Ken Kutaragi (b. 1950)

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Biography

Ken Kutaragi is a Japanese engineering technologist and businessman, currently president and CEO of Cyber AI Entertainment. Formerly the chairman and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), the video game division of Sony, Kutaragi is known as "The Father of the PlayStation" having overseen the development of the original console and its successors and spinoffs until departing the company in 2007, shortly after the PlayStation 3 was released.

In Their Own Words (3)

You can communicate to a new cybercity. This will be the ideal home server. Did you see the movie The Matrix? Same interface. Same concept. Starting from next year, you can jack into The Matrix!

"The Amazing PlayStation 2", Newsweek, 27 February 2000 , 2000

PlayStation 3 will be capable running games at 120 fps.

Kutaragi claims PS3 could run at 120 fps

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.

In response to the original PSP units' square button problems

Timeline

The story of Ken Kutaragi, told in moments.

1988 Event

Secretly designed a sound chip for Nintendo's Super Famicom without Sony management's approval. When they found out, CEO Norio Ohga protected him. The collaboration with Nintendo eventually collapsed, giving Kutaragi a grudge and a plan.

Why design that sound chip without Sony's approval? Did CEO Ohga protecting you feel like fate? Was the grudge against Nintendo the fuel for PlayStation?

1994 Event

Launched the PlayStation in Japan. Sold 100,000 units on the first day. It used CDs instead of cartridges. Sony's board had nearly killed the project. Kutaragi fought for it alone.

Did 100,000 units on day one feel like vindication? How close was Sony's board to killing the PlayStation? Was CDs over cartridges obvious or a gamble?

2000 Event

PlayStation 2 launched and became the best-selling console in history with over 155 million units. He pushed for the PS2 to double as a DVD player. That decision won the format war.

Did you know the PS2 would become the best-selling console ever? Was the DVD player decision strategic or instinctive? What does 155 million units mean to the kid who took things apart?

2007 Life

Resigned from Sony after the PS3's troubled launch. Its $599 price point and complex Cell processor drew criticism. He'd said consumers should "work more hours" to afford it. The remark followed him out the door.

Was 'work more hours to afford it' what you really meant? Did the PS3's troubled launch feel like your fault? Was resigning from Sony bitter or a relief?