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NonBorn
20-06-2007, 01:11
Ο πατέρας του Playstation και πρόεδρος της Sony "κρεμάει το controller του" και αποσύρεται από την ενεργό δράση. Αναλυτικά...

Ο απόφοιτος του Πανεπιστημίου Ηλεκτρονικής & Τηλεπικοινωνιών της Chofu City του Τόκιο, με το που πήρε το πτυχίο του ξεκίνησε άμεσα την καριέρα του στην Sony πριν από μερικές δεκαετίες. Πλέον, στα 56 του, έφτασε η ώρα να αποχωρήσει και επίσημα από τον χώρο των Games.

Στις 19 Ιουνίου, στην γενική συνέλευση μετόχων της Sony, ο Kutaragi θα πει το τελευταίο αντίο στους συναδέλφους του. Η Sony ανακοίνωσε ότι η απόφαση του Kutaragi πραγματοποιήθηκε προκειμένου "η δάδα να περάσει στην νεότερη γενιά και ο ίδιος να προσανατολιστεί σε άλλους στόχους πέρα από την προώθηση του Playstation". Την θέση του θα αναλάβει ο Kazuo Hirai. Ο ίδιος ο Kutaragi δήλωσε ότι είναι ευχαριστημένος που "αποφοίτησε" από την Sony μετά από τις τέσσερις γενιές Playstation που παρουσίασε (PS, PS2, PSP και PS3) και ότι θα συνεχίσει να υποστηρίζει την Sony ως σύμβουλος τεχνολογίας.

Ο Ken Kutaragi ήταν πάντοτε ένα δημιουργικό μυαλό. Βλέποντας την κόρη του να παίζει NES θεωρούσε ότι και η Sony έπρεπε να επεκταθεί στην βιομηχανία των games. Ποιος τον άκουγε όμως. Ο ίδιος παρ' όλα αυτά τα...άκουσε, όταν αποκαλύφθηκε ότι δημιούργησε το τσιπ SPC700 για λογαριασμό της Nintendo η οποία τότε χρειαζόταν ένα audio chip για το SuperNES. Αν και ρίσκαρε την θέση του, αυτό ήταν παράλληλα και η αφορμή για να τον πάρουν σοβαρά και να ξεκινήσουν την ανάπτυξη της δημοφιλούς κονσόλας της Sony. Το project του Ken Kutaragi χρηματοδοτήθηκε και το Playstation βγήκε το 1994. Μετά από πολλά χρόνια επιτυχημένης παρουσίας, το 2000 βγήκε στην αγορά και το Playstation 2.


http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1320/kutaragimi3.jpg


Τον Απρίλιο του 2003 ο Ken Kutaragi εκτός από πρόεδρος, γίνεται και επικεφαλής του γκρουπ των Games της Sony. Το 2005 υποβιβάζεται από το διοικητικό συμβούλιο της Sony, μετά από δηλώσεις κριτικής που έκανε για την πολιτική της εταιρείας και διατηρεί το πόστο του ως επικεφαλής του τμήματος των Games. Το ίδιο έτος, οι πωλήσεις της Sony πέφτουν σε μεγάλο ποσοστό (από 1 δις σε 650 εκατομμύρια δολλάρια). Στα τέλη του 2006, πρόεδρος της Sony Computer Entertainment αναλαμβάνει ο Kaz Hiray (πρόεδρος της Sony CE Αμερικής).

Εδώ και λίγες ώρες, ο Ken Kutaragi έχει ανακοινώσει και επίσημα την απόσυρσή του. Ο μέχρι τώρα απολογισμός για το Playstation 3, σύμφωνα με δημοσιεύματα της Wall Street Journal, είναι 2 δισσεκατομμύρια δολλάρια ζημιά. Το Blue-Ray και το μεγάλο κόστος (κατασκευής αλλά και πώλησης) του PS3 και των παιχνιδιών του δεν έχουν κάνει ακόμα την επιθυμητή απόσβεση. Η ουσία όμως είναι ότι χωρίς τον Ken Kutaragi και χωρίς το αγαπημένο σε όλους Playstation, το μέλλον της βιομηχανίας των Games θα ήταν σήμερα τελείως διαφορετικό.

Ο Kutaragi εκτός από σύμβουλος τεχνολογίας (θα δουλέψει κυρίως στο κομμάτι του Playstation Network) θα είναι και επίτημος πρόεδρος της Sony. Κάτι σαν τον Κωνσταντίνο Μητσοτάκη για την Νέα Δημοκρατία; Οι επόμενοι μήνες του Playstation 3 θα μας δώσουν την απάντηση και σε αυτό το ερώτημα.


