Naughty Dog says no new engine for next gen PS4? I’m concerned, are you?

SchollA from Console ControllUs writes:
(Singing) No new engine, No new engine, No new engine, No No New…still using the same engine from day one… Excuse me while I remix DJ Khaled’s ”No New Friends”.

Just poking fun, but on a serious note this piece was set to be written awhile ago. I drew some real concern right around the time when I first read the news of Naughty Dog choosing not to upgrade their engine for the next generation console of games on the PlayStation 4. Here’s why.

[xReDeMpTiOnx]

Not worried about it, it's ND they have presented us with several masterpiece titles and the change of direction of titles while proving they can do it.

No need to fear Naughty Dog is Here!

[HammadTheBeast]

Here's the thing.

The Last of Us managed to surpass the graphical capabilities of Uncharted 2, arguably one of the best-looking console games this Gen, just with some time on the PS3.

Just imagine what they can do with all new hardware.

Edit: Just for you ibeenwaitingpatient. Titanfall runs on the Source engine. 2005 tech yo.

To everyone else, please ignore the last line.

[MWong]

I agree. TLOU was one of this current generations most beautiful and impressive games. They are going to bring this engine to the PS4 and just because they bring the engine over doesn't mean they wont tweak it.

If this was another company I would be concerned. But ND has an amazing track record, from UC 1-3 & TLoU.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Anyone who says this is a bad thing either

a) doesn't know a thing about game engines, or
b) is being a snob

Havok has been in use for over 10 years. That Xbox One shooter everyone was going ga-ga over, Titanfall? Built in an engine from 2004.

"Engines" aren't something that need to change every generation.

[n4rc]

So true.. They are scalable.. People on here have no clue what these engines are capable of..

I wouldn't worry about it..until I see something to worry about at least

[dark-hollow]

True, a lot of games with gorgeous graphics are made with updated old engines that some of them even predate the current generation.

Building a new engine from scratch takes a very long time and cost a lot of money.

[cyguration]

Exactly this.

A lot of people also don't know that "current gen" game engines are downscaled for today's current generation consoles.

Many engines have been underutilized because they've scaled well beyond the capabilities of the PS3 and Xbox 360.

I was pretty sure ND had already showcased a high-poly version of Drake in their engine before he went into the low-poly version for use in Uncharted 3 on the PS3.

More than anything they're just going to iterate and optimize the engine for the PS4. Making a new engine based on one that was never fully utilized on the PS3 would be a huge waste.

[minimur12]

Havok isn't a full game engine, it is a physics emgine and (obviously) provides the physics to the game.

Havok is updated year on year just look at their website.

But essentially I agree, an engine built in '04 is still providing services to a high percentage of games in the industry.

[badz149]

it's true that game engines are usually scale-able but it's also true that some game engines don't age that well and need to make way for new ones. cases for example, engine used on CoD, UE3 and Valve's Source Engine.

I consider these engines as the lowest common denominators at the moment and it's actually quite telling if a mid-range pc (I really meant mid-range, not 7850 mid-range but even lower) can have max setting with 30fps...at least!

I'm not going to throw random specs here but no matter how they customize them, these engines have already past their prime and I think we all agree that CoD Ghost doesn't look very good, Portal 2 has an outdated look and almost all UE3 games look like games on a budget!

[Ju]

Well, don't bring up Titanfall and Source Engine. It lacks on all ends:

- No HDR lighting
- No dynamic shadows
- No environmental animation
- No destruction

That's quite what that means. Pretty yes, but last gen tech.

With that said, though, that doesn't mean ND has to start over from scratch. I am quite sure their next iteration of the same engine will probably support all that. Just because they say they are not writing a new engine doesn't mean, that wasn't planned all along.

Guerilla added all that in KZ:SF and more and it's still based on the "old" Killzone engine. Heck, Cambridge ported this to the Vita and the result is THE best looking game on the handheld.

[thekhurg]

I'm very worried. Their current engines were built for an overly complex cell processor not standard x86 configuration.
I'd rather they built something appropriate to the hardware then try to excessively modify existing work.

[shivvy24]

Engines can always be tweaked and improved

[Ju]

Actually, code designed for SPUs runs quite well on the PS4. Sony even is about to port SPURS to the PS4. SPURS is a SPU based job manager which can distribute jobs to SPUs - and on the PS4 to either compute (GPU) or the x86 cores (or both).

Job based systems are the future in gaming. And the CELL contributed quite a bit to this development.

[thekhurg]

If they was the case they would have simply upgraded Cell. Cerny purposefully didn't do this because Cell was a clusterf*** processor that developers couldn't get a grasp of.

They're able to port code over because the PS4 can brute force it. Naughty Dog is simply going to have to put in additional effort to tune their engine for the PS4. They're not even going to be able to use the same compilers.

All this news is saying is that ND is going to be out of next-gen for a bit while they rework their engine.

[Ju]

PS4 can support brute force porting but it will shine with the proper approach - and that's not porting PC code. Read the KZ tech presentation:

http://www.guerrilla-games....

