PS4 system architect: we had 'completely the wrong attitude' with PS3

Mark Cerny, system architect of PS4, admits that while PS3 was a powerful console, they had "completely the wrong attitude" going into that generation of hardware.

14

In many ways, PS4 represents a complete turnaround for Sony. While PS3 was a $599 beast of a console packed with a bizarre proprietary Cell chip, PS4 is a cheaper, developer-friendly system that utilizes familiar x86 architecture. Why did Sony's approach to PS4 change so drastically?

Mark Cerny, system architect of PS4, admits that while PS3 was a powerful console, they had "completely the wrong attitude" going into that generation of hardware.

When first presented the Cell chip, Cerny admits that he "wasn't thinking about the practical reality of making a game with SPUs." Speaking at Gamelab 2013, Cerny said that he was "ashamed" to admit that "I never imagined that the cost of Cell would be one of the factors that caused the PS3 to ship at a price of $599."

"I was just staying focused on the task at hand, which was to best use the chip that had already been designed," he added.

Working with Sony's software development team, he was tasked with trying to figure out how to make games on Cell. By working internally to solve the puzzle of Cell, Cerny said that "we had a tremendous lead over every third-party team that would try to make games for the platform. The third parties hadn't even been briefed yet, let alone start work on their PS3 engines."

"Our feeling was that Electronic Arts and Rockstar better watch out--our proprietary first party systems were going to show them who had the right stuff," Cerny said. "This was, of course, completely the wrong attitude, but at the time, we just didn't know any better."

"We were all working on behalf of Sony Computer Entertainment's US game teams, and we were just thinking about our individual game titles. We weren't thinking about the platform at all," Cerny pointed out. At launch, developers were not happy with PS3.

A few years after the launch of PS3, Sony had to begin planning its next-generation console. With the help of Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida, Cerny became chief architect of PS4. Surprisingly, Cell was still something that Sony was considering for PS4, even in spite of outspoken issues with development. "The most obvious path forward was to continue to use Cell," Cerny said. "Though the learning curve had been steep, it was clear that mastery of SPUs was leading to some amazing titles, like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune... it was definitely an option to continue using Cell, perhaps even enhancing it, making it more powerful and easier to use."

Ultimately, Cerny decided to talk to third-parties about what they wanted from Sony's next console, taking the opposite approach to PS3's design. The early feedback on PS4, so far, has been quite positive.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 28, 2013 12:00 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, PS4 system architect: we had 'completely the wrong attitude' with PS3.

    Mark Cerny, system architect of PS4, admits that while PS3 was a powerful console, they had "completely the wrong attitude" going into that generation of hardware.

    • reply
      June 28, 2013 1:12 PM

      Doesn't sound too far off from the attitudes that pretty much all the big Japanese console manufacturers had in the 16, 32/64-bit generations. Develop powerful hardware that is difficult to develop for unless you are part of the inner-circle (1st Party), and then trickle out bits of info and hardware tricks to your favorite devs in order to ensure a long, gradually improving lineup of titles that are more likely to stay exclusive to your hardware due to the difficulty of porting to "that other Japanese company"'s difficult to develop for hardware. On top of whatever exclusivity deals they had back in those days, this reversal of planned obsolescence was used to keep third-parties from maxing out the hardware too soon and causing the system to peak in popularity. Nintendo and Sega were notorious for this back in the late 80's and throughout the 90's (except for the Sega Dreamcast of course), and Sony continued the tradition when they entered the market with the PSOne.

      Sony assumed that this would be the case going into it's third generation of Playstation hardware, but underestimated Microsoft and their ability to court more western developers with hardware that was easier to max out but bore more resemblance to PCs, which made for easier porting. Once the artificial barriers of proprietary hardware began breaking down, Microsoft began to gain ground, while Sony's stubborn attachment to the old way of doing things ended up being their downfall with the Cell Processor and Blu-Ray, which brought the PS3 to market a year late, $200 too expensive and still sorely lacking in areas that developers wanted (e.g. RAM).

      Sony's managed to turn it around, and I'm convinced they're on the right track this time. Microsoft, on the other hand, almost went down the dangerous path Sony did at this year's E3, but thankfully there's still time for them to turn things around as well, and learn from Sony's past mistakes as well as their own.

      • reply
        June 28, 2013 1:16 PM

        +inf

      • reply
        June 28, 2013 1:18 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          June 28, 2013 1:31 PM

          Compared to other contemporaries of its generation, the Saturn and the N64, definitely, but it wasn't "easy". It was still common practice to give preferential treatment to first party devs and specific third party devs in terms of SDKs and support. Sega was the worst offender, the stuff they gave to third parties was a joke more or less, and was a big factor in their eventual bowing out of the console race.

          • reply
            June 28, 2013 2:08 PM

            [deleted]

            • reply
              June 28, 2013 11:16 PM

              I remember vaguely about the PS1 making a big deal about middleware to help developers out in the beginning.

        • reply
          June 28, 2013 1:35 PM

          I remember Sega had a system that had two processors and that it was a nightmare.

      • reply
        June 28, 2013 5:12 PM

        Great post. My concern is with a lot of the freezing during E3 with the console (heat dispersion issue?) that they can iron all that out before release in a few months.

        • reply
          June 28, 2013 5:53 PM

          Since we don't know what caused that, there is no reason to draw that conclusion. I suspect they have already fixed whatever was causing it, since they were not running on final hardware.

        • reply
          June 28, 2013 7:34 PM

          Freezing in unfinished software is almost always due to software bugs, not heat issues

        • reply
          June 28, 2013 8:55 PM

          It would probably shut off if it was overheating like almost every other piece of electronics does when a temperature is reached. The only exception I can think of is the iphone.

      • reply
        June 28, 2013 5:29 PM

        Good post!

      • reply
        June 28, 2013 5:50 PM

        Didn't mean to lol this, it's right on.

    • reply
      June 28, 2013 1:19 PM

      it seems console makers say this every generation when they come out with a new product. oh those mistakes we made last time...no this time its different!

      • reply
        June 28, 2013 11:02 PM

        Well nobody can cry this round because everyone is using x86

    • reply
      June 29, 2013 8:57 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      June 30, 2013 8:43 PM

      First thing to overcome a problem is to admit it is a problem and Sony has done that. They look like they are turning things around from the loss of market share from xbox 360 this gen. Competition is great for consumers and this is a great example of how it drives intuition and innovations from competing companies in this awesome videogaming industry.

      I might come back to sony if they show progress as they promised with PS4 but I'm still a Xbox One buyer day one due to games I want to play (Forza, COD, TitanFall, Halo, Dead Rising, Quantum Break, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Battlefield) Oh and I prefer the controller as well.

      • reply
        July 1, 2013 2:48 AM

        i am seriously shocked that they managed to do it after some of the comments from the ps3 launch. if nintendo had managed to do it the wii 2 wouldn't be dead in the water at this point.

Hello, Meet Lola