We've known about it for months but today it becomes official -- Ken Kutaragi, the father of the PlayStation, is stepping down as chairman and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. He will still have an advisory post at the gaming unit but his days of crazy press statements as one of the public faces of Sony are over.

The storied engineer's long career at Sony hit some stumbling blocks with the PS3 launch, leading Kutaragi to be relieved of his day to day duties as president of the company late last year. Some say he was squeezed out to make room for new blood, but officially Kutaragi "has been considering this decision for some time" and considered today's shareholder meeting "the ideal timing to pass on the torch to the new generation of management."

Next for Kutaragi is a post at Sony/Namco/Bandai partnership Cellius, which will focus on content designed for the PS3's Cell chip. We wish him all the best, and personally hope that the train of public gaffes doesn't stop running.

Even though Ken Kutaragi is "retiring" from Sony (it saddens us to imagine security walking him to the front door, while he carries a cardboard box full of his belongings), he had already "envisioned" the PlayStation 4, 5, and 6, and probably also helped solidify his "graduation" by cornering people and going on about his PlayStation master plan for world domination.

His next project appears to be working on a net-based game console, which sounds both kooky and smart at the same time. But, does he mean a console that uses processes similar to the SETI program and Folding@home? Or does he mean some sort of a console that just lives online and all games are purchased online? He could possibly even be hinting at a Giant Crab Network that will specialize in, well ... you know.

Either way, it's all old-hat for Kutaragi, you had to have been integral to the design of the PlayStation 9.

National Public Radio on Friday's episode of All Thing Considered did a piece on the "retirement" of Ken Kutaragi. In less than thirty-seconds into the piece focus shifts from Kutaragi leaving to the PlayStation 3's less than stellar sales.

NPR beats the same drum as every other media outlet at this point. Finding a group of gamers in a GameCrazy store, it turns out that none of them own a PS3. When NPR asks the men why the PS3 isn't selling well, one responds, "Its just the price, the only thing that kills it is the price. Six-hundred, seven-hundred dollars out the door, that's a lot of money. If it was the price of the Xbox -- I'd get one."

Another gamer says that all the good titles aren't exclusive to Sony and that all the games he likes for PlayStation are all on the PS2. NPR tempers it all by saying we're only six months into a cycle that'll last many years.

It's hard not to imagine industry analysts getting along famously with PlayStation father, Ken Kutaragi. Holding hands, dancing in a circle and spouting outrageous claims at each other, they'd have a jolly good session of prediction, scrutiny and hopscotch. In response to Mr. Kutaragi's recently announced plans to leave the circle, several analysts have expressed belief that his departure is partly motivated by the parent company yelling from the outskirts of the park, insisting that, "You've had your fun, it's time to go." According to a GameDaily BIZ report, the PlayStation 3 may make for a particularly heavy golden hand to shake.

Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities tells Bloomberg.com that Kutaragi's retirement "is likely an indication Sony corporate isn't satisfied with the initial success of the PS3." The Washington Post calls it a "face-saving firing," quoting IDC's famous time traveling analyst, Billy Pidgeon, as saying, "Sony had too much hype and not enough delivery." Furthermore, an AG Edwards analyst, Bill Kreher, tells GameDaily BIZ, "The PS3 obviously has had a rough start and I would question whether Kutaragi would still be leaving if the console had been better received by the marketplace."

Still, some analysts agree with Sony's official line that Kutaragi had left of his own accord in pursuit of "new challenges beyond the world of PlayStation." Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities states that the decision likely had more to do with software and the PSP. "It can't be [Kutaragi's] fault that the cost of the box was so high, and I have a tough time believing he insisted on Blu-ray. They probably just all agreed it was time to move on." He and a few other analysts go on to note that Kaz Hirai will prove to be an effective leader and a better instigator of success in the years to come.