Πηγή: www.gameradio.gr (http://www.gamesradio.gr/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=854)



Η είδηση κάνει το γύρο του internet:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19309691/
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUST14243620070427
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/biztech/06/19/japan.sony.ap/index.html
http://kotaku.com/gaming/playstation/ken-kutaragi-steps-down-at-playstation-255545.php
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46712/
http://www.gamesite.gr/news/PREVIEW_newS.asp?news_data_id=60246&news_category_id=&category_id=89

tlg
20-06-2007, 05:12
http://www.ps3forums.gr/vB/showthread.php?t=104&page=5

NonBorn
20-06-2007, 11:56
tlg το είδα αλλά σκέφτηκα να γίνει και ένα ξεχωριστό thread για τον Κen Kutaragi για να συζητήσουμε για την αποχώρηση του από την Sony. ;)

Darth Destro GR
20-06-2007, 12:27
Ο Kutaragi εκτός από σύμβουλος τεχνολογίας (θα δουλέψει κυρίως στο κομμάτι του Playstation Network) θα είναι και επίτημος πρόεδρος της Sony. Κάτι σαν τον Κωνσταντίνο Μητσοτάκη για την Νέα Δημοκρατία
Ωχχ........Παει η εταιρια...:fryingpan:

MaRkUs_
20-06-2007, 13:41
αν είναι σαν τον μιτσοτάκη κούνια που μας κούναγιε!!!

klepidas
20-06-2007, 13:45
mi lte blakies to fthinoporo to ps3 tha exei to kalitero nework me ton Ken....

X-NEC
20-06-2007, 14:15
mi lte blakies to fthinoporo to ps3 tha exei to kalitero nework me ton Ken....
KENETWORK!:tongue:

tlg
22-06-2007, 16:14
mi lte blakies to fthinoporo to ps3 tha exei to kalitero nework me ton Ken....

Ναι ...η ελπιδα πεθαινει παντα τελευταια ...;-)

NonBorn
26-06-2007, 00:46
Kutaragi and Sony: What Went Wrong

http://media.1up.com/media?id=3269211

To those of us in the games press, Thursday's announcement of Ken Kutaragi's retirement from Sony Computer Entertainment came as no surprise. This is something that had been set in motion for quite some time -- first, when he was passed up for the top spot of Sony in favor of Howard Stringer, second, when he was given the task of overseeing all of Sony's electronics division (which many have concluded was just setting him up to fail), and third, and most telling, when he was "promoted" from his position of President of Sony Computer Entertainment to CEO, making way for Kaz Hirai to effectively run the show. Though the latter was officially positioned as a promotion, it was obvious to many what was going on: Sony was pushing Kutaragi out of the way.

So what happened to the Father of the PlayStation? Well, many are quick to point to the sales performance of the PS3 in the face of the runaway success of Nintendo's Wii; that Kutaragi's gamble on Blu-ray and Cell was a costly mistake. To be honest, it's far too early in this console cycle to even begin to make those kinds of calls. Discussing Kutaragi's departure, Business 2.0 (the same bunch who at one point said Kutaragi doesn't matter) irresponsibly commented: "the eagerly-anticipated PlayStation 3 has already lost this round of the console wars to its Japanese rival." Yes, the $350 cheaper Wii has taken an early lead against the PS3 -- as just about every industry analyst predicted would happen -- but its long-term success still remains to be seen. Just the same, the PS3 is Sony's fastest selling console yet, though Sony's ability to reduce the price and to deliver on better software are paramount in building on this early success. But it's exactly that point that makes it far too early to declare a winner by any means. As Sony and Microsoft reduce the prices of their consoles, and as the differences between "new generation" and "next generation" experiences become more pronounced (especially as more people upgrade to HDTVs), we'll see how the Wii's momentum holds up (or for how long the hardware will remain viable). In any case, to say that Kutaragi was pushed out because of the performance of the PS3 isn't seeing the full picture. Yes, PS3 is costing Sony quite a bit right now (still a far cry from the $5 billion Microsoft has lost on the Xbox platform over the past few years), but unless you're Nintendo -- which never operates at a loss -- you're expected to recoup these costs as hardware prices come down and software sales go up. And Sony knows this. Sony also knows that the decision to go with Blu-ray -- the single biggest reason for the PS3's high price tag -- was a company one, not necessarily Kutaragi's. The success of the Blu-ray format so far owes a lot to Kutaragi and the PS3.

No, the real problem was that Kutaragi was a fantastic engineer, not executive. He had little interest in the politics that came with the job, and throughout his career made enemies within Sony -- early on nearly getting fired for working in secret with Nintendo on a sound chip for the SNES and more recently publicly lambasting Sony's electronics division for delays with crucial parts for the PS3. He also had a problem with communication -- Howard Stringer recently commented that Kutaragi didn't make him aware he was going well over budget with the development of the PS3. And as the pressure mounted, he became obsessive. Especially in the past year, he had to control all aspects of the business pertaining to PS3. Everything, from when specific PS3 software was to be revealed to the Spider-Man font on the box -- everything was decided by Kutaragi. Why were no PS3 games playable at last year's Leipzig Games Convention? Because Kutaragi didn't want any there. Why did it take so long for Sony to get debugs into the hands of the press before the PS3's launch? Because people were waiting on Kutaragi's approval. I'll be honest, it was more than a little concerning at the time; the president of SCE should not be preoccupied in such matters on the eve of a console launch. But that was Kutaragi -- surrounded by an increasing number of doubters, he listened no one. It was said that his failure to respond to publishers possibly resulted in the loss of exclusivity on such titles as GTA IV and Assassin's Creed.

