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Jack Tretton is the former President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), a division of Sony Computer Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. He is primarily responsible for the company's United States market.

Career

After graduation from Providence College with a science degree, New England-born Tretton became a territory manager for the Duracell battery company from 1983 through 1985. He served as vice president of sales at Activision from 1986 to 1991, and as general manager of JVC Musical Industries’ game division from 1991 to 1995. While at JVC, he was awarded Sega’s CD Game of the Year Award two years in a row.

After joining the Sony Corporation in March 1995, Tretton was a member of the team that founded PlayStation in September of that year. He was involved in the development and publishing of the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 game consoles, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Move, and PlayStation Vita.

In November 2006, Tretton was promoted to president and chief executive officer for Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Tretton presented the Sony E3 conferences from 2007-2012.

In May 2010, Tretton appeared alongside Kevin Butler in an Artist Spotlight video for ModNation Racers.

Professional Reputation

Jack Tretton is known for making a number of controversial comments, which detractors claim are belittling and uninformed, including referring to the Wii as a "lollipop" and the Xbox 360 an "unreliable cook." Most recently, in touting Sony's upcoming portable gaming device, the PlayStation Vita, Tretton noted that the competing Nintendo 3DS provides a "Game Boy experience", claiming adults would not want to be seen using one.

Our view of the 'Game Boy experience' is that it's a great babysitting tool, something young kids do on airplanes, but no self-respecting twenty-something is going to be sitting on an airplane with one of those. He's too old for that.

— Jack Tretton

Despite his comments in 2011, he later stated on February 22, 2012 (North American launch of the Vita) that he's "a believer in a rising tide lifting all boats," and that "a successful Nintendo or a successful gaming industry is good for anybody that's in the gaming business."

Personal

He was born in the New England region of the United States of America. Tretton works with the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California – which is affiliated with the Stanford University School of Medicine. He works with the hospital’s administration to provide the children with PlayStations and games.

References

1. Ben Popken. "Reach PlayStation's CEO".
2. Gibson, Ellie (November 30, 2006). "Sony announces major reshuffle". GamesIndustry.biz. Eurogamer Network Ltd. Retrieved January 24, 2010.(registration required)
3. ^ "MCV LEGENDS - Jack Tretton". MCV. Intent Media. April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
4. Chuck Lacson (May 17, 2010). "ModNation Racers Artist Spotlight: Kevin Butler…'Nuff said". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
5. Vicious Sid (July 17, 2007). "Sony's Jack Tretton: Wii is a "lollipop", 360 an "unreliable cook"". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2010-10-03. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
6. Tom Goldman (April 8, 2011). "Sony: Nintendo Handhelds Aren't for Self-Respecting Adults". The Escapist. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
7. http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219162p1.html

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