According to Gamasutra, Namco Bandai has officially confirmed the (much rumored) departure of Keita Takahashi. Best known as the creative force behind Katamari Damacy
His departure isn’t too surprising. He’s currently working on designing parks for children and seems more interested in that than videogames. As recently as last month he seemed disenchanted with the direction the gaming business is headed. He told CVG:
I’m actually not thinking about a future in games. It’s not that I’m not interested in them, but I want to try lots of different things. At E3 I saw people putting on speeches but I thought the future seemed a bit dark. 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.
I sincerely hope Takahashi ends up making games again. In an industry full of copycats and countless World War II shooters, Takahashi always had something cheerful and original to offer. Are any of you guys going to miss him?
