The airplane has the Wright Brothers. The lightbulb and record player (and about a thousand other things) have Thomas Edison. So who holds a similarly lofty position, “Father of the PlayStation?” That would be Ken Kutaragi.
You’ve probably heard his name before – Kutaragi was the man who got the PlayStation ball rolling in 1994, and presided over Sony Computer Entertainment during the release of the PlayStation 2, the best-selling in-home game system in history (more than 120 million units shipped worldwide).
This week at the annual D.I.C.E. Summit, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), presented Ken Kutaragi with its coveted 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award.
It’s very safe to say that if not for Ken Kutaragi, you would not be enjoying Uncharted or God of War, looking forward to games like Metal Gear Solid 4 or LittleBigPlanet, or even reading this blog. For more information on this award, click here. Also, here’s the video about Kutaragi that played at the presentation.
Big thanks to GameSpot for the video!!
Congrats! I fell out of the gaming world back with my NES System (can I say that here). I hope PS3 can fill it’s older brother shoes. I can’t wait to be part of it :)
Oh, I’d give him more credit than that- I may not even be gaming today if it weren’t for him. Hurray for the Head Honcho! He deserves this. :)
1998. The year I became a gamer because of one title: Spyro the Dragon.
I was the minority in my school years for not having owned a single Mario or Pokemon game.
Kutaragi..a man who shot for the Sun!
Well deserved acolades to one of modern gamings true visionaries.
All this makes me laugh, and ask the question: What if Nintendo HAD gone through with its plans to release a CD add on to the Super Nintendo lol.
Congratulations Mr. Kutaragi!
I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy…
I had a Sega Genesis; but Playstation made me “hard core”
I just picked up Devil May Cry 4 and I’m very disappointed at “you” Sony. The 5GB installation is not optional. It’s mandatory >_<!
I event went out of my way to calling Capcom and they said in order for me to play this title on that system I don’t have a choice and they work with the technology given to them. Which is the best they could do since the BluRay drive read a lot slower then and regular DVDROM drive.
I’m hoping you guys at sony take a real serious look at this situation. Because if I’m going to have to do a 5GB installation on all my AAA titles. Then you guys can count me out of putting any of my cash out to support your first party and third party software.
I know a lot of people are very excited about upgrading their HDD but I’m not. After spending $675 on a 60GB PS3. I’m not looking forward to spending another $150 for a bigger HDD. In total I’d end up spending $825. For what? Just for me to game? This is not reasonable!
I’m actually using my 25 minute installation to rant about this… This is soooo not coool!
“I know this comment will not be read by anybody or replied to, as usual”.
In my household, money doesn’t grow on trees Sony! No rich daddies here neither. I work hard to play hard but I’m also cautious about how I spend my money.
Thank you
I always gonna be part of Kutaragi and his visions, THANK YOU Mr Ken Kutaragi.
/100%PSGamer
Yep I remember that first day I got my Playstation. I was a gamer before it, but when I first popped in my FFVII disc, I didn’t stop playing until I got to the pillar where you fight Reno because I had no memory card. That was my first day of hardcore gaming and was my first day with the Playstation. Kutaragi made me a hardcore gamer.
@ Ghostm
Your comment has -nothing- to do with this article. Post in the official forums if your have somthing to say on that front.
Personally I think you should be allowed a choice, but considering the load times cut, its a welcomed install. Quite your whining.
The reason I got a playstation was one day I happened to wander into a game store. They had import games and had a PS running Battle Arena Toshinden.
Needless to say, I was floored. Being a console gamer I had never realized that 3-D could be so stunning. I quickly put donw $$ on pre-ordering the PS and I still even have the PS sampler they game out as a pormotion lol. good times.
@7 – Kleenex anyone? Wrong thread; snivel somewhere else.
Congrats to the Big Papa of the PS!
Ive heard stories of how people started to love the playstation, and ill tell mine. The ps1 was never my main concern, my bro got one and I played it, HOWEVER, then there was the ps2. I walked into an import shop one day and they had a ps2 from Japan and they were playing Ridge Racer V and I was floored. I knew from then on that I would be hardcore. Thank you for that experience Mr. Kutaragi!
Time to start Brainstorming the PS4 KK
@violater
Hell no, they’re barely getting things right on the PS3.
It can do so much more that we won’t need a PS3 for about 12 years.
@violater
Hell no, they’re barely getting things right on the PS3.
It can do so much more that we won’t need a PS4 for about 12 years.*
Congrats to Ken Kutaragi, well deserved IMO. Gaming certainly would not be what it is today if it was not for him and Sony.
Salute to Ken Kutaragi!
The PlayStation™ is what got me into gaming in 1994! at the tender age of 33, yes i started late but havent stopped since, i never got into any other systems around at that time or since(not even the n64) , I bought mine on import(i think it arrived 3rd week in december 95) Ridge racer was my first game , followed by – oh i cant remember – but i never looked back
Thanks Ken
@ Ghostm – get used to it. Things like this are the reason the HDD is there.
As for the article – congrats to Ken. I’m another who would not have gotten into console gaming if not for the PlayStation. The old Sega and Nintendo systems, and the games they offered, never ‘did it’ for me.
I bought my PS1 because of Wipeout, and have never looked back. I did own a Gamecube and an original Xbox for a while while I had my PS2, but it’s always been the PlayStation that kept drawing me back.
I waited for PS3 rather then getting a 360, and boy am I glad I did!
