Naughty Dog explains how they push the PS3 harder with Uncharted 2

"After we shipped Uncharted: Drake's Fortune we gave our programmers some time to freely explore any aspect of our engine or the hardware that they were interested in," Wells revealed. "We've been able to squeeze out a lot more of the power out of the Playstation 3, by optimizing our SPU code and parceling out more jobs to the SPUs in general."

[i_like_ff7]

Kinda old news....

[Shadow Flare]

SPU's are really helpful for ps3 developers because they can specialise in carrying out specific tasks handed to them. A little like how microsoft handed aaron greenberg the specific task of looking like a douchebag and talking bs

[xabmol]

Maybe it's just cuz I'm high right now, but that's fu*kin hilarious!

Have a bubble.

[Lifendz]

Cant' wait for Uncharted 2.

[EXCLUSIVEGAMER]

burrrrrrrrrrn

[Cock4Gamers]

@ feline pornagrapher
how the hell is the larabee a poor man's cell. True, it is very much like the cell, however, it beats the cell in the only thing that makes it [the cell] so desirable...parallel processing. The larabee, if it lives up to its potential, will be far better for graphics processing than the cell. Also, why would Intel be trying to play catch up to sony/ibm/toshiba when they have the highest performing processors in existence that consumers can buy(note CONSUMERS not people in a lab trying to craft supercomputers). The only thing the cell can beat a recent intel processor in is floating point numbers. The intel processors will beat the cell in other areas that are much more intricate; in physics processing, a.i. processing, and giving information to a gpu that is probably close to 5x as powerful as the rsx found in a ps3.
pc/intel/recent nvidia or ati graphics>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>> >>ps3/sony/ibm/toshiba/ce ll/rsx

[UltraNova]

Although your statement holds some water when it comes to larrabee's floating point vs the ps3's cell it is however fundamentally wrong and misplaced. Why? because you are comparing a 4 year old chip (ps3's cell was conceived and produced 4 years ago)with larrabbe which if I am not mistaken is not even in production yet..

What do you think that a 4 year old computer chip would compete with a present one or worse in this case a future one?

My point is Sony, Toshiba and IBM will not sit with their hands crossed watching Intel do their thing. They will bring the next version of the CELL out in time to compete with Intel.

There is no thing as a free ride or monopoly from now on mate.

"The intel processors will beat the cell in other areas that are much more intricate; in physics processing, a.i. processing, and giving information to a gpu that is probably close to 5x as powerful as the rsx found in a ps3."

And by saying stuff like this further proves my statement. Pure wishful thinking and speculation.

The truth of the matter is Sony and the rest already have a proven and working parallel processing behemoth the CELL and its just its 1st iteration. They would be damned fools to let a newcomer take the cake from their hands..

"Finally, although it hasn’t met with the success some were expecting, the Cell is still built into more than 20 million PlayStation 3s, and lot of programmers who have been working very hard at developing applications for this platform for three years now have undeniable expertise in how to get the most out of it. For the time being, Larrabee only exists on paper, and even once it becomes available, few programmers are likely to have the courage to learn coding on it. (see ps3 programming moaning). Most will simply use the APIs (OpenGL/Direct3D for 3D and OpenCL/Compute Shader for GPGPU)."

But based on Intel's past they have their way into market penetration. This time will be different it will not be only on the hands of the consumers it will be on the hands of programmers as well.

Time will tell, back to Killzone now!

[All-3]

Riiiiiiight... unlike this from Sony -->

If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the "kids" market that they've always engaged, there isn't much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi. - Director of hardware marketing for the Sony's American division, John Koller.

---

AND...

It seems like many people that played Uncharted are getting the actual gameplay graphics with the in-game cutscenes... the two are hardly equal quality and the in-game graphics aren't all-0-that. I've played through the game twice. Before and AFTER trophy support was added.

At least.. with a higher polygon count... Uncharted 2 might have... for example - decent abandoned vehicle models, and a greater variety of them - IF <-- they are going to be scattered throughout the game, as they were in the first game.

