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Namco blames retailers for not recognizing Katamari Damacy
- Thread starter Wario64
- Start date
seismologist
Banned
well I was just at Fry's and they had about 10 copies on the shelf.
SentientStone
Member
Well, I'm glad I got my copy today (thanks to Bishop for the tip). 
fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
LOL at thread title:
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It is not the article title, no, but before blaming retailers I'd ask Namco a little more about their efforts to push the game. If you wanna sell something as a "sleeper" that gradually builds steam over a long period of time, you need to be sure that consumers can figure out what it is you're selling exactly in the first place.
I mean, really, to English speakers the title may as well be "Asdghufv Jawuhagvoaw'hfah". How do you get retailers -- or anyone, really, who does not import Japanese games -- to notice this?
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It is not the article title, no, but before blaming retailers I'd ask Namco a little more about their efforts to push the game. If you wanna sell something as a "sleeper" that gradually builds steam over a long period of time, you need to be sure that consumers can figure out what it is you're selling exactly in the first place.
Kobun Heat
Member
Thread title is NOT the article title... just so we're clear.
Kobun Heat
Member
They should have replaced all the music with "Dragula" and the assorted other suggestions we made.
fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
That was just the conclusion I didn't want to infer when I talked about selling a sleeper sort of game. The target of a game like Katamari can identify poor attempts to localize a game (i.e. add Dragula), but at the same time they have to know, in the first place, what the heck the game is. Consumers are inherently lazy, and it's a team effort between retailers and publishers to get them excited about a product.Kobun Heat said:
heavy liquid
Member
I had to drive about 20 miles to a GameStop that actually had the game. And some of the responses I had when I was calling stores were great:
Me: "Do you have any copies of Katamari Damacy in stock?"
GS: "Kata-what?"
Me: "Katamari Damacy. It just came out. It's spelled K - A - T - A."
GS: "OOohh, there it is. Finally found it in the computer. I think we should have one. let me look".
*rummaging around*
Me: "It's got a cow and a rainbow on the cover, if that helps".
(I immediately regretted saying this)
GS: "Uh. You sure you want this game? Haha." -a minute later- "No, we don't have it."
Me: "Do you have any copies of Katamari Damacy in stock?"
GS: "Kata-what?"
Me: "Katamari Damacy. It just came out. It's spelled K - A - T - A."
GS: "OOohh, there it is. Finally found it in the computer. I think we should have one. let me look".
*rummaging around*
Me: "It's got a cow and a rainbow on the cover, if that helps".
(I immediately regretted saying this)
GS: "Uh. You sure you want this game? Haha." -a minute later- "No, we don't have it."
Pedigree Chum
Banned
I got lucky, I just waddled into my EB late last week, saw Katamari and bought it. Never saw another copy since.
I talk with a lot of Buyers for both EB and Gamecrazy. And they all laughed at me when i asked them about this game back in August. Then on top of it i get insulted at the actual stores for wanting the game. Hell gamecrazy didnt even have the game in the computer till the week of release and as far as i know they only bought 40 of the games.
I say to those ha ha suck it down this game is selling like pancakes in the morning with maple syrup and butter in between. Now if only we could get more out there. Word of mouth is picking up localy and i wouldnt mind being able to tell people around my town where to get the game.
I say to those ha ha suck it down this game is selling like pancakes in the morning with maple syrup and butter in between. Now if only we could get more out there. Word of mouth is picking up localy and i wouldnt mind being able to tell people around my town where to get the game.
Pedigree Chum
Banned
When I picked up this game, the store owners were praising the game talking about how cool it was and such. Meh, I guess it differs from store to store...
Pedigree Chum said:
Yeah, this was more the situation at the store I bought it at as well. All of the employees had heard of it. One even had the import himself. Plus, when I went to pick it up, the guy told me that there had been numerous people trying to buy my copy over the weekend.
