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45-542: Conceived by PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi and priced at around $ 750 US , the Net Yaroze (DTL-H300x) package contained a special black-colored debugging PlayStation unit, a serial cable for connecting the console to a personal computer, and a CD containing PlayStation development tools. The user has to provide a personal computer (an IBM PC compatible or Macintosh ; NEC PC-9801 was also supported in Japan) to write

90-483: A Famicom and realized the potential that existed within video games. At that particular time, Sony's executives had no interest in video games. Thus, when Nintendo expressed the need for a sound chip for its upcoming new 16-bit system, Kutaragi accepted the offer. Working in secret, he designed the chip, the SPC700 . When they found out, Sony's executives were furious. Only with Sony CEO Norio Ohga 's approval

135-402: A cherry, it leaves fewer cherries for Mr. Do to collect. When it digs under an apple, it often crushes itself, other creeps, and/or Mr. Do. As the game progresses, a display at the top of the screen cycles through the letters in the word EXTRA. Every time the player's score reaches a multiple of 5,000 points, the highlighted letter enters the playfield as an Alphamonster, which can be defeated in

180-467: A child rather than playing with them. This curiosity carried from childhood, leading him as a teenager to learn the intricacies of electronics. Eventually, in fact, his love of electronics led to him enrolling in University of Electro-Communications , where he acquired an Electronics degree in the 1970s. Immediately after graduation, Kutaragi began working for Sony in their digital research labs in

225-456: A compilation with many Net Yaroze games. A promotional disc, limited to a thousand copies and featuring a number of user-developed games, was produced by SCEE and sent to PAL-zone Yaroze owners. This disc can only be played on a Net Yaroze since it requires the access card included with the system to work. Some of these games were based on arcade classics such as Mr. Do and Puzzle Bobble , while others (e.g. Time Slip ) were illustrations of

270-434: A delay that increases with each use. Mr. Do or the creeps can push an apple off the edge of a vertical tunnel and crush one or more creeps. If an apple falls more than its own height, it breaks and disappears. Mr. Do can also be crushed by a falling apple, causing a loss of life. Occasionally, the creeps transform briefly into more powerful multicolored monsters that can tunnel through the ground. If one of these digs through

315-524: A device called the " Play Station ". Eventually, the partnership between Sony and Nintendo faltered due to licensing disagreements, but Kutaragi and Sony continued to develop their own console. He wanted to utilize Sony's access to the latest technology in creating the most powerful home console available, unlike Nintendo, which used primitive, outdated technology to create their consoles. He also noticed that Nintendo focused mainly on children, so he wanted Sony's console to target older adult gamers, as he felt it

360-467: A food item; picking this up scores bonus points, freezes all the creeps, and calls out an Alphamonster (if one is not already on the field) and three large blue monsters. The latter can eat apples as well. The creeps stay frozen until the player either defeats all three blue monsters, defeats the Alphamonster (in which case any remaining blue monsters are turned into apples), loses a life, or completes

405-602: A novel concept. The Game Developer UK Competition, organized by Scottish Enterprise in collaboration with the Scottish Games Alliance, Sony and Edge in 1998, accepted Net Yaroze entries; the overall winner was Chris Chadwick for his game Blitter Boy – Operation: Monster Mall . An updated version of Time Slip was later released for Xbox Live Arcade in February 2011 and Windows in January 2012. Some of

450-578: A similar feature to hobbyists and amateur developers on the PlayStation 2 console. The Net Yaroze kit contains the following items: Though it lacked regional lockout, the Net Yaroze console exists in three variations: one for Japan, one for North America and one for Europe and Australia. The Europe/Australia version boots in PAL mode, while the others boot in NTSC mode. There are further differences between

495-406: A small printing plant in the city. As Kutaragi grew into childhood, they actively encouraged the young boy to explore his mechanical abilities in the plant, and he worked after school there. Aside from his duties in his parents' factory, Kutaragi was a studious, high-level student; he was often described as a "straight-A student." Kutaragi always had the desire to "tinker", often taking apart toys as

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540-607: A version of CodeWarrior for PlayStation was released for both Windows and Macintosh in October 1996. LightWave 3D was another consumer-level PlayStation development tool. The Net Yaroze lacks many of the features the official PlayStation Software Developers Kit provided, such as advanced hardware debugging, special software, certain libraries, and Sony's extensive technical support (including BBS and live telephone support). Dedicated Usenet groups, with access restricted to Net Yaroze members, were maintained by Sony; homepage hosting