[DaTruth]

The cutscenes are all in-engine, so they are exactly the same graphics as the gameplay graphics and had you actually played Uncharted, you would have known that!

You know how many times I tried to skip a cutscene and it was in the game so it wasn't actually a cutscene and therefore had no skip option, but you can't tell the difference.

[Proxy]

Great PS3 games developed and tested on Intel toting PC's.

[ZuperAmazingCooKie]

"Ahh yes, the mighty KZ2, Uncharted 2, and GoW3.
Great PS3 games developed and tested on Intel toting PC's. "

Just No.

[meepmoopmeep]

Uncharted 2 is without a doubt my most anticipated title of 2009

[jay2]

Who cares, this site considers reviews for games that came out a month before the review was posted ok, this is only a few days.

[Johnny Rotten]

SPU's remind me of a big brother who does your homework for ya!

[mirroredderorrim]

SPUs remind me of monkeys building monuments. :B

[Hellsvacancy]

I hav complete faith in there work - much lookin 4ward 2 Uncharted 2

[-x.Red.x-]

WIN

[Pootie Tang]

Wow, sounds like they have outdone the first Uncharted by quite a bit. This could be GOTY, I wouldn't be suprised or at least in the running.

They seem quite proud of what they've accomplished with the engine so good news for gamers:

"If Naughty Dog is going to do snow, it's got to be the best snow that you've ever seen in a videogame! So we've added shaders for ice, frost and snow that include simulated sub-surface scattering, to really capture the subtle way that light scatters through frozen water."

[Hellsvacancy]

"They seem quite proud of what they've accomplished with the engine so good news for (PS3) gamers" :-)

[JaPo]

"the veteran developer is going to be pushing the PS3 even harder with the sequel later this hard."

lolwut. Uncharted boasts my personal favourite graphics this generation. Shoot me, muhfu'as.

[whothedog]

SPU's remind me of a cool summer breeze on the back of your neck

[Bubble Buddy]

Yes, harder, harder, harder :), I jk.

[kws1065]

I wonder if SONY will announce PS4 for this Autumn. I can't just believe this game is for this generation console game!!

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

No this fall would be a tad early for Sony to already be announcing the PS4. Hell I don't expect MS to announce the next Xbox until next year.

[blu3print]

maybe you should re-read the post you are replying to

[nefertis]

SPU's remind me of my first time losing my virginity with a girl.

[Hellsvacancy]

Woz it really that bad :-P

[killing_Art]

so, that means that you have lost your virginity with something else?
j/k

[Shadow Flare]

No, it was just that like an SPU, the task was completed quickly

[xabmol]

You're on a roll!

[Aclay]

After playing Uncharted, it's just amazing that Naughty Dog is able to improve the game itself even MORE, because after playing Uncharted you would think that there would hardly be anything to improve upon because the game just looked so good.

Naughty Dog has always been one of my favorite devs. though, been a major follower of ALL their games since the first Crash Bandicoot. After Uncharted 2, I want a next-gen Jak game Naughty Dog :)

[xabmol]

BUT, they will never make another Jak.

It's just the way they work. New hardware lets them make new innovative IPs that stand on there own. If they never stopped making Crash we would never have had J&D, and if they never stopped making J&D we would never have gotten Uncharted.

I really like the new IP every gen "groove" that they're in. We need more Devs like ND that are willing to innovate and create instead of rehashing old tittles like... well you know.

[Cajun Chicken]

ND didn't WANT to leave Crash, they were just left in a position they HAD to. I don't think Jak is the same case at all, I mean heck, they even tease us mentioning it in interviews, put 'Ottsel' as the make of Scuba gear Nathan wears in the first scene and even have a Precursor Orb as a treasure in Uncharted.
Nope, still refuse to believe it. Or at least Ready at Dawn should be making a PS3 version, after Daxter, they're pretty much an extension to ND to me. Big Red Button however, has the lead artist, Bob Rafei now and I guess Jason Rubin has gone.
But nope. I still want ND making a PS3 Jak.

