Katamari Damacy creator joins social dev

Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi has joined social game developer Tiny Speck and will work for the company out of its Vancouver, Canada office.

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Social gaming developer Tiny Speck has announced a well-known video game creator is joining its team. Keita Takahashi, creator of Noby Noby Boy and Katamari Damacy, will venture north to take a position at Tiny Speck's studio in Vancouver, Canada.

"Everybody has heroes. Some are fortunate enough to have a chance to meet their heroes face-to-face. And some have the exceptional fortune to work directly with one of their heroes on a shared goal," the post said before making the announcement.

Tiny Speck is currently working on Glitch (image above), a social MMORPG currently in alpha testing. Glitch is a side-scrolling MMO that takes place within the imaginations of eleven giants. The trailer below explains, in song form.

According to the announcement blog post, Tiny Speck and Takahashi came together months ago and began exchanging ideas about the future of Glitch. "[We] found that we shared the same values - deep beliefs in curiosity, humor, absurdity, and above all a belief in the positive power of play," the blog notes. As a result of their conversations, Takahashi has joined the developer in an unspecified role.

Following the release of Noby Noby Boy, Takahashi expressed interest in leaving the video game industry to create a playground for children. In October 2010, Takahashi and his wife, composer Asuka Sakai, announced the formation of Uvula--a new studio to house his freelance projects and playground designs.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 8, 2011 5:30 PM

    Xav de Matos posted a new article, Katamari Damacy creator joins social dev.

    Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi has joined social game developer Tiny Speck and will work for the company out of its Vancouver, Canada office.

    • reply
      July 8, 2011 5:50 PM

      Damn now I need to actually start playing it!

    • reply
      July 8, 2011 7:30 PM

      nah-nahhhh nah-nah-nah nah nah nah nah nah-nah nah nahnah nahhhhhhhh

    • reply
      July 11, 2011 8:17 AM

      I think I'd be a lot more excited for this if the trailer didn't look like a cluttered mess of pop up windows. I still have faith in Takahashi, but this trailer didn't seem to explain well what the gameplay will be like.

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