Krazy Ken steps down! (SONY Reshuffles)

syndalis

http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2007/4/26-48

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) and Sony Corporation (Sony) have jointly announced today that Ken Kutaragi, Representative Director, Chairman and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., will retire from his executive position at SCEI effective June 19, 2007, when SCEI’s annual shareholders’ meeting will take place. Mr. Kutaragi will pass on the torch to the next generation, stepping back from his executive management responsibility of the company to serve as Honorary Chairman of SCEI.

It would appear that Even more drastic measures then originally anticipated have been needed to restore public image for the company. This WOULD be a good move, were it not for the fact that

Concurrently, Kazuo Hirai, currently President and Group COO, SCEI, will be promoted to President and Group CEO, continuing his responsibility as the leader of the Playstation business worldwide.

So Kaz Hirai has taken his place. Do you believe this is directly the result of the less than stellar PS3 launch, or a move that has been in motion for some time. Do you think things will change with Kaz in more direct control over the PlayStation brand, or do you think the same edgy/artsy, distant from the average consumer approach will continue under his guidance?

Dusda

Wow. I had expected the shift in management, but I didn't think they would actually give him the boot. Color me impressed.

AbsoluteZero

Haha... man... Nothing will change, basically.

EDIT: This is not the first time Kaz has been called in to replace Ken.

Pata

Now Ken needs to find a new 2nd job.

Rehab

I think it might be a result of the launch as Sony has been doing and is looking to do a lot of restructuring right now.

Report: Sony May Cut Game Division Jobs Worldwide

LewieP

He'll probably get a nice retirement package

$599

Karf

Hey.

Ken's not crazy, he's just a little unwell. I know, right now you can't tell.

Carnivore

graizur

A year or so ago J Allard said that his meta-goal, the thing he kept in his mind to spur him forward to make the XBOX and 360 a success was the image of Ken Kutagari's letter of resignation on a plaq on his wall.

When I read it I knew it would happen just the way he said it.

I wish to talk more about this but my comments on these forums usually do not most of the poeple who read these forums...

:-(

Any way I wonder if J Allard will have a little party because of this, or if any one remembers that article.

Karf

graizur wrote: »

A year or so ago J Allard said that his meta-goal, the thing he kept in his mind to spur him forward to make the XBOX and 360 a success was the image of Ken Kutagari's letter of resignation on a plaq on his wall.

When I read it I knew it would happen just the way he said it.

I wish to talk more about this but my comments on these forums usually do not most of the poeple who read these forums...

:-(

Any way I wonder if J Allard will have a little party because of this, or if any one remembers that article.

I remember the interview. He said it half jokingly, but you know he wasn't joking at all.

SanderJK

Kaz Hirai?

Well it's better then promoting the Giant Enemy Crab to the position I guess.

I'm sorry, but it had to be done

I'm not really sorry

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please welcome Kaz Hirai

graizur

In January, Allard and the rest of the Xbox senior executives gathered to write brief statements on what motivates them to come to work every morning. The mission: to inspire the group's rank and file. "Most people put down flowery, make-the-world-a-better-place, Miss America types of things," Allard says. "I wrote: What gets me out of bed and into the office every day is the thought of Ken Kutaragi's resignation letter, framed, hanging next to my desk."

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.06/xbox_pr.html

ben0207

LewieP wrote: »

He'll probably get a nice retirement package

$599

Pata

Ahahahaha

Carnivore

This is pretty funny.


That said he was utterly batshit insane so he probably deserved it.

Couscous

Carnivore wrote: »

This is pretty funny.


That said he was utterly batshit insane so he probably deserved it.

Is Kaz that much better than him?

Pata

J. Allard's insane too

My Dad used to work under him back when he worked at Microsoft.

He's at least as nuts.

Gyral

titmouse wrote: »

Carnivore wrote: »

This is pretty funny.


That said he was utterly batshit insane so he probably deserved it.

Is Kaz that much better than him?

That's kind of what I was thinking. It's not much of an "upgrade" per se.

syndalis

Pata wrote: »

J. Allard's insane too

My Dad used to work under him back when he worked at Microsoft.

He's at least as nuts.

J. Allard became somewhat imbalanced when he became the face for the xbox, but if he is as mad as Kenny, then he hides it well. Anyone who goes from a straight laced business attire setup to a blend of Pirate and Mr. Clean attire has issues, though. What's crazier is that I bet some focus group at Microsoft told him he would be the face of the xbox, so he had to get piercings and shave his head.

AbsoluteZero

At least he wasn't replaced by...

Carnivore

Gyral wrote: »

titmouse wrote: »

Carnivore wrote: »

This is pretty funny.


That said he was utterly batshit insane so he probably deserved it.

Is Kaz that much better than him?

That's kind of what I was thinking. It's not much of an "upgrade" per se.

More like a different 'flavour' of insanity. Just to keep the public guessing. Just when we think we have Krazy Ken figured out they swap him out for the other guy and we're back to square one.

bloodyroarxx

Kaz is totally up Ken's ass, reminds me of a magazine article I read a while back where he was asked a hypothetical if blu-ray fails where does that leave the ps3. He wouldn't answer it he barley acknowledged it as a question, as soon as i seen that I knew he was Kraaaazzyy Ken Jr.

