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Pac-Man creator leaves Namco Bandai for school

  • By Walt Wyman, GameSpot
  • Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:21 am PT

With career training in Japanese gaming "on the verge of crisis," Toru Iwatani explains why he's leaving his employer of almost three decades.

Toru Iwatani, best known as the creator of Namco mascot Pac-Man, is set to leave his employer of almost 30 years next March in order to teach his craft to aspiring developers. In an interview in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, Iwatani discussed his motivations for the move.

Iwatani explained that in 2004 he participated in a series of lectures on game planning held by Namco in conjunction with the Tokyo Polytechnic University. After this, he started lecturing regularly at several universities.

"I experienced firsthand the passion today's young people have for games," Iwatani told Famitsu Weekly. "I also realized how important teaching is. So, when TPU told me they were beginning a new course on games, and asked me to become a full-time lecturer, I decided to do it."

Although he wanted to keep making games, he felt he was needed elsewhere. "I thought it more important to pass on the know-how that I've accumulated over the last 30 years to the next generation," he said. "Right now, the state of career training in the Japanese games industry is on the verge of crisis."

According to Iwatani, the evolution of hardware has created incredible difficulties for publishers. "It will become very hard to train staff in-house, as was done in the past," Iwatani said. "As a result, the educational institutions must follow through. However, Japan is far behind in the field of game education compared with the US, Europe, Korea, and China."

Iwatani also expressed his hope that other veteran game designers will take a hand in training the next generation of game makers, saying that different corporate cultures yielded different ways of doing things. Having those diverse points of view ties into the importance of the school as both a place of learning and research for Iwatani.

"For example, mental training games have become very popular lately," he said. "TPU has set up facilities to monitor brain activity so that we can thoroughly investigate the relationship between games and brain activation. … It is necessary to verify that the claims [made by brain-training games] are valid from a scientific viewpoint. As the impact of games on society grows, they will be subject to criticism."

However, the main thing Iwatani hopes to impress on Japan's future game creators is the crucial role of communication in the workplace.

"Game development is a group activity, so communication is crucial," Iwatani said. "On the other hand, it's a creative process, so assertiveness is necessary. I hope to foster in my students a balance between assertiveness and cooperation."

44 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Jul 11, 2006 11:15 pm GMT

    He's set for life financially, but he's still doing this, good for him

  • SophinaK

    Posted Jul 11, 2006 11:34 am GMT

    Well I can't think of a better reason to go.

    Maybe one of his students will make the next really legendary game. One so big even my mother has heard of it...

  • mrzero1982pt2

    Posted Jul 11, 2006 10:49 am GMT

    i agree. good luck man, heres hoping you can spark future developers to creat a legacy as bright as yours!!!

  • Konfusion

    Posted Jul 11, 2006 9:12 am GMT

    He's going for a good reason. There is absolutely no reason to disagree. Great man... here's whishing he's got his best days ahead of him.

  • Fallout_red

    Posted Jul 11, 2006 8:01 am GMT

    Hope his legecy will continue.

  • shizwill03

    Posted Jul 11, 2006 5:53 am GMT

    Whoa.

    That is pretty frecking awesome.

    Best wishes and how much is tuition at TPU?

  • ghostadv

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:59 pm GMT

    Good for him. I hope everything works out for him

  • ParaParaKing

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 10:56 pm GMT

    It's good to hear, that one of the greatest in video game history will teach the video creators of tommorow. Hopefully we will see a lot of new ideas coming from those young creators.

  • lunaticsynapse

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 9:53 pm GMT

    A LOT of US designers need to sit in on that class....

  • nestea_king

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 7:03 pm GMT

    What a cool guy. Shigeru should do that too!

  • Oni

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 6:50 pm GMT

    Great man! Lord knows this world need good teachers. I've met alot of hateful instructors who hated their jobs when I was in college. We need people to be enthusiastic about what they are teaching. It will inspire students.

  • rynmls

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 6:47 pm GMT

    great decision man...

  • hemakm3

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 4:37 pm GMT

    Nice story.

  • Bio_Spark

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 3:56 pm GMT

    Who knows what this man could teach?

