'Most games are really boring' – Katamari Damacy creator

By Tom Bramwell Published 29 September, 2005

Well, except Ico.

Fresh from claiming that Namco basically coerced him into making a second Katamari Damacy game by threatening to do a rubbish one without him, our current favourite game designer Keita Takahashi has apparently told Hardcore Gamer Magazine that he isn't a big gamer and finds most of them boring.

Asked if he was trying to appeal to female gamers, Takahashi-san reportedly said: "I didn't try to appeal to any group in particular. I'm not a big gamer, so I don't feel as though I am locked into the same design patterns as most game designers." Then, asked why he didn't play many games, he said rather grumpily, "Most games are really boring." Brilliant.

You could argue it's an obvious point - most games are pretty boring, or at least only marginally better than mediocre, by virtue of the fact that for every good one there are about five awfuls - but it's still funny to hear him say it. There aren't many developers who get to talk like this these days without being beaten up by their own PRs and told to SIT DOWN AND MAKE HACKANDSLASHES and MAKE SURE THE AI IS BLOODY FANTASTIC.

So what does keep Takahashi-san interested? "Lately the only game to interest me is Ico." Someone give that man a cookie.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • skillian #1 7 years ago

    I'm sure it's very commendable that he's speaking the mind, but the only game he's enjoyed of recent times is Ico?!

    Why doesn't the man get a new job, there are loads of people who'd like his position and actually think the industry and its products are pretty exciting.

  • Aretak #2 7 years ago

    Problem is, those people aren't as talented as he is -- therefore they don't have his job.

  • drumbaby #3 7 years ago

    Only someone so obviously mental could create a brilliantly mental game like Katamari.

  • Carrybagma #4 7 years ago

    :oD

    What a great guy! I don't think he'll be asking for an X360/PS3 for his birthday!

  • Thamuhacha #5 7 years ago

    The miserable git.

  • TheDifficult3rdAlbum #6 7 years ago

    > "He'd die working at EA methinks."

    +1

  • Kengro #7 7 years ago

    Oh hell yeah, most japanese games are boring, that i can agree on...

  • Mho7276501 #8 7 years ago

    most games are boring! When it comes down to it most of them revolve around kill that, move over there, kill some more of that, move over there, kill a bigger version of that etc etc etc

    even my favourite games of late all seem to run on that premise, they just try to do it in a more interesting kinda way.

  • Mr_Whacker #9 7 years ago

    I totally agree with him. The industry is full of me too bland drivel. And why should a games designer have to be a gamer? Objectivity can do wonders, like allowing fresh inspiration that leads to innovative stuff like Katamari Damacy in the first place. If all he loved was FPS games he'd have made.....yet another FPS game.

  • skillian #10 7 years ago

    Bah, he's like some Noel Gallagher-type walking around saying all music's shit except his.

    At least Noel Gallagher would consider himself a musician.

    How can anyone who posts on a gaming website agree with him that all games are boring - if they were, it wouldn't be your hobby, would it?
    Edited by skillian at 29/09/05 @ 10:22

  • Zomoniac #11 7 years ago

    How can anyone who posts on a gaming website agree with him that all games are boring - if they were, it wouldn't be your hobby, would it?

    Who said all games are boring? He certainly didn't, he said most games are boring. And they are. For every Halo there are many, many Driv3rs or 187s or whatever else is shit.

  • skillian #12 7 years ago

    He said the only game that interested him recently is Ico. That was what, 4 years ago?

    If he can only find one game in four years that he likes then, like I say - why is he even in the business?

  • tengu #13 7 years ago

    For money?

  • skillian #14 7 years ago

    Well yes, you're right, and there's nothing wrong with that per se.

    It just disappointing that a man who made a game that gets so much praise around here (yes, I've never played it) should have no love for the business he's in.

  • Mho7276501 #15 7 years ago

    my first console was something called the Binatone way way way back in late 70's early 80's, i have owned all the major consoles and computers since (and some pretty horrendous ones, CD32 anyone??), its not just a HOBBY to me it is something that has taken up a huge chunk of my time and money, so personally speaking, with that in mind, MOST GAMES ARE BORING. Out of all the PS2 (not picking on that for any reason in particular) titles available how many are actually excellent, well thought out and original games? What is the percentage there i wonder??

  • skillian #16 7 years ago

    Get a new hobby - one that can make you happy more than once a year :p

  • Mho7276501 #17 7 years ago

    i am too good at this to give up now!!

    although i am sure my other half would love me to accept your advice!

  • Mr_Brown #18 7 years ago

    Its all a matter of opinion. Personally though, if he thinks that, stop playing games.

    And on another note, I personally found Ico extremely boring. Just not my cup of tea.

  • old_skool #19 7 years ago

    Hmmm , where's Teeth now...

    /runs

  • Carrybagma #20 7 years ago

    I think it's perfectly normal to be good at a job and yet find it boring. I can't imagine being a developer is any less boring than - I dunno - being a binman.

  • smelly #21 7 years ago

    He's right you know. Want proof? Look on any forum.

