Sony Kicks Ken Kutaragi To The Curb
Somebody had to take the fall – it might as well be the man on top. Whether SCEI President Ken Kutaragi fell on his own sword or was murdered in his sleep by a black whirlwind of ninja assassins (pirate assassins would at least share a measure o’ grog with you first), it’s been made clear today that big Ken is out the door. His replacement? Funky frontman Kaz Hirai, current President and CEO of SCEA, the American division. Will taking the international throne rob Kaz of his humanity? Possible delusions of megalomania cast aspersions on Kutaragi, but Kaz has a playa’s touch, surely he’ll keep it legit…right?
Ken Kutaragi will remain CEO of SCEI, but he’s been phased into the background; evidently he’ll retain some oversight but be excluded from day-to-day dealings. Hopefully somebody will be pre-approving his inflammatory declamations, as well.
Unless this is more of an Emperor Palpatine move, with Ken withdrawing into the recesses of his dark throne to oversee the empire that PlayStation built… but that couldn’t possibly happen… and these are not the droids I’m looking for…
Ken Kutaragi OUT [2old2play]
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 30 November 2006
· Comments (14)
Other stuff like this: kaz hirai, ken kutaragi, ps3, scea, scei, sony
Holy crap, it’s about time they admitted how badly they launched the PS3, but this is a big deal. The last time a CEO resigned over a console’s failure it was Irimajiri taking the fall for the Dreamcast.
I can’t imagine that the PS3 will actually fail, but Sony has a bigger problem on their hands than I previously thought.
finally some good news from sony again, anyone else found ken dangerously looks a bit like kim jong-II?
Yeah, I can read…. I misread the part where he didn’t resign altogether like Irimajiri did, just got put out to pasture. Still a big deal, but not Dreamcast big.
The Sony hate on this site is incredible! Kutagari gets promoted from President to Chairman, and you call it “kicked to the curb,” “take the fall,” “fall on his sword,” “murdered in his sleep,” “out the door,” on and on and on! Evidence to support this assertion that white=black? None. Every time I come to this site there’s more Sony FUD. What on earth does GayGamer have against Sony? I come here for gay gaming news, not anti-Sony propaganda.
I’m kinda not getting how this is ‘kicked to the curb’ if he’s becoming Chairman. Are you sure you guys interpreted this story correctly?
hchaput:
cool down, news on here are always a bit coloured by the opinion of the one who writes them – you can still decide if it’s your opinion or not…
about the “kicked to the curb,” “take the fall,” “fall on his sword,” “murdered in his sleep,” “out the door,” parts, we all might know by now that tiny likes to paint big and a little exaggerated pictures around his stories. i love him for that and if i want to read more about the facts, there’s always a link to the source.
by the way, this was not at all anti-sony, it was anti kutaragi, and wonder if you can tell me 10 good things he did in the last 2 years…
Financial Times says this move “could foreshadow the company’s exit from video games hardware.” Are they an anti-Sony FUD site too? How about BusinessWeek? They call it “a sign he has lost favor with the company’s top brass.” Is it a vast conspiracy against the PS3 and its fans, hcaput?
A promotion can still be the first step out the door, or a vote of no confidence. This is a big deal, and is about Sony’s entire business, not which console is better.
Hanjo has it aright, although I see I was less than clear: Kutaragi is being replaced as SCEI President by Kaz, but retains his role as CEO. Corporate semantics aside, whether it’s a demotion, promotion, or some still more complicated lateral move is open to interpretation (like raindog says), but it certainly looks like a polite way of taking control away from Kutaragi and/or promoting Kaz’s relatively friendlier public face.
Far from being Sony-bashing news, this move will hopefully help Sony recover from their recently tarnished image. No anti-Sonyism here – change can be good. (He said as he turns back to FFXII, which owns his soul.)
Yeah, raindog, those are good supporting quotes. Good research. It would have been nice if they were in the original article, though, because then I could take issue with the Financial Times, not tiny dancer. “Foreshadow the company’s exit from video games hardware”?! Have they completely lost their minds? Also, sorry for losing my cool a little: this was the 12th time I read this news, and the umpteenth time I’ve seen good or ambiguous Sony/PS3 news spun as bad, and GayGamer (my usual refuge) just happened to be the final straw. Like I keep trying to explain to my husband, I yell because I love. ;-)
Remember that Kutaragi, no matter how high his position is in the company, is NOT the owner. The owner – or owners in this case – are the shareholders, and they p\/\/n his ass.
It’s interesting this ‘promotional’ shifting around happened immediately after the PS3 launched. Hmmm…
Here’s the thing: we’re a news BLOG. That means that while we report the news, we’re not really expected to be entirely neutral/objective with our language. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been particularly venomous when it comes to how Sony’s PR department has shown a publicity sense equivocal to a boozed up John Kerry, but that’s just me. The other thing you have to remember is that almost every gaming blog is reporting the same things we are with a similar attitude… we just happen to be a bit more eloquent ;)
I agree, BoT. GG’s non-neutrality and eloquence is exactly why I come here: it’s fabulous! ;-) But you kinda make my point. You admit that GG has been slanted on Sony (not just PR, but stories like this one too), and you justify it by saying, essentially, “well, everybody else does it.” Don’t be like everybody else. Be yourselves, be different, and be proud!
I love Sony. But when there’s so much negative news to report day after day, personally, I either have to start having fun with it or ignore it entirely – which isn’t an option. BoT admitted that he has been venomous toward Sony lately, not the whole site. We each have our own voices. We do sing out loudly, proudly, and differently… but whether or not you like the song, well, I’m not sure I’d want control over that, even if it were feasible.
Uhm, I just want to point out that Ken became chairman and CEO, which was, actually, a promotion.
Kaz Hirai then was promoted to take his ORIGINAL position.
So I wouldn’t exactly call this “kicking Ken to the curb” but that’s just me.