In honor of Ken Kutaragi's, er, retirement, we present you with this picture we found stuck behind a file cabinet in the nasty part of the Joystiq archives. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Joystiq hands-on: Xbox 360 Hard-Drive Transfer Kit
Joystiq hands-on: Xbox 360 Elite
Playing Dirty: Love on the auction block
Today's raidingest video: Tomb Raider

News
Gears of War COG tag videos are the new horse armor
Marvel Ultimate Alliance content on Live ... no, seriously
Wave goodbye to EyeToy, say hi to PlayStation Eye
PlayStation 3 Home Beta invites sent out (we didn't get one either)
Nintendo announces record year, thanks DS and Wii
Snakeball, Super Stardust HD en route to PSN
Sony's Ken Kutaragi announces plans to retire
Hasbro to provide trading cards for PS3's Eye of Judgment
Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Virtua Tennis demos assault US PS Store
New Pokemon duo sell 1 million in 5 days in US
Hold it! Ace Attorney 4 ships 500,000; series ships 2 million
Dragon Quest IX stays turn-based, ups customization
Halo 2 map download problems continue
C&C 3: Tiberium Wars novel due out May 29
2K Sports announces classic All-Pro Football roster
New Sam & Max, Scrapland and more now on GameTap
Nintendo increasing Wii production to flood planet

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Starcraft 2 possible, but Blizzard's hiding something

Culture & Community
PlayStation 3 interest rising
Study: video games may incite 'angry' players to violence
Xfire Debate Club, uh, debates video game censorship
Texting harms are English
Thompson sues Kotaku owner over comments
Mystery Wii toys coming to Wendy's kids meals
Create iPod quizzes with free utility
Gamecock plans party for E3's uninvited
Second Life gathers no moss in Rolling Stone

In March, The Wall Street Journal said Ken Kutaragi was a "stumbling block" for Sony; now they're reporting that the controversial chairman and group CEO for Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. -- and father of the PlayStation brand -- will be retiring his post effective June 19. Of course, the 57-year-old exec was recently kicked upstairs, removing him from day-to-day operations following what many considered to be a botched strategy for the PlayStation 3. Kaz Hirai, who replaced Ken in December, will be promoted to CEO of SCE.

And Kaz, you better start practicing. You've got some large shoes to fill ... four-dimensional shoes that require dual HDMI soles to output 120 footprints a second. But seriously, we'll miss your krazy quotes, Ken!

Update -- SCEI statement: "Kutaragi has said that he has been considering this decision for some time. He stated that, in the six months since the appointment of Kazuo Hirai as President in December, the new generation of management, led by Mr. Hirai, has continued to develop. With the March introduction of PS3 in Europe completing the successful launch of PS3 worldwide, Mr. Kutaragi has identified SCE's Annual Shareholders' meeting in June as the ideal timing to pass on the torch to the new generation of management. Mr. Kutaragi will now apply his extensive technological knowledge and leadership skills to take on new challenges beyond the world of PlayStation. Sony and SCE will continue to seek Mr. Kutaragi's input and ideas from a broad perspective, while continuing to support him as much as possible in the realization of his dreams."

Read - PlayStation Creator Plans to Retire (WSJ subscription reqd.)
Read - Kutaragi to step down as Sony game unit CEO (IDG)

Remember Cellius, the subsidiary company formed by Namco Bandai and the head of Ken Kutaragi? You'd be forgiven if your memory is a bit hazy on the matter, since the $824,000 investment had naught to show for its efforts at the time. Today brings a different story, however, along with a slew of scans supposedly escaping from the pages of a recent Famitsu issue. It would be wise to sprinkle the word "supposedly" throughout this entire post, as these images have migrated hands and servers so many times, it's difficult to pinpoint their source or level of authenticity.

[Update 1: The caution was justified, it seems. Our Japanese translation slave brings up the following points:

• These likely aren't scans at all -- they're either mock-ups or leaked page template files.
• There is no confirmation that these are PS3 games or even games at all! Team Aces is behind the wheel, however, and they recently made Ace Combat 6 an Xbox 360 exclusive...
• If Cellius is involved, it is not evidenced here.

