Mark Cerny: “PS4′s architecture offers more customization than PC”


PS4 architect Mark Cerny has revealed that the architecture of the PS4 will provide developers enough juice to beat the PC in customization efficiency. He further stressed that the PS4 will provide all developers- be it Indie or a triple-a powerhouse, to produce visual and technological marvels.

He said,“We wanted the focus to be on the games that the creative directors wanted to make, rather than the minutiae of the hardware. That’s universal. That’s true whether you’re talking Destiny with their 700-strong team or you’re talking one guy doing everything. They want to focus on the creative vision.”

“At the same time we have to balance that out with a rich feature set that they can use in the later years of the hardware. The hardware has to grow over time. That’s why I refer to it as a super-charged PC architecture – there’s more in it than what you find in a PC,” he added.

“There are all these customizations, such as what we did to the GPU and other parts of the system to ensure that they would really be these systems that programmers could dig into in year three or four of the console life-cycle.”

Cerny also stressed on the fact that it is the right time for developers to study the architecture of the console because it is not going to change for many years. The stable platform that consoles provide will enable them to learn its secrets and make optimal use of its potential.

“This is really important because some developers need five years to create a game. The fact that during that five year period the target hardware doesn’t change really allows them to bring titles to the world that couldn’t exist otherwise.” he said.

Do you agree with Cerny? Will PS4 be a better platform than PC? Do let us know your views.