Kutaragi To Head New Sony and Namco Company

[Pumpkin Head]

Ken gets a new positionSony and Bandai-Namco have announced a ¥100 million (£415,000) joint venture to develop content based on the Cell processor at the heart of the PS3 – and other devices. Called Cellius, it will be formalised on March 5th with ‘Father of PlayStation’, Ken Kutaragi, as chairman.
According to Satoshi Fukuoka, a spokesman for Sony in Tokyo, Cellisus’ focus will be on “new entertainment products including audio and visual content.”

Bandai-Namco will take 51% with Sony owning the residual 49% stake. The management will come from both companies, the president and one executive will come from Namco; Sony will provide the other executives.

The news comes three months after Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (SCEI) moved Kutaragi ‘upstairs’ announcing that he would, “…continue to oversee the entire SCE Group as chief executive officer, and will fully exercise his power to reinforce and further accelerate the development of the PlayStation business.”
http://news.spong.com/article/11570

[jaxmkii]

wait they made him head of a software development team?

[masteratt]

Well he knows Cell better than anyone so it's good that he is overlooking this development.

Sony should have made these projects BEFORE the PS3 came out so that the launch and the next few months would have been more exciting.

Well as long as they are getting their acts together.
Hurry the hell up though.

[curryking1]

Why... Namco? Why? Unless this has a lot to do with Tekken... I really don't see the point.

[Viano]

this is a good news, very interesting.

[BruceWayneIII]

He won't be that much involved in the development. He's the chairman of the board, hence ultimately responsible for the overall business of the company.

[yoshaw]

You guys ought to concentrate more on the BANDAI aspect of the SONY-NAMCO relationship. :)

If I may remind my friends in here about the wide range of consumer products bandai has their foothold in Japan. Examples include toys business, animation business(imagine future sony mascots receiving their own full feature anime movies!) and maybe there are some arcade cabinets that deal with children or stickers or similar stuff. Things that are popular in Japan if not in other countries.

So I believe this was a nice move from SONY trying to get a foothold into such market. And not to mention the CELL aspect of it, maybe introducing CELL based products in niche markets such as toys? Pachinko machines? Small Soldiers anyone? :P

Or maybe it is as simple as Sony wanting Namco games to stay exclusive to PS3. Hail Tekken6 :cheers:

[Viano]

Cell pachinko.. aWsome loL

[yella]

You guys also seem to have forgotten about a little RPG series that starts with "Tales of...":happy:

[yoshaw]

Cell pachinko.. aWsome loL

Awwww viano. Missed ya soooooooo much :drunks:

Do Bandai have pachinko machines there in Japan? I'm gonna visit Japan soon, meet ya at the airport.

Viano = :err:

[SToRM666]

Some more info:

Cellius will use Sony's Cell chip, which powers PlayStation 3, to create games for the console and content for mobile phones and personal computers, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said today. He would not give earnings forecasts or other details.

The alliance may help Sony recoup the 200 billion yen ($1.65 billion) it spent developing the Cell with International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp. Sony is expecting the chip, which makes the PS3 about 35 times faster than the PS2, to attract gamers with sharper graphics and more complex play.

The Cell chip is also part of Sony's strategy to beat Microsoft and Apple Computer Inc. in controlling the digital home, a future network linking televisions, music players, game consoles and other appliances to the Internet.

[section]

Did somebody choose today "an official good PS3 news day"? :) Because I haven't read such interesting and positive announcements in hmm, what, 2 months?

[VG Aficionado]

Great info! The first time I read this news someone had FUDed them as if Kutaragi had left Sony, and now we know it's actually going to benefit PS3!

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Sounds good to me.

[VideoGame mania]

Does this confirm, Tekken 6 is exclusive to the PS3 ?

[BruceWayneIII]

Does this confirm, Tekken 6 is exclusive to the PS3 ?

No.

