PS4 doesn’t have custom chips due to developer focused design

[claud3]

Sony’s Michael Denny has explained the reason why the company did not go with custom chips like the Cell processor. It’s a known fact that the processor was difficult for a lot of developers to get the hang of and plenty of them complained that it was a lot of work for them to offload GPU tasks on the SPUs.“I think the main reason behind it is that’s what the development

community wanted,” he told OPM. “That’s what the development community want in terms of ease of development and making the best games they possibly can.”“What we bring to the table as Mark was explaining last night was how we architect the system, to make it almost like a supercharged PC specifically for gaming. This is a multitasking system like most PCs are, but this is a still a console made for gaming with gaming at its heart.”He also

revealed that the high speed GDDR5 memory which is also something that’s not common on desktop PCs was a developer focused decision.“Making decisions like having the 8GB high speed system memory on board is just a massive win for developers in terms of the sort of games they can create and

the ease of game development.”The PS4 has a PC-based architecture and when you combine in the fast unified memory, the system becomes a completely different prospect than the PS3 for the developers. It will be released during the holiday season this year.

http://gamingbolt.com/ps4-doesnt-hav...focused-design

[Coconut_Crunch]

See this, it's Sony doing their homework and important research. This is what you get when you study and ask questions, Sony is very lucky to have a guy like Mark Cerny and the developers are lucky also.

[ps3freak18]

Kind of already knew this but hey.

[coolguy]

It was smart that sony went with an x86 cpu it will save them money and developers will be happy i think if the ps3 x86 chip things would be better

[PeanutButterMunky]

In other news, water is wet.

I'm glad Sony is actually listening to devs now, though.

[Insanehead]

Hopefully the start of seeing smaller developers producing one of those unique and daring games that would otherwise be ignored by big publisher (Echo Night, Miasmata, etc) which is sorely lacking in PS3.

[mickice]

See this, it's Sony doing their homework and important research. This is what you get when you study and ask questions, Sony is very lucky to have a guy like Mark Cerny and the developers are lucky also.

This is Sony wanting to be number 1 and they might honestly get it.

[Old Man Gamer]

K.I.S.S. - Keep it simple Sony. This is what MS did with the 360 (although I assume that it was to keep it cheap, not a result of listening to devs) and it worked.

[Coconut_Crunch]

Sony had an easy to develop for system which was their first console and that was the PS1. They are no strangers to easy to develop for, I kind of think they got carried away with all that high tech stuff. High tech doesn't not really keep up with PC's and the PS3 wasn't able to keep up within the first year. I think the lower cost RAM is the cause of us seeing more performance. Even if the graphics are a little jump but the performance is a bigger leap, I will be happy.

[Syphon_Filter]

So, what will happen to Sony cell CPU that they have? Why they didn't upgraded it or making it better?

[Coconut_Crunch]

So, what will happen to Sony cell CPU that they have? Why they didn't upgraded it or making it better?

it will just go down with the PS3 once the PS4 hits. I'm sure with companies like Blizzard, they will makes games for both the PS4 and PS3 with the PS4 launch, after that they will stop making games for the PS3 and concentrate on the PS4. The developers out there do not like the Cell, they hate it in fact. You can even tell that the studios that Sony owns also don't like it, they are more excited for the PS4. I think IBM fucked over Sony in a way in terms of ease of development and stuff. Who designed the chip, was it IBM and Toshiba with Sony funding it?

[mickice]

Even easy hardware these days is powerful and looks good, the need for specialty hardware is not really required.

[PeanutButterMunky]

it will just go down with the PS3 once the PS4 hits. I'm sure with companies like Blizzard, they will makes games for both the PS4 and PS3 with the PS4 launch, after that they will stop making games for the PS3 and concentrate on the PS4. The developers out there do not like the Cell, they hate it in fact. You can even tell that the studios that Sony owns also don't like it, they are more excited for the PS4. I think IBM fucked over Sony in a way in terms of ease of development and stuff. Who designed the chip, was it IBM and Toshiba with Sony funding it?

