The Kraziness of Ken Kutaragi

[-tkf-]

http://www.shacknews.com/extras/kutaragi/070705_kutaragi_01.x

I wonder how many of these "crazy" statements actually comes from bad translation and misunderstanding between Japan and American culture.

 

[Titanio]

Kutaragi has always been outspoken - not sure why it's raised here as something new.

And it does seem to be something of a tradition for videogame head honchos (see: Yamauchi)

edit - having read the article, the author certainly does seem to be picking up some things strangely and/or blowing them out of proportion. Like this part "Other statements of grandeur were made, hinting that the PS3 could be superior to the PC in non-linear video editing software or visual graphics programs thanks to the Cell processor. This hasn't been a statement that he's followed up on, leaving many to think it is just techno-hyperbole." The proof is in the pudding, writing off such comments as "techno-hyperbole" seems premature when the machine isn't even on the shelves. I'd go as far as to suggest bias on the author's part - such an article could be written about the market-speak of any of the companies ("one billion players", "powered by human energy"..ahem..)

 

[OpaOpa]

He's a pompous buffoon, funny considering he's nothing more than a figurehead at this point.

 

[gurgi]

Reading the article now. The ps3 sure looks big in that picture though.

Is KK that small?

 

[jvd]

I really don't like the way this guy has been acting personaly .

Sony is the market leader , they should be showing class not going around and bashing others . I really don't care for it and as the article said some of the things he says are out right childish and rediclous

 

[Confidence-Man]

They didn't even use the Matrix quote. That was the best one of all.

 

[Megadrive1988]

I already found one mistake in the article - they said Nintendo pulled out of their CD-ROM agreement with Sony at the 1992 CES.

It actually happened at the 1991 Summer CES in Chicago.

 

[Sean*O]

Asshat.

 

[London Geezer]

I really don't like the way this guy has been acting personaly .

Sony is the market leader , they should be showing class not going around and bashing others . I really don't care for it and as the article said some of the things he says are out right childish and rediclous

I think he's only counter attacking his competition, who have been releasing ridiculous and childish comparisons since they entered the market.
Sony never used the comparison tactics too much, for obvious reasons, what with PS2 being techincally inferior and all.
Obviously now that they seem to have slightly superior technology, they'll brag about it.
Sony have always been much much classier in their marketing than most of their competitors, be it consoles or other devices.

 

[akira888]

He's simply doing what any "public face" of a large company does - spread as much FUD about his competitors as humanly possible. Remember Gate's comment to the press in 2000 that Xbox would be thought of as a "generation beyond" PS2? That's why these men get paid.

 

[Sovere]

That's why these men get paid.

They can pay me! I can say outlandish lies with a straight face. 8)

 

[mckmas8808]

Oh we never see any other company saying things like this.

"This holiday, when people are going to unwrap presents under the Christmas tree and they're excited to play hi-def games, there's going to be exactly one console that they're doing that with. Exactly one. And it's Xbox 360, by the millions, not Sony. By the millions, this Christmas, people are going to be playing high-def games. And they're going to be doing it on Xbox 360. Meanwhile, Sony's going to have a bunch of PowerPoint slides and rubber ducks falling into a tub, and people aren't going to care at all."

WOW! People aren't going to care at all. So the 90 million PS2 buyers aren't going to care about what Sony comes with next huh?

But most important for us is to stay true to our hardcore, the people who want to be totally immersed in the game experience and get connected to the real 'zen' of gaming. But we also have to make the experience more approachable so that other people who haven't played games in the past will stay up and play. Kameo in particular is a game that my daughter will play, my mum might even play. And then there's the 'non-gaming' experiences in the Arcade, like chess, checkers, and that kind of stuff.

That's how we reach a billion people. We're not going to sell a billion consoles, but we're going to get the whole family back on the couch in front of the TV and reach them that way.

This is what Peter Moore said to CVG. Who here thinks MS will reach one billion people this way? I sure don't think so.

Microsoft will release Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 simultaneously with the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 -- expected next spring -- according to a profile of Bill Gates in the latest issue of Time magazine

The Time article continues: "'It's perfect,' Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. 'The day Sony launches [the PS3], and they walk right into Halo 3.'"

Umm.... So Bill Gates is now making the release dates for videogames now? So Bill even if the game isn't ready what are you going to do. And thinking that a game will hurt the hardware launch of the PS3 is really crazy. Luckly for MS fans the devs with J. Allard have said that Halo3 will come out when it's ready.

Ballmer said, "In the next six months, we'll catch Google in terms of relevancy,"

Not videogame related but this is a stupid comment from Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer: Sony is doing 1080p, but nobody has TVs to support that. Why decide what medium your console is built on when the medium is set by the movie industry? What's the return? Nobody has those TVs now.

This comment isn't that bad, but isn't Sony a big part of the movie industry. What's the return? Are you kidding me the return should be obvious to Ballmer. Does he know that the PS3 can still play DVDs.

Both companies say things that can be called crazy. But for some reason the internet blog companies like to point this out more with Ken than anybody else.

