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PS3 SPUs are 'total monsters', says inFamous 2 dev

Sony has described its PS3 console as being "future proof", but just how powerful is it?

Well, inFamous 2 developer Sucker Punch reckons the PS3 is the business.

"The SPUs kick ass," he said.

"Move your shit there! The SPUs are just total monsters. You just have to move more and more and more and more and more stuff there. We have post-processing graphics passes going on in the SPUs. We have more particle stuff, more collision and physics stuff going on in there. They're unbelievable."

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videogamer.com
Cloudberry5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

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Looking forward to inFamous 2. : )
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EDIT :

The link's broken......... /: (

FangBlade5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

Music to my ears.
I'm glad I have a PS3.

Gamerbee5807d ago

Just give us the the old Cole. Not Skinny nathan drake.

Rumor5807d ago

I love em all. Not only do they LOVE to make games, they LOVE to make GOOD games. And we ps3 owners benefit it all! Take your $60 to gamestop and choose a game like alpha protocol after playing uncharted or something, i guarantee u will return it within an hour.

NYPunkster5807d ago

F**k Gamestop bunch of thieves.

Cevapi885807d ago

lets see them back those words up with another great title...if the first Infamous is the devs 1st attempt...imagine how well the 2nd installment will play after all the bugs and minor hiccups are resolved along with pushing the PS3 even further

DaTruth5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

"We have post-processing graphics passes going on in the SPUs."

MLAA confirmed!!! Lord knows the first game could have used some of this!

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Strange_Evil5807d ago

Try this link if you can't access the article...

http://www.videogamer.com/n...

HighDefinition5807d ago ShowReplies(4)
raztad5807d ago

If released inFAMOUS 2 screenshots are not bullshots. I'd say the leap from inFAMOUS 1 to 2 is a lot bigger than from UC 1 to 2.

It's amazing to see a dev so excited by the power of the SPUs.

"It's frickin' unbelievable how far we've come. It's crazy how much we've been able to get out of it [the PS3]. It's crazy how much more we're able to do."

inFAMOUS 2 will show R* how a proper HD, with smooth framerate game is done on the PS3.

NecrumSlavery5807d ago

Yeah, it looks as if inFamous 2 will be damn near the same graphical caliber as Uncharted 2, but in a full sandbox. About a year out and this game is already 10x what infamous was. I am completely in awe of what these Sony First Party Devs are capable of.

Incognegro5807d ago

Me too.. but SuckerPunch isn't first party.

NarooN5807d ago

Yeah, they aren't. I think what he meant is pretty much any dev who works really closely with Sony for a good period of time. A lot of people think Sony doesn't care about the games, but a lot of Sony teams help the HELL out of any dev that shows that THEY care about the platform.

ProjectVulcan5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

Its sort of common knowledge now to developers that the key to PS3's performance is in the SPU utilisation. If you treat it as a conventional system with a general purpose CPU and a dedicated GPU then it will be slow, slower than 360 without a doubt. Its been clear to the most talented developers for a while now that offloading tasks to the SPUs that conventionally the GPU would be given frees up a huge amount of GPU cycles for what it does best, mostly pixel shading and throwing triangles about. RSX has strangled bandwidth, but when you look at CELL, SPUs have enormous memory bandwidth for a CPU (25.6Gb/s which is more than every modern PC desktop CPU bar a core i7 with very fast triple channel memory) - unusually high and a strange balance or so it seemed at first. Then you realise that it was DESIGNED to take tasks from the GPU and thats what that masive chunk of bandwidth is intended for....

Most of the early criticism of the architecture from developers were because it does not comply with their instinctive method of seperating the tasks firmly between what the CPU can do and what the GPU should. Valve clearly found this irritating as a pc developer, but as they became more accustomed to consoles they realised this is just how it is, its not the machine's fault, its your fault for your preconceptions on how to dev for PS3.