I know its a bit off topic but I was just wondering whether the dlna aspect of the ps3 will be built upon any time soon…. It might be nice to have the ps3 act like a video, music or picture server to the rest of the pc’s in the house.
Well deserved and its about time, detractors with no vision question a man with vision. What would this world be with out vision?
dreamer + Vision + know how = Playstion family of products.
If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be gaming right now. I owe him big tim
WARNING
IF your HDTV does not accept 720p,
and the game you are playing does not support 1080,
you will play this game in SD on your HDTV
The PS3 is not fully compatible with HDTVs!!!!!
Thanks dad
@ 26 – Get a better TV!
Big props to Ken for creating the Playstation brand, but I didn’t like the way he handled the PS3 at first. I also didn’t like his attitude about the price of the PS3.
3 cheers to Ken!! Thanks for your contributions to gamers everywhere. We would have no PSP, PS3, or XBOX 360 most likely of it were not for him.
@Ghostm,
Man I agree. I only have 25 gigs left and am not planning on spending $150 atm. It’s funny because games like Uncharted have NO load times except in the beginning. I don’t remember having to install anything. Capcom probably just sucks with their development. I mean look at COD4, R&C, and many others. They’re all spectacular and they don’t take forever to load. I think I’d rather load than to take up 5 damn gigs. ALL games should come with optional install. Capcom and the rest who say they can’t do it any other way just eat ball sacks compared to other good studios. I’m sure the better studios who understand streaming won’t pull that BS with us.
Go Ken! Brilliant man, he is :D
Ken Kutaragi is a bonified genius. Look at how big of an impact he’s had on the gaming industry? I’d compare him with Bill Gates in how much a single person can impact an entire industry, I am amazed at how well Ken Kutaragi handled the Playstations. Big congratulations to you Mr. Kutaragi, and I honestly believe you still deserve more respect then that that been given. Started a multi-billion dollar industry almost entirely the way it’s known today.
Ken is GOD ;)
Bill is Devil ;-D
@11 reson8er | February 8th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I know this post doesn’t have anything to do with what I wrote. I just got really frustrated man and I needed to vent. Sony needs to know that some of their customers are not happy about it.
@30 Gregero | February 8th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one that feels this way.
As for the post. It was a nice read and I enjoyed the video very much. Ken Kutaragi has done a lot for this industry. Unfortunately it seems like he only gets mentioned when your start hearing talks about a very expensive PS3. But what the web and the press fail to realize is that he help launched a durable machine that’s ahead of its time.
Mr. Kutrargi good luck to you in your future endeavorers. May the PS brand live forever!
Congratulations Ken!
“Innovators and men of genius have almost always been regarded as fools at the beginning (and very often at the end) of their careers.”
Playstation brought me back into gaming. Ken Kutaragi deserves this award more than anyone.
*bow*
Congratulations, Ken. You’ve changed so many lives for the better and brought joy and entertainment to countless people around the world.
playstation network para mexico
“Innovators and men of genius have almost always been regarded as fools at the beginning (and very often at the end) of their careers.”
This is so true. Even the dumbass CEO (Stringer) of Sony thought Kutagari was a fool and fired him. Without him, Playstation 4 will just follow in the foot steps of Microsoft and Nintendo and not push the latest technology (Ps2 with DVD and PS3 with cell and blu-ray). Playstation 3 is the last and final true Playstation. RIP
Hey Ghostm, I have a 60GB also I can’t imagine what you might have on it to fill it up (or even near full).
If memory serves after formatting the remaining memory left is 55GB. In all honesty we all d/l a bunch of stuff that we sometimes forget to erase.
Check your system files and see if you can clear out room. I hate to break it to you, but like it or not, installing to HDD is here to stay. Its one of the main reasons the HDD exists. It allows devs to do things that they normally would not.
As I’ve said before, It -would- have been nice to have the option, but I can’t imagine anyone -not-wanting to have the best experiance possible (and on action games a lot of loading kills flow and pacing)
Peace
I love Ken, thanks for Ps1, PS2, PS3 and PSP. To bad you wont work on PS4.
Genius !!
I think it’s safe to say Ken Kutaragi is the man. I can’t say I started on PlayStation but it did keep me going all these years. So thanks to Ken for that!
Mr. Kutaragi has made great innovations with the ps1 and ps2 and for that I thank him. When it comes to the ps3, I must say, there was quite a lack of forsight in the use of the cell processor. It would have been better to have the xmb run on its own processor or core with its own dedicated memory so in-game xmb would be the easiest thing to do. I hope Kaz Hirai will be a ceo who seeks more input from 3rd party developers while maintaining a vision of the playstation as the superior gaming platform. In the end I’m just saying that I wish Kaz Hirai will be a much better ceo than Ken Kutaragi.
Congrats to Mr. Kutaragi. I feel the reason I’ve been gaming to this point is because of the PlayStation brand and I thank him for it and all the years of great gaming it’s brought me :)
Thank you and congratulations Mr. Kutaragi.
ok heres my first time story for getting into the PS brand….FF7…you had me at hello!!! lol thanks ken for pushing the tech into console gaming.
Congrats Mr. Kutaragi!
Thanks for your innovative visions that practically changed the gaming world, and more…
I owe that man soooo much.
I don’t know where I would be without gaming in my life. I would be worse off, I know that.
Ken is and always will be DA’MAN!!!!!!!!!