New PlayStation console to have launch lineup for the books, says Sony. Improved power and smoother architecture focus of design.
Sony’s PS4 is but two months away from its NA launch and is slated to have “the neatest launch lineup in game history,” said Mark Cerny, PS4 lead architect, in a recent interview with Famitsu. Cerny attributes this accomplishment to Playstation 4’s “ease of development” and boost in performance; the sole objectives for the console’s design.
As reported by Polygon, making game development easier for all developers drove the team’s design research. “We asked assorted creators what kind of functionality we should put in, and we used their response as a base when we finalized the hardware architecture,” Cerny details. “We’re aiming not just for performance, but also an environment setup that allows for smooth PS4 game development.”
Speaking of performance, boosting the system’s power was just as much a priority as simplifying development for it. “Our performance goal was to produce specs ten times those of previous consoles, and as a result, I’m confident this is the best-performing game system in history,” notes Cerny.
The outcome of this design, according to SCE Worldwide Studios President, Shuhei Yoshida, allows developers to create advanced builds of games faster than last-gen. “Small-scale projects don’t even take a month to [become playable prototypes],” Cerny explains. “Even big titles can get rolling in two or three months. As a result, I think we’ve built one of the neatest launch lineups in game history.”
Varied ports might be a better way to describe the lineup. There’s no mistaking Minecraft, Warframe, Madden14, CODG and Assassin’s Creed 4 as current-gen titles. Because they are. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but most of the 19 launch titles are ports, save for a select few.
Truth be told, we won’t see how well the hardware’s ease of development truly is until year 2; if it’s as smooth as described. Not only will 3rd parties verify this, but indie studios as well, the latter of which are of big importance to Sony this gen.
The PlayStation 4 launches on November 15th of 2013 in NA, February 22nd of 2014 in Japan.
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