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Games "lack the wow factor" says Katamari creator

Keita Takahashi misses being surprised by games
Katamari creator Keita Takahashi is feeling a bit down on games right now. So much so that he might leave games altogether and go off and find something new to do. But that's another story.

Speaking about creativity in a recent interview to be published later today, Takahashi told us, "Defining the word creativity is difficult in a sense. Even the likes of God of War, for instance, it is really well made. It's a great graphic game with an interesting story. It's not fair to tell them that their games have no creativity. Having said that I do feel many games do lack the wow factor in a sense. Something that you feel very surprised by."

If you've ever played a Katamari game you'll know that they're a bit bonkers. They're awesome, but completely mental. "I feel that the setting is normal for me," says Takahashi of the series.

"There's nothing surreal about it. I think if Katamari is considered so creative then to me it feels like the videogame industry in general has lost its direction."

Look out for the full rant soon.

computerandvideogames.com
// Interactive
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God, these rants wind me up. They're like the sort of rubbish I used to spout as a teenager. Grow the hell up, for goodness' sake.
csdaveuk on 26 Nov '07
I think he has a point. I'd love a game that suprises me again. Like the Child to adult moment in Zelda OOT. All we seem to get now is shoot this, kill that. Enjoyable? Yes, sometimes. Suprising? No. Where has the imagination gone? Confused
Mark240473 on 26 Nov '07
Tell him to go play Crysis.

And let's not adopt the misguided notion that creativity is measured on a scale of how bonkers or off the wall a game is. It requires infinitely more creativity to frame a game in a coherent context than it does to throw in whatever random things first pop into your head.
Mogs on 26 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.
MisterBedo on 26 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.

Good point.. Problem is, it is so hard to ignore. Sad
Mark240473 on 26 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.

Good point.. Problem is, it is so hard to ignore. Sad

Yeah thats an excellent point. You also have to remember as you grow older & gain experience it is a lot harder anyway. My games can wow my 6 year old nephew & they only get a meh from me most of the time.

Also take you own advice. None of your games have wowed me. Sure they were quirky but they didnt wow me
mfnick on 26 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.

Good point.. Problem is, it is so hard to ignore. Sad

Will power young Padwan, will power......

But yeah, you're right, it is hard. Like that Assassins Creed spoiler headline CVG had up the other day here. I haven't read it so I don't know if it actually gives anything away, but I don't wanna read it just in case. It is hard sometimes, but usually it's worth it in the end and you get to discover all the yummy loveliness for yourself.


Not sure why I said 'yummy loveliness'.

*checks gender*
MisterBedo on 26 Nov '07
If you've been playing games since the 8 bit era up to now then you've pretty much seen it all. You've also seen genres just get milked and then almost as quickly we get sick of them.

Look how much footy titles are on the market for instance. Now there are only 2 Fifa and PES. Back in the day we had at least 5-6 choices right up until the release of the PS2/Xbox.

It's hard to do what has never been done before and even harder to impress the gamer. If we got the perfect game we'd still pick it to bits like the miserable bastards we are Laughing
vectra on 26 Nov '07
Quirky usually adds up to no sales and a P45!

I'm just as likely to get the WOW factor from a game from an existing genre that does everything that much better than its peers...infact it's the quirky ones that tend to leave me cold, not mentioning any names Mr Minter!
Tonyb on 26 Nov '07
Evolution not revolution! Sure, once in a while something comes along thet jumps things forward, but mostly it's just a slow gradual change. COD4's persistant charecter/stat's progression thingy will probably be picked up by other FPS games, and might become one of many "standards" in FPS games, but on the whole COD4 is not a huge leap forward for the FPS camp.
ted1138 on 26 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.

Good point.. Problem is, it is so hard to ignore. Sad

Will power young Padwan, will power......

But yeah, you're right, it is hard. Like that Assassins Creed spoiler headline CVG had up the other dayhere. I haven't read it so I don't know if it actually gives anything away, but I don't wanna read it just in case. It is hard sometimes, but usually it's worth it in the end and you get to discover all the yummy loveliness for yourself.


Not sure why I said 'yummy loveliness'.

*checks gender*

Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the sci-fi element. Nice


As for lack of imagination in games I blame Sony.
lonewolf2002 on 26 Nov '07
Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the sci-fi element. Nice

To be fair, that's given away in the manual before you even turn the game on and then within five minutes of turning the game on anyway.
theideal on 26 Nov '07
This message is not being displayed because the poster is banned.
vercetti102 on 26 Nov '07
As for lack of imagination in games I blame Sony.

