Ken Kutaragi to leave SCEI

In the spot he's in i would quit. But at the same time are the japanese known to quit their careers? Is it possible that he will soon quit Sony? Maybe he could climb the latter again...

 

EETimes has managed to nab an interview with him:

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199202196

More at the link. He has left the Playstation team cost reduction plans for the next two years, and talks a bit about Cell as a net-based processor etc.

I'm guessing the full interview will be published soon.

 

Normally, in his spot, the company would force retirement on him. If Im not mistaken the japanese corporate culture is move up or move out when it comes to upper management. Past situations dictated that action by retirement as japanese companies don't generally fire their employees.

 

Already posted

 

An article about Ken Kutaragi career at Sony:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=24620

 

As long as the drive is at least as fast as their main competitor, it would suffice.

 

Whoever wrote that article doesnt know what he is ttalking about. The PS3's controller is irrelevant. 360 has just as many buttons. Was it a negative factor? NO

Secondly Nintendo couldgo with a completely new route simply because it it didnt have any major and faithful installbase with their previous console which they'd have to keep satisfied. They had nothing to risk with something new. Nintendo fans are always faithful. The others? Were few. Edit: Thats why people wont mind Nintendo's new approach and still buy a Wii even if they have a PS3 or a 360. Its not because they prefer it more. Its because they add variety to their experience. Wii does not replace what we already had and loved. It expands our love to something different too

If Sony came wiith a stick there are many who would have been pissed. And I am sure MANY would have been complaining and cursing Sony's decision in these very boards. Plus there are simply many Playstation games like GT which simply CANT work well with a stick. Games that created dedicated fans, Games that defined PS and people dont want to be changed. Its pretty evident with Wii's games. It doenst necessarilly improve previous experiences or make them work better. It gets different games or spin offs or ports from specific games that can work with the stick but dont add anything extra. Just a different experience. That strategy cant work with PS3

Secondly the PS3 controller ALSO has motionsensors. Yet this was completely ignored in that article, the controller was trashed, whilst 360's controller is just the same controller as the XBOX's with minor improvements, with just as many buttons as the Dual Shock2. 360 is doing great

PS3's main reasons for not selling like hotcakes is the price, delays, and delayied games.

Sony should have never tried to make the PS3 like Wii. And they did well for not trying. Its other things that went wrong. Not the controller

 

Well I did call him a vulture.

But I do have one point of contention to bring up. Nintendo certainly did have a lot of risk with the Wii, just as they had a lot of risk with the DS. That it turned out to be great decisions is one thing, but don't rewrite history that Nintendo could afford to just experiment.

Remember, Nintendo is a pure play. They have no other industry to fall back on if videogames fail. If any companies had the capability to experiment, it's MS and Sony. If Nintendo failed with the DS and Wii, it wouldn't have shocked me to see them go the way of Sega, i.e. out of the hardware business and into software only.

 

I agree.

But you comparing 2 different kinds of risks and situations.

Sony and MS can have the money to take risks. But that doesnt mean they would risk the kind of userbase or demographic they already had and benefited from in the past. They had these people's interest. Why risk them unnecessarilly?

In MS's and Sony's case: The can have an unneeded risky choice with too much uncertainty involved, and a guaranteeing non-risky choice with more certain results. Its pretty evident which choice they would go for.

Nintendo didnt have that kind of risk because they didnt have people's interest to begin with with their old approach. They couldnt benefit much from them, especially from the observed trend from the previous gen. It was evident that gamers were shifting towards MS and Sony. They had a different kind of risk to think about:

A powerful expensive console would have also been risky. It would have been an expensive investment and chances of gaining more interest with a console that is "identical" to the bigger two are slim, and with low possibilities in improving their position.

So why not take a different kind of risk? With Wii? Unlike the first choice its a cheap investment (cost and risk reduction), and it also has more chances of creating new interest. Not many old users to sacrifice in case they lose interest from them.

So in Nintendo's case: they have a risky expensive choice with high possibilities of loosing even more market share, and another risky cheaper choice which could increase their market share and profits through a different/diversified approach/product. They are either indifferent between the two or lean towards the seond

Nintendo had no choice but take some kind of risk

The other two had the choice to avoid risk

 

This news is about KK actually quiting - it seems strange that people would be discussing "KK should quit Sony...," when he essentially just did. Honorary chairman and tech adviser aren't real positions, and they're certainly not anything anyone should/would quit. He'll get paid mad money for three days worth of work a year, and in the rest of the time he'll do what he wants. IMO he certainly should never give up his title of Honorary Chairman - I mean he started the damn business and led it from nothing to greatness over the last thirteen years. The title is simply an honorific anyway; why would he divest himself of it? That's like saying Howard Stringer should quit the knighthood.

PS - That CNN article is ridiculous, the Gameindustry article incredibly in-depth (even though they fast-forward through his consumer electronics leadership without mentioning the LCD push!), and the EETimes interview I look forward to.

 

What KK should have done is taken the PS2 , add 2 more VU + HDD + network + PS Eye Camera called it PS3 and sold it at $300. All the people would be kissing the floor he walks on

He is responsible for pushing the technology envelope for gaming. Thinking ahead of time is not for everyone, and not everyone can do it. I guess he has a vision and probably he knew the price he will have to pay. Nowadays more companies are run by whats on Excel spreadsheet than what's on their drawing boards. Maybe he might find something better outside of Sony.

 

That Eurogamer article is really great.

 

When I first heard the news, I imagined that a contentious relationship had turned adversarial, with Stringer finally dragging Kutaragi into the board room for the ceremonial bestowal of the pink slip.

But now I'm thinking he was actually promoted. Sure, Kutaragi won't be involved with SCEI's day-to-day operations because he'll be too busy in his new role as a Sony Corp. executive -- err, "senior technology advisor".

The move was probably an amicable one.

[size=-2]"I've had dinner with [Mr. Kutaragi] more times than I've had dinner with my wife, and that's not really healthy." -- Sony CEO Howard Stringer on how he’s tried to improve his strained relationship with Ken Kutaragi (Game Informer, May 2007)[/size]​

 

Someone needs to brush their teeth.

 

Agreed. Great article.

@Sound_Card: you wouldn't believe it, but non-bleached teeth often look that way. It's not at all common to do that here in Europe, and you would definitely stand out if you did.

 

Its certainly much better then 1up's article, but they are wrong about kutaragi failing to make Sony's electronics division profitable again.

 

I'm sorry, but somehow your teeth being white implies you bleach them?
Someone must put bleach in my mouth when I'm alseep.

I really don't wont argue about how someone takes care of their teeth, so I'll just drop it....

 

seems like nintendo would like to sweep up kk
http://www.qj.net/Satoru-Iwata-We-d-love-to-have-Kutaragi/pg/49/aid/90758

 

That would make things very interesting. However, given Nintendo's focus on core gaming as opposed to the digital home, I'd doubt Ken would have much desire to join them.

Then again, that could've been Corporate Sony's focus rather than Ken, so who knows. Definitely interesting though.