585-445: Is a Japanese engineering technologist and businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), the video game division of Sony Group Corporation , and current president and CEO of Cyber AI Entertainment. He is known as "The Father of the PlayStation ", as he oversaw the development of the original console and its successors and spinoffs, including the PlayStation 2 , PlayStation Portable , and

630-492: Is spelled, or a diamond is found. Mr. Do can defeat creeps by hitting them with his bouncing "power ball" or by dropping large apples on them. While the power ball is bouncing toward a creep, Mr. Do is defenseless. If the ball bounces into an area where there are no creeps to hit (such as behind a fallen apple), Mr. Do cannot use it again until he has retrieved it. When the power ball hits a creep, it then reforms in Mr. Do's hands after

675-689: The PlayStation 3 . He departed Sony in 2007, a year after the PlayStation 3 was released. He had also designed the sound processor for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . With Sony, he designed the VLSI chip which works in conjunction with the PS1's RISC CPU to handle the graphics rendering. Kutaragi was born in Tokyo , Japan. His parents, although not wealthy by Japanese standards, still managed to own their own business,

720-545: The following generation , at one point holding a 65% market share with 100 million units shipped. Kutaragi was recognized by many financial and technological publications for this success, most notably when he was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2004 in TIME magazine and the " Gutenberg of Video Games". In 1997 Kutaragi was appointed CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, and accordingly moved to California . Since 1997, Kutaragi had been favoured to become

765-837: The 21st highest-earning table arcade cabinet of the month. The arcade game was also a commercial success in North America, where it became the best-selling conversion kit up until 1984, selling approximately 30,000 arcade units in the United States. On the Play Meter arcade charts, it topped the street locations chart in May 1983. On the RePlay arcade charts, it topped the software conversion kit charts for five months in 1983, in June and then from August through November. It

810-583: The ColecoVision and Coleco Adam conversions a B+ rating in 1985. Famicom Tsūshin awarded the Super Famicom version of the game 25 out of 40. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it 4.875 out of 10. All but Dan Hsu felt that Mr. Do! has fun gameplay, but they criticized the lack of enhancements to what was by then over a decade old game, and recommended that players only get it if it were released at significantly less than

855-527: The Japanese kit and the others; the manuals are in Japanese, the software for Japanese PCs is included, and the discs and access card sticker have different printing. The Japanese version is sometimes unofficially referred to as DTL-3000 rather than DTL-H3000. The Net Yaroze was only available for purchase by mail order; but Sony also provided it to universities in the UK, France ( EPITA ), and Japan. Additionally,

900-578: The Net Yaroze will not play user-burned CDs, a necessary restriction in order to prevent piracy and ensure that the Yaroze program would not compete with the PlayStation's professional software development kit. This however, was not a problem for licensed developers who owned the official SDK. There are many commercial PlayStation titles (such as Devil Dice , long mistaken as a Net Yaroze game) that can be entirely RAM-resident, and have been developed with

945-714: The Net Yaroze, while using the CD strictly to spool Red Book audio ( CD-DA ). Sony set up an online forum where users could share their homemade games, swap programming tips, and ask questions to Sony technical support staff. Many games made by hobbyists on the Net Yaroze were released on various demo discs that came along with the Official UK PlayStation Magazine (as well as other official PlayStation magazines in PAL regions) from 1997 to 2004. The last Official UK PlayStation Magazine issue, number 108, featured

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990-471: The PlayStation led to him heading up the development of successor consoles, the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 . The commercial success of the PlayStation franchise makes Sony Computer Entertainment the most profitable business division of Sony. Despite being an upstart in the console market against veterans Nintendo and Sega , the first PlayStation displaced them both to become the most popular console of that era. The PlayStation 2 extended Sony's lead in

1035-454: The blue monsters eat the shrubbery and cherries. Also, if an Alphamonster is over a letter that has already been acquired, the dinosaur monsters just freeze for a few seconds. The Apple II and Atari 8-bit computer versions were released in May 1985. In Japan, Mr. Do! was one of the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1982 , on the annual Game Machine chart. Game Machine later listed Mr. Do! on their June 15, 1983 issue as being

