- Harada’s relatives had a coffee shop, and as a kid, he’d place the Space Invaders game
- Harada’s parents forbid him from playing video games
- Harada: “No. (laughs) They wouldn’t buy me a Nintendo Entertainment System, so I had to play at a friend’s house or sneak into a game arcade to play. So as reaction to that, when it came time to get a job I decided, “I’m going into the game industry no matter what!” My parents cried over it.”
- He was a psychology major in liberal arts, which isn’t video game related
- He happened to get his first job offer from Namco
- Harada started off in sales rather than as a developer
- Harada: “Harada Right. I actually never even thought, “I want to make games.” My thinking was filled with imaginary thoughts like, “How much fun would it be and how much freedom would I have if I could make my living playing games?” (laughs) I thought about what would be the best way to get a big number of people involved in playing games, and I decided to work in sales and do video game events.”
- This was a reaction to his parents not sharing his idea of how much fun video games can be

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