While this new information doesn't rule out the possibility of these being PS3 exclusives anyway (the internets would certainly like to believe so), it would be wiser to take a step back and merely view these as new-gen game concepts.

Though the stunning screenshots of Brave Arms, Chain Lim!t and Second Season 01 could represent target renders or similar technical tomfoolery, the abundance of guns, explosions and atmospheric lighting conveys quite a bit of excitement nonetheless. Take in the full scans images after the break.

We all had a good laugh at the meat-lovin' ingenuity of the PS3 grill, but Japan is also well up on Sony-related humor.

As a response to Sony's "SIXAXIS Emmy," someone at Rendering Ranger (a weird T-shirt brand in Japan) has decided to poke fun at The Machine by creating a condiment called "Actually, the Sauce is Sony." It seems to be just a repackaged version of Japan's Bull-Dog sauces, but the redesign is inspired.

Ken Kutaragi's triumphant visage replaces the Bull-Dog logo; there's an "Emmy winner!" badge next to the accurately caps-locked SIXAXIS title; and there's the (world-)famous Sony grill render down below.

The knockout joke is completed by the pricing structure of this Sony Sauce: the 20GB version should sell for ¥499 but has been reduced to ¥399 (though in this case, just for the sake of fun; not because of any lack of demand), while the 60GB tonkatsu model is listed as Open Price but sells for ¥599. "Actually, the Sauce is Sony" is on sale in very limited quantities in Japan's March Rabbit and Don Quijote discount stores.

If any Western gamers can concoct a more elaborate and well-planned game industry joke, we'll tell the world all about it. Click through for more saucy pics (hee-hee) from Akiba Blog.

BandaiNamco and SCEI today announced that they are forming a new Tokyo-based subsidiary company, Cellius, in a bid to develop fresh content for Sony's Cell Broadband Engine. Cellius will be in the hands of "PlayStation's dad", Ken Kutaragi, who will be appointed as the new company's Chairman.

Initial investment from BandaiNamco and SCEI is approximately US$824,000; SCEI will have a 49% stake in Cellius, with BandaiNamco controlling a 51% share. Although there are no plans for Cellius to work directly on PS3 games, the new outfit will be producing "interactive entertainment" and "business contents" when its doors open on March 6. What those terms actually entail, we'll just have to wait and see, but perhaps Ken Kutaragi will now have a fair opportunity to show us what he was talking about at last year's Tokyo Game Show conference.

Click through for the Japanese (PDF) press release.

The latest issue of Japan's Weekly Famitsu contains gory details of the magazine's annual Japanese industry awards, and it's little surprise that renowned industry savior Satoru Iwata is cited as the figure who made the greatest impact on videogames in 2006. NCL's friendly President (there's a French brand of cheese called Président, you know) received 201 votes to pip Ken Kutaragi, of all people, to the title. What "Big Ken" was even doing in the listings we fail to fathom, but there you have it. And here you have Famitsu's top five Japanese industry cheeses:

1. Satoru Iwata (Nintendo) -- 201 votes
   
2. Ken Kutaragi (Sony Computer Entertainment) -- 181 votes
   
3. Hironobu Sakaguchi (Mistwalker) -- 126 votes
   
4. Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo) -- 41 votes
   
5. Hideo Kojima (Konami) -- 33 votes
   

...surprising Sony's Ken Kutaragi = priceless. Even though the PC is the preferred gaming platform in China, there are still a few Chinese gamers willing to go the extra mile to obtain a shiny new console. Or an extra thousand miles in the case of this adventurous young man and his pursuit of a PlayStation 3. The gung ho gamer somehow managed to circumvent the mob of Japanese fanboys and ended up being first in line at a BIC Camera store on launch day. The reward for his efforts was a hand-off from Kutaragi-san himself. Does this remind anyone else of the Grinch carving and distributing the Who roast beast?

