View Full Version : Katamari creator wants to quit game design ....
Vroomfunkel
11-10-2005, 08:15 AM
... and didn't want to make a sequel either. And failed his initial job interview for Namco. No, I wasn't suprised either - when the hell is the games industry going to wake up and realise that sooner or later people are going to want good games not just good-looking games??
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4392964.stm
Vroomfunkel
ClubNinja
11-10-2005, 08:44 AM
Good for him!
Julio III
11-10-2005, 09:26 AM
In a way, i'm happy for him if thats what he wants to do. His ideas for playground design seem good. If he feels like he hasn't got any more great ideas for games then there is no need for him to carry on making them. I was always surprised that he created a sequal to Katamari given his stance on things, and now it seems clear, if they were going to make it without him he might as well be involved to make it how he wants
punkoffgirl
11-10-2005, 10:51 AM
Yeah, this isn't surprising at all. And good for him for not just being a puppet and still being brave enough to speak his mind. Now people can make pilgrimmages to visit his playgrounds instead :)
It's good that he has future plans outside of game creating and I'm happy for him.
tonyvortex
11-10-2005, 11:34 AM
sounds like he would be happier making games for the revolution.
swlovinist
11-10-2005, 12:19 PM
I am happy for the man who stands up to the industry that will not listen. It will be the downfall of the game industry to continue to push realism as its primary driving force. This industry will still be around in 10 years, but it seriously needs a wake up call.
njiska
11-10-2005, 12:24 PM
Good because he had to be doing way too much acid when making Katamari.
Seriously though it's never good to be a puppet. Sometimes your creative talents may need to be bridled and molded, but not exploited. Good for him.
kevin_psx
11-10-2005, 12:59 PM
I am happy for the man who stands up to the industry that will not listen. It will be the downfall of the game industry to continue to push realism as its primary driving force. This industry will still be around in 10 years, but it seriously needs a wake up call.
Replace "game" with "movie" and you have the same flaw in hollywood.
Cool stuff, maybe kids will rather be at that playground, cut the whole gaming in half...
I like games.. but I don't play them often, bu when I do I sure enjoy them, but way too much to do in life then to play them 12 hours a day, or even 3 a day.
Snapple
11-10-2005, 01:58 PM
It doesn't seem too surprising. I mean, this guy has already got to be really out there, and probably a regular user of controlled substances, so it shouldn't be a surprise if his ambitions are a little off-key.
In a way, this is good. It means that the Katamari license won't be drug through the dirt until it's killed and stale like every other franchise that once had a tiny shred of originality.
googlefest1
11-10-2005, 02:32 PM
so, Let him go
if he's self reliant enough to not be a willing corporate pawn then more power to him - im sure many (including me) whish they could just up and leave with a good 'ol F U to thier corporate pew Sorry i had to ryme
ClubNinja
11-10-2005, 02:36 PM
It doesn't seem too surprising. I mean, this guy has already got to be really out there, and probably a regular user of controlled substances, so it shouldn't be a surprise if his ambitions are a little off-key.
Why must we assume that, just because someone has a creative, quirky, unique mind and unusual, yet still creative and humanitarian (in a way) life goals, they MUST be on drugs? He's got vision - doesn't mean he's got a high.
Leo_A
11-10-2005, 02:37 PM
"I am happy for the man who stands up to the industry that will not listen. It will be the downfall of the game industry to continue to push realism as its primary driving force. This industry will still be around in 10 years, but it seriously needs a wake up call."
Are you talking about graphics? Simulations are getting much rarer these days outside of first person shooters (And even those are terribly unrealistic with few exceptions), so I'd disagree that games are getting more realistic.
I'd rather they were getting much more realistic myself.
njiska
11-10-2005, 02:43 PM
It doesn't seem too surprising. I mean, this guy has already got to be really out there, and probably a regular user of controlled substances, so it shouldn't be a surprise if his ambitions are a little off-key.
Why must we assume that, just because someone has a creative, quirky, unique mind and unusual, yet still creative and humanitarian (in a way) life goals, they MUST be on drugs? He's got vision - doesn't mean he's got a high.
Because the creator of Katamari being on drugs is a joke as old as the game it's self. Probably because the game looks like an acid trip.
icarwngs55
11-10-2005, 03:13 PM
I wonder what this playground would look like....
hmmmm....
