Ken Kutaragi, the former head of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, is to be awarded the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award by The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
Regarded colloquially as the “father of PlayStation” by gamers and industry folk worldwide, Kutaragi has been honoured for revolutionising the in-home entertainment market thanks to the success of the Sony PlayStation, which launched in 1994 and eventually went on to sell over 100 million units worldwide.
President of AIAS, Joseph Olin commented, "Ken Kutaragi’s passion, innovative thinking and business savvy sparked a monumental movement that was unstoppable.”
"If it wasn’t for Ken and his concept of the original PlayStation, there wouldn’t be the billion dollar industry there is today. His contributions have clearly set new standards for developers, publishers and consumers worldwide."
"Ken Kutaragi is the smartest guy in the history of the video game business," added Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and AIAS Hall of Fame member.
"Without Ken, there is no Sony PlayStation, and that is beyond comprehension."
Kutaragi will receive his award at the Interactive Achievements Award ceremony in Las Vegas on February 7, 2008. The event will run concurrently with the annual D.I.C.E Summit.

good news for him im glad after all his help with the playstation brand
He's worked hard for the honor.
The father of the playstation.
everybody should thank ken for taking those extra steps to change the gaming world
Great news for all gamers
hats of to ken
if wasn't him we will be playing 16bits game with cardtridge today.
The founder of EA (EA is known for wanting to multiplatform as much as possible) thinks the father of the Playstation is the smartest guy about the video game business. So... EA probably likes Sony better then Microsoft and Nintendo :D
triple dk you must know nothing about ea. They are one of the only firms wanting a single platform. engage brain before thinking.
Ken and his krazy Kutaragi-isms will definitely be missed....long live the king! and he is basically responsible for us being where we are today with video games.....what a dude.
psn id: gingo.... i think he truely deserves this without playstation we would have been stuck with the nintendo 64 and i doubt we would have seen the likes of xbox because they wouldn't have thought of it as a good market to get into so we would still be playing nintendo something with cartriges so he really saved the gaming industry
He's the Daddy of the best gaming console
god bless this man
wow imagine no play station nintendo would completely pwn the gaming industry :|
All hail to Kutaragi san
WOW, so this is the father of playstation
Yup this guy pushed for this system even if in the beginning, Sony had not wanted anything to do with the gaming industry. Now you see other competitors do as much as he has done for gaming to date. He made sure his passion was sought through and became a reality.
Thank you Sony SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much
Ken always has been and will always be the man. Don't thinks for a second that Kaz does not consult Ken on a regular basis .
He is the guy who created the playstation 1 and without him we wouldn't be playing games and still with the garbage named sega. I personly, pay him lots of respect and like him a lot. He is a very createve person.
He really does deserve it,Sony didn't even care for gaming,until Ken made that sound chip for the Super Famicom.