Whilst those crazy Americans have been lapping up the Xbox Live demo for months now, European Katamari fans have been putting up with a frustrating wait for the region-encoded game to arrive on this side of the Atlantic – but the wait is now over.

Atari has confirmed that it will be publishing the Xbox 360 instalment of the series, entitled Beautiful Katamari, some time next month.

The original Katamari Damacy was a cult hit on PS2 in Japan, but whilst the game did make it across the pond to the US, us European gamers were resorted to importing to get a taste of its colourful delights.

EA stepped up to the plate to bring its sequel, We Love Katamari, and PSP debut, Me and My Katamari, to the West, but despite their critical adulation, their brilliance didn’t translate to commercial success.

A little known fact is that one member of the MCV team, in a former life, once gave the original title 96 per cent in a review on a popular consumer games site. And how right he was to do so.