It explains how jobs work, how threading can be optimized, and how bandwidth can be maximized. You can't just throw a "PC engine" at it and hope it will "just run". It will run good enough, but not to it's full potential.

Unfortunately, multiplatform games will have troubles in that area:

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

"Compute is the new SPU" and in fact the APU is just so much cheaper and has a lower TDP and smaller die size.

[DeadlyFire]

I wouldn't worry about them porting the engine over much. PS3/X360 can do 200-400 Gigaflops right?

PS4 can do 1843.2 Gigaflops. Thats a big difference. If your making a game within the first year of the new console's lifespan. Taking the old engine over to the new system is ideal. It wouldn't take much work to get it working on the new hardware and it could run with higher framerates effortlessly as long as you code it right. Shadow Fall is the best example of this so far.

Also easier to say port a game to PS3 if you keep the same game engine. It needs support along its next 5-7 years as well.

[imt558]

Yes! Really not worried about it. Look what Quantic Dream has done with Dark Sorcerer which use a PS3 development tools from Beyond.:)

[ArchangelMike]

The graphical leap for Uncharted to Uncharted 2 using the same engine was amazing. Imagine the graphical leap from TLOU to TLOU 2!!!

[showtimefolks]

Its ND so why are you worried Again?

RS are also using their same engine and just look at the difference from GTA4,RDR,Max Payne 3 and now GTA5

Stop worrying valve has been using source engine for a decade

ND
Sony Santa Monica

Both have their own tech teams so making a new engine won't be an issue since their engine teams are separated from their development side

Last of us at launch with PS4 make it happen Sony, ports taking 2-3 months on ps4 so it's not out of question

[MazzingerZ]

They said it was prepared to be upgradable without needed to rewrite it. That's building smart and cost effective, anyone that works with programming knows that's always the goal when designing a new program, module or system.

[adorie]

There's no need for concern. They create high-HIGH resolution assets then downsize for PS3. They can easily work with PS4 and squeeze out it's potential. Especially since, I think ICE Team is in the same building. Lmao.

[wtopez]

Yup! I think it's safe to say that ND knows what they're doing.

[C4rnos]

Agreed, not to mention Naughty Dog is one of Sony's most important developers; and they have worked closely together for the PS2 and PS3 launch, just have a watch of Mark Cerny's recent talks..

[FunkMacNasty]

Agreed. And in addition to Naughty Dog being truly talented devs, we are still playing games on current gen systems that are running on engines that were orignally designed years ago. Quake engine anyone?? Talented devs can take an old engine and present a great game on it.

I;m sure whatever ND puts out for the Ps4 will truly be "next-gen".. I'm not worried about what engine they use

[kenshiro100]

ND is amazing. Whatever game they choose to do, I'm sure will be excellent. I still need to get Last of Us since I'm strapped for money atm but I hope their next game is a ninja action game. Idk, I just had a strange dream about that.

[Thatguy-310]

With a few tweaks I don't think we can worry. I mean look how amazing the uncharted series and the last of us looks. Plus with the more available ram this Gen I'm positive they can produce something outstanding. Naughty Dog=Brilliance.

[Scholla]

True! But like I mentioned in the article we may have gotten those type of quality games because they made a brand new engine that was built to take advantage of the PS3's technology and power.

Look at all the games that didn't build a engine from scratch coming from the PS2 to the PS3 or Xbox 360. Look how old and dated and far behind those games looked and played compared to ND.

I just don't want ND to become them. Now they potentially become the company with the old outdated engine. I don't want that to happen.

[akaFullMetal]

You mean like from god of war 2 to 3 or killzone 3 to killzone shadow fall. Those are using engines not built for the newer consoles, and those look amazing. You don't have anything to worry about.

[jc48573]

I don't think people have any idea how hard it is to come up with a "new" engine.

[Scholla]

Yeah,it's probably ultra hard (I could only imagine) But somehow someway we have to figure out how to push the genre forward.

[JP1369]

The engine building genre?

[iceman06]

This will happen during this generation. It just isn't feasible to do it right off the bat. These engines alone take years to develop. Let alone developing a game along with the engine. ND have pretty much perfected theirs. I am sure that it is completely scalable and since it is just PC code (incredibly complicated PC code), it shouldn't be that difficult to port and perfect for now. Once Sony and others start to use the power in different, innovative ways and as they share information. They might, indeed, need to create a new engine.

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

Maybe they're not making a new engine so they can put their games on both PS3 & PS4 to make more of a profit.

[M-M]

Why should we be worried? First of all, it's Naughty Dog. Secondly, if your current engine looks and runs great, then why not build from that and make it better? It would cost too much money to create a new engine from scratch.

[Scholla]

It seems the consensus here is you all trust ND to do what they always do and that's produce high quality product -- me too, they've earn it. It's just....

I think we all could agree "New on New is better than Old on New" Think about it, would you rather have 1080p upscaled or "true" 1080p?

[jc48573]

are we also not forgetting Sony's ICE Engine team? Most of Sony games are built around resources and programs built by ICE.

[shivvy24]

And the resources are shared between first party devs

[Silly gameAr]

It's Naughty dog. No worries here.

