Although the PlayStation 3 has a 10-year lifespan, Sony is already moving forward with the PlayStation 4. According to insider info (along with some speculation), Japanese website PC Watch Impress is reporting that Sony is looking to alternatives to the PS3’s Cell architecture, which some developers have found to be challenging. One early alternative include Cell and Intel’s Larrabee. Wanting a bit more horsepower, Sony has apparently abandoned this plan.
In an interview with EDGE Magazine, Christophe Balestra, Naughty Dog co-president, said “Uncharted used 30 per cent of the PS3’s SPUs, and this time we’re maxing it out,” he said. “That means we can blend and switch animations a lot quicker, and we have more facial joints in-game for characters to react with believable expressions.” In order to use the full power of the PS3, Naughty Dog shifted processes from the main processor and shifted them onto the SPUs.
The PlayStation 3 Slim, announced on Tuesday, is not only smaller and cheaper, but adds hardware enhancements that make it speedier, including a new Cell microprocessor. Sony has made some enhancements under the hood to boost its processing speed and power efficiency. The slim PS3 carries an upgraded version of the Cell microprocessor, which was jointly developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba.
