Ken Kutaragi Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award At D.I.C.E.
Love him or hate him, you can't deny the impact Ken Kutaragi has had on the gaming community. When PlayStation launched in 1994, it heralded a new generation of console video games. With CD technology, games grew beyond the limits of cartridges, spanning several disks for a single game. This offered the space to cram tons of pre-rendered video into a title in the grand tradition of Square-Enix, which was dazzling at the time. The SEGA Saturn also had CD tech, but unfortunately it got trampled during that generation.
Then came the PlayStation 2. Sony had struck gold with the PlayStation, but landed in platinum with the PS2 when the console dropped in 2000. It has the largest install base of any console ever created with over 120 million units shipped worldwide, and has one of the most expansive game libraries. The PS2 brought DVD tech to gaming, essentially negating the need for multiple disk titles because of the amount of space each DVD contained. The amount of developer support the system has had in it's lifetime is staggering. Some of the quirkiest, and most interesting titles were developed for that system, from the tender-hearted Ico, to the majesty of God of War II. There was something for everyone on that console, and is still being developed for and makes up a good chunk of hardware sales for Sony.
The PlayStation 3 got off to a rocky start, but this year the tables may turn with a solid lineup all year long. There have been a shuffling around of SKUs which can potentially be confusing to fanboys, but Joe America probably won't care about the difference between them when he goes out to upgrade his PS2 to a PS3. At least they have been consistent about some specific hardware features that defines the console such as; hard drive support available to all developers, and Hi-def disk capacity with the Blu-ray disks.
Sony has managed to stay current with advancing technology in gaming, spanning three different media formats with their consoles, and was significantly responsible for breaking gaming into the mainstream by the install base of the PS2 alone. The man responsible for the success of the PlayStation brand, Ken Kutaragi just received the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award at D.I.C.E. which was well-deserved. The man may not be liked by many for his public image, but his contributions to the world of gaming is immeasurable.
Father of the PlayStation Honored at D.I.C.E. [Playstation Blog]
Toots
Posted to Video Games on 8 February 2008
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Name: Dave