[BattleTorn]

People disagree with you as if you're stating something biased.

It's Naughty Dog - take a look at their pedigree - no worries whatsoever

[adorie]

Naughty Dog, Best of Show.

[Sharius]

well, im not an engineer so as long as thier games are good then i dont care which engine they use

[ExCest]

Except computer programmers and designers make game engines, not engineers. But, agreed.

[Sharius]

well, the word "engineer" i used it's a meme

[ExCest]

@^

Oh. Then I probably never seen the meme before or did not understand it in that context.

Memes have taken a back-seat in my internet vocabulary recently.

I guess I'll research it and get back to you to either apologize or stand my ground. Either, or.

And I'm back without a clue of what meme you're referring to.

[Lwhit6]

I say it's better. It'll give them more time to perfecting the current engine and utilizing it to it's full potential. Less time on engine, more time on gameplay. Simple.

[ape007]

let the damage control begin, remember all sony fans bashing CoD for not using a new engine?

[Majin-vegeta]

Here's the difference between both engines.One makes the game look current gen and the other makes the other one look like 2006.

[n4rc]

But cod sucks balls and desperately needs a new engine.. Hell they need a new developer..

Lots of people love ND games so its not something high on the list of priorities.. Let's face it.. Nd is part of Sony and they aren't exactly rolling in dough ATM. Why do what isn't needed?

But cod makes a gazillion dollars and fans deserve some money and effort put into it

[Hicken]

Most of your comment is fairly true. But you just couldn't put your fanboysim aside; you HAD to take a dig at Sony, didn't you?

[n4rc]

Holy crap.. Honestly dude, Sony isn't gods gift to the world, they aren't perfect.. You don't see me getting all upset when someone mentions Microsoft and isn't singing their praises Lol.. Only when people lie and spread bs.

They are having some financial troubles.. As the parent company of naughty dog, that effects them to some degree.. I simply pointed out that when they are publicly and critically acclaimed, they don't need to spends millions on a new engine ..

Its not a dig.. Its a complement with a fact thrown in..

Gotta be less sensitive :p

All in good fun tho

[hellvaguy]

Its just Hicky spouting off again with his personal attacks. Irl he has foam from the mouth most of time due rabbies infection.

[Hicken]

If they can afford the R&D for a brand new console- two, if you include the Vita- for all these recent years where they suffered financial trouble, if they could invest nearly $400 million acquiring cloud services, if they can afford to fund roughly thirty in-house games for the first year of that new console, if they can afford to push 4K TVs... you see where I'm going with this?

Compared to the money they're spending elsewhere, the cost of a new engine would be a drop in the bucket.

Bottom line was: Sony's money issues aren't a factor in this. It was simply an opportunity for you to take a shot at them. I called you out on fanboyism because anyone who's read your comments can see Sony is far from a company you like; there's no sensible reason for you to mention Sony's financial condition unless you've got some sort of agenda.

"Only when people lie and spread bs," huh?
http://n4g.com/comments/red...
http://n4g.com/comments/red...
http://n4g.com/comments/red...
http://n4g.com/comments/red...
http://n4g.com/comments/red...
http://n4g.com/comments/red...
http://n4g.com/comments/red...

There's a lot of defending MS and attacking PS fans based on lies and BS in there. Or is that some other n4rc?

@hellvaguy: What personal attack? Between his past comments and the unnecessary line in THIS one, claiming it was influenced by his bias is a reasonable response.

Certainly more reasonable than saying someone has "rabbies."

[Riderz1337]

Compare CoD graphics to Uncharted 3 or the Last of Us. CoD NEEDS a new engine, Naughty Dog does not.

[iBlackyi]

Rly? Cod uses a fucking old engine which is horribly outdated. Uncharted and The Last Of Us look amazing, thats why they dont need a new engine.

Or do you think Crytek should now do a new engine because they have the same engine since Crysis?

Use...your...brain...those fucking fanboys on N4G, its ridicolous.

[THC CELL]

The engine is perfect. Ai in the last of us is amazing.

[leogets]

lol I guess looking at ya disagrees a lot of people played it on pussy mode.. and they call emselves gamers..psh!

[itBourne]

I am utterly amazed at how many people, who have been playing games for 10 years+, played the game on normal. Its a complete different experience, and it saddens me that probably more then half the people experienced in my opinion the lesser version.

[iBlackyi]

Why has someone disliked this? play the game on survivor u pussys and you will see how good the AI is.

[FlunkinMonkey]

people disagreeing haven't played it regardless of difficulty setting.

[windblowsagain]

Not worried.

Uncharted 1,2,3 are all excellent. And the last of us is as well.

Remember the animations, textures etc.

Uncharted 4.

1080p/AA Much higher quality textures, Smooth animations as usual, Higher quality models, shaders, lighting etc will get a nice bump in quality.

You know the scene on the ship in Uncharted 3 and the water in general, Physics based.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Can't wait to see UNCHARTED 4 PS4.

Remember Naughty Dogs engine is Amazing with spu's as is Killzones and that's one of the reasons it'll be sweet on PS4.