Once you work to the machine's strengths instead of your own stubborn ideas of what it should do then the results will come. The library of exclusive PS3 titles is now solid evidence of this fact.

nveenio5807d ago

Bubbles for Well Said. Honestly, I think that devs have been spoiled by companies like Microsoft that build dev kits that are "too easy" to use. Apple is the same way. The iPhone/iPad SDK is so simple that you really don't have to think anything through unless you're trying to do something insanely innovative. When Sony released the PS3, there was little-to-no experience for utilizing the Cell besides simple tech demos and conceptual code. Now that Sony has found some good devs and stood behind them 100%, the devs have learned to realize that when the engine starts to chug, they can just shovel something else over to the SPUs. The SPUs have more theoretical terraflops than any PC CPU out there (except maybe Intel's new 16-core). It only makes sense that their ceiling is uber-high.

Morituri5807d ago

Dude, you just blew my mind... What, are you from the future or something?

P1NKY5807d ago

The internal BUS that the SPUs and PPE use has a bandwidth of 300Gb/s

ProjectVulcan5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

Internal bus between the SPU and the controlling PPE is obviously huge but i was referring to the bandwidth between the processor as a unit and system memory. Typical bandwidth of a core 2 and dual DDR2 800mhz memory is about 7GB/s, a phenom which has an IMC (integrated memory controller) and dual channel 1333 DDR3 is about twice that and a core i7 with triple channel 1600mhz DDR3 over the 20GB/s mark.

In other words only the very fastest consumer desktop x86 processors and compatible system memory even in 2010 surpasses the bandwidth CELL enjoyed in 2006. Which gives a clue to how much performance Sony's engineering team expected to be exploited, they gave the CPU huge system memory bandwidth for a reason, the reason being they saw it as a graphics co-processor and not just a general purpose CPU

Gabe Newell's early complaints in 2006 were that developing for PS3 is useless BECAUSE the techniques didnt apply elsewhere, its a unique system. He was right of course partially at that time! But he looked at it negatively that being unique was a problem and not a challenge. However four years later the whole scene has changed even for PC, as GPGPU takes hold (CUDA, OpenCL etc) the once tightly controlled barriers between what a CPU and GPU can do are fading and becoming very fuzzy. That makes using CELL, a hybrid CPU of sorts, for traditionally held graphics tasks more relevant than it was when PS3 launched!

thereapersson5807d ago

It really does show that Kutaragi was a visionary, and he did everything he could to ensure the PS3 would remain relevant for years to come. Most developers are just *now* realizing what the PS3 can truly do, so just imagine how good PS3 exclusives will look like in another few years!

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sikbeta5807d ago

There is a lot of Improvement going in Infamous2, I totally believe in them

Cant wait to Play this Monster...

Blackfrican5807d ago

The PS3 alone is proof of aliens. The technology present inside of the PS3 is so technologically superior to anything else that the only possible explanation is that we reverse engineered this technology from a UFO wreck--or that the PS3 was made with the assistance of aliens.

NewZealander5807d ago

thats just a wee bit OTT dontcha think...aliens lol

jerethdagryphon5807d ago

while its an incredibly powerful chip its not alein what it does do is show how some people are capable of lateral thinking rather then more speed more cores more ram. thinking of the late nighties early noughts

218gflops theoretical output,

cell and ageia both changed the way people are looking at cpugpus

larrabe is more in line with cell or a graphics card then it is with the x86 archatecture

Snakefist305807d ago

Hellya PS3 is the ULTIMATE GAMING CONSOLE!!!!!!

NewZealander5807d ago

im not a fan of games like infamous, but i cant wait to see what naughty dog do with uncharted 3, if anyone can tap the ps3 its them. and last guardian is going to be pretty awesome too.

FACTUAL evidence5807d ago

Don't you just love it when dev's get used to the ps3? Only positives baby! It only does monster SPUs!

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 5807d ago
Shadow Flare5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

Thats why the ps3 is still going to be fresh 5 years down the line. Still pushing bars. Combined with the massive storage of bluray, the ps3 is the most future proof console ever created. And its really gonna stand Sony in a good position in years to come. They saw the generation as a marathon, not a sprint, and planned accordingly. Getting trashed by the media in the process. But they've designed a console which will last a very, very long time. There isn't going to be a need for a PS4 for quite a while yet. Sony had a vision and stuck with it, and its done gamers the world of good.

iceman29295807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

I agree with what you say to a certain extent. There was about a 200 dollar difference between "comparable" skus between the ps3 and 360. If the ps3 can continue to be pushed in a way that allows for a comparable experience with the next xbox then what you say is true. However, if the next xbox completely blows the ps3 out of the water in terms of features and graphics and whatnot, then I feel that releasing a less future-proof console was the better strategy. If Microsoft were to release a console with similar prices to the 360s launch, and did manage to blow the ps3 out of the water, with the 200$ saved , this would essentially pay 2/3 of my new console. essentially the determining factor would be whether or not the remaining 100 -200 dollars of cost makes it worth a new console.