[TEEDA]

Well I could see a special " Cell Arcade base system " lol with Time Crisis 5..and Tekken Tag 2 ? lol

[Sephiroth_VII]

Bu it does raise the probability of Tekken 6 being exclusive from 95 to 99%, IMO.

[VG Aficionado]

I guess you mean from 99% to 150% ;)

[ddaryl]

Well he knows Cell better than anyone so it's good that he is overlooking this development.

Sony should have made these projects BEFORE the PS3 came out so that the launch and the next few months would have been more exciting.

Well as long as they are getting their acts together.
Hurry the hell up though.



Spoken like a person who has no idea how much Sony has poured into the cell and their available knowledges of it.

This is serious high tech, and it doesn't happen by snapping your fingers. These things take time, and only people who serioulsy have little clue on what it takes ot get this stuff up and running at high levles seem to believe Sony is doing something worng IMO.


Take a walk down memory lane. After the PS2 was launch there was about 4 - 6 months before any real exciting software was released for it.

The PS3 is no differnt. Sony innovates at the hardware level, and it is etremly challenging to get the software packages up on these complicated and revolutionary processors.

I get a huge laugh out of those who really expect it to work differently, or think Sony should have delayed their PS3 launch to accomodate.

This is the way IT WILL ALWAYS BE when innovative hardware is released that requires extremly complicated software libraries to maximize this hardware. in fact I 1000% guarentee that the PS4 will go through the same process. Just liek the PS2 and just liek the PS3. By Xmas 2007 nobody will be bitichin anymore.

If you can't handle the launch curves of these seriously complicated pieces of equipment stop having to buy them at their launch.

Sony is doing exactly what they want, and handling their consoles by catering to their strengths first... hardware.

hardware trumps software IMO

[yoshaw]

hardware trumps software IMO

I respect that opinion no doubt.

But previous generations speak otherwise. The intention of creating such a company is to divulge in both aspects , software and hardware. I believe that's exactly the strategy Sony is going after instead of just slamming head first into a hardware only wall blockade.

[Domination]

http://news.spong.com/article/11570

I thought Ken was moved to another position with a fansy name with Kaz claiming his position because Sony was worried about his performance over the PlayStation line. [sarcasm] :susp:

I'm sorry, it's nonsense like this that tickles me the most.

[Domination]

Why... Namco? Why? Unless this has a lot to do with Tekken... I really don't see the point.

If you check their [Namco] history, it could have something to do with a lot more than just Tekken since this gens platforms are more costly than before - leading to more multi platform titles. It seems Sony could be trying to prevent this from ever happening - especially over in Japan.

You guys ought to concentrate more on the BANDAI aspect of the SONY-NAMCO relationship. :)

If I may remind my friends in here about the wide range of consumer products bandai has their foothold in Japan. Examples include toys business, animation business(imagine future sony mascots receiving their own full feature anime movies!) and maybe there are some arcade cabinets that deal with children or stickers or similar stuff. Things that are popular in Japan if not in other countries.

So I believe this was a nice move from SONY trying to get a foothold into such market. And not to mention the CELL aspect of it, maybe introducing CELL based products in niche markets such as toys? Pachinko machines? Small Soldiers anyone? :P

Or maybe it is as simple as Sony wanting Namco games to stay exclusive to PS3. Hail Tekken6 :cheers:

Exactly.

[Cless]

Wow great news, I am more concerned about Tales of ... series, now with this news I am more than happy. More chance that Tales of ... series will stay/appear on the Playstation console. If they are concerning making games with this coalition, that is.

[LiquidEagle]

I like to see this as an example of a developer having interest in getting the most out of the Cell/RSX (and doing something about it), and Sony willing to partner up with another company to show them what their hardware is all about :)

[OnBake Platinum]

I'd just like to remind everyone that Spong is a site full of bullshit.

[OmniCloud]

I'd just like to remind everyone that Spong is a site full of bullshit.Yea its up on IGN as well now though...Pretty legit.