    See if you can find people actually talking about the CURRENT games they're having fun with. I think you'll find most people are only interested in getting excited about games which are COMING, or hardware which isnt out yet than the games which are out currently which they can actually play.

    Who buys games which are more than 3 months old for example? Do people just buy games to have the next "big cool thing" or to actually have fun with them?

    If you look around forums, i get impression most people dont actually enjoy playing games, they seem to spend their entire time looking forward to the "next big thing" than enjoying what they have?

    But that's just the impression i get from forums....

  • skillian #22 7 years ago

    Actually I think that's true - people often enjoy the hype more than they enjoy the final product.

    It's not always the case though - on the forum I moderate we have a Battlefield 2 thread with 2193 posts and a Football Manager thread with 800 posts. Neither are particularly original, but people seem to have a lot of fun playing them.

  • old_skool #23 7 years ago

    Most multiplayer games are fun , I guess it's got alot to do with the social aspects

    Thats why I particularly like buying party games , sports , games , fighting games , racing games , the extra human element makes those games a blast !
    Edited by old_skool at 29/09/05 @ 11:31

  • Talha #24 7 years ago

    It is rather sad that he does not find any games interesting besides ICO. Yes, I agree, most games ARE boring but then that is true for any artistic medium.

    Enjoying the hype is plain old human nature. People always want something to look forward to and people are generally not grateful for what they have. There is nothing more fascinating than the unknown.

    As for hating your own job, yours truly is a prime example. I am the Audit Manager of my company, yet I do not daydream about being on the job! As Dilbert so rightly said,

    1) Work sucks

    2) Work is defined as anything you'd rather not be doing...

    Beat that.
    Edited by Talha at 29/09/05 @ 11:39

  • ED209 #25 7 years ago

    I'm playing Advance Wars 2...if anyone cares.

  • volb #26 7 years ago

    How can anyone who posts on a gaming website agree with him that all games are boring - if they were, it wouldn't be your hobby, would it?

    I want games that floor me the way I've been floored the first time I saw a Megadrive running Sonic. Right now they don't.

    I would develop, but this article on GameDev.net says it all.
    http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2227.asp

  • Talha #27 7 years ago

    By the way according to the article, EVERYTHING YOU LIKE TO DO can be termed as an addiction. Duh.

  • volb #28 7 years ago

    Please read an article for at least 5 minutes before you ditch it, thank you.

  • Eoin #29 7 years ago

    If he can only find one game in four years that he likes then, like I say - why is he even in the business?

    What better reason could someone possibly have to stay in the industry? If he thinks that most games are boring and that the ones he makes can improve the quality - and he might be right on that one - then why should he leave?

  • Mr_Whacker #30 7 years ago

    Well I personally do better than this guy. And when I say most games are dull I mean about 90%. Which leaves PLENTY of top stuff to play. So most of the games are poo and yet I still play games I love constantly.

  • #31 7 years ago

    He's right of-course.

    The situation has gotten much worse as the industry has matured and moved towards more mainstream acceptance - and, in so doing, games have become homogenised and commoditised.

    It has also gotten much, much worse since the advent of the CD/DVD-ROM business model popularised by the Sony Playstation. Uptil then, the cost of manufacturing and publishing games onto ROM cartridges acted as a natural barrier against 'throwaway' and 'me-too' titles, mitigating the worst excesses of pretentious dialogue and soul-crushing FMV and social-realism.

    Must get round to playing Ico one day...
    Edited by at 29/09/05 @ 12:45

  • Retroid #32 7 years ago

    \o/

    The man talketh sense, methinks

    Anyway, who's to say he got Ico at launch? Perhaps he's only just recently picked it up.

    I certainly feel the same as him when I'm standing in a mainstream game shop looking at the shelves. Box after box after box after box of utter, utter shit.

  • Talha #33 7 years ago

    Yeah, right, go on, blame Sony for mediocrity of games available today, how enlightening! And are you also suggesting that there were no crap games on cartridges?

    And by the way, Myst popularized CDs as a format for games, not PSX.

  • Retroid #34 7 years ago

    He's moved to Sony, has he?

    I can just see all the casuals rushing off to track down Ico now...!

  • kangarootoo #35 7 years ago

    I found that quite refreshing. A couple of points to make.

    He said he finds a lot of games boring, that doesn't mean he finds developing them boring. So its not strictly true to say he doesn't like the games industry (as some posters suggested).

    I constantly tire of the pseudo macho attitude that I encounter from time to time, that suggests you can't be a good games designer unless you play >10 hours a week. I didn't buy into that when I played loads of hours a week, and I still don't buy it now I am down to around 3 or 4 hrs a week.

    Playing games and designing them are two different things. Sure it helps to be able to reference and plagarise ideas and mechanics, but its not the be all and end all.

    I thought his points were quite reasonable. its clear to see from KD that the sort of game he likes designing and playing is a far cry from most of the generic tat that fills up the shop shelves.

  • Feanor #36 7 years ago

    Anyone (maybe Tom) actually have the copy of Hardcore Gamer magazine in front of them? I wondered what people thought of it compared to other gaming mags. I saw it for the first time in Borders last week and it was a bit different from your average games magazine.

