In an announcement made on April 26th, Sony revealed plans for the Chairman and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi’s retirement, effective June 19, 2007. For those unfamiliar with Ken Kutaragi, many have come to know him as the father of the Playstation and lead promoter during the development of the original Playstation console. During his more than 30 years at the electronics giant, Kutaragi oversaw the development and release of 4 platforms in the Playstation family.

The news of Kutaragi’s retirement comes just 5 months after Kutaragi’s appointment to his current position as Chairman and Group CEO at SCE, and at the age of 56, is nearly unheard of for a person of such a high position in Japan. These facts, coupled with his legacy of controversy, lead many people to believe that his retirement is not so much a voluntary act, as it is punishment for the many issues revolving around the development and subsequent launch of Sony’s latest console, the Playstation 3.

While, officially Kutaragi is retiring from his current post, much like his predecessor, Kutaragi will remain an “honorary” chairman at SCE - a non-executive position in which he can remain a contributor to many different projects, without having any pressing work for him to do.

Although his legacy will never make him someone as instantly recognizable as figures such as Shigeru Miyamoto, without Ken Kutaragi’s visionary ideas and hard work, modern video games would not be where they are today.