Ken Kutaragi to retire, go back to space ship
by Nick Doerr 
{ Apr 26th 2007 at 12:55PM }
As of June 19th, the man behind the Spider-Man font, behind the PlayStation 3's slick design, behind the massive damage control Sony is still trying to get a hang of will be retiring. Yes, Krazy Ken Kutaragi will be stepping down from his position as CEO at Sony Computer Entertainment. He will be replaced by the less krazy Kaz Hirai -- he doesn't get the capital letter yet.The following are excerpts from a press release from Sony detailing the resignation: "Kutaragi has said that he has been considering this decision for some time. He stated that, in the six months since the appointment of Kazuo Hirai as President in December, the new generation of management, led by Mr. Hirai, has continued to develop...Sony and SCE will continue to seek Mr. Kutaragi's input and ideas from a broad perspective, while continuing to support him as much as possible in the realization of his dreams." He's passing on the torch to Kaz Hirai and the new, fresh, young management team! Good. It's a good thing to know what's best for the company, even at your own expense. We salute him for that. But... what are his dreams? The PS3 Grill?
While this is heartbreaking news for those who think Kutaragi was doing a stellar job with the PS3, recall that he was given a promotion recently that consequently took him out of most day-to-day operations of Sony and the PlayStation 3. As a parting farewell to all the shoddy promises given by Kutaragi, as well as a few things to make us giggle, we're sticking some famous quotes from the man, the legend, the mystery: Ken Kutaragi. Goodbye, Krazy Ken. You had a good run, but it's time to step aside. Have a great retirement!
- "[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."
- "The PS3 will instill discipline in our children and adults alike. Everyone will know discipline."
- "The PS3 is not a game machine "
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SONY is FINISHED @ Apr 26th 2007 1:06PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Sorry So sad.... PS3 Will Fail Now!!!
Arno @ Apr 26th 2007 1:10PM
Krazy Ken will not be missed.
Demis @ Apr 26th 2007 2:04PM
Now what in the Hell is with these Xbox Trolls? We should get some Archers that they send them back to their FanBoy place...
silence @ Apr 26th 2007 2:54PM
Not a suprise at all. "retired" is a nice way of saying fired. This should be good for Sony.
Riiiiiiidge Raaaaacerrrrr!
Dahk @ Apr 26th 2007 7:08PM
Yeah what happened to the most infamous quote.
RIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACEEEEERRRRRRRR!!
And to the comment #1 guy. I think the PS3 is now actually in better hands =).
matjet @ Apr 26th 2007 7:24PM
everyone does realise that ken kutaragi is not infact crazy? he has infact simply suffered from being the main human scapegoat for all the "ps3 bashing" thats been going on.
this retirement is a sad and, so far as us consumers are concerned, bad thing. ken was/is a genius.
Jason B. @ Apr 26th 2007 8:08PM
I thought Ken was put in charge of Sony's side of Cellius...?
gfella @ Apr 26th 2007 9:29PM
5 & 4,
Kaz Hirai said the "ridge racer" line not Ken Kutaragi, you idiots.
PS1, the best system, killed, Sega and Nintendo in its time of glory, PS2 killed everything plus opened the market for DVDs sales amongst other things. And still up in sales to date! So to say,
"I think the PS3 is now actually in better hands =)." is a f*%@kin insult!
Mr. Kutaragi, Thank You for changing the face of gaming World Wide.