Sorry if my thoughts are a bit murky, im currently slighttttly tipsy so please forgive me :)

Shadow Flare5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

MS have said that they don't plan to release a new xbox until at least 2015.

http://n4g.com/news/548840/...

Kinetc is supposed to lengthen 360's lifespan. Ergo, PS3 is gonna keep pushing and pushing, while 360 is gonna be really held back since Kinetc uses the 360 to process its games as well. PS3 games like Uncharted 2 already clearly surpass 360 titles, but over the years, that gaps just gonna get bigger.

Also, if console sales carry on the way they are, PS3 will definitely push 360 to 3rd place, possibly as soon as next year, if MS aren't planning a new xbox till 2015. Analysts predict PS3 will outsell 360 this year by 4 million units, leaving a 1 million gap between ps3 and 360, which will most likely dissapear in 2011. And if Kinetc isn't a success.....well......it's over.

iceman29295807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

I think people have it wrong with that article.
"What you've seen is with this new sleek design and Kinect for Xbox 360 we've got at least another five years of this generation where we continue to offer great experiences for people."

I think this means they will support the 360 until 2015 , but I can't see them not releasing a new console before then. Especially if kinect isnt a hit... however even if it is, I still think we will hear an announcement for the next xbox at the next E3.
Also, in my personal opinion , I feel like the reason why they took the chip out of kinect and made it use the consoles processing was sort of a future-proofing the technology. They will allow you to use the same camera on the next xbox. So on the 360 its sort of a BETA!!

And I don't really care about which console wins or looses or sales, all I want is for them to give me the best gaming experience possible for my money.

Demonsdown5807d ago

Well MS investors are pushing for them to get out of the console business so there may not even be another xbox at this point. Depends on how far they are in to developing it I guess might get one more maybe.

iceman29295807d ago

I feel like xbox live would be the reason why they keep the xbox around.

There was another article on here talking about the revenue from the sales passing the revenue from the subscriptions. Thats pretty big news!

nveenio5807d ago

That $200 difference was worth every penny. PS3 has half-a-dozen games that are insanely better than anything on the 360...and that doesn't look to be changing any time soon.

P1NKY5807d ago

Don't always believe what MS says. They might say they won't be releasing a new console till 2015, but that could be so that they can get a head start.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5807d ago
sikbeta5807d ago

Totally True Shadow Flare, if the PS2 was the "inferior" Console of Last Gen and has 10 Years in the Market, I can't Imagine How Long the PS3 is going to be...

Starlight5807d ago

I do agree but you can't say that there won't be a need for a PS4 for quite some time. Depending on what you mean by quite some time, we'll be seeing a PS4 launching in November 2012 in JPN and US following Sony's history, we should also see the launch of PSP 2 next year.

kws10655807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

SPU pride

MGRogue20175807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

... Those SPUs are just one of the nightmares that Xbox 360 experiences about the amazing PS3 every night. :D

mushroomwig5807d ago

I wonder what the last batch of PS3 titles will look like compared to the first batch.

I remember a huge difference between an early PS2 title and one of the last titles to be released.

fooltheman5807d ago

interesting question...but let sony surprise us

Topshelfcheese5807d ago

good example is The Bouncer-ps2 launch year game, and Final Fantasy 12, both from Square, and it was a huge leap.

bjornbear5807d ago (Edited 5807d ago )

we put an early PS2 game ( Devil May Cry ) and then a VERY late PS2 game (SoTC) and the resolution of textures, jaggies, frame rate and even lighting were VASTLY improved

but you think "OH BUT THOSE ARE DIFFERENT DEVS! TEAM ICO PWN CAPCOM"

well ok, look at ICO against SoTC, or even MGS2 vs MGS3! the leap is HUGE just technically (not only artistically, but that too)

so...the PS3 must have that powa =O

but we've seen a very small version (albeit HUGE visually) of that leap: Uncharted 1 ---> Uncharted 2

edit: topshelfcheese props + FF12 looks amazing too, i'd even argue to say better than FF10 (technically not artistically)

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80°

(For Southeast Asia) New Price Changes for PS5, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal remote player

For Southeast Asia, new price changes.

