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Sony: Kutaragi Made the Right Call on PS3 Price

Posted June 11, 2010 by M.H. Williams

Ken Kutaragi, the “Father of PlayStation,” has been gone from the company for three years now. Some would say the PlayStation 3 launch was not his finest hour. In fact, during that time he made some interesting comments, including the infamous “PS3 is for consumers to think to themselves ‘I will work more hours to buy one’. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else.”

According to PlayStation U.K. head honcho Ray Maguire, Kutaragi made the right choice when it came to the PlayStation 3.

"Ken Kutaragi specced this machine many years ago and people thought he over-specced it. I think what we're proving is that he was right,” said Maguire in an interview with CVG. "Although the specification made it a £425 entry level machine, that was exactly the right thing to do because it gives us much more longevity in terms of life-cycle. The last thing I would want to do be doing is replacing three cheaper machines over three years -- rather than having something like PS3, that that lasts for seven to ten years."

It remains to be seen if the PlayStation 3 will have that long a shelf life, but while Kutaragi may have been right on specifications, he may not have been right on the price. The PS3 didn’t start to catch its Xbox rival until the cheaper Slim model hit retail. Perhaps Sony will take that lesson to heart in the next console round.

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.