While this event is unlikely to ease historical tensions between the two Asian nations, it is reminiscent of a similar scene during the PlayStation Portable launch. On a flight from Narita to Shanghai in January of last year, I sat next to two Chinese teenagers who were on the return leg of a one-day trip to Tokyo. The reason for their visit? To snag a pair of new PSPs that had launched just a few weeks earlier. They played them the entire flight and didn't look up once.

[Thanks, DarkMirage]

Apparently our transcription, with requisite PictoChat commentary, didn't convince everyone that Ken Kutaragi's keynote, titled "PS3 Creating Next Generation of Computer Entertainment," was a total snoozefest. So we followed up with an editorial explaining why, yet some remained unconvinced. So, in an attempt to remove ourselves from this equation, we present the translated audio from the event (.mp3) for your listening pleasure.* If you manage to make it through the whole thing, what do you think? What else, besides Killzone 2, was missing? Where was the PSP?

*We'd love to upload a cleaner sound file if any audio-inclined reader wants to clean it up.

See also:
Sony's trainwreck of a keynote
Blogging Ken Kutaragi's PS3 keynote

It's hot and humid outside the room in which Sony's Ken Kutaragi will deliver the most anticipated keynote address of Tokyo Games Show. The journalists who are queuing up are sure to be tired and cranky by the time they get into the show, ensuring, perhaps, a properly sceptical reception for the tsu-hype-nami to follow.

After a raucous round of DS PictoChat, the keynote starts at 10:11am. Introducing Ken Kutaragi, CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment, reading from his latest work, "PS3 Creating Next Generation of Computer Entertainment."

Sony asks us to refrain from taking pictures of demo stuff. Fine, we'll oblige, but we won't like it. 'Cause you wouldn't want to show off the product you want everyone to buy in a couple months. Instead, we'll provide some additional color commentary, courtesy the press and attendees hanging out in the DS PictoChat chatroom.

Following yesterday's doom and gloom from their Games division, Sony Senior VP Takao Yuhara had more bad news for investors today: the PlayStation maker expects significant losses for Q3. As manufacturing costs for the "too cheap" PS3 continue to put Sony in a financial hole, the electronics leader is becoming even more reliant on consumers' willingness to plunk down $600 for the next gen console. In order to recoup losses within an estimated five year period, the cell processor must also be successfully incorporated into other consumer devices.

Yuhara commented, "We might see valuation losses of a size that we cannot laugh away in the quarter." Think this is stopping "Crazy Ken" Kutaragi from laughing?

In addition to running a list of the top-50 people who do matter (including Blizzard's Mike Morhaime), Business 2.0 compiled its counterpart as well: a list of "10 people who don't matter" in business.

Included in this dubious roundup are both Microsoft CEO Steve (FrankenSteve) Ballmer and Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken (what'd he say?) Kutaragi. While Ballmer's role at Microsoft clearly affects the relatively isolated Xbox group, Kutaragi's role at SCE is much more entangled. Business 2.0's criticisms of Kutaragi are, therefore, rather pointed:

"Remember the Betamax debacle? Sony seems to have forgotten all about it. Under Kutaragi, who is the power behind Sony's PlayStation videogame consoles, the company is launching another format war with its Blu-Ray high-definition videodisc, the successor to the venerable DVD. Unfortunately, the PlayStation 3, which was supposed to put Blu-Ray into millions of living rooms, is months late and hundreds of dollars more expensive than competing consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo - largely because it includes one-of-a-kind technologies like Blu-Ray. The delays and cost overruns are likely to make both the PS3 and Blu-Ray nonstarters."

Ouch! So Sony gets rapped on their knuckles, Microsoft gets detention, and Nintendo ... well, looks like Satoru Iwata and co. managed to go unnoticed, like the shy, likable kid who sat at the back of the classroom.