Sony Electronic Entertainment Escapes Disaster

Ken Kutaragi leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

Before the PlayStation went on sale, he had once drunk until he threw up in a restaurant in Akasaka, promising the home appliance and audiovisual divisions that the next-generation console would adopt the DVD Standard in exchange for their support for the PS price-cut proposal at the board meeting.

Now that the DVD Standard had been established, the pie he had drawn back then had become solid, tangible profit.

"What did Director Iwata say?" Ken Kutaragi asked.

"He's very pleased." Norio Ohga struck a match and lit his pipe. "The home appliance division got the right to help set the standard, and the future patent fees will be a huge sum. At yesterday's management meeting, Iwata actually praised the electronic entertainment division for once, saying you've made an indispensable contribution to advancing the group's optical storage strategy."

Ken Kutaragi gave a scoffing laugh.

Praise won through political compromise sounded truly grating.

But he understood that this praise meant the PS project's political environment inside Sony had become relatively safe, at least for quite some time.

Thanks to Sony Electronic Entertainment's support for Sony Group's home appliance division in the technical standards and promotion of the DVD industry, Sony Electronic Entertainment's relations with the other divisions inside the group had eased somewhat.

"It's not just the home appliance division." Norio Ohga exhaled a plume of bluish smoke. "Columbia Pictures has also sent over an intention to cooperate."

Ken Kutaragi sat up straight.

Columbia Pictures had always been Sony Group's financial black hole, and also the excuse the conservatives used to attack new businesses.

"The people in Hollywood are very interested in DVD capacity," Norio Ohga explained. "4.7GB of storage space is enough to fit an entire high-quality film,