Kutaragi Thumbs His Nose At Competition

Well, it seems confidence is alive and well in the Sony corporation, despite PS3 production issues.

At this year's TGS, Sony president Ken Kutaragi unleashed his "long-term vision" for the PS3, focusing on the PC-like functionality of the PS3 and implying the console will take great strides in the coming years. However, he deftly avoided several questions concerning Nintendo and Microsoft, which is what most game journalists have come to expect.

But "the Father of the PlayStation" did have a very brief chat with British Trade Magazine MCV about the upcoming next-gen wars. When prompted to talk about Sony's competition, Kutaragi's response was quick and simple-

"We don't care."

However, while his confidence was obvious, Kutaragi did admit to their blue laser production problems. "Right now, we can't manufacture enough blue laser diodes for our PlayStation 3's," he said. "But we will resolve that."

Of course, he's referring to the very same issue that recently caused the delay of the European PS3 launch, even though the dates for Japan (Nov. 11) and the U.S. (Nov. 17) remain the same. Still, both countries will see drastically decreased shipments; Japan will only get 100,00 on launch day, and the U.S. will receive around 400,000. Sony was quick to remind everyone that the 400k for North America is still more than Microsoft shipped for the 360's launch (approx. 325,000).

But whatever the current situation, Kutaragi is, quite clearly, unfazed.

9/29/2006 Ben Dutka

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