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Taking the piss?
By PaulEMoz
Right, before we go any further, let's get something out of the way. I know you've all looked at the one-star rating and asked "What the FUCK is he thinking? You lot have been raving about Katamari for years...".
In order to understand this, you have to understand the definition that comes with the star rating. One star = "Somebody, somewhere is taking the piss".
"Naaaah na-na-na-na-naah Namco, fuck off, you grasping twats"
Now, that's not through any fault of the game's. Indeed, it's still the same daft, silly, utterly charming and engaging piece of throwaway fun that it always was. It's just that, well, it's forty quid.
I don't know why, but Namco seems to have it in for us UK gamers. The original, Katamari Damacy, was an incredible breath of fresh air. It was quirky, original and a completely joyous experience. It was (obviously) released in Japan first, and then Namco took it to the States, where they released it for just $19.99. That's just over a tenner in our money, and that was easily enough to turn this into a must-have impulse buy for a huge number of Americans. And they loved it.
In the UK, it didn't get a release. That didn't stop a fair number of Rodents and enlightened gamers from importing it, and having a splendid time with it. But it was a shame that the masses couldn't enjoy it.
There came a sequel, We Love Katamari. It messed with the formula a bit, but at the end of the day, the same basic rolling-stuff-up-into-a-big-ball gameplay remained intact. Due to the popularity of the original, We Love Katamari was released in the States with a price tag of $29.99. That's just over fifteen quid in our money, and it was a price that most Americans that loved the original considered more than reasonable. They spent their thirty bucks in order to get another fix of Japanese cutesy madness.
The game received a UK release, at the price of £34.99. And so a game that was an impulse buy in the US remained mostly on the shelves over here, priced out of many homes because nobody spends £35 on a game through sheer impulse. It's too much to lose if it's not to your taste.
Now, katamaris are rolling out on the 360, with the release of Beautiful Katamari. It came out months ago in the States, with a price tag of $39.99. That's just over twenty quid in our money. I'm sure it's done very well, because that's pretty much a budget release for a current-gen game. Unless I knew it was rubbish, I'd pick up a new release game for twenty quid.
We've just seen a UK release of Beautiful Katamari. It costs £39.99.
Somebody, somewhere is taking the piss.
March 2008
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