Sony has learned a lot of lessons this generation, chief of which is that making hardware easy to develop on is critical to gaining developer support. The PlayStation 3’s cell processor was counter-intuitive, but the PlayStation 4 has turned things around in a big way.
During an interview with PlayStation LifeStyle, PS4 lead system architect Mark Cerny revealed just how little effort it takes to port PC games to PS4. He said:
Anecdotally for the indie titles I’ve been hearing 4 weeks to bring a game from PC to the PS4, which is quite fast. For some of the AAA titles I’ve been hearing 2 months, which is also quite fast, and that has really helped us in creating that strong launch line-up.
The ease of development also means ports will be much higher quality. No more major differences between platforms, and its 8GB of GDDR5 will ensure that memory won’t pose a problem like it has for the PS3. Some developers, such as Braid‘s Jonathan Blow and the Planetside 2 development team, have even stated that PS4 will have an advantage over PCs because of its balance of processing power and optimization.
Sony has put itself in a position where it appears to be prepared for the demands of consumers and developers alike without compromise. Whether or not that’ll turn into success has yet to be decided, though.
