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<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"> <tr valign="top"><th style="text-align:right;">Occupation</th> <td>President and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment</td></tr>

Kazuo Hirai
Born	1964 Tokyo, Japan

Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai (Japanese: 平井一夫 Hirai Kazuo, born 1964) is the current president and chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.. He was ranked by Entertainment Weekly as one of the most powerful executives in the entertainment industry.<ref name="pscom">Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc.. Kaz Hirai, President and Chief Executive Officer. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.</ref>

Contents 1 Early years 2 Sony Computer Entertainment 2.1 PlayStation 3 Notes 4 External links 5 Quotes

[edit] Early years

Kazuo Hirai was born in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. The son of a wealthy banker, Hirai often traveled with his father across the world to California, New York, and Canada and around Japan — a trait which Hirai said noted to be a major factor in his later multi-continental business success. As a child, he was quiet, often entertaining himself with various board games and puzzles.

It was this interest in games that later brought him into the entertainment business. After graduating from the International Christian University in August 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Hirai was hired at the then newly-formed CBS/Sony Inc. (now Sony Music Entertainment), where he was involved in marketing international music within Japan. His hard work and dedication allowed him to rise through the ranks, eventually placing him once again in New York, where he became head of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's international business affairs office.

[edit] Sony Computer Entertainment

In August 1995, Hirai joined Sony's computer and video game division, Sony Computer Entertainment America.<ref name="pscom" /> Two years later, in 1997, Hirai was credited on his first completed video game.

[edit] PlayStation

Since heading up Sony Computer Entertainment America, Kazuo Hirai has been instrumental in Sony's success. He played a fundamental role in the rise of the PlayStation in the United States, and his methods of cross-promoting of the PlayStation brand took its advertising beyond merely "game" or computer oriented fields. PlayStation advertisements were placed in mainstream sports events such as the NBA, the NFL, the NHL and even NASCAR. This method of marketing has been credited with introducing large numbers of individuals to video games who would ordinarily have not considered purchasing a console.

With the release of the PlayStation 2 in 2000, Kazuo continued his success, utilizing both previous second-party franchises such as Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper and SOCOM, as well as introducing new ones, including the Ico series of games. Under his leadership, SCEA continually managed to retain high profits throughout the sixth generation era.

On July 3, 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Hirai had been made a vice president of its corporate executive group on July 1, 2006.<ref>Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (2005-07-03). News of corporate executive affairs (Japanese) (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.</ref>

On November 30, 2006, shortly under two weeks after the launch, Kaz Hirai replaced Ken Kutaragi as President of Sony Computer Entertainment. While maintaining his positions at SCEA, Hirai also became chief operating officer of SCEI. Kutaragi himself was promoted to chairman of SCEI, and remained chief executive officer of the group.<ref>Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (2006-11-30). SCE Announces New Management Team (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.</ref>

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official profile
• Kaz Hirai's profile at MobyGames

Interviews

• Kikizo video interview
• Gamespot video interview
• 1UP.com interview

[edit] Quotes

• A significant Internet meme which occured after his 2006 E3 appearance, when he was demonstrating the first PlayStation game being played on the PSP. His announcement of "It's Ridge Racer!" was met with very little enthusiasm from the crowd. Hirai immediately followed this with "Riiiiiiiiiidge Raaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr!" in the style used by the game's announcer. [1]

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