Video game creator Keita Takahashi

12th April 2024

Keita Takahashi is a video game creator and designer. He’s responsible for the classic genre defining puzzle game Katamari Damacy. Keita Takahashi has a new game coming out soon. It’s called to a T and it’s about a child whose arms stick straight out like a “T”. We talked with Keita Takahashi about how he got into designing video games and how he pitched the idea for Katamari Damacy to the folks at Namco. He also talks with us about his new game, to a T.

Episode notes

(Photo:
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment)

Twenty years ago, Keita Takahashi created and designed the classic video game Katamari Damacy. It’s a completely unique, completely bizarre game in which you play a tiny ball that rolls around and gets bigger as it gets stuff stuck to it.

Katamari Damacy was a so-so success at first, then a big one, and now it’s a classic. Keita Takahashi created the game at Namco, a company best known at the time for fighting games like Tekken and Soulcalibur. And, as you might’ve gathered – Katamari Damacy is not Tekken or Soulcalibur.

Katamari Damacy changed what big video games could be. It also had an amazing soundtrack. To celebrate the game’s twentieth anniversary, you can now listen to that soundtrack on streaming platforms everywhere. 

Keita Takahashi also has a new game coming out. It’s called to a T and it’s about a child whose arms stick straight out like a “T.”

We talk with Keita Takahashi about how he got into designing video games and how he pitched the idea for Katamari Damacy to the folks at Namco. He also talks with us about his new game, to a T.

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow
Video Editor

Guests

  • Keita Takahashi

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Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

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Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Video Editor

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