Katchem_ash

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

AbsoluteZero

So.

Krazy Kaz, m i rite?

Pata

syndalis wrote: »

Pata wrote: »

J. Allard's insane too

My Dad used to work under him back when he worked at Microsoft.

He's at least as nuts.

J. Allard became somewhat imbalanced when he became the face for the xbox, but if he is as mad as Kenny, then he hides it well. Anyone who goes from a straight laced business attire setup to a blend of Pirate and Mr. Clean attire has issues, though. What's crazier is that I bet some focus group at Microsoft told him he would be the face of the xbox, so he had to get piercings and shave his head.

Well, J. Allard's the kind of insanity that makes you smile and like him.

Ken's insanity just makes you go O_o and laugh at him in a bad way.

YesNoMu

But... but, now whose stupid statements are we going to laugh at? No one says absurd things like Ken.

Ken Kutaragi quotes, for reference. My favorite, referring to the early PSP square button problem, where the square button had faulty recognition:

“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.”

AbsoluteZero

YesNoMu wrote: »

But... but, now whose stupid statements are we going to laugh at? No one says absurd things like Ken.

Ken Kutaragi quotes, for reference. My favorite, referring to the early PSP square button problem, where the square button had faulty recognition:

“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.”

Yeah... so long as they actually built the gate in the right place.

syndalis

Katchem_ash wrote: »

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

But you see, this has nothing to do with Console Wars directly. This is wondering why Sony did what they did, and how this (possibly) new direction in leadership could change their direction. Sure, Sony fans such as yourself WANT to see Sony on top, but their current path is not going to get them there. How will they use this change in leadership to change their strategy? Ken's NAME isn't the problem here; it was what he has done.

ArcSyn

AbsoluteZero wrote: »

YesNoMu wrote: »

But... but, now whose stupid statements are we going to laugh at? No one says absurd things like Ken.

Ken Kutaragi quotes, for reference. My favorite, referring to the early PSP square button problem, where the square button had faulty recognition:

“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.”

Yeah... so long as they actually built the gate in the right place.

Not so much the right place, but what if you pulled up to said gate, but it only opened occasionally for you. Or perhaps you had to get out and push really hard to get it to open sometimes. Then the criticism would come.

I'm curious to see how they think this guy will provide a better strategy for the company. It's possible he's already set up for failure though, considering they just launched the PS3 and nothing can really drastically change about it for what, 6 years?
Sucks for him.

Katchem_ash

syndalis wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

But you see, this has nothing to do with Console Wars directly. This is wondering why Sony did what they did, and how this (possibly) new direction in leadership could change their direction. Sure, Sony fans such as yourself WANT to see Sony on top, but their current path is not going to get them there. How will they use this change in leadership to change their strategy? Ken's NAME isn't the problem here; it was what he has done.

How? Ideally they could buy off MS sell it off and just have Nintendo vs Sony vs a future Japanese company. But thats my dream.

Hopefully the new guy, Kaz, can lead them efficiently and build on the stuff that the 360 doesn't have and expand it.

And anyway, I never found Ken crazy, he knows what he is talking about and the millions of armchair CEO saying "OLOL SONY" couldn't do what he did.

Karf

Katchem_ash wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

But you see, this has nothing to do with Console Wars directly. This is wondering why Sony did what they did, and how this (possibly) new direction in leadership could change their direction. Sure, Sony fans such as yourself WANT to see Sony on top, but their current path is not going to get them there. How will they use this change in leadership to change their strategy? Ken's NAME isn't the problem here; it was what he has done.

How? Ideally they could buy off MS sell it off and just have Nintendo vs Sony vs a future Japanese company. But thats my dream.

Hopefully the new guy, Kaz, can lead them efficiently and build on the stuff that the 360 doesn't have and expand it.

And anyway, I never found Ken crazy, he knows what he is talking about and the millions of armchair CEO saying "OLOL SONY" couldn't do what he did.

You have amazing dreams.

bloodyroarxx

Karf wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

But you see, this has nothing to do with Console Wars directly. This is wondering why Sony did what they did, and how this (possibly) new direction in leadership could change their direction. Sure, Sony fans such as yourself WANT to see Sony on top, but their current path is not going to get them there. How will they use this change in leadership to change their strategy? Ken's NAME isn't the problem here; it was what he has done.

How? Ideally they could buy off MS sell it off and just have Nintendo vs Sony vs a future Japanese company. But thats my dream.

Hopefully the new guy, Kaz, can lead them efficiently and build on the stuff that the 360 doesn't have and expand it.

And anyway, I never found Ken crazy, he knows what he is talking about and the millions of armchair CEO saying "OLOL SONY" couldn't do what he did.

You have amazing dreams.

Amazing Dreams is a nice way of putting it I guess.