[_-EDMIX-_]

1k% AGREED! I mean DAMN PEOPLE! First, they have zero clue about weather or not COD's engine is even scaleable. From what I've seen from CODGHOST...its looks like a PS3 game.

Second, ND new engine was made with next gen in mind, they've made it pretty damn scaleable. ie your PERFECT example of Crysis! I mean, if CryEngine was made and lets say its first game came out this year on PS3, you would think "damn...its looks great!"

Oh...they are using the same engine for PS4? Not knowing that "engine" does not = "how good the game will look"

Again...compare Crysis 1 on low settings...now compare Crysis 1...on ULTRA SETTINGS!

Stand back everyone...megaton being dropped! .....DA SAME ENGINE!

DAT LOGIC! I'm very much ok with them using the same engine, engine is merely a tool set, not sure why they would need to make new ones as suppose to just updating them.

[ianblake]

no i am not

[Fireseed]

As long as they update the engine to support the new shaders everything will be fine. Some people have this weird idea that you need to rebuild the engine from the ground up every time you make a game.

[DimensionalSound]

If Naughty Dog announced that a new Uncharted game was coming out once a year, then I'd be worried. Their engine is fantastic--why would anyone be concerned?

[MultiConsoleGamer]

No.

[CaptainYesterday]

As long as they can upgrade the current engine it make it look and work well on PS4 I don't really care I'm sure they will create a new engine eventually. Anyways I can't wait to see what Naughty Dog is going to do on the PS4 we all know they're going to make some amazing games :)

[Roper316]

LOL, out of all the console developers out their the last team I would worry about is ND. IMHO they have destroyed
every other console developer with their games in every aspect.

If ND says the engine is good enough for next gen I believe them based on their past games.

[CGI-Quality]

I wouldn't say I'm concerned, but I was a tad disappointed when I first heard this. That said, if there's any team that I put 100% faith in regarding PlayStation tech, it's these guys!

[OC_MurphysLaw]

How can anyone be "concerned" when you haven't seen what their engine can do on next gen? I mean if we saw screenshots that look like the current gen Watch Dogs game on next gen hardware then sure I am concerned. But The Last of Us looked great on current gen and gives me no cause to pause and think it wont perform well on the PS4.

[nthstew]

just play last of us its looks like a next gen

[_QQ_]

It doesn't look next gen, but that doesn't have to do with the engine.

[Elda]

I trust ND they are a multi million dollar professional game developing company that are extremely gifted at their craft.

[coolasj]

It's called scalable engines. Their Naughty Dog. They'll give us the best games they can.

[Destrania]

Um, no

[CLOUD1983]

Who cares about better graphics in a ND game seriously.. wasn't what we see on TLOU more than enough? what else can we possibly ask? those graphics is perfect what we need is moAr games like TLOU this game was phenomenal it was out of this world it was unbelievable ND surpass their selves can't praise them enough for what they did, can't w8 to see what else they have in store for us :)

[Master-H]

ND can make their next-gen game with their ps1 engine for all i care and i definitely will still buy it.

[cyclindk]

Not terribly, as long as they have a solid foundation for designing their games with it and it scales appropriately.

They do some of the best work.

[GUYwhoPLAYSvideoGAME]

heck no

the last of us wasn't running on cryengine, but it looked better than even games like crysis 3.

the art and design naughty dog pushes out doesn't require the best engine out at the time to be marveled at.

heck, i'd go as far to say that even if during next gen nd only developed on ps3 and kept the exact same engine without refining it they'd still have the most beautiful games out there

[PrinceOfAnger]

the last of us wasn't running on cryengine, but it looked better than even games like crysis 3"

http://www.gamersyde.com/po...

http://cdn.ientry.com/sites...

[GUYwhoPLAYSvideoGAME]

that's not my point, my point is that the games naughty dog makes have amazing art and design to the point that even though they don't technically have the best graphics, their games typically look better even then the ones that do.

[MartinB105]

Those concerned simply have no idea from what a game engine is. They just think "Same engine == same graphics".

Here's the deal (and yes, I am a game developer): Game engines are developer toolkits that allow developers to bring their visions to life much more easily. A good engine should designed in a manner that is generic enough to support expansion as well as increasingly complex assets and content that may be on use only to future hardware, in addition to the projects of the current day.

If Naughty Dog say that they don't need a new engine, then that means their existing engine is already good enough for the next generation, and I for one believe them if they say that.

[Coach_McGuirk]

don't you know what website this is? of course the people here aren't going to be worried.. they worship ND.

[jimmywolf]

to be fair, give credit were credit is do. what was the last game a Microsoft team made that push the bar?

[shivvy24]

I think its gears or war back in 2006 ! Cant remember any since !

[rezzah]

What's your point?

Can someone not be worried and not worship ND?

[_QQ_]

yes they can, but alot of people here do worship ND.

[Salooh]

Who wouldn't after playing Crash , Jack&Daxter , Uncharted and TLOU ?. Only zombies hate Naughty Dogs .

