Ridge Racer 3D producer could have ended up with Konami
The latest edition of Iwata Asks contains an interesting piece of information about one of Namco Bandai’s more esteemed employees. As was revealed in the interview, Ridge Racer 3D producer Yozo Sakagami came very close to working at Konami. Sakagami actually planned on applying to the company, but accidentally dialed Namco Bandai’s number instead as a result of a mix-up with katakana characters. Of course, we now know that the error led to Sakagami’s future with Namco Bandai.
Sakagami: Yes, but I actually wanted to get into KONAMI!
Iwata: Huh?
Sakagami: I was going to apply to KONAMI, but (in Japanese, ) their names are both composed of three katakana characters, so I got confused and applied to NAMCO! (laughs)
Iwata: Are you serious? (laughs)
Sakagami: Yes! A friend of mine was working at KONAMI. I told him I was thinking about getting into the gaming industry and he said I should give it a shot. At the time, KONAMI was headquartered in Kobe.
Iwata: Not far from your home in Nishinomiya.
Sakagami: Right. So I put in a phone call, but got NAMCO instead!
Iwata: (laughs) So if you hadn’t dialed the wrong number, you might not be sitting here today. (laughs)
Sakagami: Maybe not. (laughs)
