.
There...now I feel better!
This game is a steal at $20. Its about time more developers tooks risks instead of rehashing the same old games.
I'm hoping to find a copy before the scalpers on EBAY horde all available copies.
For those on the west coast, I heard Fry's was selling the title for 14.99.
Chewie does not get a medal. Come on, George. Can a Wookie get a medal?
The soundtrack to the game is also very quirky and catchy.
Download a few tracks here and if you like it you can purchase the official release here
Chewie does not get a medal. Come on, George. Can a Wookie get a medal?
This game has a) the stupidest premise, and b) the most awesome gameplay of any game that I've seen or played which has come out in the past 5 years. Play it, if you can get a copy!
-- Crutcher --
#include <disclaimer.h>
However, I showed up the day after release and asked around, and the store operator remembered asking about it and had a copy held for me at a neighboring store, if I could pick it up within 18 hours. The other store actually had to turn away about 4-5 other buyers before I showed up with only an hour to spare. Moral: be good chums with your video game store staff and they'll help you in a pinch.
That said, I'm glad I got it. I still haven't beated it, despite the game's "short length," since it gets a little frustrating on the later levels. However, this is the happiest game I've ever played, despite the fact that you are ruthlessly wadding people and animals up in a ball to hurl them in the cold recesses of space.
WARNING: Do not play while taking drugs. You won't be able to tell when they wear off...
Those who complain about affect & effect on
That's strange... I played it at E3 and I don't remember it having any gay sex in it...
/.news worthy. Especially when it sells out nationwide in the first day of release.
In fact, it was the only truly original game at the whole show. I think an obscure Japanese game with a totally original concept is EXACTLY the kind of thing that is
I suppose you'd rather have some news about some non-gay games like Final Fantasy 26 or Tomb Raider 14? Or maybe something about one of those new fangled first person shooters?
The article seems to focus on SF Bay area retailers. SF is a tech-savvy, geek-rich town with a healthy Asian population to boot, so it stands to reason more people there would have heard about it. At least eight per vicinity-of-a-store.
Here in Phoenix/Tempe, I just sauntered into Fry's Electronics and bought one of three copies on display, Friday night. I wonder if they've sold out yet. So it's worth giving your local retailer a call to see if they have it in. And remember, "Katamari" is easier to spell over the phone than "Damacy", "Damashii", "DeMacci", or "Dummycheese".
I'm pretty much hooked on the game. I've played all the levels, and I can still see myself putting the game in about once a day for the foreseeable future. It makes me just want to share it with everybody.
Both EB and Gamestop's online stores had preorders available for the game, Gamestop being the first to do so (which is where I preordered from). They most certainly had a small shipment as Gamestop.com sold out on the day of release.
I don't really fault retailers that much, since this is a budget title, and most of the fever over the game has been decidedly word of mouth as there hasn't been a big promotional campaign for the title.
With that said, this is one of the most unique and fresh titles I've played in years. You'd do yourself a huge favor to get it...if you can find a copy.
Easily one of the most creative games I've played in years. Very simple gameplay mechanics, HUGE world to explore, addictive, and.. *GASP* FUN!
Anyone can pick this game up and love it. I mean anyone. Very quirky humor, 100% replayable.. many many times. Amazingly good soundtrack.
If there was a legit video game awards this should get game of the year, or decade. I'd say it's as ground breaking in creativity/addictivity as tetris was in it's day.
It's a great game. You seem to agree. Why all the vitriol directed towards people who like/want it?
Your example ("imagine that in Japan") is stupid. OF COURSE Culture A is likely to be excited about Culture B's big game. That's because A doesn't often see games like it. Doesn't matter who A is or who B is. Katamari Damacy/Japan = Grand Theft Auto US/UK. What's exotic for one is mundane for the other. I don't know what boring homogenous world you're from, but that's the way EVERYTHING works. We're fascinated by Pocky and Domo-Kun. They're fascinated by McDonald's and Star Wars.
In summation, fuck off.
To be honest, most American gamers know what's coming out of Japan, and they're just as formulaic as American games. We've got our first-person shooters and mission-based driving games, while they've got fighters, insanely long RPG's, and quite a few too many card-based battle games.
So, while we're celebrating how Japanese the game is, it's really secondary to how non-formulaic the game is, compared to what we've usually been seeing.
This is especially true of Playstation 2 owners. Gamecube owners are already accustomed to formula-breaking games; they have Pikmin, after all.
Is this the same slashdot where people bitch and moan and joke about Doom III and DNF and Final Fantasy XXX and Peter Molyineux and how there's no original games anymore?
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
I had to call every store in my little midwestern city and finally found a new game store that had just opened - they had two copies. Quite a bit of legwork, and god DAMN was it worth it.
