Ken Kutaragi worked his last day Sony Computer Entertainment yesterday and so ends an era in video gaming. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to call Mr. Kutaragi an historic figure in the video games industry. He created the PlayStation for Sony but since being replaced as President of SCEI he announced his intention to retire back in April. Kutaragi will continue to play a role as advisor to Sony’s Computer Entertainment division.

Few gamers realize the legendary status he has achieved. His is a classic story of the underdog sticking to a dream and reaching higher than anyone expected. As an Engineer with Sony’s digital research labs he worked with LCD displays and digital cameras. It’s hard to imagine a time when Sony wasn’t interested in video games but that was the reality in the late 80s when the game console market was owned by Nintendo.

The legend goes he was watching his daughter play Famicon (Nintendo in Japan) when he decided he could improve its design. He almost lost his job with Sony for working with Nintendo on a secret project to build the SPC700 sound chip. But Mr Kutaragi retained a vision that video gaming would benefit from integration with the CD.

Scorned by Sony for working on video games, the company’s execs considered the industry no more than a fad. But Mr. Kutaragi soldiered on and worked with Nintendo to develop the Super NES CD. Then he was completely dissed by Nintendo who went with a different design for its Super NES expansion. Big mistake for Nintendo, imagine if history had been different and Nintendo adopted Mr. Kutaragi’s designs, the PlayStation might never have been developed.

Ken took those lemons he was handed by Nintendo’s double-cross and his own company’s hostility … and created Sony Computer Entertainment Inc that took over the console games market in the early 2000s. Mr. Kutaragi’s story is an inspiration to all who hold on to something they believe in despite the scorn it might illicit from the unimaginative.