1080-635: The business he created and built in 2007, when he stepped down as executive chairman and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. He has remained at Sony as senior technology advisor. Ken Kutaragi later became president and CEO of Cyber AI Entertainment, Inc. He also serves on the boards of Kadokawa Group Holdings , Inc., Nojima Corporation, and Rakuten , Inc. In 2009, he became a visiting professor of Ritsumeikan University . In 2020, Kutaragi became CEO of Tokyo-based AI and robotics startup Ascent Robotics, after serving on its Board of Directors since 2018. Although Kutaragi's leadership of consumer electronics

1125-590: The computer code, compile it, and send the program to the PlayStation. The Net Yaroze was neither the first nor only official consumer console development kit. The PC-Engine Develo predates it, and the WonderWitch followed it. The GP32 can run user programs out of the box. Finally, many earlier consoles ( Astrocade , Famicom ) offered limited programming capabilities with BASIC dialects. Net Yaroze had no direct successors on subsequent PlayStation platforms, but Sony's Linux for PlayStation 2 and YA-BASIC offered

1170-510: The content business and his success at Sony BMG Music Entertainment resulted in his promotion. Sony Interactive Entertainment, which Kutaragi had been heading since its inception, had a weaker year in 2004 after several years of solid growth. During that same year, Sony's game sales fell to $ 7.5 billion from $ 8.2 billion, and its operating income slid to $ 650 million from $ 1 billion, losing $ 25 million in Q4 of 2004. This can be attributed partially to

1215-443: The game, in which he is a snowman), is constantly chased by red dinosaur-like monsters called creeps, and the player loses a life if Mr. Do is caught by one. The game ends when the last life is lost. Cherries are distributed throughout the level in groups of eight, and collecting all the cherries in one group without a pause awards bonus points. A level is complete either when all cherries are removed, all creeps are destroyed, "EXTRA"

1260-407: The mid-1970s. Although at the time it was considered a radical decision, Kutaragi felt that Sony was on the "fast track". He quickly gained a reputation as an excellent problem solver and a forward-thinking engineer, earning that reputation by working on many successful projects, including early liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and digital cameras . In 1983, he was watching his two-year-old son play

1305-460: The next Sony president. He enjoyed a close relationship with Ohga. Ohga's successor Nobuyuki Idei promoted Kutaragi to Deputy Executive President, Sony-Global chief operating officer, and Vice- Chairman in 2003. On 30 November 2006, Kutaragi was replaced as president of Sony Computer Entertainment by Kazuo Hirai , the President of SCE America. In addition to other management changes, Kutaragi

1350-423: The normal retail price for an SNES cartridge. Their later feature on 16-bit games reported that, contrary to their hopes, the game was priced at over $ 50. In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the arcade version 67th on their "Top 100 Video Games" list. Mr. Do! was followed by three sequels: Mr. Do's Castle in 1983, Mr. Do's Wild Ride , and Do! Run Run both in 1984. An expanded 99-level version of Mr. Do!

1395-539: The over-saturation of the video game market and price wars which caused the PS2 to lose the top sales position for a time. Kutaragi has labelled the Xbox 360 as "just an Xbox 1.5" and stated that it was "only going after PlayStation 2". However, SCE Executive Tetsuhiko Yasuda did not consider Microsoft to be a competitor, and has said that they might consider working on games together. In September 2006 Kutaragi admitted that

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1440-612: The power ball came from Mr. Ueda observing a Super Ball stuck on the roof of a home near the Universal office in Japan. Mr. Do! was ported to the Atari 2600 , Atari 8-bit computers , ColecoVision , Apple II , MSX , Neo Geo , Tomy Tutor , and Commodore 64 . A handheld LCD version was released by Tomy in 1983. In the ColecoVision adaptation, the Alphamonster and sidekicks are unable to eat apples, making them easier to crush, but

1485-415: The same manner as a creep. Defeating the Alphamonster awards its letter; collecting all five letters ends the level, plays a cut scene accompanied by the theme to Astro Boy , and awards the player an extra life. Alphamonsters attempt to eat any apples they encounter, which makes them difficult to crush. The creeps spawn at the center of the screen. After they have all appeared, the generator will turn into

1530-458: The shortage of PlayStation 3 consoles to North America and Japan as well as the postponing of the console's debut in Europe put Sony's strength in hardware in decline. Mr. Do Mr. Do! is a 1982 maze video game developed by Universal . It is the first arcade video game to be released as a conversion kit for other cabinets; Taito published the conversion kit in Japan. The game