Mr. Lemming
Member
For any Lehigh Valley residents, the EB Games off of Cedar Crest Blvd. next to Target has 4 copies in stock as of tonight.
Pedigree Chum
Banned
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Naked Snake
Member
Katamari Damacy is available from Amazon.com now (through J&R Music and Computer World), usually ships within 1-2 days: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...iid=IK7UL4RCVXNZT&v=glance&colid=RS8ABODWJZS5
How strange. At the store in which I work, we got in 6 copies. Two were pre-orders (me and another guy), and only one other has sold since the game's release. So we're still sitting on 3 extras. I've placed it prominently in the new release section, and have our two back-stock copies face-out (on the big EB racks behind the registers). But no one has even asked about it.
It probably doesn't help that this is the middle of hillbilly Kansas--everybody just wants the new Madden, NBA Live, etc.
It probably doesn't help that this is the middle of hillbilly Kansas--everybody just wants the new Madden, NBA Live, etc.
This speaks volume about how these chains are organised. If your out of stock and people ask about a product your supposed to act on it. A week is freaking ages in a business where the competition offers identical products. Consumer service and price are your only means to generate more business.
The Spot said:
Chris? Not to dispute your facts or the thoroughness of your research, but does the corner of Powell and O'Farrell count as part of the "greater San Francisco area"? It's downtown, about six blocks as the crow flies from the Gamespot offices.
I ask, because I just bought a copy of Katamari at the Union Square EB Games branch there. They had about 10 copies in stock. Got a whole bunch with their second shipment, the clerk said.
DFS.
fennec fox said:
Well, that's still retailer's fault then. If consumers can't be informed, the retailers SHOULD BE. That way they can demo the games in-store or push it through stand-up advertising or something. Somebody in the corporate structure needs to know about these kinds of games and manage their in-store marketing.
Belfast said:
It generally takes a publisher's involvement to get that kind of thing going, though. It's publishers that supply retailers with point-of-sale promotional materials (posters, cards, standees, pre-release demos). Retailers can display games on the new-release racks or put them on their own in-store demo stations -- which would be the perfect thing to do with Katamari, since it doesn't really make sense until you play it -- but that's about it
Not to mention that while this game is a holy crusade from a geek's perspective, from a retailer's perspective it's a $20 budget title hitting the market at the same time as stuff that's gonna move more units at a higher margin with less effort.
DFS.
FortNinety
Member
A Nintendo reference in a Kohler article? Gee, what a surprise.
Hey, Chris, where's my copy of your book? My class starts in just two weeks!
Hey, Chris, where's my copy of your book? My class starts in just two weeks!
Date of Lies
Banned
fennec fox said:
Had Namco touched the presentation and the name, I probably wouldn't have been so excited about it.
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Katamari Damacy really isn't hard to say in English, there are harder words to say in our own language. People just get scared when they see a new word, they don't want to say it wrong so they just say it is hard...
WarPig said:
I just think companies need people who can scout out new things like this. Why? Because people do it on these forums every day. Of course, the ability to correctly predict a hit (of any magnitude) is quite a gamble, but most of these companies don't even have a slight pulse on what could or could not become a potential hit.
SuperPac
Member
When I got the call that my preordered copy was in at the local EB here in hillbilly Houston, TX, the girl at the EB tried 2-3 times to say "Katamari" before just going with "your game's in, come pick it up." Sad but true.
There wasn't an OPM demo of this, was there? That would've gotten more people talking...
There wasn't an OPM demo of this, was there? That would've gotten more people talking...
jwang said:
I know it's too late now, but if Fry's does a sale like this again and sells out, you CAN ask for a raincheck and they ask "how many" and you can say "2 copies" or whatever. The raincheck is good for 30 days from the date you asked for it for the # of copies you specified at that price point.
Some people were surprised that they did rainchecks, but I found out about it when they had Futurama vol. 2 on sale. The clerk offerred it to me since they were out of stock.
Late Stage Marxist
Member
Publicity stunt, free advertising, yada yada yada