Katamari creator sees 'no future' in games

E3 was "dull" says Takahashi-san, wants to try something else

[big_silky]

Neither do I and I've been playing them for 25 years. The handwriting is on the wall, the end is coming soon. Motion controls and 3D are the death rattle of a creatively bankrupt industry.

[D4RkNIKON]

Katamari creator HAS 'no future' in games *Fixed*

[big_silky]

I'm basically agreeing with him.

[RageAgainstTheMShine]

it was a misleading article title... Takahashi wanted to do not video game related in the future.

[0mega4]

so i can understand why the creator of a rolling sticky ball would see no potential in his creation

[Timesplitter14]

I don't think there's no future but my feelings towards the game industry are very negative right now. It's like they're not even trying.

Like you said there's the 3D/motion controls/gimmicks cancer, but there's also the fact that most other regular games look like they've been written by 14 year-olds for 14 year-olds.

I don't think Katamari Damacy are such great games either, though.

[N4g_null]

It's not that devs are not trying. We have great tools yet the hardware and the marketing for that hardware will only let us make 3d fps, 3d action adventure games or some eye candy game play crippled mess. What this guy does not realize is he was part of the collapse his game sort of sucked yet every one tried it just because of the media.

The industry simply gave up on making the stuff we loved from the 8 bit days and 16 bit days.

The pursuit of tech crippled sega arcades and nintendo and now Sony. With all of them forgetting to perfect the game play. Graphic where the icing but soon became the substance which is the current problem.

The next push is movie games yet hollywood has all the talent and we can not compete with the wages they earn or the star power thus gaming will loose it's upper hand which was the audience being addicted to game play even some 10 years later.

You can argue that pc gaming died simply because they could not out do the old pc games game play wise or teams simply got tired of making the same games.

[Gago]

while i wouldn't say there is no future, the industry definitely feels like its hit a slowdown

other than Vanquish and a few other games, there is little creativity in todays games

[RememberThe357]

No industry works like that. It's too expensive to take huge risks this time around. Games like LBP and Heavy Rain, are rare because publishers don't know if they are going to work and they have to invest a ton of money into these projects.

I can understand where your coming from but I still see a ton of inspiration in games today. Look at all the cool stuff on XBLA and PSN. They have a ton of innovative and creative games.

But I'm not the type that needs everything to push boundaries I prefer quality. Look at Kill.Switch for instance; the game sucked, then Gears came along and made cover based shooters a norm.

You can tell when games are made with passion and I'm seeing no shortage of that. Reach comes to mind, as well as Uncharted 2, GoW3, Bayonetta, Enslaved, and so on.

I don't think the industry is as stagnate as it is being made out to be. I think it's changing and the games aren't the same.

There has always been trash and there will always be trash, but I game for the gems. The games that connect with the player and take them through a story. I play games for the moments you forget your playing a game all together and you get lost in the world they've created. But, I don't expect every game to be like that, that would just be unreasonable.

[OneSneakyMofo]

As long as there are casual gamers, Halo kiddies, CoD buffoons, and Zombie games, Gran Turismo crazies, and Zelda/Mario lovers, gaming will live on.

[Timesplitter14]

yeah but I sure as hell won't be gaming anymore if that's all the future has for us

[The Lazy One]

It's slow because we are in a recession.

We just came out of a past where the future looked like anyone could make any game and at least break even. Publishers started investing based on those projections, and then the reality set in that those projections were wrong, so all the money guys tightened their money flow up leading to less risky games and lots of proven sequels.

Once more money starts flowing into the industry, it will get better again.

And don't think that a growing casual market means that the hardcore market is gone. The hardcore market is still growing, it's just that the casual market exploded onto the scene and overshadows it. All the great games are still for the most part there even though there is a lot of casual trash now too.

[T9X69]

Seeing how his "vision" of gaming is Katamari, its him who has no future in games, not the rest of the industry. Katamari was cool....for about 5min. Rolling around and sticking to every object isn't really "creative talent" IMO.

[Sigh]

What's is up with these Japanese developers losing all hope? Just get better and start going back to being traditional or original! But from a creator of Katamari, I wouldn't say I'm surprised-- which don't get me wrong, I love Katamari games.

[tplarkin7]

They do not have a clear vision of what a video game should be. They seem to be satistifed with tweaking 2D game engines to no end.

[Natsu X FairyTail]

I never was really impressed with the Katamari games so that tells alot about him! ole hatin ass mofo talkin bout E3 was dull ahaha.

[TOO PAWNED]

been playing games since 1988, there has NEVER been this many good games as it is this generation. So much variaty, so many high caliber games, so many great platforms. Side note is i dont play as i used to. Don't have time but it is so obvious.
This guy is a tool, never made one good game. Go play JRPGs from 90s i hear Japanese love that crap.

