At the time, Sega of Japan and Sega of America ran as separate entities, and relations were not always smooth. Some of this conflict may have been caused by Sega president Hayao Nakayama and his admiration for Sega of America; according to former Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske, "There were some guys in the executive suites who really didn't like that Nakayama in particular appeared to favor the US executives. A lot of the Japanese executives were maybe a little jealous, and I think some of that played into the decisions that were made." By contrast, author Steven L. Kent wrote that Nakayama bullied American executives and believed the Japanese executives made the best decisions. According to Hector, after the release of the Sony PlayStation in 1994, the atmosphere at Sega became political, with "lots of finger-pointing".