Sony President Ken Kutaragi: “The World Has Underestimated our Progress”

The PS3 has been receiving some blows from techies and critics for being too expensive and for the company’s being unclear about, say, software development and the possibility of downloadable content. Seemingly to correct this, in a recent interview with Japanese magazine NikkeiBP, Sony President Ken Kutaragi gamely shared some new things about the PS3.

Mr. Kutaragi talked about the scenario wherein gamers who will buy the PS3 would have to wait to get their hands on titles that could take advantage of it. He said that “in the 20 years IÂ’ve worked in the gaming industry, I have never seen so many titles in the playable phase.” Apparently, 10 titles will be launched that are up to speed with the PS3’s hardware, contrary to Sony President Kaz Hirai’s prediction of 15 titles. He continued by saying that “the world has obviously underestimated our progress in software development. ItÂ’s likely that many shook their heads in disbelief at seeing the large number of titles actually working before their eyes.”

He also talked about his favorite title among the initial 10 that will be apt for the PS3. The game is Eye of Judgment– a card based game that takes advantage of the PS3’s eye toy camera to read the cards. According to the Sony President, “the current camera is a VGA unit—think of the possibilities if we could use an HD camera or what we could accomplish by having the camera read something other than a card.” Indeed, the possibilities are ever-flowing.

He again emphasized that the PS3 is a computer and he answered inquiries with regards to the comparison of PCs and the PS3. ““Computers are a prime example of “Too Large” and “Too Serious.” Yet the software industry is by no means growing smaller. Some titles with dozens of thousands of people working on them do end up with delayed releases, but on the other hand, there are plenty of examples of small teams successfully developing new software. The industry as a whole is growing. The PlayStation 3 is a computer, so the same rules should apply.””

He also welcomes the idea of rampant PS3 upgrades, which is consistent with his earlier statements. “As the PlayStation 3 is a computer, we might even offer it on a built-to-order basis, customized to the needs of each and every user,” said Kutaragi. “The hardware components have been designed in a modularized format with this possibility in mind.”

Lastly he also answered questions with regards to networkability and online delivery of the PS3.  A major concern that popped out is the limited hard drive space on the console—merely 20GB to 60GB. Users who want to own several games may find themselves running out of space in the future. Mr. Kutaragi was frank with his reply: “some users will definitely run out of hard drive space, depending on how they use their console.” As a solution to that concern he continued by saying that “such users will have the option of purchasing larger-capacity hard drives. We may be releasing 120GB drives by next year or the year after that.”

What do you think about these statements? Will hard drive space be a problem to you? Does Eye of Judgment seems like a winner or not? Tell us through your comments.

Via GamerNode

The PS3 has been receiving some blows from techies and critics for being too expensive and for the company’s being unclear about, say, software development and the possibility of downloadable content. Seemingly to correct this, in a recent interview with Japanese magazine NikkeiBP, Sony President Ken Kutaragi gamely shared some new things about the PS3.

Mr. Kutaragi talked about the scenario wherein gamers who will buy the PS3 would have to wait to get their hands on titles that could take advantage of it. He said that “in the 20 years IÂ’ve worked in the gaming industry, I have never seen so many titles in the playable phase.” Apparently, 10 titles will be launched that are up to speed with the PS3’s hardware, contrary to Sony President Kaz Hirai’s prediction of 15 titles. He continued by saying that “the world has obviously underestimated our progress in software development. ItÂ’s likely that many shook their heads in disbelief at seeing the large number of titles actually working before their eyes.”

He also talked about his favorite title among the initial 10 that will be apt for the PS3. The game is Eye of Judgment– a card based game that takes advantage of the PS3’s eye toy camera to read the cards. According to the Sony President, “the current camera is a VGA unit—think of the possibilities if we could use an HD camera or what we could accomplish by having the camera read something other than a card.” Indeed, the possibilities are ever-flowing.

He again emphasized that the PS3 is a computer and he answered inquiries with regards to the comparison of PCs and the PS3. ““Computers are a prime example of “Too Large” and “Too Serious.” Yet the software industry is by no means growing smaller. Some titles with dozens of thousands of people working on them do end up with delayed releases, but on the other hand, there are plenty of examples of small teams successfully developing new software. The industry as a whole is growing. The PlayStation 3 is a computer, so the same rules should apply.””

He also welcomes the idea of rampant PS3 upgrades, which is consistent with his earlier statements. “As the PlayStation 3 is a computer, we might even offer it on a built-to-order basis, customized to the needs of each and every user,” said Kutaragi. “The hardware components have been designed in a modularized format with this possibility in mind.”

Lastly he also answered questions with regards to networkability and online delivery of the PS3.  A major concern that popped out is the limited hard drive space on the console—merely 20GB to 60GB. Users who want to own several games may find themselves running out of space in the future. Mr. Kutaragi was frank with his reply: “some users will definitely run out of hard drive space, depending on how they use their console.” As a solution to that concern he continued by saying that “such users will have the option of purchasing larger-capacity hard drives. We may be releasing 120GB drives by next year or the year after that.”

What do you think about these statements? Will hard drive space be a problem to you? Does Eye of Judgment seems like a winner or not? Tell us through your comments.

Via GamerNode