If you think SCE and Kutaragi planned for the $599 price point instead of having to pick up something like that not to have an even worse bloodbath in terms of losses per unit sold then you are mistaken and perpetuating a myth that has comedy effect as its main value. PS3 suffered greatly from an unexpected massive supply chain issue with Blu-Ray components, "last minute" GPU switchover, and yes Some bits such as SACD support, 4 USB ports, and Memory Stick/Compact Flash/SD Card slots could have been shelved and it might have helped, but their impact on the cost was probably not massive.
Kutaragi's legacy is way bigger than PS3... SNES audio processor, PS1, PS2, PSP, and PS3... Not to mention the birth of SCE as a unit, the consolidation of Sony semiconductor efforts, the late for Sony but a good try nonetheless joint venture with Samsung on LCD panels (started under Kutaragi soon after he got the position to make a push for such deals), etc... Initial price issues aside, PS3 too was a great PlayStation entry, but it is unfair to say that he could only preside on over engineered super costly products.