Kutaragi: Disc Outrage Is 'Not Economically Reasonable'
The PlayStation founder said at the Game Republic New Horizons event that upset over disc discontinuation is a mentality issue, and flagged high hardware prices.
Ken Kutaragi said anger over the phasing out of physical game discs is a mentality issue and not economically reasonable, in an interview conducted at the Game Republic New Horizons event and reported by Video Games Chronicle.
The PlayStation founder said discs have become a metaphor for owning a game, and that he understands that way of thinking. He suggested Sony may be moving toward an all-digital device, which he said causes friction with game enthusiasts.
Kutaragi also said current hardware prices are "super expensive" and described that as not a healthy situation.
His advice to the industry was to use AI and cloud computing fully, adding that consoles would then not be needed.
Older context
Kutaragi retired from PlayStation in June 2007, shortly after the PlayStation 3's European release. He is now CEO of Ascent Robotics and owns Cyber AI Entertainment. Over the weekend, reports said the memory and storage alone for a PlayStation 6 would cost more than $680.
Quick answers
What did Ken Kutaragi say about physical discs?
He said discs have become a metaphor for owning games and that he understands that mentality, but that upset over disc discontinuation is a mentality issue and not economically reasonable.
What did Kutaragi say about hardware prices?
He said current hardware prices are super expensive and that this is not a healthy situation.
Where did Kutaragi make the comments?
In an interview at the Game Republic New Horizons event, reported by Video Games Chronicle.