[The Meerkat]

This guy is just pi$$ed that western devs and games have eclipsed japanese offerings. And now he's throwing his toys out of the pram.

[Magris]

Have any of you fucking idiots read the article?

He's saying motion control and 3d is dull.

[dinkeldinkse]

95% of N4G Users don't read the articles.

[ChronoJoe]

True.

They read the articles they're interested in, between reading articles they are interested in, they comment on articles they aren't particularly interesting in.

However, normally that's fine, because they do read the summary and title. Which means there comments can remain relevant, so long as the submitee submitted the article, with an appropriate title and description.

[BeAGamer]

what?

[poopsack]

Aight peace, i mean seriously.

You are the dev, devs and gamers, are gaming's only future, so that doesnt make sense. Being a dev, the future of games is what you all make it.

[zatrox]

QUOTE FROM THE GODDAMN ARTICLE:

"At E3 I saw people putting on speeches but I thought the future seemed a bit dark," he told OPM. "The 3D games didn't spark my interest.

"I think motion control's a bit old now, I don't think those games are the future. It all seemed a bit dull," he added.

And he's right. I fear what the next generation of consoles might bring upon us.
...

[Blaine]

Because it'll be so awesome it'll blow my mind.

[raztad]

"I fear what the next generation of consoles might bring upon us"

I fail to understand how next gen is gonna change in any way gaming, beyond some graphical upgrades, framerate. Far from it if you see that guy games they are ALL about innovative gameplay, no fidelity.

I dont agree about his overall impression BTW. Motion control is just a way to interact with games, and 3D a more accurate perception of games visuals, but at the end, game is about gameplay and what game devels do to push boundaries and create new experiences.

[Sashamaz]

Who ever posted this took out quotes to match the poison they wanted to put in all the N4G dumb asses why don't you guys read THE FULL INTERVIEW for yourselves before making judgement.

[Blaine]

because it's only in the magazine. You only read what the interviewer chose to write in this excerpt, so you may have been just as misled as anyone else who was fooled by the title.

[Gish]

if you dont see your future in games, you have no future in games...

[ChickeyCantor]

I love video games, the reason I applied for a Gamedevelopment education.
But im becoming so skeptical in the last few months that im not sure if i really want to do this. I'm either just way to negative or my guts are telling me something.

[Jdoki]

I was in the same situation 10+ years ago. Took a degree in Computer Science as a way in to the games industry (no courses on game development back then!! :) )

But what I realised was that I loved PLAYING games, and loved the idea of the creative process for producing and creating games.

But there are very few creative geniuses that we all want to be (Miyamoto, Kojima, Jaffe, Spector, Braben, Molyneaux etc), and the reality is most people getting in to the game industry are just disposable code money's, texture artists, level builders and so on who are dime a dozen, there to execute the 'vision' of the few creative heads. Then throw in how much work is now being outsourced overseas and it's pretty clear to me that the chances of joining the 'elite' creative types are pretty slim. Not every developer is like Naughty Dog (which if you watch the Uncharted 2 vids looks like an amazing place to work - but I believe even they outsource a fair bit of stuff)

So in all seriousness, I would have a bloody good think about what you want to do. Because you may have talent, but you have to be sure you can put in the years of trying to climb the creative and corporate ladder.

[ChickeyCantor]

Thats basically spot on,
However the advantage i would have with such education is that i can expand beyond "games" and can also do other stuff surrounding "programming". Programming is universal at the least.
So it wouldn't be a complete waste.

And I don't feel like working for anyone xD...I hate it...everyone hates it!

[N4g_null]

Sidar some advice follow the studios you like. I'm seriously thinking of jumping ship to splash damage like the killzone guy. Yet if you are starting out right now you will have to make or figure out the games the industry is missing and make them in a way that will not bankrupt you. Your gonna need some interesting and flexible contracts that give your talent a stake in the games you produce big or small.

Different types of self publishing is needed also. Once you get a war chest you have to find you a mark rein lol that dude made epic from what I hear along with the head guy.

I always look back at the 8 and 16 bit era and arcades for my design ideas and fixing 3d game play.

You re gonna want to figure out how YOU can start you own studio. This is what is missing from many schools. NYC is big on all types of start ups from real artists to getting side work to fund what ever you want to do and you don't always have to live there.

Just remember nothing is promised and you have every thing to gain. Also keep reacting to the industry let that push you to prove others wrong. Go to the gdc and finds ways to make games from even test code. If you can make a game simple then you can make a Huge one also.

So much time is wasted on production that many people will not like.

[Brklynty1]

but after a certain company joined the industry and made FPS the go to for quick cash, thats when things stopped going foward and either fell back or stood in place thanks to copying and unoriginal titles

[N4g_null]

I don't know if you noticed that when Sony joined the industry they basicly killed 2d game development and thus the push for pc like games and movie like games was born.