[Silly gameAr]

Anybody that likes good games should have at lest a little respect for ND. They make great games. You're the one who made it into a fanboy think, like most of the people like you usually do.

[Coach_McGuirk]

whoa, geez guys i never said didn't enjoy ND's games.. lol. I was just saying that's a stupid thing to ask because you already know what the comments section is going to be filled up with. Sensitive bunch here.

[TheOneEyedHound]

Not at all.

[SpecialK]

A lot of "new" engines these days are built from the foundations of old engines.

So no, not worried at all. The first lot of games will be like the first lot on this gen, better but not WOW. It'll be a good year or so into next gen that those games start to appear.

[XboxFun]

So CoD isn't using a new engine and their next game on the new systems looks gorgeous and N4G goes into rage overtime here. But ND comes out and its either dead silence from the masses or In God we Trust from the rest....

got it.

[OrangePowerz]

I like CoD, but we all know that it can't compete on a graphics level with the Naughty Dog games this gen especially not on PS3 where the CoD games are more blurry and rendered in sub HD. CoD 4 looked good for it's time, but the sequels didn't improve the graphics that much and cant compete with other games.

CoD is using a heavily modified version of the Quake 3 engine since 2005.

[XboxFun]

CoD had way more online features and gameplay designs than any ND game this gen. The fact it ran at 60 fps for multiplayer on todays consoles and looked as good as it did is a feat in its own.

The sequels couldn't improve graphics with the tech in todays consoles without sacrificing frames per second and other design features.

Battlefield 4 tried and it looked great but had half the online options, ran slower and couldn't handle the huge rooms it is known for.

[OrangePowerz]

The firs Uncharted was already capped at 30fps so it's not like over time they had to go from 60fps down to 30.

Since we talk about graphics and the engine online features don't havevan impact and I don't really see where CoD has more gameplay design as both are in SP heavily scripted but the scale of the environment is much bigger in the Uncharted games.

I prefer 30fps and much better graphics over 60fps and downscalled graphics.

[jimmywolf]

CoD is a small corridor shooter, both BF3 an now 4 look much better then it.

CoD team may have push themselves making a better looking effects, but the overall game is underwhelming compare too others.

[kingPoS]

Line up Modern Warfare 2 right next to Ghosts and tell me what looks different.

[OrangePowerz]

Why worry? Not that many use a new engine. New frostbite engine is an upgraded version, Crytek is still using CryEngine3, I doubt Unreal Engine 4 was written completely new, Titanfall is using source engine and so on.

Why spend years on making a new engine if you have an existing one that can be ported and heavily upgraded? Uncharted 1 and 3 as well as TLoU use Naughty Dogs engine and they are miles apart visually because they upgraded it over time.

[Shadowolf]

Not at all. We're talking about Naughty Dog. If any developer doesn't need a new engine, ND is at the top of that list. ND is incredible at telling a story in an interactive world making the lives of the characters matter. Sure, their Uncharted series and their latest in TLOU was incredibly pleasing to the eye but unlike Crytek (sorry for name dropping) who sure can make a pretty game, ND can make a beautiful game emotionally come to life, a huge difference.

Due to the robust hardware of the PS4 they'll be fine. In fact, the first glimpse of Uncharted 4 is just around the corner, when you see it, trust me, this update will not matter in the slightest.

[vigilante_man]

Its NAUGHTY DOG.

Enough said....

[SynestheticRoar]

Ah. Don't sweat it.

[_FantasmA_]

I think they should change it when it starts to look worse with every game. I haven't played Halo 4, but the ones that came before it were looking pretty bad and sub HD. Call of Duty really needs a new one too. Black Ops 2 didn't look so bad, but MW3 still gives me blurry nightmares.

[Soldierone]

Why? Its not dated like COD's engine, and was actually held back a bit due to hardware. Now they have better hardware, the engine can be better than it was before.

Unlike COD's engine which isn't being held back, its just old as hell and needs to be replaced.

[thebudgetgamer]

People still question Naughty Dog?

[Relientk77]

It's Naughty Dog lol

why would I be worried

[AceBlazer13]

If the current engine still has some kick in it then alright by if the last of us is about as good as it gets then hmm..

[HappyWithOneBubble]

Concerned about what? Go play Last of Us.

[tigertron]

As far as I know TLOU's engine can be optimised for next-gen. Naughty Dog always push the boundaries of what can be done on a console, so I'm not concerned in the slightest. Infact, I'm very optimistic and I hope to see their new project soon. My money is on Savage Starlight.

[strickers]

I'm not concerned because I follow the game industry and understand what actually happens. Some people only read headlines without comprehension of what it means in the real world

[VSVP]

Not worried at all! Love most of their games. But would want them to tune up their cover mechanic and shooting algorithms.

[Indo]

Naughty Dog is the least of my worries when it comes to a new Next Gen engine. Their gaming engine is flexible in what it can do, as we can see this gen with Uncharted and TLOU. It will be ND time to shine once again and show us what NEXTGEN is all about.

