Naughty Dog 'maxed out' the PS3 with Uncharted 2

by David Hinkle on Sep 11th 2009 2:20PM

Despite the copious amount of gigglebytes and Dilithium Crystals under the hood of the PS3, it's never enough for developers. Their lot is constantly pushing envelopes and raising bars everywhere they go -- and the fine folks at Naughty Dog are no exception. During a preview of Uncharted 2 at PAX, Naughty Dog's Amy Hennig commented that the first Uncharted game only managed to utilize a third of the PS3's power, but Naughty Dog has "maxed it out" for the sequel.

This is something Naughty Dog achieved by taking a lot of the processes on the main processor and shifting them onto the SPUs (which may be one of the reasons why it could never work on Xbox 360). This allowed the developers to significantly increase the quality of the animations and other aspects of the game, leaving the main processor to "focus on getting all of that richness in the backgrounds." Well, whatever that means, we're glad they did it. This game is purty.

Head past the break to watch the video interview -- around the 3:37 mark is where she starts talking about the powah of the PS3.

Source

Tags: naughty-dog, pax-2009, uncharted, uncharted-2, uncharted-2-among-thieves

Reader Comments (202)

In order words, Gabe Newell can go screw.

Until Naughty Dog can produce a game on par with Half-Life 2...they can go screw.

Gabe>EVERYONE!

....and not just because he's physically bigger than everyone >___>

Half-life fanboys are the worst kind of fanboys.

(With the exception of sonic fanboys)

Sonic fanboys are the most tragic fanboys.

All fanboys are terrible.

Feminists are worse than fanboys

...
...
...no, no they are not.

Halo fanboys are the worst. And not even the 14-year-old fanboys, they're expected to be obnoxious. The older ones are the worst.

They may have "maxed it out", but I'm sure there are many ways to continue optimizing the PS3 POWAH in countless other ways.

Uncharted 3 for instance will also max out the PS3, but will still look better and play better and sound better.

Yeah, They also said MGS4 would max out the PS3.

Get your facts straight. MGS4 maxed out the Dual-layer BluRay disc's storage capacity.

yup, maxed out doesn't mean the ps3 can't do more. maxed out means it can't do more in the same way. The reason that the ps3 is faster than the 360 isn't because the processor processes everything faster, it's because it processes a different type of code faster.

There are reasons why "maxing out the ps3" is a good thing and relevant. the biggest reason of course is that they didn't half-ass making the game like so many developers have before. That's an important thing to know, because if you don't use all the SPE's, you're not even using the ps3 like it's supposed to. It also means that sony wasn't lying to us when they said the ps3 is very powerful. That's still this idea out there that the ps3 is exactly as powerful as the 360, or even less so, or that it's impossible to code for. They say it's almost like a hardware difference since the first game, that's big PR and goodness.

If you max out a console, you're doing it wrong.

**Takes a look at Uncharted 2 Gameplay Vids**

I dont think they have done shit wrong sir...

You aren't saying that's the BEST POSSIBLE LOOKING, PLAYING, AND SOUNDING game on the PS3, are you?

I believe 100% that the game is maxing the console out, not the Cell Broadband Engine, but the fact that the memory levels in these consoles are so low. They have 512Mb shared on this system, and figure out how to allocate the memory is hard, and they probably maxed both graphical memory allocation as well as stored data memory. It's not hard when you look at all the things happening in the game scenes, that is a lot of data to move, and the memory just isn't there to do anything much more complex.

when someone says they "Maxed Out" a system it doesn't always mean it's heart (The Cell) it generally means the weakest point of the system, Memory.

as of right now....I'm going to have to say yes...it is...at the same time I would like to see the Killzone 2 Engine put to use on something with more color...I mean KZ2 looks GREAT but Helghan just looks like shit....

Helghan isn't supposed to look like a tropical paradise.

I know that...thats why I said we cant really see the depth of the EXTENT of KZ2s Engine....

Run any program in your computer and for a bit while the program starts the computer will be "maxed out". The same happens if you are using something like a 3D program to render. Your system resources will be maxed out.

Maxing out the system doesn't mean you are doing it wrong. It means that you are skilled enough to use ALL the resources available in the PS3. The SPE's, much ignored by many developers, are in use here. All of them. If you checked last week's train sequence video you saw how fluid the transition between animations was. Specially at the end when Nate opens the big compartment door and instead of just stopping next to the door like most games do he turned around the door while still holding to it. That's most likely one SPE exclusively handling all the motion mixing.

In other words, "maxing out" here means that they are using all the capabilities of the hardware. And that is actually great since it shows that the Cell and the entire structure of the PS3 works just like Sony claimed years ago.

Just so you know, Naughty Dog helped Guerilla Game to built their engine.

Just saying. ;)

@Hynad

And vice versa. Look at the credits for Uncharted if you don't believe me.

Just saying.

@ Hynad

"Just so you know, Naughty Dog helped Guerilla Game to built their engine."

And vice versa. Check the Uncharted credits if you don't believe me.

Just saying. ;P

Sorry to all if this is a double-post.

I bet that is not Really "Maxed Out"
There are always Optimizations and Improvements you can make in Code to Squeeze More and More out of the Game Engine.

I think they should say "We're Using all of the Processors in Uncharted 2 vs Uncharted 1 Which did not Utilize the SPUs as well as we could have"

yea they max out the console but not by being effichant. other devs will push the console further just to prove them wrong... and they will. just wait for better graphics engines and firmware updates.

