Ken Kutaragi, chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, will step down in June and will be replaced by Kazuo Hirai, former SCEA head. Reasons include the slow uptake of the PS3 and problems with PSP and UMD format popularity in the face of rivals Nintendo and Microsoft.
This is a sad day for video gaming simply because Kutaragi essentially rebuilt high-end video gaming after the tumble in the 1980s caused by over investment and bubble-like conditions. The Playstation and Playstation 2 defined next generation gaming for over a decade, ceding some ground only to the XBox and 360 in the last few years.
Fanboi all you want, but this is huge news in the industry, akin to Jobs being ousted in the 1990s.
“And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.”
- Aeschylus
Kutaragi should fall on a real samurai sword. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is facing layoffs too! These people are losing their jobs because Kenny’s stupid system isn’t selling.
Boohoo, another overpaid executive gets pushed out. See you Ken!
As much as the PS2 rocked, the decisions made over PS3 have been obviously the wrong ones to anybody looking on. The delays, the decision to force Blue-Ray in when it wasn’t ready, thus pushing up the costs and delaying the system further…. The original lack of online strategy… I mean, the gaming press noticed it, the gaming public noticed in (and bought Wiis and 360s in their millions) and yes, this coupled with the awful UMD decisions mean it’s time to bring in new blood. Sure, Kataragi’s opinions and decisions counted last time round, but not now. Time’s have changed and there’s actual competition in the industry this time.
because kutaragi over promised on the ps3’s performance,, now that it can’t deliver the promised performance the ps3 didn’t sell good,,