[xabmol]

Those are more like "Easter Eggs" than a sign of a new J&D. Lots of Devs do things like that. It doesn't mean they're making a new J&D.

In U2 they have a sign for a hotel labeled Eldorado with a pic of the statue on it. Does that mean the statue will be in U2?

Besides, if ND didn't stop making J&D we would have never gotten Uncharted, and if they never stopped making Crash we would never have had J&D in the first place. Drakes story will no doubt be amazing, but I hope it ends. Then for the PS4 they will have another amazing character and story for us. Way better than what Nintendo is doing with their "new" games.

[xabmol]

SPU's remind me of a piece of the future, that I can use now.

[IzKyD1331]

"If Naughty Dog is going to do snow, it's got to be the best snow that you've ever seen in a videogame!"

Only Naughty Dog

[BYE]

Yep, they already proofed with water in Uncharted that they mean business.

There is no better water in games, not even in a PC game.

[raztad]

but the best part is that Nathan get actually wet :D. Pretty cool stuff

[Rip-Ridah]

I agree that Uncharted's water was brilliant, but I still give the crown of "Best Water" to Lair. That first fight scene when you are flying out to sea to stop the ships from attacking; the water is pretty much photorealistic...especially with how the sun is glistening off of the surface. It was done extremely well!!

-Rip-Ridah

[Dawn_Of_Ashes]

@Shadow Flare : LOL so true!

[aiphanes]

SPUs remind me of the first time I had a threesome with two other girls! LOL!

[xabmol]

>8}

[man0fsteel]

SPUs remind you of that 8 on 1 porno that you watched over and over again last night!

-sorry i had to! :p

[neogeo]

SPU's remind me of a nuclear bomb trapped in a black box with a bluray drive.

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

Yeah I see that now. I misunderstood the comment. My mistake.

[-GoD_-oF-_WaR-]

Looks like im going to have to pick the 1st game up before 2 comes out

[REALgamer]

The first was a great game but it did have its flaws which Naughty Dog appear to be aware of.

Hopefully Uncharted 2 will be reaching AAA status, good luck to Naughty Dog.

[mirroredderorrim]

LOL. Seriously guys... I want to know why I got disagrees?

This one time I will explain my comment:

I tried to refer to "monkeys" as loosely based on 'greasemonkeys'...
Greasemonkey is basically ancient-slang for a 'mechanic'.

This isn't a good source, but it's pretty accurate, in my opinion.
http://www.urbandictionary....

I said "monuments" and by that, I reference the games themselves.

So, underneath my bullsh!t, it sounds something like; The SPUs help make 'great', 'solid' games.

Monuments are usually solid, are they not? Unless they are made of food, because food is usually squishy, sometimes crunchy...

Ah, damn.. I bet this will be moderated.

In relation to the article... Uncharted 2 is going to be an AWESOME GAME.
NaughtyDog has been has been very vocal about certain goals pertaining to this game and I am excited by that, coupled with the screenshots and trailer...

I mean, if the lighting is more dynamic+ overhaul of their old engine... I can expect graphics king confirmed, yet again, beyond itself, as I consider it through the trailer. (something Uncharted 1 lacked compared to other games, I.M.O.H.O!)
It made up for that, with everything else!

It was like watching Indy 2 all over again and not wanting it to end~!

[hatchimatchi]

the first uncharted was completely flawless to me

i had been playing nothing but a gamecube and wii for the longest so when i bought a ps3 and the first game i played was uncharted. My mind was just completely blown away. I can't wait for the sequel

[Becko]

Hard to believe the graphics are still better than those of the first game, a lot of people may disagree but I think Nougthy Dog's graphic engine is innovative and graphically better than those sharp-over-glowed-generic-engi nes

[A LIVING LEGEND]

SPU's aside,it should deliver.the 3 is an impressive machine,complex and misunderstood like some women i know.............im on track,im ok.people continue to dissect uncharted in an attempt to uncover hidden flaws.hows that goin? No.2 will be yet another 'under the radar' masterpiece.challenge tempered with reward.im in regardless

[Allowen]

I tried to open that link but my anti virus said not to do that... virus detected.... first time I have seem this happening so I guess that link is THAT bad lol.