 

[Iron Tiger]

I just try to appreciate these guys for their successes and good ideas. Gunpei Yokoi shouldn't forever be remembered for the failed Virtual Boy when he was also the creator of the Gameboy and Metroid and so many other original creations. When x86 is finally dead and buried and a CELLular-style architecture is in its place, we can thank KK for getting it started (even the IBM and Toshiba guys give him the full credit for the idea in its implementation). And nobody's gonna remember his off the wall comments about "computers evoking emotions" and stuff like that.

 

[Qroach]

CELLular-style architecture is in its place,

um, yeah that'll be the day...

... when cows fly.

 

[blakjedi]

I really don't like the way this guy has been acting personaly .

Sony is the market leader , they should be showing class not going around and bashing others . I really don't care for it and as the article said some of the things he says are out right childish and rediclous

I think he's only counter attacking his competition, who have been releasing ridiculous and childish comparisons since they entered the market.
Sony never used the comparison tactics too much, for obvious reasons, what with PS2 being techincally inferior and all.
Obviously now that they seem to have slightly superior technology, they'll brag about it.
Sony have always been much much classier in their marketing than most of their competitors, be it consoles or other devices.

L-b you must have missed the Dreamcast launch period then...

 

[Arty]

I think he's only counter attacking his competition, who have been releasing ridiculous and childish comparisons since they entered the market.
Sony never used the comparison tactics too much, for obvious reasons, what with PS2 being techincally inferior and all.
Obviously now that they seem to have slightly superior technology, they'll brag about it.
Sony have always been much much classier in their marketing than most of their competitors, be it consoles or other devices.

You've got to be kidding me.

All I've seen Sony do is put up comparisions and Microsoft is counter-attacking those comparisions. Both the comparisions and its responses are ridiculous. But to deny that Sony isnt childishly playing the numbers game is plain ignorant.

 

[Alpha_Spartan]

WOW! People aren't going to care at all. So the 90 million PS2 buyers aren't going to care about what Sony comes with next huh?

Yeah, that's a possibility. Nintendo sure didn't get back all 60 million NES fans with the N64 and GameCube. Gamers are fickle.

 

[Kill_Jade]

I think he's only counter attacking his competition, who have been releasing ridiculous and childish comparisons since they entered the market.
Sony never used the comparison tactics too much, for obvious reasons, what with PS2 being techincally inferior and all.
Obviously now that they seem to have slightly superior technology, they'll brag about it.
Sony have always been much much classier in their marketing than most of their competitors, be it consoles or other devices.

You've got to be kidding me.

All I've seen Sony do is put up comparisions and Microsoft is counter-attacking those comparisions. Both the comparisions and its responses are ridiculous. But to deny that Sony isnt childishly playing the numbers game is plain ignorant.

read what he typed carefully.....

 

[blakjedi]

I dont really have an opinion of KK per se although i think its fair for him to be a fanbwoi for his lifes work. PS3 is the culmination of one of his dreams... of course he will promote it at other companies peril....

I am almost sure that he designed and built the PS3 for HIMSELF - to be the creator and manifestor of his dreams is a good thing. The PS3 is him and he will definitely defend it all costs until teh PS4 arrives

Miyamoto is an artist that makes games.
Kutaragi is an artist that makes consoles.

A business leader Kutaragi is not and the economic sense that goes into building something as expensive and difficult as the PS3 project is what he probably lacked and led to his demotion. Sony is in business to make money.

give him some slack...

 

[mckmas8808]

Its obvious that this reporter doesn't like Sony too much. This is a few things that he says.

This quote was talking about the square button issue with the PSP in Japan.

It made sense, but what he said next was what sent gamers into a tizzy.

Ken:"I believe we made the most beautiful thing in the world. Nobody would criticize a renowned architect's blueprint that the position of a gate is wrong. It's the same as that."

It was later discovered that an error during production was the true source of the problem. The molding of the case wasn't properly cut and it was later fixed. Still, the damage had been done. Gamers found it comical that Kutaragi would make such a claim about an electronic gaming device.

So now we laugh at somebody that loves their work. I think the PSP is one of the most beautiful works of art as far as electronics go.

Ken: "Microsoft is trailing behind us, but they are not a threat. They are good at improving [on products], but we will be advancing to the next level with revolutionary technology. Beating us for a short moment is like accidentally winning a point from a Shihan (Karate master), and Microsoft is still not a black belt. Just like with their operating systems, they might come out with something good around the third generation of their release."

Isn't this true. Isn't MS trailing behind Sony in the videogame industry. Ken even said that MS is good at improving on products. And the Karate master analogy is cool and something that alot of Americans seem like to understand if they think its a dumb comment.

Kutaragi was always seen as a true leader; nowadays, he's the butt of most gamers' jokes. He's becoming better recognized for his remarks than his accomplishments.

And Kutaragi will always be seen as a true leader. Its MS and Nintendo fanbois that always joke on Ken with not giving him credit to how he's changed the videogame industry. And him becoming better recognized for his remarks than his accomplishments is stupid.

If anybody looks at Ken Kutaragi and thinks "stupid guys who talks crazy" rather than looking at him as the father of the Playstation which changed the world of videogames then I would consider them meaningless.

People will remember Micheal Jordan for his 6 championships with the Bulls not him playing with the Wizards. People will remember the guy that created the gameboy not him creating the Vitural Boy.

Catch my drift?