Ken Kutaragi was always looking to the future and what was possible to achieve next
Both PlayStation and Tekken are celebrating their 30th birthdays this year, and the two brands share a deep connection that goes all the way back to the very beginning.
The man considered to be the “Father of PlayStation” is set to be honored and give a speech at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 later this month, and longtime Tekken Director Katsuhiro Harada had some interesting stories to tell about the man he considers to be a father figure to him as well.
Harada had a lot to say about his mentor Ken Kutaragi that help paint him as a more introspective person always looking to the future and what’s possible next beyond just the intimidating businessman with high expectations.
One of the first things he mentions is how Kutaragi would always bring the Namco team a big keg of sake back in the day to celebrate finishing the master ROM for their next Tekken game in the ’90s.
This is a tradition carried over even to today apparently, considering the Father of PlayStation brought a new cask of drinks to share when he appeared as a guest on Harada’s Bar a few years ago.
Back then, they discussed how Tekken was going to release under a very different title though Kutaragi lamented they couldn’t get the trademark for the name.
Harada also pointed out that Tekken was technically the first game to release on PlayStation hardware considering that’s what the Namco System 11 arcade architecture was based on at the time.
There was also discussion of Japanese game development culture of the ’90s where they talked about how many would essentially live and sleep in their offices partially for the amenities like high-speed internet of the time — though Harada stated they chose to do so willingly.
On a different Harada’s Bar episode, Kutaragi described how Sony wanted game streaming features like that of the PlayStation 4 as far back as the PlayStation 3, but the internet widely available around the world at the time wasn’t up to the task.
And it sounds like even back in the ’90s, Kutaragi had a vision for everything including PlayStation melting into the network.
Kutaragi left PlayStation back in 2007, and though he just turned 74 years old, it doesn’t sound like he’s ready to just sit back and relax, which isn’t surprising given what Harada has to say about him.
Currently, Kutaragi serves as the president and CEO of Cyber AI Entertainment founded in 2009 and Ascent Robotics.
Tokyo Game Show 2024 is scheduled to run from September 26–29 where Kutaragi will speak during the keynote presentation.
You can find all that Harada had to say about his mentor below.
Kutaragi-san is like a father figure to me as well.
Many game publishers and companies still have anecdotes and sagas about him, and many people are afraid of him. But for us at the old Namco, and especially for the TEKKEN Project, he was like a kind father… Whenever we finished the master ROMs for TEKKEN, he would show up with a big keg of sake and serve it to us.
He talked to us about the concept of the PlayStation 2 even when there were no rumors about it, and gave us prototypes of the development equipment (we were astonished at the surprisingly large size of the initial PS3 development machine, and even debated whether it could fit in the size of a video game console).
One of the great things about him was “Who are your rivals for Kutaragi-san?” he could simply say, “The future is always my rival.”
Today, cloud servers and other online infrastructures are commonplace, but Kutaragi-San was already telling us at the old Namco in the late 90s that “everything will eventually melt into the network, even PlayStation.”
In that era, we didn’t clearly understand what he meant by “melting into the network,” so what was he referring to? But he was already looking ahead to the current online age in the 1990s.
I had a drink with Kutaragi-san about two months ago, and when I discussed with him the huge development costs and long development time of today, he presented me with ideas and future projections that overturned existing concepts.
I asked him, “But Kutaragi-san, by the time that time comes, won’t you have reached the end of your human life?” I asked him,
but he replied with a glint in his eye, “No, no, we don’t wait, we do it! You do it too! Most things at the level of human expectation can be achieved,” He said powerfully.
Oh, I realized that this is a man who is always excited to overtake the future, instead of thinking about the time he has left.
He’s like a powerful Heihachi, I call him “Heihachi from the science background not evil.”
Kutaragi-san is like a father figure to me as well.
Many game publishers and companies still have anecdotes and sagas about him, and many people are afraid of him. But for us at the old Namco, and especially for the TEKKEN Project, he was like a kind father… Whenever we… https://t.co/9TT0VekHGs— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) September 6, 2024
Image via PlayStation.