[extermin8or]

There's a line in an episode of the comedy Only fools and Horses where trigger says "I've had this broom since I started- it's had 11 new handles and 14 new heads" -it's no longer the same broom. Now if you properly upgrade and overhaul parts of the engine as and when needed-eventually you might aswell need a new engine. However I'd rather not wait 2-4 years for another game from ND just because they need a year or two to create a new engine... so no I'm not concerned at all.

[ZBlacktt]

I think ND understands ND better then anyone else. They do not need to explain themselves and the way they conduct their operations. Their games speak for themselves. There is no need to question them. They know what they are capable of and adjust accordingly.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Not an Issue when it comes to ND they know what there doing better than most the current devs out there. People become blind don't they to next gen development the only place this is an issue is where company's become lazy IE Infinity ward, Treyarch. Compare Battlefields next gen frostbite till Cod Ghosts Cod2 engine.

[Red_Devilz]

I'm not concerned either. It is ND we are talking about. Not EA or Infinity Ward

[christrules0041]

Not at all and it is a very simple reason as well. New engines are more likely more for PC development. Unless the engine is near maxed out. Consoles simply do not use the full power of the engine. If it is like 90% of the engine then yes be worried because then it won't be the limitations of the PS4 but the engine. But do you think a developer doesn't know how much of there engine they are using?

For example if you google "consoles used 20% of Frostbite 2 Engine" you find comments from EA saying Frostbite 2 was built for next gen consoles yet a year later they come out with Frostbite 3. No doubt Frostbite 3 will be used for consoles to but scaled down from the PC version and I'm curious because if Frostbite 2 was built for next gen consoles I couldn't see the consoles using much of the Frostbite 3 engine

[ufo8mycat]

THe sad thing is developers don't use the full power of high-end PC power though, as it is quite impossible to opitmise for the hundreds of different variants of PC hardware.

Theres a reason why PC games don't look THAT much better, its because of this and well budget of course.

Also it allows them to provide more sloppy coding since the hardware is more powerful and I wouldn't be surprised if developers did the same for PS4/ONE games just to save some $$$

[christrules0041]

Consoles do not use the full power of engines so I wouldn't be worried at all.

If you do some research about EA a year ago EA said that Frostbite 2 was built for next gen consoles yet Frostbite 3 is coming out and as usual more of the engine will be used on PC and it'll be scaled down for the Xbox One and PS4.

I'm also very confident that Naughty Dog knows how much of there engine is being used and when they need to upgrade it. After The Last of Us it shows especially that there games are getting better and better graphically.

[quenomamen]

I think you played a different game than I did, TLOU was not the best looking game ive seen on PS3. Storywise it was one of the best of this gen but not graphically.

[ufo8mycat]

Looks like YOU played a different game quenomamen. TLOU looks better then Uncharted 2/3, which were the best looking games prior TLOU coming out.

[christrules0041]

If you play Uncharted 1,2,3 and then TLOU there is visual improvements all along the way. I'm not comparing it to the rest of Sonys exclusives but from the games Naughty Dog have made it has been getting better and better graphically.

I do care more about the story then graphics because it gives a better reason to why I'm doing what I am doing but I do notice graphics getting better because it pushes the gameplay further into immersion.

[modesign]

Epics been using the same unreal engine since early 2000's.

[modesign]

Star wars battlefront is using the frostbite engine

[quenomamen]

I loves me good a Naughty Dog game as much as the next guy, but lets not be hypocrites here. True they are on of the top Devs in the business and always make thier new game better than the last, but other Devs get called out on their lazy behavior and they are no different. This is dissapointing indeed you can only update your engine so much, much less an engine made to run on hardware that is years older than whats coming coming out this fall. I think they can get away with upgrading for their first two games on PS4 after that not only will they start to look like theyre being lazy but most importantly their games will probaby begin to suffer as well and when that happens they turn into Infinity Ward, Treyarch. Hey, if thats what they want then so be it but as consumers we dont have to support lazy Devs, no matter how good their games are or used to be. Thats what I think.

[ufo8mycat]

New engine is not needed at all.

Take a PC game, you change it from Medium quality to Ultra quality - Do you think its using a different engine then? Nope it's using the same exact engine.

TLOU2 for example will just be set to ULTRA instead of MEDIUM

[ONI5]

No new engines are really needed yet. Look at the poster child for engine upgrades Halo. The older it got the better it looked. I have nothing but high hopes for the Uncharted Engine.

[GraveLord]

It's not like the engine is limited to the PS3s capabilities. I'm sure it'll scale to PS4 and it won't even feel like the same engine.

[Modestmex]

All hail Naughty Dog!

[bromtown]

Call of Duty has been using the same game engine since 2005 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... and no-one seems to say anything about that being ported to PS4. Slow news day methinks. Naughty Dog know what they're on about.

[JBernardo]

Nope. Uncharted 3 looked like a game that could've been much better if the PS3 had better hardware. You could tell from the low res textures it had, specially in the multiplayer.

[Pintheshadows]

This is old news. They said this months ago. All engines these days can be scaled anyway.