1575-488: The stage. Rarely, dropping an apple reveals a diamond which, if collected, completes the level and awards a bonus credit to the player. Mr. Do! was created by Kazutoshi Ueda. It was inspired by the gameplay in Namco's Dig Dug game, similar to how many of Universal's other games took license from other companies' more successful games, e.g. Lady Bug (also designed by Ueda) being similar to Pac-Man . The idea for

1620-556: The system's developers moved into the games industry; Fatal Fantasy and Terra Incognita developer Mitsuru Kamiyama became director of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series at Square Enix. Others such as Magic Castle by Kaiga were pitched to various publishers but went unreleased until it was distributed online in 2021 by one of the original staff members. Ken Kutaragi Ken Kutaragi ( 久夛良木 健 , Kutaragi Ken , born 2 August 1950)

1665-546: Was Kutaragi able to complete the chip and keep his job. Even while working with Nintendo, within Sony, gaming was still regarded as a fad. Despite this hostile atmosphere to video games, Kutaragi managed to persuade Ohga into working with Nintendo to develop a CD-ROM add-on for the Super NES which would be released alongside a Sony branded console which could play both Super NES cartridges and CD games. These efforts resulted in

1710-408: Was a market not yet tapped by any of the available home consoles. Kutaragi later recalled staying up all night working on the console design for several nights in a row "because our work was so interesting." Despite being considered a risky gamble by other Sony executives, Kutaragi once again had the support of Ohga and several years later the company released the original PlayStation . The success of

1755-407: Was also provided. The access was restricted according to the kit's region of origin, which made collaboration between users in different territories impractical. The Yaroze's primary RAM was the same as the consumer's model (2 megabytes). Game code, graphics, audio samples and run-time libraries were limited to fit in the 2 MB of primary RAM, 1 MB of VRAM, and 0.5 MB of sound RAM, since

1800-510: Was among the thirteen highest-earning arcade games of 1983 in the United States, according to the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA). Computer and Video Games magazine gave the arcade original a positive review, stating that it "takes the best from" Dig Dug and said that improves on it. Computer and Video Games later rated the ColecoVision version 81% and Atari VCS version 77% in 1989. Computer Games magazine gave

1845-514: Was developed by Imagineer . The arcade version was released for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on April 27, 2010. Mr. Do! is credited as the first arcade game to be released as a conversion kit . Multiple clones of Mr. Do! were released for home systems, including Magic Meanies (ZX Spectrum), Henri (Atari 8-bit), Fruity Frank (Amstrad CPC, MSX), Mr. Dig (TRS-80 Color Computer, Atari 8-bit). and Mr Ee for

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1890-474: Was inspired by Namco's Dig Dug released earlier in 1982. Mr. Do! was a commercial success in Japan and North America, selling 30,000 arcade units in the US, and it was followed by several arcade sequels. The object of Mr. Do! is to score as many points as possible by digging tunnels through the ground and collecting cherries. The title character, Mr. Do (a circus clown—except for the original Japanese version of

1935-478: Was not successful, analysts also suspect that outgoing Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei had set up Kutaragi to fail, given that both men had a cool working relationship. Idei assigned Kutaragi the tedious task of turning around the consumer division which had already been falling behind competitors such as Samsung in the LCD market. Kutaragi's rival for the top position, Howard Stringer , was given the less difficult assignment of

1980-521: Was promoted to chairman of SCEI, and retained his position as chief executive officer of the group. On 26 April 2007, it was announced that Kutaragi would retire and instead take up the role of Honorary Chairman. Taking over his position would be then Hirai, who would eventually be promoted to president and CEO of Sony. On 29 June 2011, following the reshuffling of management, Sony announced that on 28 June 2011, Kutaragi had stepped down as honorary chairman of SCEI. Kutaragi relinquished active management of

2025-517: Was released in arcades by Electrocoin in 1988. Neo Mr. Do! , was developed by Visco and licensed by Universal for SNK 's Neo Geo system in 1997. Mr. Do! was adapted to Nintendo's Game Boy and Super NES with some new gameplay features. A rebranded adaptation of the game was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999 as Quest: Fantasy Challenge ( Holy Magic Century in Europe). It

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