IBM has been using it in their supercomputers, so I'd imagine they may still keep doing that.

[Coconut_Crunch]

IBM has been using it in their supercomputers, so I'd imagine they may still keep doing that.

yea, that's IBM and the chip was used more towards server use then anything which is why I never understood why they even used it for a gaming console. I think it was pretty stupid and expensive. Of course BR players were very expensive and that was the main price hike for the PS3 but the Cell I don't think was cheap either. IBM can use that chip all they want, it doesn't mean it's doing good. in fact if the Cell was doing good then other companies would be using it which they're not.

[GreatSpaceKoaster]

See this, it's Sony doing their homework and important research. This is what you get when you study and ask questions, Sony is very lucky to have a guy like Mark Cerny and the developers are lucky also.

They didn't need to study or research anything. Sony heard the complaints about the Emotion Engine in the PS2 and Sony DIDN'T listen. Cuz they made the even harder to program Cell based PS3. Devs complained AGAIN and Sony FINALLY dropped the "we know better" attitude and gave devs what they wanted since the PS2... a powerful yet EASY to program hardware. No study or research needed.... they simply had to stop ignoring the devs and give them what they asked for going on 2 console generations. Wasn't exactly rocket science.

[Shingo]

Every step forward is belittled, every weak point is a huge matter. I agree with sony's ignorance towards costumers and devs like you stated a few times on another topics, yet after they slaped by xbox a little, which is needed time by time for every monopol company, I am sure now they are costumer oriented not as stupid as they used to be.

[mickice]

The reason Sony couldn't hear developers cries was because of Ken Kutaragi.The second Kazuo Hirai stepped in the PS3 had a huge turn around and actually started making Sony profits in that sector. Why else would neogaf worship him so much. Kaz could only fix what he was handed, now we have a fresh generation with the newly discovered old dog Mark Cerny to help guide the PlayStation domination.

[Coconut_Crunch]

They didn't need to study or research anything. Sony heard the complaints about the Emotion Engine in the PS2 and Sony DIDN'T listen. Cuz they made the even harder to program Cell based PS3. Devs complained AGAIN and Sony FINALLY dropped the "we know better" attitude and gave devs what they wanted since the PS2... a powerful yet EASY to program hardware. No study or research needed.... they simply had to stop ignoring the devs and give them what they asked for going on 2 console generations. Wasn't exactly rocket science.

They did, to research something is to study which Sony did do and they needed to do it. If you want a gaming console to get the support, you need to ask the developers what they would like and at least meet them half way. Study and research is needed in all big businesses that make a lot of money. Even Microsoft does all that stuff, so does APPLE and many others. You don't blindly come out with a product without seeing what others around you want, that's called infomercials, those programs where they sell you stuff at 3am.

[Varsh]

IBM has been using it in their supercomputers, so I'd imagine they may still keep doing that.

Toshiba also still use the CELL in their HDTVs.

[GreatSpaceKoaster]

They did, to research something is to study which Sony did do and they needed to do it. If you want a gaming console to get the support, you need to ask the developers what they would like and at least meet them half way. Study and research is needed in all big businesses that make a lot of money. Even Microsoft does all that stuff, so does APPLE and many others. You don't blindly come out with a product without seeing what others around you want, that's called infomercials, those programs where they sell you stuff at 3am.

If someone presents you with the problem "2 + 2", are you gonna break out a basic arithmetic book to STUDY addition in order to answer the question correctly? Of course not! Why? Cuz you knew the answer YEARS ago.

Sony knew the answer YEARS ago cuz the devs have been TELLING Sony, the gaming press and the public for the 13 years since the PS2's release. You wouldn't have to study for a test if someone was giving all the right answers would you? Well the devs have been giving 13 years of right answers.... no need to study anything. Sony had to simply listen, not study.