[nerdkiller]

i think they know ppl still are enjoying the same dish and im sure they'll know when ppl are getting sick of it. their last game was tlou, bring on the sequel

[ame22]

Are you kidding. Didn't you see the prerendered cutscenes that engine can pull off? Now imagine those cutscenes from TloU in real time next gen.

[assdan]

Source engine has lasted an outstandingly long time. So I don't believe that it's concerning.

[Metfanant]

"Author" loses it right off the bat when he says that ND will not be UPGRADING their engine for the PS4...anyone that thinks this game is simply going to be plugged into the exact same engine as TLoU just doesn't have a clue...

The engine will be heavily modified...just not written from scratch...

[cunnilumpkin]

not concerned at all

games like last of us, uncharted 2 and 3 looked great for what the ps3 was able to do with them, but they had lots of jaggies, and the textures were scaled down really, really low so the game could run in 720p at 30 frames

now imagine last of us without all those sub-hd textures, with out all those jaggies covering every straight line, without clickers that looked like they were smeared in vasoline

8x aa, native 1920x1080p resolution, hdr lighting, ssao, soft shadows

a game like uncharted 3, or the last of us could look 1000x better on way better hardware, and that is what the ps4 will provide

[kingPoS]

Heck! the Dark Sorcerer demo was running from the same source engine as Beyond Two Souls.

You when Naughty Dog are hush hush about ______ good times await us in 2014.

[ghostrider32]

Concerned for what? They're Naughty Gods, remember?

[Krosis]

There is still money to be made on the PS3. This isn't a big deal.

[GamerGuy153]

As I'm sure someone else has stated, Naughty Dog created their engine on the PS3 to be scalable and designed the engine to run at a much higher performance than the PS3 could ever run. Therefore the PS4 engine should be able to squeeze lots of optimized juice out of the console since theyve spent years refining it

[LoneWarrior96]

No need to worry :) their not the only developer who doesnt do completely new engines (DICE)

[strigoi814]

ND has the finest team and talents..i shouldn't be worried about them

[teezy]

Not worried at all after playing The Last of Us.
They will create a new engine eventually but not just yet.

[RockmanII7]

Concerned
About Naughty Dog

lol

[aaronobst]

Naughty Gods

[zlpw0ker]

I think its kinda weird that they havent made an new engine for next gen. SE and kojima has done this and it looks so better then last gen.But for me,im not caring for best graphics on games.But I really dont like naughty dog.only game they can make is crash bandicoot and uncharted and tlou and this gen they only making shooter games,guess what ND I really hate shooter games.its pathetic what the gaming industry is coming to,its 90% shooting games on the market of games and that is why I dont give a shitt for nd.

[jay2]

No, they'll update whatever the other engines called like the Unreal Engine 3 has been and 99% of game engines are.

[bub16]

Games dont always need new engines, take a look at COD! thats lasting

[kingPoS]

There's revitalizing and then there's reusing.

A difference there is.

[Bengoshi-San]

It's really funny how everyone online acts like they are developers and computer experts. lol

Leave the game development to the people who have been doing it their entire lives and have been winning award after award for their writing, their graphics, their story, their music and their appeal.

Just shut up, sit back and enjoy. What's so hard about that? Everybody wasn't a critic until the internet made all these "writers/bloggers" into "experts" and gave them "influence".

[crowsticky1234]

This is no big deal as from what I have seen from Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us. They looked great that it almost looked next-gen and it's from their current-gen engine, so why I worry. I assume that they made this decision so they don't re-experience on what occurred in the end of last gen, establishing a new engine which got most or half of their team deducted. So doing this makes sense so their 2 separate teams don't be decreased to 1. The only time they might do a new engine is at the middle of the next-gen's lifespan.

[Vhyper7]

You're concerned, I don't give a single fu_ck

[gedden7]

Not a fan boy BUT Naughty Dog are great devs that don't need a new Engine...

ONLY devs with low innovation, dev skills, no motivation, no creative skills OR poor work ethics needs a new engine to make a game good.. Cough Cough BF/Cod/Madden devs.. Yes I said it!!

[Npugz7]

Hmmmm...curious to see what there next gen game will look like than!

[saber00005]

Why "fix" an already working system? Xbox had a lot of issues. They worked on creating a game system to compete with the Sony.

Looking into the hardware (HARDWARE IS EVERYTHING YOU XBOX FANBOYS).
PS4 Has 8gb GDDR5 ram. Which out performs Xbox One's ram 5 to 1. PS4 Graphic card is NOT the same as what the XBox One uses. When stress testing both cards, the PS4's graphic card out performs the Xbox's by 30%. How do I know this? These graphic or technology isn't JUST customized for consoles. They have these cards for laptops and desktop PCs that you can build yourself. You could even build almost an exact replica of the game console, if you wanted to, in PC form! And that is what a guy did and provided his stress test results.

Before I continue, let me just say that I'm a PC gamer.

Which means I'm always upgrading my gaming rig to be the best, to play the best games on max settings. I know what hardware is good, what hardware is just OK. I never had a PS3, I had an xbox 360. I've played all assassin's creed games on it (because that was the only game I like on console). However, there were LOADS of issues with the xbox struggling to keep up while playing. If you disagree with this, then you would be lying.

