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Katamari Creator Says Japanese Development is a Zombie

Posted on Tuesday, November 23 @ 17:49:33 Eastern by Daniel Bischoff

It's no secret that Japanese game development is experiencing some trouble. While warning shots have been firing for quite some time, heavy hitters like Keiji Inafune are really bringing the cannons out to bear.

Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi joins the former Capcom producer Inafune in sending a message to developers both East and West.

(Pictured: Are those Western or Eastern cows? Only Takahashi knows.)

To the Japanese development community, Takahashi says "When we go down, we see new technology like PlayStation Move and things pick up a bit. We never hit rock-bottom, and it’s like a zombie that never dies. It needs an injection of life.

“I think in Japan there’s too much a focus on sequels. There are too few genuine original games being made and, for me, that is why Japanese gaming is not doing so well at the moment.”

Develop adds that Takahashi left Namco Bandai in September, commenting that the development house is just "so-so."

What does Takahashi have to say to Western developers? Last year, Takahashi told Develop that he was hoping to partner with Western game-makers.

Bethesda has Inafune and what has been reported as his final blockbuster game. Might I suggest Microsoft pick up Takahashi and get him working on original ideas for XBLA games? Maybe a third-party publisher would be a better home for Takahashi. The next Noby-Noby Boy should be multiplat!

Tags: japanese developers

Comments

213EDD
Joined: Sep 2007

Posted: Nov 23rd, 2010 at 6:49 pm
they are too busy worrying about Resident evil 6, Marvel V Capcom 3, FF14, FF Online 2, more lame sequels that are fun but need more original ideas

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