[Zer0-Sum]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164672.html

Gamespot says it is true. I for one say that Tekken 5 is all but an exclusive for PS3. I also think that this is a great development for PS3 and Sony as well as Namco-Bandai. They will put other games on 360, but not Tekken. I hope that Sony keeps doing deals like this with other companies.

[Coded-Dude]

I think ACE Combat will be exclusive as well.....
*but thats just me thinking out loud*

[Zer0-Sum]

I think ACE Combat will be exclusive as well.....
*but thats just me thinking out loud*

Ditto on that one as well....

[VG Aficionado]

I think this ensures that most if not all of the well known Namco franchises will remain exclusive to PS3, and that includes Ridge Racer, Tekken and Ace Combat - and Katamari Damacy? It would rock with sixaxis! -. There are more good franchises, but these are the only ones I'm looking forward to.

I remember there was an article at IGN recently on the 360 section which claimed that they had insider sources that indicated not only that Namco's popular Playstation franchises would go multiplatform, but that there was a good chance the latest titles would be released on 360 first! I feel like LMAOing right now.

[OmniCloud]

Yeah I wish they would go into details about Namco's big titles. Tekken is one of those PS only games, but so was Resident evil before Nintendo did that little exclusive thing. I want Tekken to blow VF5 away! Besides, I don't even like playing fighting games with 360's controller....Tekken and Ace Combat better be some of the fruits of the venture I tell ya...

[Garfunkel]

Sounds like interesting news, but i think i'm missing something, what's the point of it? their developing software yes but why namco?

i think this is just a tactic to keep namco games exclusive.

[Domination]

I'd just like to remind everyone that Spong is a site full of bullshit.

True except Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=SNE:US&sid=as2Ppv1.jUjQ) believes it to be true, too.

[Coded-Dude]

I think we may begin to see applications that will not only work on PS3, but in conjunction with OTHER CELL HARDWARE.
This is a broadband chip, and they are focusing on teh chip, not the console.
I am rather excited to start learning about what they actually do have in development.

[Garfunkel]

maybe an OS?

[F089/H]

hardware trumps software IMO


Yes we have the Hardware now and it's collecting A bit of Dust..Hardware isn't jack shit without some good Software... Everyone knows this..

Knowledge is nothing without power!

They need to get rolling..:gunner: :skull:

[Black Dragon37]

Does this confirm, Tekken 6 is exclusive to the PS3 ?Pretty much. Without even needing an announcement.

[VG Aficionado]

Actually, if there had to be an announcement, it would be for Namco to state that it wouldn't be exclusive. I mean, who ever said exclusivity was at risk and what made them think it was? The Tekken series are intimately related to PlayStation platforms, and whoever says it's going multiplatform is just wishfully thinking.

[Z]

I don't see this venture having anything to do with exclusivity on PS3 at all. I don't even see it being directly linked to any specific game. the budget is to low and they said things like software solutions. even though some sites say "games" I think this is more about developing tools and applications based on the Cell's architecture in general and the devices it is used on- PS3 being one of them.

again, the budget is to low for anything major. I think this is a starting up budget to get the plans made and agree on the decisions and directions for the near future.

in any case, we need more info to make anything solid out of this.

[curryking1]

Yoshaw, great point with the Namco Bandai brand being involved with far more merchandise than gaming!

[Black Dragon37]

So... I wonder what new games would blow the Cell's power?

[Red_Eyes]

This = Cell based Arcade = Tekken 6 Arcade and Tekken 6 PS3.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

I remember EGM speculating that Tekken 3 might be ported to the N64 back in the day. In a word, roflcopter.

[Garfunkel]

i wish we had some more info on what this actually is about. seems we are missing a few pieces to the puzzle.

[OmniCloud]

^a few pieces? We're missing the entire reason! LOL just read the thread, it's full of speculation. So uh...what does this joint-venture DO exactly? What the heck knows? As long as Tekken 6 makes a jump graphically and gameplay wise like Tekken 5 did, I honestly don't care either.

[Garfunkel]

i'm hoping they will announce something at GDC.