With the recent Departure of Shawn Layden from Sony Interactive Entertainment, among other executives over the past few years, I've noticed something worrying about the company. PlayStation no longer has any face. By that I mean a charismatic executive who actually cares about the industry he/she works in, and is willing to present personally in front of their customers. Just look at Sony's contemporaries. Xbox has Phill Spencer, Nintendo has Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi. Who does PlayStation have now? Andrew House is gone, Adam Boyles is gone, Layden is gone, Kaz has long since been promoted and is now retired from Sony as a whole, Yoshida hasn't had a big public presence in years, and people like Jim Ryan come off more as generic suits rather than charismatic gamers or developers like the others.
Now I'm not saying you necessarily need gamers and developers in management positions to run a successful gaming venture, The legendary Hiroshi Yamauchi was as Corporate as Japanese executives could get, yet he helped Nintendo be a powerhouse of the gaming industry in the first place. I'm just saying that compared to Nintendo and Xbox at the moment, SIE just feels like another generic gaming company. That said, maybe Sony could find another charismatic figure to represent PlayStation in the future, and if not who knows, maybe they'll be fine without a likable front-man. But for now, Sony Interactive no longer has any personality or face.
