Yes! We get to write about Ken Kutaragi again!
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Nov 11th 2009 at 6:00PM } 
2000 PlayStation 2 launches.
2005 "The PS3 is not a game machine."
2005 "[We want] consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."
2006 "It's probably too cheap ... This is the PS3 price. Expensive, cheap -- we don't want you to think of it in terms of game machines. Because the PS3 is like nothing else."
2006 PlayStation 3 launches.
2007 "As a matter of course, I have the vision of PlayStation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network."
2007 Ken Kutaragi forced into "retirement" by Sony Computer Entertainment
2009 Ken Kutaragi forms his own company: Cybereye-Entertainment, for "next generation Internet service".
True, this isn't entirely gaming-related, but who knows when we'll be able to write about Ken's exploits again! And, to be honest, we've ... we've missed him. He's been out of the spotlight for over two years and no public video game figure since has mastered the unique art of the Kutaragism.
[image]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Discotheque @ Nov 11th 2009 6:02PM
LOL to be honest he brought that "forced retirement" on himself. Some of those comments he made were asinine.
eeeeeeeeeeefe @ Nov 11th 2009 6:28PM
Got a source of Kuturgi being forced into retirement? As without one, surely that's pretty close to libel..
Orchard Pear @ Nov 11th 2009 6:04PM
Slow news day..
Oh well, at least it's not another MW2 story.
charlie b. @ Nov 11th 2009 6:07PM
it could have been, but Joystiq didn't work enough hours to write one.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:07PM
inb4everyone else
FIVE HUNDRED NINETY-NINE DOLLARS!
GIANT ENEMY CRAB!
IT'S A TRAP
Wait...that last one doesn't belong...oh well.
Moving on.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:08PM
Damn! I debated on whether I should do the "Riiiiiiidge Racer" or the "GIANT ENEMY CRAB". I'm pleased with my decision.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:09PM
I can't believe I forgot!
RRIIIIIIDDDGGGGEEEE RRRAAAACCCEEERRRR!!!!
Andrew Yoon @ Nov 11th 2009 6:12PM
I think those quotes were from Kaz Hirai. Wrong Sony exec!
Shmil @ Nov 11th 2009 6:13PM
WEAK SPOTS! MASSIVE DAMAGE!
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:15PM
Who cares. They're both comedy gold. GOLD JERRY!
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:19PM
The puns. They burn!
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:24PM
It's a Sony article, from that ill-fated press conference...it's relevant.
ChuckBartowski @ Nov 11th 2009 6:33PM
you know suprisingly, if your type in giant enemy crab in scribblenauts, a huge crab that wants to kill you shows up.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:56PM
C'mon, if RROD jokes are still cool 4 years later, then surely GIANT ENEMY CRAB and RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER!!!!! jokes are still in.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:08PM
GIANT ENEMY CRAB
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:09PM
Too late...
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:16PM
ATTACK THE WEAK SPOTS FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE
eNrique @ Nov 11th 2009 6:31PM
Kaz Hirai =/= Ken Kutaragi
Just saying.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:33PM
We know. But he's got that grin, and it's the same bloody press conference!!
Ashitaka @ Nov 11th 2009 6:46PM
And their first names start with a K and only have 3 letters. I guess we can pretty much consider them the same person, no?
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Nov 11th 2009 6:48PM
Next you're going to tell us that they look the same too...
Social @ Nov 11th 2009 6:09PM
ok some people here are mixing op Ken with Kaz Hirai
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 6:13PM
But it was at the same press conference. Ken had something to do with it.
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:16PM
yeah but it's still funny
Lurkero @ Nov 11th 2009 6:11PM
Forced retirement is a very dishonorable thing in Japan. Often times I have read stories of executives that have made mistakes get "promoted" to an isolated office.
In the United States are incompetent executives are rewarded with multi-million dollar buyouts and compensation packages so that they leave.
God bless America...
michas_pi @ Nov 12th 2009 5:21AM
@Chris D.:
The Pre-SP.
I like it; very catchy.
NevilleThegame @ Nov 11th 2009 6:12PM
The man took a gamble on PS3 and it's paying off now. i bet if Ken was still in charge all PS3s will still be backwards compatible. PSP aswell. You ppl who dissed him in the past owe him an aplogy .
Pretty Obvious @ Nov 11th 2009 6:31PM
How is it paying off exactly?? PS3 is in last place as of right now and Sony is bleeding more then its competition.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 11th 2009 6:33PM
the PSP backwards compatible?
with what? the PRE-PSP?
the damn thing plays PS1 games....what more do you want? PS2 games?
ManekiNeko @ Nov 11th 2009 6:58PM
Hell no. He owes ME an apology for killing the Dreamcast with nothing but inflated hype. "Jack into" this, douchebag!
Mr Khan @ Nov 11th 2009 7:10PM
It's paying off because they managed to strip out a lot of the more expensive features from the early models, and were thus able to bring price down
They have the patent for Graphics Synthesizer emulation now. Why they haven't put BC back is beyond me
Pat @ Nov 12th 2009 1:34AM
@NevilleThegame
Very right you are. He certainly was a visionary. Sony got scared because they didn't dominate the market right away but Ken was certainly a visionary in every generation.
