Sony's Ken Kutaragi leaving SCE chairman and CEO spots in June

It wasn't hard to see something like this coming, with Kaz Hirai swiping Ken's President position over Sony Computer Entertainment late last year, but now Sony has gone and made it official: Ken Kutaragi, creator of the PlayStation and all-around good looking guy, will retire from his chairman and CEO posts over Sony Computer Entertainment on June 19th. Kaz will fill the CEO spot, while Ken will maintain "honorary" status as chairman of the group and will hang around with Sony CEO Howard Stringer, acting as senior technology adviser. We only have Sony's word to go on that this is a "retirement," instead of being "relieved" in response to recent troubles in PlayStation land. But any way you slice it, Ken had a good run, sold a few consoles, and can most likely officially wash his hands of that PlayStation Eye 'fro-cam his successor will have the pleasure of pushing. [Warning: subscription required]

[Kurt @ Apr 26th 2007 6:38PM]

Wasn't it Nintendo? Ken just stole it.

[Matt @ Apr 27th 2007 11:03AM]

DEMOTED!!!

[Galls @ Apr 26th 2007 11:37AM]

It is about time Sony killed off one of the Krazies,

1 dead

1 to go.

Recently those insane bastards have done more harm to the Sony Brand than good.

[marc.federico @ Apr 26th 2007 11:53AM]

ahahaha pwned!!

[LandMineHare @ Apr 26th 2007 12:06PM]

RIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER!

[n2 @ Apr 26th 2007 12:04PM]

This is not a total surprise.

All has not been well inside Sony for a while. We're finally seeing the results of that.

[tehpwnmstr @ May 6th 2007 6:46PM]

oh, im sorry. thats teh suxxorx

[Josh Warner @ Apr 26th 2007 12:32PM]

Somebody has to say it:

Kutaragi was attacked for massive damage!

[Frank Sullivan @ Apr 26th 2007 12:50PM]

If Sony were an American company, he would've gotten a $20 million bonus.

[SuicideNinja @ Apr 26th 2007 1:03PM]

Good riddance.

Ken's time has past. While his efforts to make a versatile product (PS3) were respectable...the costs and implementation were equally horrible.

[myscrnnm @ Apr 26th 2007 5:37PM]

"Good riddance.

Ken's time has past. While his efforts to make a versatile product (PS3) were respectable...the costs and implementation were equally horrible."

What's horrible is your spelling.

[SuicideNinja @ Apr 26th 2007 6:43PM]

My spelling is fine. I accidentally used "past" instead of "passed". I was aware of the mistake and would have gladly edited the comment if possible.

Instead of poorly trying to insult someone, you could simply disagree.

[Mario Smith @ Apr 26th 2007 1:28PM]

A $600 price tag for the PS3 not including the $60 per game means someone's head should roll.

[Kev50027 @ Apr 26th 2007 4:49PM]

Apprently, that head is the head of the competition. We'll just have to wait and see though, because Blu-Ray sales are destroying HD DVD, and the PS3 is getting ready for some great games. A year from now we will be able to compare the PS3 to the 360 more fairly.

[EMaster @ Apr 26th 2007 2:06PM]

I know the Japanese are all about honor and such. Stuff that brings shame and dishonor is usually punished highly. But this is a gentle passing for someone who made something like the PS3 :S

[mcepat @ Apr 27th 2007 12:42PM]

I almost died when I saw that pic, does engadget keep increasing the size of that playstation each time a article posts becuase that thing is getting bigger then a fridge (:

Thats friggan funny

[lanejasper69 @ Apr 26th 2007 4:13PM]

Nice Lame-Ass Photoshop Job n the PS3 bTW....

L.

[Naris @ Apr 26th 2007 4:23PM]

Am I the only one who sees parallels to Gunpei Yokoi (Creator of the fabulous Game Boy and the excessively technological failure of the Virtual Boy)?

[Kurt @ Apr 26th 2007 6:39PM]

Now he is going to die in a car crash.

[Greg @ Apr 28th 2007 2:48PM]

"We'll just have to wait and see though, because Blu-Ray sales are destroying HD DVD"

LOL...oh no..you aren't a Sony fanboy. Please. Destroying? They are almost the same sales number! Hardly destroying. Actually, if going by sales figures, then the same ol' regular DVD format we have had for years is the one doing the destroying here.

[Zeus the God @ Apr 26th 2007 7:31PM]

@lanejasper69:
"Nice Lame-Ass Photoshop Job n the PS3 bTW....

L."

Yeah, that's not a Photo-Shop job. That was one of the early prototypes. If it were a Photo-Shop prank, then the disc drive would not be that size, rather, it would be proportional with the rest of the PS3. That disc drive is the right size, but the rest of the PS3 isn't. That really just disproves your lame-ass claim.

[Kevlar @ Apr 26th 2007 9:28PM]

ZOMG! Engadget has the word 'Sony' in the top 5 'Breaking News' stories! What do I win?

But seriously, what's up with that?

[Kevlar @ Apr 26th 2007 9:30PM]

Note to self -- engadget strips fake <sarcasm> tags. And if they strip those too, my bad.

[Kevlar @ Apr 26th 2007 9:35PM]

Man, the planets must be even closer in alignment. In the top 5 'Featured Stories' as well, 4 out of 5 are about the Xbox 360, and the other one is windows mobile.

Crazy.

[Tyco @ Apr 30th 2007 4:37PM]

Good riddence? sure, the ps3 isn't doing so well right now but if it weren't for ken kuturagi, there would be no playstation, as in no ps1, or ps2. how can you say good riddence?

[Matt @ Apr 27th 2007 12:13PM]

Oooo, given a "window office". That's gotta hurt.

[Ben @ Apr 27th 2007 6:09PM]

nice photo editing, engadget.