Gamasutra Interview: Katamari Damacy's Takahashi On Life After Namco

What a difference a year makes. At the 2009 Nottingham GameCity festival, Keita Takahashi, creator of the joyful Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, seemed lost.

In a damp house on the outskirts of Nottingham, he worked with balls of plasticine, lengths of string and piles of bended paperclips in search of the design for a playground -- a commission by the city brokered through the GameCity event organizers.

But more than that, he seemed to be in search of his place in the world. Disillusioned with the mainstream games industry and still sore at having being pressured into creating sequels for his games which he always intended to stand alone, Takahashi's relationship with video games appeared to have soured.