I blame EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Sony ect. hell most of these big corporations that like to buy up the little guy and make them conform to the current mould of games. As soon as a new developer come up with a new game that gets attention it is snapped up by one of the bigger boy and often changed to make it more commercial viable.
Toasted_PSP on 26 Nov '07
Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the sci-fi element. Nice

Sci-fi element? SurprisedMadCrying or Very sad

I take it thats the spoiler spoiled?
SoulChimera on 26 Nov '07
Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the sci-fi element. Nice

Sci-fi element? SurprisedMadCrying or Very sad

I take it thats the spoiler spoiled?

darn you lonewolf!!! you're a t**t!!!
NG_21 on 26 Nov '07
Games "lack the wow factor" says Katamari creator

where as his game is "WTF???? factor"
metallicorphan on 26 Nov '07
I agree with the man, gaming hasn't evolved the way I expected it to AKA enough.

The only thing for me that's truly taken steps is the graphics.

As far as every other aspect goes, what's being hyped as advancements in some games should really be basics for all games.

By now every game should be to the standards of the Halo's and Metal Gear Solid's.

Only then will we see true creativity.
FLStyle on 26 Nov '07
Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the sci-fi element. Nice

To be fair, that's given away in the manual before you even turn the game on and then within five minutes of turning the game on anyway.

Yes you are right but I did not want that side of the story explained before I played it. So I didn't read the manual either or read any reviews before laying into it. Cool
lonewolf2002 on 27 Nov '07
Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the sci-fi element. Nice

Sci-fi element? SurprisedMadCrying or Very sad

I take it thats the spoiler spoiled?

darn you lonewolf!!! you're a t**t!!!

Thats twice you've aimed t**t at me you smelly little troll. Better not let mummy see the rude words you are using becuase i'm sure you would end up on the naughty step.
lonewolf2002 on 27 Nov '07
As for lack of imagination in games I blame Sony.

I blame EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Sony ect. hell most of these big corporations that like to buy up the little guy and make them conform to the current mould of games. As soon as a new developer come up with a new game that gets attention it is snapped up by one of the bigger boy and often changed to make it more commercial viable.

I blame Nvidia and Intel. They keep bringing out hardware so fast that devs only think of pushing the latest hardware to it's limit rather than what they can do in the creative sense.

All we're getting is bigger and better visuals. So far this gen apart from a few things I'm having diffuclty seeing what couldn't have been done on the PS2 or Xbox1 without a little work.
vectra on 27 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.

Good point.. Problem is, it is so hard to ignore. Sad

Will power young Padwan, will power......

But yeah, you're right, it is hard. Like that Assassins Creed spoiler headline CVG had up the other dayhere. I haven't read it so I don't know if it actually gives anything away, but I don't wanna read it just in case. It is hard sometimes, but usually it's worth it in the end and you get to discover all the yummy loveliness for yourself.


Not sure why I said 'yummy loveliness'.

*checks gender*

Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the *SPOILER WORD* element. Nice


As for lack of imagination in games I blame Sony.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Evil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very Mad
Evil or Very MadEvil or Very Mad

Why ??! Why did you go and say that ?? A curse on you Sir, a curse !

*waves mouse at screen*

*nothing happens*

Ok then.......a boil on you Sir, a boil ! Right on the end of your nose !
MisterBedo on 27 Nov '07
One huge factor that he fails to take into account is that people have so much more access to game information before relase these days.

It used to be that all the information you had on an upcoming title was what could be gleaned from magazines.

The vast majority of games now-a-days have been 'spoiled' to death all over the web before they're even released.

Good point.. Problem is, it is so hard to ignore. Sad

Will power young Padwan, will power......

But yeah, you're right, it is hard. Like that Assassins Creed spoiler headline CVG had up the other dayhere. I haven't read it so I don't know if it actually gives anything away, but I don't wanna read it just in case. It is hard sometimes, but usually it's worth it in the end and you get to discover all the yummy loveliness for yourself.


Not sure why I said 'yummy loveliness'.

*checks gender*

Better than a review I read after playing assassins for a while thank god. In that it didn't say spoiler alert and in the first paragraph gave away the *SPOILER WORD* element. Nice


As for lack of imagination in games I blame Sony.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Evil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very MadEvil or Very Mad
Evil or Very MadEvil or Very Mad

Why ??! Why did you go and say that ?? A curse on you Sir, a curse !

*waves mouse at screen*

*nothing happens*

Ok then.......a boil on you Sir, a boil ! Right on the end of your nose !

I woke up this morning and my whole head was a big boil but to be honest I like it as its an improvement over the original.

I thought the (too late ive alreday said it) element was very common knowledge. Sorry to those that buried them selfs away deeper than I did regarding assassins and its story.
lonewolf2002 on 27 Nov '07

Sorry to those that buried them selfs away deeper than I did regarding assassins and its story.

Seeing as it's Tuesday and I've had lots of coffee I'll let it go this time.

As for your boil....

Helpful ?
MisterBedo on 27 Nov '07

Sorry to those that buried them selfs away deeper than I did regarding assassins and its story.

Seeing as it's Tuesday and I've had lots of coffee I'll let it go this time.

As for your boil....

Helpful ?

Tempted by the bic but no sharp implements are allowed in the very soft padded room. Cool
lonewolf2002 on 27 Nov '07
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