Both are cool dead ends. No one will beat pc gaming tech wise nore the crazy star power and budgets of movie making.

The core of gaming is game play and that is being downgraded to reach these two goals above.

So really Sony set it up for ms to join console gaming and now we just have to see if a movie house is willing to finish the job. It's not going to be Sony ethier.

This is why I love the wii it's the only true console out right now.

[Theo1130]

If he wants to see no future, maybe he should go to TGS

[Moentjers]

Punk's Not Dead

[PSjesus]

playing games all my life,and to be honest games this gen are the worst by creativity
and fun especially when you see 3 of 5 games are FPS or sport games while an innovative ones well sell like sh@t
........who should i blame>DA Shoterz fans who call there self HC gamers,and buy the exact same game with different subname in millions.

[madjedi]

@17 This gen worst by creativity(subjective) and fun(also subjective pal) and since were still barely halfway through this gen, that's being very presumptious. So really LBP, heavy rain and mod nation racers were all neither creative or fun, thank god don't have your tastes, The Last Guardian says hello.

Well lets see shooters and sports games are popular, so there will be alot of developers trying to get those limited gamer's dollars by making shooters and sports games, duh duh george.

"Innovative ones sell like sh@t" Well lets see, trying something drastically different ie not the norm, is a gamble to begin with just because is not a proven concept. So your already a niche to begin with, so lower sales shouldn't be surprising to anyone.

And something you have forgotten your personal taste isn't the same as everyone elses. Again if your as old of a gamer as you claim to be you should have known that.

Read the very limited article, the guy isn't into making games anymore and mc's and 3d doesn't interest him. Now if kojima, miyomoto, and countless other devs, up and said gaming has no future ect then i'll concerned, but 1 guys opinion nope not concerned.

To all the old gamers, calling this the twilight of gaming/worst gen ever ect, the dawn of gaming wasn't exactly stellar either alot of those old games weren't that great. Alot of them either had broken controls or stupid bugs(funny how they never really went away) or plainly were bad.

But it all boils down to personal taste/preference, so whatever.

Like them or hate them 3-d and motion controls are merely a evolutionay step to gaming's final destination, full body motion tracking and virtual reality immersion, ie all the senses.

[Optical_Matrix]

like he says, I don't see a future in that, especially the motion controls. Move works. 3D looks fantastic in games (I tried it in October of last year at Eurogamer Expo 2009). But at the same time they're just gimmicks. No way are they gonna gonna move the industry forward as much as innovation in fundamental gameplay will.

[GarandShooter]

Really? I think you are being far too shortsighted, my friend. New ways to experience and interact with games is what will lead to innovations in gameplay. This gent's statements speak more to his lack of ideas in utilizing MC/3D in fresh ways than to the state of the industry.

[NarooN]

The Katamari games were fun, but if you played one you literally played them all.

I find myself playing a lot of older PS1 and PS2 games nowadays, both on the systems and via emulators. Hmm, a lot of my friends seem to be doing the same. Maybe that means something. Maybe that means...that devs need to go back to classic-style gaming, y'know, where graphics weren't what the games were about, and no one gave a damn about HD, 3D, and motion controls. I'm tired of having to worry about which peripherals I need to buy to play half the games on the system now. Back in the PS1 and PS2 days, you'd get the system, a memory card, a controller, and you were SET for YEARS to come. Put the disc in the system and BAM, you're playing the damn game. You didn't have to install anything, you didn't have to download 50 patches every two seconds because the QA guys did their jobs, you didn't need a 50 in. plasma 50,000,000p HDTV to read the text, all you had to do was sit back and PLAY.

[tudors]

doom and gloomers tell me Alan Wake was rubbish and I am playing it now and it's fantastic, or in other words best to make your own decisions, there are some fantastic games, maybe some of you just need a new hobby.

[kevin360uk]

The golden era in gaming is long gone. Today it's all too predictable, perhaps the majority enjoy playing through a hollywood style story, but the industry as a whole is lacking real creativity. Maybe the dumbing down of games is mirroring what society is becoming, just wanting quick entertainment with minimum effort of thinking.
Theres only so much motion controls and 3D technology can offer to the industry, and will never become integral in video games. The movie industry is in greater need of some marketable product, because the complete shite movie companies make today is laughable, so pushing more crap BUT in 3D is a great way to pull more people in to watch CRAP mindless movies.

[Rashonality]

since games became another toy in mainstreams media's play ground it's been downhill with creativity and real quality
not high budget kind of quality i mean made with passion kind of quality
our only hope is to find another hobby or just wait til it all fall down and burn and revive it
and it will not take long for the second option....

[kraze07]

I have to agree with him. 3D and motion controls just seem like a gimmick to me and the big 3 know that the masses will eat up anything they put out these days as long as they put enough hype behind whatever it is they're trying to sell. Game design is become less a form of art and more of a means to a profit.