[Etseix]

all i have to say is
if u havnt played Uncharted, GO BUY IT!!!!!
u DONT want to miss the sequel ;)

[tudors]

all I know is if all developers put in this kind of effort we would all be really happy, to be fair though I think a lot of them do but we don't always see it, I mean if fight night RD4 was only just released it would still be impressive, but I think it is clear that Naughty Dog actually have a passion for pushing the graphics of the hardware, I would love to see what they could do on the Xbox-360 or a high end PC, Killzone 2 IMO looks good but the enviroments are dull, and there are a lot of poor textures, but with Uncharted 2 the textures look top notch, really we will have to see what Cryengine 3 can produce or Lost Planet 2 but if Naughty Dog still have the better looking game then they need some serious credit.

[Daves]

on KZ environments, yes, the texture quality isn't always high, but it is where it matters and the sum of the whole is stunning.

[raztad]

Yes there are some poor textures around in KZ2 but the overall impression of the game, is OMG this game looks AWESOME!! the lighting, character modeling, particles effects, debris, advanced collision detection, all the stuff going on at the same time on the screen is pretty mind-blowing. Dont forget physics calculations, AI, so you really needs a powerful processor to put everything together and keep the game locked at 30fps.

[Sheddi]

Please ND dont put MP in Uncharted 2.
Its meant to be a SP game.

[jmcorp]

When this game released people will be crapping their pants, who would have thought these sort of visuals are possible this gen? and only in the 2nd full year of the PS3.

Great time to be a PS3 owner.

[bmatthews]

I have complete trust in ND, what a game Uncharted 2 will be.

[mastiffchild]

They do good work at ND and are pretty open about what they do as well. Nice to see GG creditboth ND and Insomniac at the end of KZ2-they must really help each other out behind the scenes and, as gamers, it's really us that see the benefit of this shared tech knowledge.

I think ND have done about as much as anyone to improve the general PS3 quality this gen and Uncharted was as good a new IP as I've played in a long while. Number 2 only looks better, more fluid and realistic in terms of physics and visuals and, incredibly, animations too! I really hope they do as they say and put the SP first and only do co-op or MP if it's best for the game overall and not just in for sake of fashion.

[Karum]

I like to picture SPU's in a tuxedo t-shirt because it says like, I wanna be formal but I'm here to party too....because I like to party so I like my SPU's to party.

[jerethdagryphon]

nice taledega nights paraphrasing

[knightoftears]

The first one set a standard, and now this one will exceed all. I love it!! Naughty Dog is a great dev, and they show that if you take the time to work with the PS3 SPU, the results are groundbreaking. I hope more devs follow their example for future games.

[someanimalsdance]

I was going to give Uncharted 2 and the PS3 props, considering the original Uncharted IS the best looking game on the PS3, and the second one will look even better. However you all decided to turn this into a "Xbox 360 fails" forum, without even being provoked.

I see several comments from PS3 fanboys saying "HAHA xbox 360 cant do this, blah blah blah" and "anyone who says the Xbox 360 is the better console is so stupid, LOLZ". This is pathetic considering you posted these statements without any provocation. This truly proves you are not defending the PS3's power to all of the 360 fanboys, but instead you are reinforcing the PS3's power to YOURSELF. A clear sign of buyers remorse.

It's also pathetic to see how many of you started listing off games that are "better" than the 360. "KZ2, MGS4, GOW3(which isnt out), and now UNCHARTED2!!! the PS3 is so much better than its competition". This is an opinion and irrelevant to the article.