Wonder_Hippie

syndalis wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

But you see, this has nothing to do with Console Wars directly. This is wondering why Sony did what they did, and how this (possibly) new direction in leadership could change their direction. Sure, Sony fans such as yourself WANT to see Sony on top, but their current path is not going to get them there. How will they use this change in leadership to change their strategy? Ken's NAME isn't the problem here; it was what he has done.

You know, if all this means is a complete reworking of the ad campaign, this is nothing but good news. Who knows, maybe Kaz was playing second fiddle to Ken purely to work his way up and stop Ken from doing that voodoo...

that you do...

so well.

Couscous

And anyway, I never found Ken crazy, he knows what he is talking about and the millions of armchair CEO saying "OLOL SONY" couldn't do what he did.

"I want people to think 'I will work harder for a PS3'". That is just retarded anyway you look at it.

syndalis

Wonder_Hippie wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

What a sad day for Sony. I wish him well and hope the new leader drive MS and the 360 down and take the lead.

Edit: In selling terms not as closing MS and the 360 down. It still might have the possibility of having good games but otherwise, yeah sony for the win followed by nintendo and then ms.

But you see, this has nothing to do with Console Wars directly. This is wondering why Sony did what they did, and how this (possibly) new direction in leadership could change their direction. Sure, Sony fans such as yourself WANT to see Sony on top, but their current path is not going to get them there. How will they use this change in leadership to change their strategy? Ken's NAME isn't the problem here; it was what he has done.

You know, if all this means is a complete reworking of the ad campaign, this is nothing but good news. Who knows, maybe Kaz was playing second fiddle to Ken purely to work his way up and stop Ken from doing that voodoo...

that you do...

so well.

Agreed. The arthouse "hot chick peeing" and "backwards crying doll" bullshit needs to stop if they want a chance to sell their system proper. It's a fucking 600 dollar game console. They should be advertising it with a more sophisticated ad campaign that wouldn't turn the older, more affluent crowd off.

LewieP

Katchem_ash, you are making it obvious that your entire concept of how international business works is "Japan is awesome, lol"

LCDXX

This news gave me giggles inside. Normally I would expect quite a change to come of this, but that was quickly subdued by Kaz Hirai's appointment to the position.

I'm excited to see what happens next.

graizur

A couple of groups predicted that the PLAYSTATION 3 would follow the path that VIAO took to mediocrity. A couple of groups predicted that the PLAYSTATION 3 would take the path of the big white multi media PSX to out right failure. A couple of groups predicted thatt the PLAYSTATION 3 would take the path that the PS2 took to complete industry dominance and success. A couple of people predicted that the PS3 would take the path of the PSP and start out ok with a big media blitz but eventually get severly outshined by Nintendo's product.

The current status of the PS3 is no suprise.

Is the PSP gaining steam? Because I think that has been the best indicator so far.

bloodyroarxx

I think the problem is I've stopped seeing the Resistance commercial and I think the Motorstorm one is shit.

The need to make their 2 flagship games be advertisers everywhere and way better.

Fuck with Eye of Judgement slated for the fall now man they advertise that shit right and they have ever single kid who likes yu-gi-oh hooked because its almost exactly like in the show so now you have 3d monsters to go with the cards.

You just had every 5-12 year old wanting the PS3. Hell wasn't Konami looking into the EoJ tech for a yugioh game anyways? That free fucking money cause we know kids get what they want.

What I meam to say way they have to lose Ken's way of making the ps3 seem like high art, and sell it as a fucking games console to the mainstream with fancy pictures and explosions.

Wonder_Hippie

graizur wrote: »

A couple of groups predicted that the PLAYSTATION 3 would follow the path that VIAO took to mediocrity. A couple of groups predicted that the PLAYSTATION 3 would take the path of the big white multi media PSX to out right failure. A couple of groups predicted thatt the PLAYSTATION 3 would take the path that the PS2 took to complete industry dominance and success. A couple of people predicted that the PS3 would take the path of the PSP and start out ok with a big media blitz but eventually get severly outshined by Nintendo's product.

The current status of the PS3 is no suprise.

Is the PSP gaining steam? Because I think that has been the best indicator so far.

It damn well should be. I don't understand it, a price drop and a great library of games, but very little has been happening with it. It really is a great system, but people can't seem to get over the Sony stigma.

Carnivore

BloodyRoarXX wrote: »

I think the problem is I've stopped seeing the Resistance commercial and I think the Motorstorm one is shit.

The need to make their 2 flagship games be advertisers everywhere and way better.

Fuck with Eye of Judgement slated for the fall now man they advertise that shit right and they have ever single kid who likes yu-gi-oh hooked because its almost exactly like in the show so now you have 3d monsters to go with the cards.

You just had every 5-12 year old wanting the PS3. Hell wasn't Konami looking into the EoJ tech for a yugioh game anyways? That free fucking money cause we know kids get what they want.

Are you implying whining kids will nag their parents to buying a 599 us dollar console for one yu-gi-oh game?


No. whining kids get their mom to buy them a Wii, cause its only 250 dollars. 599 is definetly not a random gift for a child.