Then they decide to go with the most coded for architecture in history.... x86 based chips. They didn't need to study that either since it's been obvious for 25+ years now to everyone but Sony. Microsoft never had this issue with either the x86 based Xbox or the Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE)-LESS tri-core PowerPC chip.

Now they may need to study what worked and didn't work in the marketing of their consoles since that's a lot less obvious and complicated. But when it comes to what went wrong in ease of development for their PS2 and PS3, NO STUDY was needed. They've been hit over the head with it by the devs, the gaming press and the public gaming forums for 13 years now. Sony had to stop being stubborn and start LISTENING. Better late then never!

[Bigdoggy]

He is right and by the way I run my own business and I know for a fact that in order to make a business successful you have to do research, in this case Sony did do research. I really don't see how you are even debating this, that is just silly. o.O

It doesn't matter what answer you knew from how many years ago. What you obviously failed to understand was that from the PS1 to the PS3 there have been a few leaders leading Sony. Some were good and some were just bad (Howard Stringer). There is no debating this. lol

[PeanutButterMunky]

Toshiba also still use the CELL in their HDTVs.

Did not know that. :]

[Robardian]

If someone presents you with the problem "2 + 2", are you gonna break out a basic arithmetic book to STUDY addition in order to answer the question correctly? Of course not! Why? Cuz you knew the answer YEARS ago.

Sony knew the answer YEARS ago cuz the devs have been TELLING Sony, the gaming press and the public for the 13 years since the PS2's release. You wouldn't have to study for a test if someone was giving all the right answers would you? Well the devs have been giving 13 years of right answers.... no need to study anything. Sony had to simply listen, not study.

Then they decide to go with the most coded for architecture in history.... x86 based chips. They didn't need to study that either since it's been obvious for 25+ years now to everyone but Sony. Microsoft never had this issue with either the x86 based Xbox or the Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE)-LESS tri-core PowerPC chip.

Now they may need to study what worked and didn't work in the marketing of their consoles since that's a lot less obvious and complicated. But when it comes to what went wrong in ease of development for their PS2 and PS3, NO STUDY was needed. They've been hit over the head with it by the devs, the gaming press and the public gaming forums for 13 years now. Sony had to stop being stubborn and start LISTENING. Better late then never!

Its really the top brass that make the final decisions in the end. You know what I find funny is when developers say certain said tech is hard to develop for but when they actually try and go learn how to use it we get amazing games like we did on the ps2 and are still getting on the ps3. They always cry foul when something alien to them comes there way.

Sent from my HTC-PG762 using Tapatalk 2

[GreatSpaceKoaster]

He is right and by the way I run my own business and I know for a fact that in order to make a business successful you have to do research, in this case Sony did do research. I really don't see how you are even debating this, that is just silly. o.O

It doesn't matter what answer you knew from how many years ago. What you obviously failed to understand was that from the PS1 to the PS3 there have been a few leaders leading Sony. Some were good and some were just bad (Howard Stringer). There is no debating this. lol

You only do research when you don't know the answer. If we knew how to cure all cancer, we wouldn't keep putting money into research to find the cure.

You say you run a business? Let's say you run Sony. You've telling me when you already have been told by the people that know best.... the developers who make the games.... that you gotta make an easier to program console... that you are gonna fork out money to people to still research into it?

Researcher: Hey boss.... we found out what's wrong. The devs need an easier to program console.

Sony Boss: But I've known that for years.

Researcher: Yes... but we went as far as figuring out the easiest chip to develop for....the x86 platform.

Sony Boss: But I already knew that too. Why did I fork out big bucks for answers I already knew?

Researcher: Cuz you're stubborn, deaf, blind and wanted to waste money?!? I don't know. You'll have to ask yourself that question.

[Two4DaMoney]

Fact of the matter is, they went and asked these devs what they wanted. They came through on their word based on what these devs are saying about the ps4. The b.o.m isn't costing them an arm and a leg for the ps4 and that was confirmed by Yoshida(sp?). Highly customized pc parts;keeping the price down;easy to develop for = win.

edit:nvm