Indiecade had a very good and clean interview with Keita Takahashi on their site. You may know Keita Takahashi from games like Katamari Damacy and the latest “next big thing” Noby Noby Boy. Some good quotes:
“Since tests projects are by definition comprised of very few members, it was a very good experience because even the rookies had to carry their weight. This, combined with the ability to talk to the planners and programmers directly, made it a very good and rewarding environment.”
“Overall though, I feel a certain jealously in that the atmosphere of freedom that older games had has been lost in modern games. Even if they were crappy games, there were plenty of hidden moves and tricks. It was possible to enjoy and laugh at things like that. That kind of atmosphere of freedom is much more difficult to create now.”