No one doubted Kutaragi's vision or ability to create fantastic hardware, but his failure as an executive was holding the division back. This is why Kaz Hirai took his place. With the PS3 off and running at the start of a 10-year life cycle, Sony won't need a visionary for quite some time -- now, it needs someone to run the business. And Kaz is right for that. He's a team player and has great relationships with the publishers. He can take things from here.

But in all of this hubbub surrounding his departure, what's perhaps been overlooked is that this may have been what Kutaragi had also wanted. It's unfortunate, as the expectation was always for Kutaragi to climb the corporate ladder, yet this wasn't necessarily his goal. As he once told Newsweek about his executive role, "We have so many things to create, but unfortunately for me I have a lot of responsibility right now...This was not in my dream." Later, when Stringer took over Sony and Kutaragi was relieved of some of the corporate duties so he could focus on PS3, he told also Newsweek, "I still am an engineer and a designer, so being the creator is my happiness. I've dedicated 120 percent of my life and passion [to PlayStation], so it was very happy timing." In a lot of ways the PS3 was the machine he'd spent his career working toward -- as he said in the past, the PS1 and PS2 were the necessary steps toward creating what he ultimately wanted to achieve with the PS3. With the PS3 launched in all three territories, he'd essentially finished what he had set out to and his work was done. His departure also lends credence to the notion that the PS3 is the last PlayStation console -- at least in its current format. Although Kutaragi admitted having a vision for PS4, 5 and 6, by the time we reach the next console generation there's a good possibility that the industry will come together on a platform standard (with or without Nintendo) -- it really needs to.

While I'm disappointed to see Kutaragi retire from Sony, what saddens me most are the comments of him leaving as a failure: "he would step down as CEO of the company's games division, which means his career there will end on a sour note, the sound of defeat." As I mentioned earlier, the PS3 is far from a failure so far and time will tell how things ultimately play out. Thankfully, Sony has come to his defense, saying, "Since the early days of the business, his contribution over more than 10 years is beyond any word. No one can compare that with our business over the past few months." With the PS3, Kutaragi delivered perhaps the ultimate games and entertainment machine -- what remains to be seen is if this is what the world actually wants, and this will play out over several years. But to say that he's ended his career in shame -- Kutaragi deserves better than that. He was more than just the father of the PlayStation, he was in a lot of ways the father of modern gaming. For all the ridicule he would get for his out-there statements (from us included), it was always with a certain respect; Kutaragi might not have always seemed grounded in reality, but he was at least giving us a glimpses into the future. He was a dreamer. And we need people like him. Like Miyamoto's been known to do with statements about gameplay concepts that wouldn't materialize until years later, looking closely at Kutaragi's comments could often preview what was to come from Sony -- and often the electronics industry as a whole -- even years down the road. He was always operating about a generation ahead of the rest of us...and what Sony could actually execute on. His concepts of the PS1 being a multimedia hub weren't realized until the PS2; his concepts of the PS2 being a network hub weren't realized until the PS3. For better or worse, it always took an extra console generation to deliver on his visions.


http://media.1up.com/media?id=3269223
Downloadable games on the PS2! Right.

http://media.1up.com/media?id=3269222
Also promised for PS2: Home? And Outside?


So what will become of Kutaragi now? Officially, he's said he will be looking to build on his vision outside of PlayStation. Will he have any involvement in Cellius, the Sony/Namco studio set up to focus on content to take advantage of the Cell processor, of which he's apparently a Chairman? Given his passion to demonstrate the power of the Cell chip and distributed processing, this seems possible. Interestingly, according to the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata commented that he'd love to see Kutaragi work for Nintendo, but this seems doubtful to occur. Kutaragi's passion for the cutting edge seems completely at odds with Gunpei Yokoi's philosophy of Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology, which still very much prevails at Nintendo today (the Wii being a perfect example of this). Not to mention that Kutaragi may still be bitter over having been dissed by Nintendo in favor of Phillips for the SNES CD years ago (his anger over this was what fueled the development of PlayStation to begin with).

Whatever Kutaragi ends up doing, it's likely he'll not have as active a role as he did in the past. The PS3 and the Cell processor were his recent major ambitions -- what comes now will likely merely build on those. And who knows? Maybe he'll actually just take it easy for a change. As he once told Newsweek, "My first dream...was to retire when I was 50." Now, six years past the age of 50, he's done this -- fittingly, about one console generation later than planned.


Πηγή: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8085114&publicUserId=4561231
Eίναι ένα άρθρο που εξηγεί απόλυτα το τι συνέβει στη Sony και πως προέκυψε η παραίτηση του Ken. Ειλικρινά αξίζει να του αφιερώσετε χρόνο για να το διαβάσετε...