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/Docman217/Random%20Pics/kamatarinightmare2.jpg
Mike
swlovinist
11-10-2005, 03:49 PM
I was referring to graphics and the same stale kind of games. How many FPS war games do we need? How many stale racing games do we need? Visuals over substance time and time again are going to kill the road ahead.
Vroomfunkel
11-10-2005, 07:51 PM
Why must we assume that, just because someone has a creative, quirky, unique mind and unusual, yet still creative and humanitarian (in a way) life goals, they MUST be on drugs?
Yeah, that irks me too ... but if you've played Katmari at all, you have to admit that it is riddled with drug references.
Wacky creativity does not require drugs, it is true ... but even if the game was not conceived through drug use, it certainly tips its hat to it ...
Vroomfunkel
Leo_A
11-10-2005, 08:34 PM
I don't see what's wrong with racing games. You could apply that to every genre out there.
Ed Oscuro
11-10-2005, 09:21 PM
Replace "game" with "movie" and you have the same flaw in hollywood.
Difference being, of course, that the indie scene is alive and well...people have been saying for years that Hollywood's imaginatively bankrupt, but people still go to movies (or buy movies, anyway).
Simulations are getting much rarer these days outside of first person shooters (And even those are terribly unrealistic with few exceptions)
Huh. Call of Cthulhu? The main "issue" with a shooter like Half-Life 2, for example, is that guns are made more or less powerful according to people's expectations and knowledge from movies, not from any sort of real knowledge, damage is lessened, and nobody gets torn to pieces. That's really still a daft generalization.
Look at Resident Evil 4 - sure, sometimes the Garrador's blade impales Leon's face when visually it's a foot off to the left, but there's a game where all sorts of nasty things can happen. Come back and tell me you want more FPSes where your character doesn't get healed, and can suffer broken bones, and I'll say...Call of Cthulhu :P
Snapple
11-10-2005, 10:57 PM
It doesn't seem too surprising. I mean, this guy has already got to be really out there, and probably a regular user of controlled substances, so it shouldn't be a surprise if his ambitions are a little off-key.
Why must we assume that, just because someone has a creative, quirky, unique mind and unusual, yet still creative and humanitarian (in a way) life goals, they MUST be on drugs? He's got vision - doesn't mean he's got a high.
Why do you act like I was insulting him? Whether he is or is not on drugs, it doesn't make him stupid or any less of a game designer. I love Katamari Damacy, and it was a tongue-in-cheek comment anyway.
But I agree with Vroomfunkel. The game definitely tips its hat in that direction intentionally, even if nobody involved in the creative process actually used hallucinagenic drugs.
I do not automatically associate drug use with creativity though. This is because I can speak from second-hand experience, that some people who take drugs regularly can be very uncreative.
njiska
11-10-2005, 11:06 PM
It doesn't seem too surprising. I mean, this guy has already got to be really out there, and probably a regular user of controlled substances, so it shouldn't be a surprise if his ambitions are a little off-key.
Why must we assume that, just because someone has a creative, quirky, unique mind and unusual, yet still creative and humanitarian (in a way) life goals, they MUST be on drugs? He's got vision - doesn't mean he's got a high.
Why do you act like I was insulting him? Whether he is or is not on drugs, it doesn't make him stupid or any less of a game designer. I love Katamari Damacy, and it was a tongue-in-cheek comment anyway.
But I agree with Vroomfunkel. The game definitely tips its hat in that direction intentionally, even if nobody involved in the creative process actually used hallucinagenic drugs.
Katamari Damacy sure does look like a world viewed in Gonzovision. I'll third the hat tipping.
Ed Oscuro
11-11-2005, 12:38 AM
Why must we assume that, just because someone has a creative, quirky, unique mind and unusual, yet still creative and humanitarian (in a way) life goals, they MUST be on drugs? He's got vision - doesn't mean he's got a high.
Why do you act like I was insulting him?
Uh, yeah.
Sardius
11-11-2005, 12:59 AM
While we're on the subject, does anyone else wonder if Shigaru Miyomoto was doing a little drugs too? I mean, look at Super Mario Brothers: you eat a mushroom and you grow big? What's up with THAT! Ha ha ha!
Wait, I got another one: $ony