In 2004, 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 has an amazing soundtrack. Keita Takahashi also has a new game coming out next month. 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.
A version of this interview originally aired in April of 2024.