However, when Nintendo pulled out of the partnership, Sony’s president Norio Ohga told his engineers to keep working on the system. He even felt that Sony-Columbia Pictures would start to bring in profits next year.
Norio Ohga, one of the handful of men who shaped Sony into the global consumer electronics giant that it is today, died on Saturday morning in Tokyo at the age of 81, Sony said. "When I first joined Sony in 1997, Ohga-san was serving on the frontlines of Sony management as Chairman and CEO," said Stringer. Norio Ohga, a former Sony CEO and Chairman who helped make Sony the company we know today, passed away in Tokyo yesterday as a result of multiple organ failure. Coupled with their CD-ROM technologies and their partnership with Toshiba, they would be able to develop … Norio Ohga had achieved some success with Sony’s movie VCDs and lowered Sony-Columbia Pictures losses. Witnessing Ohga-san’s leadership firsthand was truly an honor, and one I continued to enjoy and benefit from in countless ways in the years that followed. He was 81. It was during that trip that Morita persuaded Ohga to join Sony full-time, telling him, "You were born to be a businessman. With his classical music training, Ohga consulted on development of the company's first audio products.He became chairman and CEO in 1995, and was chairman from 2000 until his retirement in 2003.Norio Ohga, one of the handful of men who shaped Sony into the global consumer electronics giant that it is today, died on Saturday morning in Tokyo at the age of 81, Sony said.Ohga added CEO to his title in 1989 and led Sony through its expansion into the gaming business and the introduction of the PlayStation. Ohga added CEO to his title in 1989 and led Sony through its expansion into the gaming business and the introduction of the PlayStation.
Thanks to the persistence of Ken Kutaragi and the support of Sony CEO Norio Ohga, the Japanese tech giant finally launched the original PlayStation on December 3, 1994. A trained musician, Ohga is credited with rescuing a Japanese classical music foundation that later became the Sony Music Foundation. Ohga established CBS/Sony Records as Japan's largest record company and later led the acquisitions of CBS Records (now Sony Music Entertainment) in 1988 and Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment) in 1989. Thats when Sony desided to just make their own Console the Playstation. The team, working with Philips, developed the Compact Disc and changed the way the world enjoyed pre-recorded music. He was appointed chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999.Martyn Williams produces technology news and product reviews in text and video for PC World, Macworld, and TechHive from his home outside Washington D.C..Sony's first CD player was introduced to the world in October 1982 by Ohga, a month after he became president of Sony. Stringer also touched upon the work Ohga did to expand Sony beyond the hardware business. The president of Sony (at the time) Norio Ohga was real mad but didn't show it. "But perhaps Ohga's biggest contribution to Sony came in 1980, when he led a team exploring technologies to replace analog audio cassettes. He went on to push development of other audio formats including the MiniDisc and Super Audio CD, but both failed to match the popularity of the CD.Sony's current CEO, Howard Stringer, paid tribute to Ohga in a statement.Ohga's love of music and keen ear for quality audio would define his career and play a key role in Sony's establishment as a leading name in the audio industry.In 1959 he traveled to the U.S. on a business trip with Sony founder Akio Morita. In 1994 he succeeded co-founder Akio Morita as Sony chairman. In the 1980s and early 1990s, most consoles came with flat joypads. 11. The Playstation 1 .