  • Retroid #37 7 years ago

    http://www.hardcoregamermag.com/download.html

  • tpfkanep #38 7 years ago

    Well well well... Takahashi develop some more games, and then we talk again.

  • Bezzy #39 7 years ago

    Most games don't interest me, either. Sturgeon's law.

    I'm more interested in what the games medium's potential is. We could be doing some truely fantastic things, but for business reasons, and player apathy about anything new, we're stuck in trends.

    Still, you do what you can to slide out of them.

  • PES_Fanboy #40 7 years ago

    I can totally see where he's coming from, I'm slightly less aggrieved at things than he only liking ICO, but the entertainment industry is built on 'wheat from chaff' productions, be it games, movies, books, TV etc.

    The fact that most games are shit keeps sites and games mags alive - if 9/10 games were fantastic, we'd not need them.

    Obviously, we'd all still frequent the EG boards to flame consoles that haven't been released yet.

  • ali-uk #41 7 years ago

    Ico was boring.

  • kangarootoo #42 7 years ago

    "Ico was boring."

    I actually spent a second reading that, and I can't get it back you know. You owe me 1 second of your life now.

  • ali-uk #43 7 years ago

    Kangaroo: Opinions are great, aren't they? But really, it was boring. I didn't feel like playing as a little kid running around a castle with a girl following me. Different, yes. Whatever floats your boat.

  • mash the x button #44 7 years ago

    "Ico was boring"
    Euphemistically I would say that is your opinion and naturally you are entitled to it.
    One the other hand I would like to to think... "you muppet" ;)
    And of course most games are boring.
    Edited by mash the x button at 29/09/05 @ 22:45

  • firm3d #45 7 years ago

    Where's the Point-of-View Gun when you need it?

  • OnlyMe #46 7 years ago

    Blackdog: well, Volvo is better than Volkswagen, which is all you find in World Racing 2. You know, the sequel to a game with cars that somebody actually cares about (Mercedes Benz).

  • Talha #47 7 years ago

    Volvos better than Volkswagen? Slab-sided (no matter what Volvo thinks now) S80's and C70's and XC's etc etc better than the marque sporting Golf GTI, Polo, Passat, Phaeton, Touareg? You gotta be kidding me.

    Also, you are comparing apples with oranges. VW is an upmarket mainstream maker, while Volvo, at least in desperate wet dreams of Ford management, is a 'luxury' brand - different ranges entirely.

    And try as I might, I cannot imagine a racing Volvo - sorry.

  • Genji #48 7 years ago

    Wait... we're talking about cars now?

    And yeah, there aren't a lot of games that really excite me anymore. GO figure. If this guy wants to change things, then all power to him.

    http://www.gamedev.net/reference/design/features/genreaddict/

    This is good reading.

  • Talha #49 7 years ago

    @Blackdog: Having vented my feelings, I would like to know how did this discussion on a Volvo promotion get into this forum? Were you commenting on an ad or something, cos I can't find any reference to it.

    That didn't stop me from blabbering of course.

  • admir #50 7 years ago

    games like GTA 3 at the beginning they are fun but 1 hour later u have seen everythink in the game and it gets boring or Halo i dont think its a good game and Halo2 sucks dont see why they make a big deal about this game "ah yeah it has good controls for a FPS on a console and thats Rare" Ico is a good game have it since it came out and still play it and i hope Shadow of the colossus we be as good as Ico

  • brombeer #51 7 years ago

    God Of War and Advance Wars DS are still keeping my interest. But Meteos? Come on, you just stroke the stylus on the touch screen without looking and you'll score even better than looking and thinking. I still don't comprehend why it's getting such rave reviews. Just like with Lumines. Something in the design just doesn't feel right in those games. It certainly doesn't reach the heights like Tetris did, in a far away, distant time.

    And I sadly have to agree that nowadays most games are indeed boring. You can sense that most games are made by industry people without having any feeling for them and not by programmers who love (their own) games (like God Of War and Ico for example).

  • illuminated_523 #52 7 years ago

    "Enjoying the hype is plain old human nature."

    No, it's conceding that your life is an utter void and you live in the vain hope that a mass produced commodity can offer a sense of fulfilment.

    But yes, the majority of games are boring. How many offer an experience that is preferable to walking away from the screen and doing something real, visceral and genuinely exciting rather than offering the illusion of excitement? Not very many. Erm, in fact, none. The best games can hope for is to be entertaining. Hopefully it won't be long before it's realised that endless formulaic sequels are not enough to offer even that.

  • Carrybagma #53 7 years ago

    I reckon he said 'Ico' 'cos it was the first name to pop into his head. Face it - Halo, Advance Wars etc are all the same to this guy. What he probably enjoys most is a nice fag and a beer in a cosy pub, doing the Telegraph crossword. And avoiding work.

  • brombeer #54 7 years ago

    If only...But I certainly didn't mention Halo. That's pure shite if you ask me. And Ico didn't pop up in my head. It's stuck in my head. That was a game that will linger forever on in my mind and I will keep fond memories of. Just like the first Leisure Suit Larry WAY back in '89.