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Wall Street Journal calls Kutaragi a Sony 'stumbling block'

A weekend Wall Street Journalarticle claims Ken Kutaragi -- the father of the PlayStation -- went over budget on the PS3 without informing Sony knighted CEO Sir Howard Stringer until it was too late, forcing the company to reduce the launch price of the 20GB PS3 in Japan by 20%.

The Journal examines Stringer's controversial and tricky two year run as global CEO while balancing the differing Western and Japanese business cultures and calls Kutaragi a rogue executive "notorious" for being at odds with Sony corp and its various divisions. But it's not just Sony management at odds with Kutaragi. The father of "stupid things said by executives" has been offending gamers for the past year, i.e. you must be affluent (like fine-wine) or work two jobs to buy a PS3.

Be sure to click over to Information Arbitrage for a full analysis of the interview including an in-depth look at the bind Stringer is in ("one of the hardest management jobs on the planet").

[via Next-Gen]