I was honestly and seriously thinking about getting the Xbox One before they announced all their policies and their specs. But, looking on everything now, I'm going to be getting the PS4 instead. One of the biggest things I like about it, I can watch Netflix without having to pay for Xbox Live. Not to mention, it's $100 cheaper and is a more updated technology then the Xbox One. I'm sorry guys, if it's anyone who should be upset with, it's Microsoft. The Xbox 360 is nearly obsolete. The PS3, still continues on top of it's game and still produces AMAZING games (Last of Us).

And btw. For each Xbox One that is sold, Sony gets a small profit from it. Being that xbox One is using Sony's technology (blue ray player).

Just my two cents.

[mercury228]

While I agree with most of what you said, Blu Ray is not only Sonys anymore, they definatley wont get any share of the stupid xboxs profit.

[saber00005]

Sony still invented it, and it's still their technology.

[Gamer Muzz]

I don't see a problem with that. People are still doing amazing things with Unreal engine (which is 15 years old) and even unreal engine 4 is 8 years old.

This is just fanboy bait. Give them something to jump on like vultures. The fact is that an older engine can be upgraded many times over and in the end, it's just not something that speaks out against the console.

Also, that's not to say that OTHER developers will not be working on New gameplay engines.
This is just dumb.

[furneri357]

naughty dog doesnt new engine, naughty dog is the engine itself

[mercury228]

People that write this stuff must not know how new engines work. Many times the engine used is a modified version of the same engine. I think we will be fine.

[BigPoppaPudge]

Not worried at all... Naughty dog just got off the last of us.. You would be wrong not to think they don't have a PS4 dev kit.. and it would only take 3 to 4 months to get there engine up and running, maybe 6 with some next gen rNd which I would assume probably is under way... Mark my word will see either Last of us 2 or uncharted 4 e3 2015... it just kinda fits with Sony's schedule..

[BlackPrince 42]

I couldn't be less worried about Naughty Dog's transition to next gen.

All those scenes in The Last of Us where there was too much light to do proper anti-aliasing, or too much AI and the framerate was dropped below 30, it just shows how their final engine was pushing past the PS3's technological limits.

And lets not forget this little nugget:
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Naughty Dog scales down their games for consoles.

[bjmartynhak]

lol, it also reminds me that I can't tell the difference between 30 and 60fps

Good that they downscale though.

[Tzuno]

i missed out some games. now i play penumbra series and i can tell you that the graphics have nothing to do with the feeling that the game delivers. graphic isn't everything.

[wynams]

I'm not worried about it ... I don't play their games.

Not a fan of rails action games ... open world rpgs is where its at!

[Wise_potato]

:( i think they just gota build a new engine but i believe in naughty dog they can wow us again with the old engine.

[Kidmyst]

Nope, not worried. I am sure in a couple years or so they might look at it. But ND has proven themselves with good quality games so if they are comfortable with an engine and now have a new console to push that even further, I'm excited what they'll turn out. They know the engine, so they may know they havn't capped it yet and have room to go.

[urwifeminder]

Seems a bit cheap of them I guess you don't make as much if your games are bundled then again it may be well optimised.

[ExitToExisT]

I'm not worried because TLOU would look like a next-gen game if it was 1080p, had higher textures , better ambient occlusion (which ND's engine could do with ps4)

[kingduqc]

Here's how to make masterpiece nowadays:

-Take 3 great voice actor
-Make up a unoriginal story about a 30 year old white male that is a "badass"
-Make sure there is a love intress with a white blond girl
-Add some corridors and nice cutsceans with full of action in it
-Add press X to not die/win
-make sure it's no longer then 9-10 hours for the casuals
-Add cardboard audio, but make sure explosions are loud
-Make sure there isn't much that changed from the last game you did gameplay wise, point the gun and shoot, life regen, throw grenade... don't add too much for the casual to understand it
-Tape on the cd case Naughty Dog on it

Every hipster/fanboys will love that shit, 10/10 will fall from the sky and everyone will call this game of the generation.

[strickers]

Sounds like you haven't played a Naughty Dog game then??

[_FantasmA_]

You know I'm in the Sony camp for life but I have to agree. I don't get how people can be so impressed with a linear, cliched, and scripted Tomb Raider/Prince of Persia/Indiana Jones imitation. Every time you play Uncharted, its the same thing. Core's Tomb Raider games at least had exploration and the puzzles were longer and more challenging.

[estillz96]

Worried? This is Naughty Dog we're talking about here. If they made this decision I support it because these guys know what's best for the company.

[kenshiro100]

Anyone who's worried about this needs to play Uncharted 1-3 and Last of Us.

[ajax17]

After everything they've done this generation, I think it's safe to let them do what they think is right.

[isarai]

LMFAO no, engines don't need to be new every generation, hell infamous 1 and 2 ran off their old PS2 engine they used for sly cooper. old engine does not mean old visuals, if they deem it necessary they will make upgrades to the engine(which is pretty much a given) but i am no worried in the least, and anyone who knows the slightest bit of how a game engine works would feel the same.