Beautiful Katamari

[Spatial]

Well maybe I'd just lost the touch. Gaming Blisters are a thing of the past now, god bless good ergonomics

It's the first time it's happened to me in ages (probably since the last Katamari game as far as I can recall). The only thing that comes close to having any effect like that any more as far as I can remember is the dreaded `Guitar Hero hand cramp`.

It's definitely more indicative of the game rather than the pad.

Although worryingly I have warn away all those little notches on each thumbstick on my old faithful 360 pad.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I'm enjoying this so far, but then I've always enjoyed the series so more of the same, even though this is *exactly* the same as before, still entertains me. And the soundtrack is utterly sublime, as usual. I shall be ordering the OST, again, as usual.

BTW, you can run around the world map by holding X.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I'm enjoying this but it all feels a bit same old...same old. The iffy framerate (quite possibly worse than on PS2), camera issues (just as bad as ever) & the lack of autosave are annoying.

The frame rate is dodgy I agree, but it's vastly better than the PS2 versions. The 360 game is 60fps but drops to 30fps often. The PS2 games were 30fps at most, but would drop to 20fps when things got busy.

The 360 version also has anti-aliasing, 720p, 16:9, and depth of field. Obviously it's no technical showcase, but it's still a bump over the PS2 games.

[Spatial]

BTW, you can run around the world map by holding X.

DOH!

I really will have to RTFM before playing games

[toythatkills]

If you pick up any good tips let us know, my manuals in Japanese so I've not got a clue what's in it!

I played this for a bit today, and wasn't massively impressed, but it's still good enough, that's about all it is, though.

One thing I really don't remember from the PS2 version is the jump between areas being so jarring. If you go from the house to the street, and then attempt to go back, the house is entirely empty, then when you enter it there's a jolt, almost like it's skipped a few frames, as the house is populated with items.

[Kotatsu Neko]

On the PS2 the game would completely freeze and load up a new section. The 360 just pings in the realtime items.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I finished this tonight. 3 hours playtime tops, making it possibly the shortest Katamari game yet. Plenty of replay of course with all the presents and cousins, and I've yet to try out the online stuff.

The last stage is pretty insane, well worth seeing.

[Mr M0by]

3 hours?!

[Kotatsu Neko]

Yeah, something like that. Maybe 4 at a push.

Fun game though.

[Kubrick]

There is plenty of reasons to keep playing though if you want to earn all the achievements.

Just a pity the DLC will be off-limits to those of us with a UK gamertag until it gets released here...

[Swallow]

Can anyone tell me if the US version works on an NTSC-J machine please? Need to know if the copy I've just got is up for trade for a Japanese/Asian copy or not...

[toythatkills]

I have a feeling that I may end up killing someone before getting that 10,000 degree level done. So. Frustrating. Pick up 8000 items for 1 degree each, pick up one ice cream by mistake, minus 7000 degrees. Start again. And again. AGH.

[Kubrick]

Yeah, "Roller Roaster" or something? That's definitely my least favourite level in the game.

[Spatial]

Same here, so much so I left it as late as I possibly could before I had to do it to finish the game.

Only tip I can give (not that it's much of one) is to take it really, really slowly. As there's no time limit you can roll to your hearts delight and if you're careful you can avoid as much of the cold stuff as possible.

[toythatkills]

Yeah I've tried that. It's just so annoying collecting something cold you didn't notice, or didn't even realise would count as cold (people?!) and it sets you back SO much

I've completed the last level and seen the credits and haven't even done Roller Roaster yet, so it's not compulsory. I probably wouldn't do it at all if it weren't for achievements, and even worse is that I'll have to do it numerous times for cousins and presents, probably.