Everyone knows that any better looking game after Uncharted 2 is based on the Naughty Dog resources. :P

No seriously, they're gonna be sharing their secrets.

I loved Uncharted, and Im sure to love Uncharted 2, but while Amy Hennig is doing awesome awesome work at Naughty Dog, Id like to see her put on loan back to Eidos to do another Legacy of Kain game.

Did you just compliment, positively and properly state your opinion, offer constructive criticism, then treat a woman as a living person?

On this site?

I think the Wii was maxed out at launch. ; )

That would explain the shit ton of Wii "accessories".

Your mom was maxed out in '83 ;)

I was going to do a dick joke, but Cody beat me to it.

By being one.

Until next time when they magically find more power for Uncharted 3.

I'm so tired of hearing this for what seems like every big PS3 exclusive.

I'm so tired of reading your complaints.

But he's actually right, though. It certainly isn't limited to PS3, though. I remember when Epic claimed that Gears 1 maxed out the 360, and then they, you know, made Gears 2.

Not limited to the two of them, either. Treyarch made the claim that World@War Wii was the best-looking thing for that console, and now they're making a similar claim for Modern Warfare. Capcom made that claim for MH3, but that one has been more or less corroborated by Nintendo themselves.

True that

@Ashitaka

I'm tried of your blind fanboyism.

Wait, someone is claiming that Modern Warfare for the Wii is the best looking game for the system? Isn't that the one with paper-thin guns and textures from the early 90's?

Damn Tmac, I been gone so long and I get back and you're constantly getting voted down. lol What happened?

I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED!!!

JOYSTIQ MERGED WITH PS3 FANBOY AND FUCKED EVERYTHING UP!!!!

There was an argument up there about which fanboys are the worst. Uhh, yeah...PS3 fanboys are the worst hands down. Vote me down until your dicks get hard but its the truth, bitches! lol

Side note, damnit I cant wait for Uncharted 2! =)

PS3 = good
PS3 fanboys = bad

There have been a certain new, horrible brand of ps3 fanboy that has spawned since Jebus got banned. It's almost like those spiders that you kill and a billion babies come pouring out.

They're annoying most of the veteran posters on here, and voting down and bashing anyone and anything that might even seem like it's talking bad about something Sony related. I'm trying to rally the troops and get the editors to start doing something about it.

The rational ps3 fanboys, like Sly and some others, are fine and have always been fine with me. But these recent tools have been making this place a living hell lately for everyone.

I hear ya brother. I don't have internet at work except when Im at lunch. What I do is copy and email myself certain posts that interest me along with comments and I remember reading one (might have been an Uncharted 2 or Forza 3 post not sure)where you were getting beat down by some poster named spider taco or some shit like tha and some others but yeah they were brutal. I wanted to jump in there soooo bad and talk shit lol but I was just reading an email. I'm lurking without really being on the net. haha! This place has gotten really bad. So Jebus got banned, again? Then I read Fernandy gets a PS3? All hell is breaking lose dude. lmao

Yeah all I said was that it was kinda crazy to be calling U2 goty when it's not out, no matter how good it looks and I got crucified for that. Yeah it was Spyder who started it all, but he has since made himself look very bad in the days after that. He's no longer much of a problem.

Fernando does have a ps3 now, we're even friends and I'm getting a Wii in December. Talk about a radical change huh lol. Jebus and Sprinkles got perma-banned, although Sprinkles found a way to come back. If it wasn't for those fanboys who sprouted up after Jebus, this place would actually be pretty damn peaceful.

@ Khan

I agree completely, most developers say this to promote their new games. tmaca was just being a dick for singling out PS3 exclusives.

@ tmaca

1. No.
2. I'm tired of your blind stupidity. Don't make me post what Koji wrote again.

This is one of them Fenix, although he's been around a while. Seems he was waiting for the right time to start acting like a bad fanboy.

tmacairjordan87 , you are an imbecile of the worst kind - the oblivious kind. You act as if your stating "I said it will be awesome" automatically prevents you from trolling. IT DOES NOT. Instead you have shown yourself to be more relentless in this thread than any fanboy.

You are far worse. You are an egoist. And egoist that always feels he is correct and can possess none of the mean spirited characteristics you so readily purport and accuse others of flaunting. You are wrong, you are a troll, an asshole, and a jerk of the highest magnitude.

Sometimes fans just want to discuss with fervor something they enjoy. You are the one social troglodyte that yells out the ending of a movie half way through it. You are a nuisance. I have seen plenty of people on this board banned for less and I look forward to the day they get around to squashing your disruptive ass.

There is an ocean of difference between fanboys running blindly down a street and fans hyped about the goodness of a product. You fail miserably to demonstrate any perception whatsoever of the differences. Stupidity, egoism, and sheer idiocy are no defense for your overbearing rudeness. Just leave."

From the Uncharted thread, by Koji.

Stupid fanboy is stupid.

You can add me on PS3 too, btw. Same as 360 tag.

I can max out a ps3 with an infinite recursive loop too.

Sometimes, when you combine two words that you have heard programmers use, you can make a third concept out of the phrase. Oftentimes, that phrase is also meaningful.

This isn't one of them.

Both systems probably have 2 and a half years before you see diminishing returns in development resources. Maybe 3 for the exclusives when they can focus on the specific advantages each machine has over the other.

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Naughty Dog 'maxed out' the PS3 with Uncharted 2

Reader Comments (202)

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