This game is totally fantastic. Fun, simple controls, perfect aesthetics and style. Nearly pick-up-and-play, with 100% satisfying gameplay every single round, every time.
It'll probably only last a month in terms of replay, but at $19.99, why not?
I showed it off to some coworkers and now they are all buying copies themselves.
If you don't like this game, you just don't like games. BUY THIS. And stop bitching about how there's no originality in video games. The only people who do that are people who don't play them anymore anyway.
Japanese Video Game Designers(Shrooms + Multiple Viewings of Yellow Submarine + Caramel)= Katamari Damacy
What the hell are those pandas doing anyway?
I went to a couple shops and they have a half dozen copies on the shelves. I'm in Canada, though.
I love everything about this game. I bought the last copy at my local Gamestop last week. My girlfriend and I have played the crap out of Katamari Damacy and we finished it today. Extremely simple, but constantly rewarding. All wrapped up with a quirky art style and eastern religious undertones. And the soundtrack is amazing.
If you like games, you owe it to yourself to go pick this up once stores get restocked.
You won't be able to ignore them for much longer. Soon, they will be rightfully recognized along with these "hardcore" games that you usually play. The only question is if you will throw your inhibitions out the window and allow yourself to have fun with a title such as this or will you continue with such a 'holier than thou' attitude and be missing out on a boatload of fun from overseas.
MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I'm the guy with the unpopular opinion
Maybe people are drooling over the game's innovation a bit much. It seems like an update to the old Pac Man game.
A good, strong update, defintely worthy of praise. Like the wonderful revelation when Mario got moved to 3-D on the N64. But we shouldn't be acting like we've never seen anything like it before.
vk.
Sometimes I pre-order because otherwise, I'll _never_ get it. Other times, it's because I like shopping at a good store and figure I'll pre-order so I don't forget or miss out.
Now, too many shops use a bizarre parody of 'just in time' inventory that goes like this:
1) They order 1 copy of "Item X" because it's not a guaranteed hit.
2) They sell their 1 "Item X". No one else sees "Item X", so they don't bother to re-order.
3) They pat themselves on the back for making a good call and not 'overordering' "Item X"-- not realizing they missed sales because _they didn't have it on the shelf!_
Worse, even if you go in asking for something, they will think, "well, this is an odd item, so even though I have a request, I'll only order to fill that request so I'm not overstocked". Again, they lose sales because of no shelf copy.
The person that loved "Item X" tells their friends about it, sure, but those friends walk into the store, don't see it, and say "oh well".
If you have to ask the store to order it, most people figure they might as well just buy it online- it's easier and quicker than waiting for the store to get a copy then treking down to that store.
And then brick-and-mortar places complain about online sellers. What a _good_ store does, is _push_ product. Instead of passively waiting for customers to come and ask for what they want (which online stores do better), a good store makes recommendations.
If you have a good shop, pre-orders are often because the shopkeep has pre-informed you on something (or mentioned something you'd heard about and were curious about), and closed the sale by saying "hey, why don't you pre-order it, so as soon as it comes in you know you'll have a copy!"
Then, it's just like christmas! You go into the shop and *poof*, there's your present! Sure, you bought it yourself, but it's still fun! And the shop stays in business and gets to provide you with good leads for future products.
(A good shop will also use pre-orders as a barometer for likely sellers, and order extras.)
In short, I like my local shop that actually bothers to figure out what I like. I talked with the shopkeep once, about how far he'd go to sell to me based on how much I spend there each month (maybe $100 on average). After you subtract costs and overhead, he figured I bought his family dinner one night each month. So while he'd do normal good service to keep me, at 1 dinner/month, it's not like I should be demanding extra discounts or red carpets. Proportion is necessary.
A.
I actually have received solicitation from a pre-order, however it was to advertise that I could trade in 3 games to be able to get an extra $10 off my pre-order.
However, I was able to tell them (in this case, EBGames) to put a mark on my account that says "No Promo Calls" since I give them my cell and they call me in the daytime. Now they only call me when a game comes in, so it's all good.
Its just a matter of being in the database and you, the consumer, asking for it. The only difference is, which game do you think Joe Average is going to know more about? Half-Life 2 or Wild Arms: The 4th Detonator? (Actual game, look it up.)
When I heard from someone who had got it, (I'd been waiting for months for the US release,) I called my local Fry's, and I went down that evening and managed to get a copy on sale for 14.99 (that day only) Now if only I owned a PS2...
It's a video game, right? But, but, you don't shoot things?
And there are no rocket luanchers? Or machine guns?
No, I just don't understand.
Seriously, I had'nt heard of this, but it looks fantastic.
"I realise this is not a very popular opinion but it's the truth, and there for needs to be said" -Bill Hicks
Sad to think that this yummy goodness is only available in Japan and North America. Has anyone heard of a possible release in Europe?