Ken Kutaragi to become Chairman of Cellius

by Jonti Davies { Jan 24th 2007 at 5:30AM }

BandaiNamco and SCEI today announced that they are forming a new Tokyo-based subsidiary company, Cellius, in a bid to develop fresh content for Sony's Cell Broadband Engine. Cellius will be in the hands of "PlayStation's dad", Ken Kutaragi, who will be appointed as the new company's Chairman.

Initial investment from BandaiNamco and SCEI is approximately US$824,000; SCEI will have a 49% stake in Cellius, with BandaiNamco controlling a 51% share. Although there are no plans for Cellius to work directly on PS3 games, the new outfit will be producing "interactive entertainment" and "business contents" when its doors open on March 6. What those terms actually entail, we'll just have to wait and see, but perhaps Ken Kutaragi will now have a fair opportunity to show us what he was talking about at last year's Tokyo Game Show conference.

Click through for the Japanese (PDF) press release.

Tags: BandaiNamco, Cell, Cellius, Ken Kutaragi, KenKutaragi, SCEI

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

evilplushie @ Jan 24th 2007 5:47AM

...is it just me or does this seem like the blind leading the blind?

Gamer G @ Jan 24th 2007 5:49AM

Ken gets shuffled again, expect to hear of him getting the boot totally from some even more minor subsidiary next year

Slaziman @ Jan 24th 2007 5:52AM

Riiiiiidge Racer! [/stalejoke]

hardwood2001 @ Jan 24th 2007 6:33AM

...

Hugh @ Jan 24th 2007 6:48AM

First we get the farce, then the tragedy.

Sony had a joint venture to market the Emotion Engine too. It's long gone, and soon Cellius will bite the dust as well.

Seriously, no one asked for this chip, and it meets no unmet needs.

Martin @ Jan 24th 2007 7:09AM

Operation, "Get the Crazies away from the Precious Playstation Brand" is a go.

propanol @ Jan 24th 2007 7:55AM

Krazy Ken has left the building! I repeat, Krazy Ken has left the building!

Pulse @ Jan 24th 2007 7:57AM

Do you lot like sit and wait for Sony news? You are here before any Sony fan is here, you post more in Sony related topics then you do in 360 topics, I look at a Halo topic and it has 16 comments, I look at a Sony ralted topic and its hitting 100 comments.

I get the feeling you lot secretly love the Playstation or fear it :) Dunno, either way its kinda retarded. If you don't like the console, I can't understand why you would take the time and effort to slag it off :) Its not as if you get points for it or something or status. lol.

Elrando @ Jan 24th 2007 8:09AM

"Do you lot like sit and wait for Sony news?"

It's called Gametab you nong.

epobirs @ Jan 24th 2007 8:10AM

Gee, shades of Renesas, the combination of Mitsubishi and Hitachi semiconductor operations. This was spun off from the two companies so that their struggling product lines wouldn't besmirch the corporate brands. Renesas' portfolio includes the 'Dreamcast on a chip' multimedia processor that at last report has yet to get any serious design wins.

TRUTH @ Jan 24th 2007 8:13AM

Wow! They are going to crash hard.

Darc Requiem @ Jan 24th 2007 8:27AM

Hmmm...I never even considered the "put Ken out to pasture angle." Also doesn't Nintendo doesn't own a stock in Namco Bandai? I know they owned stock and Bandai before they acquired Namco. So wouldn't they receive a small indirect profit from this venture? You know, like Sony does from any Square Enix titles.

Patrick @ Jan 24th 2007 8:29AM

good, now i wont have to listen to his crazy rantings

NeverSage @ Jan 24th 2007 8:32AM

This is pretty far off topic, and I'm embarassed to say this, but I have only read about the "Riiiiiidge Racer!" thing, I haven't seen it... anyone have a link to a vid? I can't find it on youtube...

Martin @ Jan 24th 2007 8:36AM

They decided to get him started on 5D gaming.

