Katamari Creator: War Is Important. Videogames, not so much.
Keita Takahashi is known for his blindingly upbeat and unlikely hit game Katamari Damacy, and upcoming (and very much bizzare) title Nobi Nobi Boy. With the massively cheerful title and relative success of his game one would think that he would get on the bandwagon and preach the wonders of the videogame world. Well, turns out he is a lot more concerned with world issues in a mostly escapist industry.
It would be impossible for us to be here... if the world was not peaceful. If there was heavy fighting or pollution in the cities could we talk about videogames like this? If you're suffering from poverty and disease could you worry about collecting coins? I don't think so,
Take that! While I wouldn't exactly say the world is peaceful, but I'm going to chock this up to a poor translation. He does illustrate a good point, we live in a land of luxury. Gaming isn't exactly a priority when you don't have food on the table.
I don't know about the future but we will see more of the darker side of reality on the Earth. I'm not trying to be the next Al Gore but I'm not sure if we could afford to have videogames in ten or twenty year's time. I'm not saying that we don't need game events or games themselves, but in order to enjoy these events we should recycle rubbish... be friendly to your neighbors.
Oh and he even made a reference to the Gore. So, mostly it's just a weird thing to say during your keynote. Most of us understand that the environment is important and war isn't exactly something that can be ignored, but escapism is a good portion of the reason videogames exist. Luxury or not, lots of people use them as a tool to avoid thinking about things like war and famine. Now, don't go joining a hippy commune or anything like that, but recycling and being friendly to your neighbor is never a bad idea.
Takahashi: videogames are a luxury [GamesIndustry.biz]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 30 October 2007
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: hunger, katamari, nobi nobi boi, peace, takahashi, war
Ugh... If only he realized video games may be the key to getting us out of danger. With advancements in tech we can find other routes of "war" and even eventually create a matrix like surrounding where there is no need.
My dream is that one day, we can give up reality for virtual reality. May sound crazy, but when theres no war, death, and games... i dont see why it cant be my dream.