Developers need time in order to unlock all its secrets

Aug 28, 2013 12:04 GMT  ·  By

Mark Cerny, the leader of the team that created the PlayStation 4, says that it will take development teams about three or four years in order to unlock the full potential of the next-gen console and create titles that use it in innovative ways.

The developer tells Polygon that “We set our target at 10 times the PlayStation 3′s performance, because that’s what we felt we needed to achieve in order to differentiate the titles.”

He adds, “Much of what we’re seeing with the launch titles is that usage; it’s very, very quick to get up to speed if that’s how you use it. But at the same time, then you’re not taking advantage of all the customization that we did in the GPU.”

Traditionally, developers who deliver titles when a new piece of hardware is out tend to be conservative in order to make sure that there are no problems with the games that are available.

Teams tend to start experimenting after a platform has been available for some time, when pure hardware power is no longer enough to impress players.

Cerny says that the PlayStation 4 is powerful enough that it will impress gamers even if they only run games that are already available on the PS3.

He also believes that the launch of the new hardware from Sony will have a bigger impact than that of the previous home console.

The PS4 will be out on November 15 in the United States and on November 29 in Europe, with a price tag of 399 dollars or Euro.

In November Microsoft is also expected to launch its own Xbox One, which costs 100 dollars or Euro more.

The battle between the two devices will define in many ways the evolution of gaming for at least five years, unless Nintendo manages to revive the Wii U in spectacular fashion.