While the new console hardware generation may not be on the horizon for several more years, it looks like Sony already has some ideas in serious production. In an interview with Develop, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida talked about the shift in manufacturing practice after Kaz Hirai replaced Ken Kutaragi.
“When Ken Kutaragi moved on and Kaz Harai became the president of SCE, the first thing Kaz said was, ‘get World Wide Studios in on hardware development’,” Yoshida commented. “So he wanted developers in meetings at the very beginning of concepting new hardware, and he demanded SCE people talk to us [developers]…we are undergoing many activities that we haven’t yet been talking about in public. Some future platform related activities.”
Given that the largest complaint lobbied against the Playstation 3 in its early years on the market was its difficulty to develop for, such design implementations seem to be a wise move for Sony. Readers should also note that Yoshida’s comment was not limited to the Playstation 3, and may include future hardware innovations in other aspects of the company as well.