Who is Kaz Hirai: The Man Behind the Riiiiiiidge Racerrrrrrr

By becoming president and CEO of Sony (officially happening on April Fools), Kaz Hirai has inherited a struggling empire. No doubt you've heard of the $2+ billion Q3 loss, which seems to be Sir Howard Stringer's final legacy upon the company.

Hirai, an exceptionally bilingual man whose upbringing was steeped in the international, has a history of getting down and dirty in the face of corporate danger. This is the man who helped elevate the Playstation brand to where it is today during his time at Sony Computer Entertainment of America. However, this is also the man who, as the CEO of SCEI (Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.), oversaw the tepid Playstation 3 era.

The Playstation Vita marks the beginning of an era of Playstation product under the wing of Hirai as the boss-man of the entirety of Sony.

“Sony cannot continue walking on the same path,” Hirai, called Kaz by associates, said at the earnings briefing in Tokyo. “Sony needs to find new business areas, such as medical. We also need to select and narrow our business portfolio.” ( source)

To Hirai, narrowing the portfolio doesn't involve bowing out of or half-assing the portable games sector. As someone who literally said, "Holy shit, now what?" in the face of his new responsibilities, he has some balls in my opinion.

You know what the Vita is, but are you familiar with its first killer app? It's not Uncharted.

Gravity Rush (Gravity Daze in Japan).

(The text editor is stuck in Italics and I can't change it, damnit sorry.) I don't need to explain this game as we have a wonderful wiki that does it brilliantly. It is a game from SCE Japan Studio, the in-house Sony dev that brought you Ape Escape, Patapon, and Echochrome among other titles (like ICO AND SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS) and directed by the creator of Silent Hill. It is beautiful, both technically and artistically. The gameplay is novel and solid (39/40 score from Famitsu solid; I know Famitsu is not the most trustworthy reviewer but bear with me). It screams unique. This is not another installment of Big Franchise X. Even if it doesn't rake in money, it will rake in respect. And respect is paramount for a console that's in its early life- especially one that fell flat on its face against the 3DS. The Vita needs an Ico (it also needs a Call of Duty and Monster Hunter but those are coming) and it has one here. TL;DR OPEN-WORLD ACTION ADVENTURE WITH UNIQUE SETTING, GAMEPLAY, AND BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION. ON VITA. RESPECT.

The $249.99-299.99 Question

If you don't have the money (waiting for a price drop, satisfied with your 3DS), don't care about portable gaming consoles at all (you prefer Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds on your iOS/Android devices), or are a Pussy (waiting for a big lineup of amazing pants-wetting games AND a price drop), please stop reading from here. Sony's ability to get to you will be tested in the coming years.

Will you buy a Vita at or around launch? Are you a bad enough dude to walk into the depths of Hell with Kaz Hirai?

I am and I will. Bring it on, Sony. Give me more games like Gravity Rush instead of irrelevant stuff like WOW PORTABLE KILLZONE, UNCHARTED, AND RESISTANCE and I'll know that I made the right decision.

Good post. I am really torn about whether or not to buy a vita at this point. Mostly because of the tiny memory cards for exorbitant fees. I am hoping Gravity Rush ends up being as cool as it looks. All there is to do now is wait and watch.

You know it's funny.

The Vita is hitting all the same numbers the PSP did when it was first launched as the "portable console". And even though it feel likes Sony didn't learn their lesson, they instead look at where the mobile platform is headed and said, "Fuck it, we're going to hit it even harder". And you know what? I feel like that was the right move.

But the way the device looks, two analog sticks, touchscreen on the back so the action doesn't get interrupted and a touchscreen on the front, and the reportedly amazing screen actually makes me want one. I have no idea what game I would play other than some PSP games I already have I never managed to get through. But man I really want one.

Yet, I don't know when I'll play the damn thing. And for 250, that's a bit much. I'm dying for a new phone and for that sort of cash I'd rather try and get a new Galaxy Nexus which is something I would use nonstop.

Hopefully they drink whatever medicine was prescribed to Nintendo and there's a hefty price cut for it in the summer.

What a weird time for games.

Also maybe Kaz gets a kickass Android Sony phone under development finally.

Kaz Hirai seems like a dude that would know his way around hell and satan

He might be what Sony needs right now

Judging by the PSP, the Vita will be full of amazing and unique obscure games.

Judging by the PSP, the Vita will be full of amazing and unique obscure games.

@MikeGosot said:

Judging by the PSP, the Vita will be full of amazing and unique obscure games.

With Hirai's natural ability to bridge the Japanese/Western gap I forsee that same outcome. That stuff trickles from the top down in my opinion.

I've never been a portable gamer and I'm getting one. Hope more games like gravity rush come in the future too.

I wish I was able to get a job last summer....  Goddamn, I wouldve bought this system if I had

When I get my Vita, I'll be sure to provide more in-depth posts and ruminations about the future of the system, but for now, spreading a bit of optimism is about all I can do.

The Vita is looking awesome. I finally got to mess around with one at a Vita Hill party. It feels really slick and the games look great. I think Kaz will do just fine if not better.

I got to play one at E3 2011 in Sony's Booth and can't wait for my pre-order.