    You know, if all of the industry greats got together they could make/pass on the secrets of the greatest game ever. The whole world would love every last aspect of it somehow. I could see the headlines:

    "Video Games bring World Unity"
    "Jack Thompson Explodes from Mental Paradox"

  • Terran499

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 3:40 pm GMT

    Sad to hear he's leaving

  • Gr8_Mighty_Poo

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 3:01 pm GMT

    Toru Iwatani, master of all things that Pac, he can be my sensei, i am sure he is extremely knowledgable considering he has been in the industry for as long as he has

  • Disinfo

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 2:49 pm GMT

    Oh, I would LOVE to be in that class!

  • Domstercool

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 2:03 pm GMT

    Oh he can train me if he wants!

  • vaejas

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:59 pm GMT

    Cheers to the next generation of creators. May your pellets be many and your ghosts blue.

  • budlongmv

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:41 pm GMT

    I go to The Art Institute in Orange County learning Game Art and Design, It's awsome that more developers want to help the next generation to make better games. By the way there are plenty of schools in North America that teach Game Design, like Full Sail in Flordia, and Academy of Art College in SF, and the Art Institutes. There are other schools you just need to look for them.

  • TitusAndronicus

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:18 pm GMT

    Good for him. The world can always use more teachers, especially those with experience in the field.

  • Ol_skool_Gamer

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:17 pm GMT

    There are colleges that teach Game Design. Got a book about it.. somewhere.
    Don't ask me of the colleges names tho.

  • SNKrock

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:13 pm GMT

    Interesting. testament to a dedication to his craft, i get warm feelings just thinking about it. I hope this is a continued theme. Hopefully someday Hideo Kojima and Shigeryu Miyamoto will one day be teaching the next generation of great game designers.

  • gameloverx

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:11 pm GMT

    well its good he's lending his talents to developers

  • playwrite

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 1:07 pm GMT

    wait...we have game education programs? what is this guy on (other than the white pills)?

  • Spike_97

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:56 pm GMT

    Wait!.....Namco and Bandai became one?!

  • thepeter

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:54 pm GMT

    Boss, why'd you defect?!

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:42 pm GMT

    wow after 30 years

  • gamer_10001

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:39 pm GMT

    There need to be schools that teach about game design, instead of computer science

  • JanusAchilles

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:22 pm GMT

    Namco should be proud this pioneer of theirs is serving a greater role by teaching the next generation of minds.

  • darkfox101

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:17 pm GMT

    Pac man was the bes t1st game!!!

  • nobeaner

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 12:06 pm GMT

    Great Story

  • roadrunner1178

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:55 am GMT

    Cool.

  • starcutter20000

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:54 am GMT

    I guess it would make sense since we haven't seen japaese developers dominate for a while now... (Civ IV, GTA, SIms, Half-Life being among the to games)

  • ForlonHope

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:46 am GMT

    good that Japan has finally started caring for its youth

  • metdevthegamer

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:45 am GMT

    I wish him the best in his new pursuit.

  • grayoldwolf

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:44 am GMT

    Almost makes me want to switch universities. Shame my Japanese isn't up to it.

  • szindragon

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:43 am GMT

    Well, all I can say is good luck and Wakka Wakka Wakka Wakka Wakka

  • mikekabal

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:38 am GMT

    That is cool of him. IThe game industry is getting bigger, and developers really can't afford to training thier employees in house like he said. Plenty of gamers I'm sure have wanted to get into gaming for years, but didn't know how to. I'm pretty glad to see college degrees starting to spring up in this field.

    It's nice of him to realize that he's need more at passing his knowlendge on now.

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:38 am GMT

    Goodbye. You taught us a lot about videogames and gave them a good headstart!

  • paradyme777

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:38 am GMT

    Cool, I think he should teach, best way to spread on the word of gaming to the next gen

  • boblighte

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:33 am GMT

    Japan is behind on teaching people how to make games? I can't believe Japan is behind on anything about games.

  • Rumstocker

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:27 am GMT

    GOB: Games Over Brains ....... not BOG

  • T1Panda

    Posted Jul 10, 2006 11:25 am GMT

    That's cool that he's going to be passing on his knowledge.

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