Ken Kutaragi retires

[JTK]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6169725...stnews;title;0

^^ Wow. Thanks for everything, Mr. K.

[u_nick]

The Sony-hating consiracy hteorists are going to go crazy over this one.


As for me, it will be sad to see the big guy behind the PS1, 2, P, and 3 go. He will be missed!

[JTK]

Originally Posted by u_nick

The Sony-hating consiracy hteorists are going to go crazy over this one.

"OH NOES! TEH PS3 ISZA TEH DISASTERWSER!!!! HE GOT FIRED! LOOK AT HIM RUN!!!"

^^ You mean like that?

As for me, it will be sad to see the big guy behind the PS1, 2, P, and 3 go. He will be missed!

Those are some big shoes to fill, to be sure.

[Shin-Ra]

He's made enormous contributions to the industry, hopefully his network vision for the future pays off and PlayStation benefits from it.

[Blu Tiger]

That's really too bad...

[iceman]

He was promoted 1-2 years ago, which in Japan is a sign of a possible retirement, so this comes as no surprise to me. When starting out Sony had 0% of the gaming market, look where they are today.

[blitz6speed]

That really sucks. Ken is a awesome visionary and he builds some serious hardware. PS3 is literally the best peice of hardware ive ever owned in my home. I hope he stays around and helps out quite a bit, he is needed.

[Maximus]

I think that Kutaragi has played his role and it is now the right time for him to step aside. He was a visionary and his idea for the Playstation was innovative and original, but at this point in time Sony need a new direction and I don't think Kutaragi is the right man to lead Sony into a new era, he is very stuck in his old ways, similar to Idei. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing, but Sony need fresh ideas and it doesn't look like he will be the man to provide them.

Take a look at Miyamoto of Nintendo, he had two generations of failure before he came up with the gimmicky controller, and to draw similarities, can Sony afford two generations of failure in the gaming department, they don't have a great share of the portables (where the DS is beating it hands down at the moment, though I really don't understand why) and with PS2 sales winding down during 2008 another generation of failure could condemn the whole of SCEI to a SEGA style role in software only and developing for other platforms. I would hate to see that happen, but without a new idea to drive the SCE, it will be difficult to avoid.

Now, the man to bring in the new era is an obvious choice, Kazuo Hirai, the man who is responsible for the success of the PS2, he is the man that will strengthen SCE to its former glory, he is much more modern, and is open to new ideas that Kutaragi will dismiss, when head of SCEA Hirai was the one pushing for a more integrated online experience akin to what we are now seeing in PSHome (the whole project was originally based for America only and the PS2).

Today marks the dawn of a new era in gaming, take my word for it - things will change, and it starts in November with the launch of Home, a possible price cut and the introduction of a new model to accompany the 60GB.

On a side note, maybe some people at Sony were listening to Kutaragi when he said they had become too complacent in the Electronics sector, since he made those comments last year the quality of TVs has gone up, the DVD players have become more reliable, the PS3 is very solid, with very few complaints. Hell Sony are even considering dropping SonicStage and Atrac from their MP3 player line-up. So he made a big change in the whole of Sony rather than just one division.

[kknight]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Now, the man to bring in the new era is an obvious choice, Kazuo Hirai, the man who is responsible for the success of the PS2, he is the man that will strengthen SCE to its former glory, he is much more modern, and is open to new ideas that Kataguri will dismiss, when head of SCEA Hirai was the one pushing for a more integrated online experience akin to what we are now seeing in PSHome (the whole project was originally based for America only and the PS2).

agreed, Hirai is the man!

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

That really sucks. Ken is a awesome visionary and he builds some serious hardware. PS3 is literally the best peice of hardware ive ever owned in my home. I hope he stays around and helps out quite a bit, he is needed.

I have the opposite take. Now he has the freedom to apply his vision outside the constraints/expectations of a company the size of Sony.
He gets to be even *more* visionary IMO and take chances on products that would never see the light of day from Sony. Not like he wouldn't have investors lining up given his track record either ..

The Cell is revolutionary and will be around for a long long time...it's a game changer. Btw IBM has built a new mainframe using Cell chips - for immersive 3D worlds ..

[jbuttler007]

Farewell to a good person

[Amon37]

Originally Posted by Iceman

He was promoted 1-2 years ago, which in Japan is a sign of a possible retirement, so this comes as no surprise to me.

Exactly. I think a lot of people realized when he was promoted his time in the company was short lived.

[DV92Camaro]

Well it was time for him to go. There are so many kids that say it was bad, cause PS3 isn't selling well and will flop. PS3 hasn't even warmed up yet and there will be developers wanting to take care of its technology. It's a verastile machine altogether. I already posted this on another forum but there will be a time when we will look at the PS3 like we now look back on PS1. It's extremely powerful, right off the top of my head, look at Virtua Fighter 5. Anyhow there's a time for everyone and the man has did his job.

[Gamekid]

I didn't release that Ken was 56 years old. I was wondering when he would retire. Miyamoto is already 60 years old. Ken will still support sony though so even though he is no longer present, it doesn't mean that he completely out of the electronics business.

[What'sHD]

Thanks KK san.. you are more than alright in my book

[NARMAK]

Wasn't Kutaragi supposed to be heading up that cellius project to take advantage of the CELL chip alongside Namco Bandai.

How's this going to affect that now, is he going to continue with it or is somebody else going to take over.

On topic though, he was certainly a visionary who definitely helped bring the PS brand to the masses but recent performance from him namely in his whacky statements maybe was the indicator that his days were now numbered i guess.

A visionary that will be truly missed, but i guess it finally is time to change the way the flow is headed for the PS brand and pass the torch to someone else and Kaz is a great choice i think but let's see how effectively he does in the next 5-10 years and then evaluate if he was the right choice, i'm confident he will do a good job.

[HiNRG]

Some analysts believe he was pushed out due to the PS3 not meeting expectations.

[akadkins]

But Sony keeps saying this is all about the 'long' term...I'd have thought they would at least wait until the Christmas season to see what PS3 does with a few more games under its belt.

[phranctoast]

Kind of old news.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=8163

You should also avoid posting opinions from joystiq. Their biased opinions usually clouds any news related to the ps3.

[nobody]

The PS3 sucks...anyone who likes the PS3 is not a friend of mine.
I would of never paid as much as $600 for a 60GB PS3(higher cost due to built blu-ray drive).
I rather pay approx. $950 for the x360 premium and x360 elite cuz they were smart enough to not include a built in HD-DVD drive. This way if the customer so chooses they can purchase the HD-DVD add-on for another $200.00 which would bring my total to only $1166. Now I can play my 720P games over 1080P HDMI cable and watch HD movies on the smaller of the two HD formats. I ain't no sucka....