On Thursday April 26, Playstation’s creator, Ken Kutaragi announced his plan to retire from the gaming industry, specifically, from his role as chief excutive at Sony Computer Entertainment.
And while it appears that Sony is saying Kutaragi’s departure is not due to the PS3’s slow debut, his departure at a time when the Playstation brand is still coming out of a coma-like status from strong competition from both Nintendo and Microsoft, begs us to question Kutaragi’s timing.
Ken Kutaragi
Known as the “Father of the Playstation” Kutaragi was the key factor for (a then) hesitant Sony, whose decision to enter the console market followed after Kutaragi’s work on the SNES sound chip, a project that would have had Sony developing a major product add-on for the SNES system.
Which after that deal fell through, began Sony’s entry know now as Sony’s Playstation 1 console, leading us into what became the PS2, PSP and the current Playstation 3 brand.
And yet Kutaragi is not leaving his position without controversy. Despite his success, his recent odd comments and views such as stating the PS3 is “not a game machine” plus with the PS3 not gaining the immediate success and momentum that the PS2 felt, has left some wondering if Kutaragi’s move is less than voluntary.
Its apparent Kutargi had more plans for the brand he built. In fact, recently EEtimes shared Kutargi’s plans that involved a detailed vision for the future of the franchise.
“As a matter of course, I have the vision of Playstation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network,” Kutaragi states on EE Times and then continues to say “The design concept of the Cell processor is the network processor…”
Add this news to the fact that Sony Computer Entertainment is considering worldwide job cuts and remains a wonder how stable the once mighty Sony is today and how this will affect the Playstation brand as a whole it this and its future generations. Already 160 jobs have been laid off in Sony’s European division, and speculation is SCEA (US) is next.
Its not hard to speculate that the recent rumbling may be due to Sony’s losses on each PS3, as it loses approximately $ - 241.35 for each PS3 60GB version, and used to lose as much as $ - 306.85 for its discontinued 20GB PS3.
Compare this while Microsoft loses only $ -75 per Xbox360, and Wii is actually turning a profit per consold sold, and it remains to see if Sonys current problems might become its undoing.
Yet, this console generation is far from over. In fact, according to a recent report by Screen Digest’s Ed Barton, his forecast shows Sony positioned to have the PS3 be the market game leader in 2010.
How this all pans out remains to be seen, and PS’s Home might have to build more than hype if it is to be part of the resurgence.
Source: Playstation.com / Eetimes.com
