Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Katamari Creator Explains Why He Left Namco
Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi announced his decision to leave Namco Bandai back in September and was quoted calling the publisher a "so-so company." Takahashi has since gone on to create a new venture, Uvula, with his wife. In an interview with Eurogamer the developer explains the reasoning behind his departure.
"The reason why I quit Namco was because I started to feel like I didn't belong there any more," Takahashi says. "The games I was making were not necessarily the best-selling ones. I realized Namco was, as a business, going down a bit."
Prior to departure, Takahashi also decided to pursue his lifelong dream of designing a playground, which partially influenced his decision.
"After I started this playground project I felt it was the opportunity for me to start working on other things, not only video games," he says.
Even though games like Katamari and Noby Noby were not much of a commercial success, he's not out of the game for good as he says he plans on continuing to create games.
"Also for other things, I have a handful of other projects. My wife is a music composer, so I'm hoping to work on some music thing," he explains. "Also, if I can come up with a really good idea for new games, then I may approach some companies and say, 'Look, this is my idea.'"
"In general, I want to work on lots of different things that I couldn't work on when I was at Namco."
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