Aeris130 @ Jan 24th 2007 8:41AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_OBVSd9TU&mode=related&search=

DarkMan @ Jan 24th 2007 8:45AM

So it begins, Sony is pushing Ken away from the Playstation.
I bet when the PS4 comes out it will be made by the Vaio group.

peeweejd @ Jan 24th 2007 8:46AM

This their way of sending him to pasture. This company is probably a bunch of smart people that dont need much guidance and Kuratagi cant cause much damage there. I've seen moves like this in corporate america lots of times.

bassbeast @ Jan 24th 2007 8:48AM

Didn't Nintendo do something like this with Namco and Sega with the GCN called "Triforce" and all we got was F-Zero G/AX (good) and Star Fox from Namco (bad)? Hasn't anybody learned?

Fred T @ Jan 24th 2007 8:59AM

Hahaa NintenBots.. Ken is the resaon Nintendo has been nonexistent in the console arena for the past 10+ years. No wonder you guys are so bitter, he's had his cock up your collective asshole for all this time.

lol @ Nintenbots .. you

NeverSage @ Jan 24th 2007 9:00AM

Aeris130, thanks for posting that :)

JodyAnthony @ Jan 24th 2007 9:04AM

Leave it to Fred T to start talking about nintendo fans in a post about Ken Kutaragi.

also, is the password system working now? sweetness.

samfish @ Jan 24th 2007 9:14AM

Wow, Fred. You have a lot of sand in your vagina this morning, don't you?

Zsavior @ Jan 24th 2007 9:14AM

In all honesty I understand them pushing him away, but it is still messed up to me. PS3 wasn't only his bad judgements it was a collective, they bet the company on that system, when probably all Ken kuturagi was trying to make was a competant game console.

True he was the head but the buck does not stop with him, Sir Howard "Take as much money as your want Mr Crazeragi!" Stringer should bear some responsibility as well.

shase @ Jan 24th 2007 9:27AM

why do people think this is a bad thing? maybe Ken wants to do something new? I think the company might not do well because the investment is so low...

sheppy @ Jan 24th 2007 9:45AM

You know, all these bad tidings will start being swept away once Spiderman 3 drops. That money machine will likely repair damage from the PS3 loss to begin with. Yes, Sony got arrogant. But what they delivered is one hell of a fine machine. Sleek, sexy, functional on levels other consoles dream of, and anything wrong with it is fixable via updates. When all is said and done, the PS3 is one hell of a machine...

Now it just needs games. I see them on the horizon but I'm feeling a little left out to cold by delayed releases and yes, I felt this same way around 360s launch. In fact, even 360 seems to be stockpiling the games I like until summer.

bassbeast @ Jan 24th 2007 9:49AM

"Sleek"? "Sexy"? Sure, if your idea of "sex appeal" is the 2001 monolith.

Metalmurphy @ Jan 24th 2007 9:51AM

Sorry the monolith expression is best used to describe the 360 power supply.

Metalmurphy @ Jan 24th 2007 9:51AM

Oops, guess there wont be a Tekken 6, Soul Calibur 4, Ace Combat, etc... for the 360.

The Intangible Fact @ Jan 24th 2007 9:55AM

Oops, guess there wont be a Mass Effect, Gears of War, Crackdown, etc... for the PS3.

JodyAnthony @ Jan 24th 2007 10:00AM

Oops, I guess there won't be a Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, Pikmin, Metroid, Kirby, or Star Fox for PS3 or 360

Sorry, I just wanted to join in. (Truth be told, I only care about the first two I listed)

Metalmurphy @ Jan 24th 2007 10:03AM

Why list first party titles when its obvious they won't be on another console? Thats why they're called FIRST PARTY... lol

Kane @ Jan 24th 2007 10:03AM

I'm going to jump the gun a bit, so I can seem on top of things and perhaps a bit precognative:

R.I.P. Cellius

dick ur a retard, @ Jan 24th 2007 10:09AM

oppps, no dragon quest 9+ of ps3 or 360!!!!

ferrarimanf355 @ Jan 24th 2007 10:11AM

So, this means no Tekken or Soul Calibur for the X360? Oh well, at least the X360 is getting Virtua Fighter 5...

C. Grant @ Jan 24th 2007 10:16AM

HI THIS IS A TEST

Darcrequiem @ Jan 24th 2007 10:20AM

"29. Oops, guess there wont be a Tekken 6, Soul Calibur 4, Ace Combat, etc... for the 360.

