Ken Kutaragi, widely credited as the father of the
PlayStation, could now be shifting is attentions from hardware to software.
Sony and Namco Bandai have announced (Japanese PDF) a joint venture in the formation of a new games company, named
Cellius, with Ken Kutaragi serving as chairman. The two companies are investing
about ¥100 million ($823,000) to form Cellius, with Sony owning 49 percent and
Namco Bandai taking majority at 51 percent. The venture will begin operations
on March 6, Bloomberg
reports.
As the name implies, Cellius will focus on producing games
for the Cell processor, which currently means exclusively for PlayStation 3.
Cell may eventually find itself into other set top boxes and mobile devices,
opening up the possibility for Cellius to develop for more than one platform.
While it’s not yet clear what his role will be in Cellius,
Kutaragi’s position at Sony has shifted. In late November, Kutaragi was promoted
chairman and group CEO for SCEI, moving him a bit further away from
direct control of regular PlayStation operations. With the latest iteration of
the PlayStation complete, Kutaragi’s engineering know-how could now shift to
strengthening the PS3’s software portfolio.