Well let me inform the ignorant. The 360 does not "fail" it is succeeding. It is succeeding incredibly well, even more so than the PS3. In fact, every 360 exclusive and multi-platform game are out selling the PS3 by the boatload.

So before turning EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE YOU READ, into a "PS3 PWNS" article, why dont you address the article based on its substance?

Uncharted 2 looks amazing, i truly am jealous that Naughty Dog isnt developing games like this for the 360. I am not jealous of the PS3 however in any way besides this. I know you all think KZ2 is the best PS3 game graphically, but i think you should all go take a look at some HD Uncharted videos again. I think KZ2 pales in comparison.

[Josh11]

They would only be stating what is true... But still, I guess you are right, not really a need to state it.

KZ2 and Uncharted are completely different so its difficult to compare, but yes I think uncharted is better looking.

[nycredude]

Dude there are a few people posting what you said but not that many. Besides, I don't need to look at HD videos of Uncharted as I have a Ps3 and I have already played it 3 times through. The game looks and plays better than any video and screen shot will show. They don't do the game justice. My advice to you is get a Ps3 and play the best games on both systems, that way it doesn't bother you when one side talks shiat about the other.

BTW Uncharted and Naughty Dog FTMFW!!!

[AuToFiRE]

*fap fap fap* this game is going to be epic

[devilhunterx]

"A little like how microsoft handed aaron greenberg the specific task of looking like a douchebag and talking bs"

best. comment. ever.

[Josh11]

Such an amazing game, one of the only non-online games I will probably be purchasing any time soon.

And so early on in the ps3's life is what amazes me. 360 has nothing close to the ps3 exclusives this year, yet its been out are year or so longer.

[Premonition]

Cant wait for this fall as well have another wild adventure with sir drake :)

[xTruthx]

Nice read

[N4g_null]

Man the PS3 developers are playing you guys like fiddles LOL. Hey ummm we need some hype , well release some thing saying we got more power out of the cell with out telling them what we got. Make sure it is SPU related because we all know no one can disprove that!

Hey I'm glad you guys are happy though. the game will be good and will look good due to a kick A$$ art team. The texture and lighting work for just the hair was worth doubling their pay, lucky I don't pay them LOL.

I'm sure when the game is almost complete you'll see it on z brush forums like the last one. Every one jaw dropped when he posted the last bunch.

Another thing is the PS3 will have better looking games due to the artist not the tech. This can easily be proven by the designs for MG4 and of course this game. Epic is not even close we all know this.

[nycredude]

What is the point of your rant dude. Just a FYI it doesn't matter that a system is technically stronger than the other cause when it boils down to it, only the games matter, and right now we all know which console has it and will continue to have it.

I pretty much agreed with what you are saying but teh "other" console does have limitations both technically (space), processing power (not gpu), and of course the all important first and second party studios.

[N4g_null]

nycredude the whole idea that they will get some thing more out of the PS3 is pretty hilarious tech wise. If you do it's not going to be that noticeable. What is noticeable is art and compilation , game design and controller inputs.

Uncharted had the best use of normal maps I had seen when their art director posted his work online for that year. He seems to have backed or color some of the lighting tricks into the actually textures. It was really a treat to see. This does not need any more power than using a real photo for the texture yet it an artistic idea. Shadows from the hair should react with the models scape a lot better it you are going for realism.

Stuff like this does not take more power and it's actually not giving credit to where credit is due. Had this guy worked on an xbox game the art would be on par with uncharted. This is a fact he got the ok to show a few more in game models shader passes and he is not doing any thing more than any one else tech wise. I mean in some areas having the shadows painted into the texture would not work, which is an art decision you need to make. The GEOW guys basically chose to not do their hair like this along with not having normal clothing. It doesn't have the same impact does it?

[SwiftArsonist]

i just started playing Uncharted and i gotta say its a decent game and looks good on 720p. Hopefully the new one will be in 1080p and a bit longer