Posted at 9:51AM on Jan 24th 2007 by Metalmurphy"

Keep on thinking that Metalmurphy. Sony would be shouting the exclusivity of those games from the rooftops if they had them locked up for PS3. Cellius is a new company, jointly owned by Sony and Namco Bandai. Which means they will be most likely making new IPs for the PS3. Cellius could be the next Retro Studios or the next Game Designer Studio. We will just have to wait and see. And given Kutaragi's last two endeavors, the PS3 and the PS3. I wouldn't get my hopes up. This reminds me of what down with Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo after the Virtual Boy disaster. Yokoi created Metroid and the Gameboy and various other hit properties for Nintendo, but after the Virtua Boy he was pretty much pushed aside. Seems like the same thing is happening to Kutaragi.

Kn1ves @ Jan 24th 2007 10:21AM

let me get this straight?

Ken Kutaragi, father of the Playstation, leader of all that is Sony's Playstation department, goes on to become Chairman of a NamcoBandai (51%) company?

He's not working for Sony anymore then? Since NamcoBandai has the controlling share of his new subsidiary company and not SCEI?

Clarify it for me Nintenbots, Xbots and Sony...bots

Bruce Wayne III @ Jan 24th 2007 10:44AM

@38

He didn't leave SONY. He is just another executive that also becomes chairman of the board in another company.

Read the news, not the FUD - and that wasn't specifically aimed at you :)

Vinnk @ Jan 24th 2007 10:56AM

"US$824,000" Does that seem really low to anyone else?

Marty @ Jan 24th 2007 11:01AM

Cellius... LOL.

C @ Jan 24th 2007 11:30AM

#40 I think your'e right.

I wouldn't be surprised if the the Playstation brand was close to a billion dollars. Now this guy is responsible for $824,000. This is definitely a demotion. What are they going to do with $824,000? They can spend that just on office space.

LR @ Jan 24th 2007 11:33AM

This sounds to me that he's no longer with Sony. Whenever you don't want an executive, and you want to save face, you simply make or allow that executive to be in charge of another company upon which you invest in. It's a way to ease someone out.

It sounds like a promotion and a great opportunity, but basically it's classic "there's the door, don't let it hit you on the way out"

Joop @ Jan 24th 2007 11:35AM

@3 "Riiiiiidge Racer" may be a stale joke, but I still find it satirical that Kenny-boy was offloaded to an underfunded start up subsidiary that's owned by the folks who developed that very game.

It's just mean.

Mark @ Jan 24th 2007 11:51AM

"Riiiiidge Racer" was kaz not Ken...Let's get our crazy Sony-execs straight...they're both crazy but one can speak english...while the other, well, can't really (and the fact that most of what he says is translated is one reason the things we read about him saying sound so ridiculous...well, partly, he still is crazy)

MoonfirePewPEwPEw @ Jan 24th 2007 12:01PM

"20. Hahaa NintenBots.. Ken is the resaon Nintendo has been nonexistent in the console arena for the past 10+ years. "

If by "nonexistent", you mean made money on their consoles, and put out more best sellers and top10 games than every other competition, then yes you are right.

Dumbass.

Shiro @ Jan 24th 2007 12:06PM

"15. They decided to get him started on 5D gaming.

Posted at 8:36AM on Jan 24th 2007 by Martin"

Live in your world, die in ours. >_>

Rubang B @ Jan 24th 2007 12:50PM

I still love that picture. He holds up that PS3 like a trophy. It's all his! For nobody else! Now at his Namco job he'll make his favorite game all for him! Look forward to the world's awesomest game coming out for the PS3 and Cellius only printing one solid gold copy of the game just for Ken. We'll all read about it at his blog at krazyken.net

Mike @ Jan 24th 2007 2:52PM

Some of you ppl have ABSOLUTELY no idea what you're talking. Ken was not fired from Sony, nor did he leave Sony. He is simply Chairman of the Board of Directors for Cellius, in addition to his normal operations at SCEI. You do realize that you can be on multiple Boards of Directors so long as there isn't a conflict interest, right? Obviously not otherwise all this ridiculous FUD wouldn't be getting spread around about Ken being "put out to pasture".