Oh, Ken. You really are the living end, I tell you.
Insider news from Kotaku today suggests that there is all kinds of strife within the console division of Sony - it certinaly doesn’t appear that there’s a good deal of faith in Kutaragi, at least. Says the anonymous insider:
Kutaragi is interested only in consoles and technology. He does not care about the market. Some SCE officers disagree with his approach, feeling that the company should be more market sensitive. Kutaragi does not care. Nintendo has shown that it isn’t only about powerful technology and graphics, but the PS3 isn’t geared for that market at all and is intended for a very specific customer.
Which more or less explains a lot of Kutaragi’s behaviour over the past few months, really. It’s obvious that the PS3 isn’t geared at any particular customer, and I’m inclined to think that if Kutaragi can’t think in terms of target audiences, then he’s probably not the man to put in charge. As the insider says:
As a game machine, it’s very expensive for many players and not exactly something parents would buy for their children. As an electronic device, the inclusion of a game player could be off-turn for those only interested in electronics and Blu-ray. There’s concern within Sony that both groups could be alienated.
I just can’t understand why, if there is this kind of concern, something is not being done about it. We’re yet to even hear a proper response from Sony in regards to what their US PR department is doing, following the resignation of PR chief Molly Smith back in early June. It’s definitely too late for anything major to change in terms of the hardware, but it’s not too late for Sony to get things back on track in terms of PR.
Kutaragi is a genius when it comes to electronics. He is credited with beign part of the team that lead to the Sony Mavica, the first digital camera. He also designed the SPC700 sound chip used in the SNES. Then there’s his work on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP. But he’s clearly not the man to be running Sony Computer Entertainment - his background is electronics, not marketing and PR, and I think it’s showing now more clearly than ever. Blu-ray is still an unproven format in terms of consumer interest, and it’s undoubtedly a risk for Sony to be using in the PS3. This isn’t helped by Sony’s abismal PR at the moment, either. All I’ve seen of the PS3 here in Australia so far is one ad from a retailer offering pre-orders at $1000. That’s not a good start - even for someone who knows about the PS3 and owns a PS2, it’s hard not to be put off.
Sony need to fix their public image. Nintendo and Microsoft simply look stronger at this point in time.