@ManekiNeko
Yes.. Sega did no marketing like that ("It's thinking") nor Sega had anything to do with its own demise (CDX, Nomad, 32X, Saturn...).
@Mr Khan
My guess is because of how unreliable software emulation is. Remember when the X360 came out they touted you its B/C which was mediocre at best since it was all software based. Each game had to be patched individually to optimize the result and even then it wasn't the same. Even the PS3 80gig model wasn't as reliable in this department as a good ol' 60 or 20 gig model. For all the slack Sony got for pulling the plug on b/c (in order to make everyone happy with a price cut, I might add) they are not going to implement something that will yield questionable results for people to give them more slack for not doing it well.
Think about the God of War games coming out. The games are not being emulated. The code has been re- worked to work with the PS3.
sikbeta @ Nov 11th 2009 6:22PM
This man is a Real Visionary, you have my Respect Kutaragi-san
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 11th 2009 6:31PM
"You can communicate to a new cybercity. Did you see the movie The Matrix? Same interface. Same concept. Starting from next year, you can jack into The Matrix!"
ROFLMAO!!!!
Did he REALLY say that!?!?
**DEAD**
eNrique @ Nov 11th 2009 6:32PM
The only thing I can do, is just wish good luck with his new business, because he really deserves it.
Good luck Kutaragi-san!
Bobs @ Nov 11th 2009 6:37PM
This is my favourite:
"[We want] consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."
That is just ridiculous, I can't believe no one at Sony rehearsed his speech with him.
NevilleThegame @ Nov 11th 2009 6:44PM
@ Pretty Obvious i mean didn't Ken K pushed the Cell and Blu Ray. will PS3 owners have games like Uncharted w/o blu ray? if not mistaken, isnt the PS3 outselling wii/360 lately? also let us not forget the 10 yr life cycle.@Chris D. actually i meant PSPgo will allow UMD support in some fashion. also the offical PSP2 if he was still in charge would have BC no question about it.
Mr Khan @ Nov 11th 2009 7:12PM
No, PS3 is back down to second place in the worldwide standings, though it's still out in front in Japan.
ManekiNeko @ Nov 11th 2009 6:49PM
I hope his shameless hyperbole spells the death of his new venture. Few people in this industry have been more despicable than Kutaragi, with the possible exception of Bernie "Saturn killer" Stolar.
Brandon @ Nov 11th 2009 7:00PM
Is Ken a midget or is that a huge PS3?
Brandon @ Nov 11th 2009 7:03PM
Wow.. did you seriously just post the same thing twice? You fail.
IcelandTerrorist (stormtrooper190) @ Nov 12th 2009 3:23PM
its photoshoped.
Brandon @ Nov 11th 2009 7:02PM
Is Ken a midget or is that a huge PS3?
Mr Khan @ Nov 11th 2009 7:15PM
His crowning contribution was really the original PlayStation, perfectly positioned to be the best solution for both publishers and developers, with CD support at just the right time, OpenGL coding for optimum ease, and a far simpler CPU than the Saturn.
deaftly (PSN,LIVE,STEAM) @ Nov 11th 2009 7:42PM
I live my life in 4D and 120 frames per second!
jay @ Nov 11th 2009 7:54PM
I swear that PS3 gets bigger every time I see that pic
Mo @ Nov 11th 2009 8:35PM
Kutaragi-San
Father to the playstations I've known and loved. The 60GB Ps3 that I make sweet love to EVERY day was your dream. Your dream... and mine... We shared that dream with many others, those that still type in www,ps3fanboy.com when coming to this site. Those that know quality, those that know loyalty.
Your work will live on in the playstation brand long after you are gone from this planet.
Those that ridiculed you, they didn't understand you.
I gladly worked more hours and ate lots of ramen to make sure I had my $599.99 plus tax on launch. I am glad I did.
Sure you said a lot of strange things, I'll chalk it up to misunderstood genius, and lots of engrish that got mangled in translation.
I wish you the best my friend. We were all blinged out, top down screaming out money aint a thang... you didn't know DubyaBush-san would fuck up the worlds money THAT bad. If he didn't, well... I'd like to think things would be much different now. I know you love the playstation brand as much as I do. I know you cared about more than profit. You wouldnt let out a cheap pos that rrod'd even if you knew it would double or triple your units sold. You wanted me to have my mgs4, uncharted 1/2, MAG and Agent.
I see your redemption on the horizon, don't hari kiri just yet. They will see it too in time. Microsoft can't buy everything you know.
God Speed Kutaragi-san!
*bows and presents handcrafted naughtydog katana*
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Nov 11th 2009 8:44PM
Holy shit. He's just some asshole man, what's with the god like devotion?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 8:55PM
Wow...I want some of what Mo's having!
AoE @ Nov 11th 2009 8:24PM
He's really like the Japanese Peter Molyneux when it comes to the promise/delivery ratio, isn't he?