Prices effective starting May 1st, 2026.

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blog.playstation.com
18d ago Replies(1)
BeHunted18d ago

Looks like PlayStation took a hit with Marathon and is now quietly adjusting prices worldwide to recover the losses

andy8518d ago

Lets be honest raising prices doesn't do that when no one's buying it. I imagine the profit it greater selling 10 times more at a lower price

Pergele17d ago

Whatever you say buddy, let's all wear the tinfoil hats.

IceKoldKilla17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

LMFAO Your comment alone says a lot more about you than anything else. When has one game not selling 10 million copies made a company raise the prices of their console? Then Xbox would be costing $5000 by now lol. You remind of the crazy drug addicts on the street rambling on about conspiracies. xD You sure you don't need a hug, buddy?

ChunkyMonk17d ago

One game that Sony payed $200 million for. lol
Also, you sure were quick to get triggered. Maybe your the one who needs a hug?

Eonjay17d ago

If nothing else, we should be united against the real issue here. AI and unnecessary tariffs that are effecting all gamers.

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Athlon10118d ago (Edited 18d ago )

The price increases are due to the RAM demand associated with AI and the US-Iran war. You can look to any business news website and local news to see that. Heck, even the 2026 Asus Zenbook Duo I've been eyeing has faced delays and has had a price increase of $400; that laptop has two specs. Asus is doing a staggered release with per-orders for the lower spec now and shipping in May and pre-orders for the higher spec that I'm eyeing starting in June. Basically, all computer manufactures are affected. It'll most likely start affecting smart phones too if it hasn't already. I can't remember the last time any major console maker (Nintendo, Sony, Sega, etc) increased the price of their console mid cycle outside of Microsoft just to make more profit.

S2Killinit17d ago

Its not the war. Its the RAM issue.

jznrpg17d ago

War is causing gas prices to rise. Transport of everything requires gas so the prices of those items go up as well. So it does have an impact

Athlon10117d ago (Edited 17d ago )

The blockage of the Straight of Hormuz due to the US-Iran war has affected raw components used in semi-conductor manufacturing such as bromine, aluminum, and helium. Iran had attacked the liquified natural gas (LNG) plant in Qatar which is a large producer (1/3 globally) of helium which is used in semiconductor etching. So it's the both the war and the RAM crises.

badz14917d ago

Oh no...should I get the Pro now before the price increase?

80°

Former Xbox Exec Says Developers Didn't Want a Sony Monopoly

Former Xbox executive Ed Fries comments on the early days of Xbox, the opinion of Japanese game companies, and more.

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insider-gaming.com
31d ago Replies(2)
Reaper22_31d ago

I dont think that'll ever happen. But i must say back in the day, they were definitely trying because they were more cash rich than their competitors.

CosmicTurtle30d ago

I think MS were and still are the richer company. They tried to acquire Sega back in the day (and considered doing so again more recently), they obviously bought exclusivity to Halo which was originally shown as a Mac title. I don’t think as a company MS can claim the moral high ground here. It’s a wilful lack of self awareness.

Of course Sony would try exactly the same if they had the resources, but when the PS2 dominated the industry was in a much healthier place with an abundance of great third parties.

This has been a depressing generation as far as first party decisions are concerned. The fact we are debating business plans rather than which game is better is a sad reflection of the state of things.

Darkseeker31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

There was Nintendo as well, Sony wouldn't have had a monopoly. In fact, the world would be better today if Xbox never existed in the first place. They pretty much brought all bad practices we have today. We might have gotten all of it either way, but not this early. In term of franchises, I don't think there is anything Microsoft released that would actually be missed if it didn't exist. Even Halo the world wouldn't notice if Halo didn't exist.

S2Killinit30d ago

MS was definitely a bad influence on gaming.

raWfodog31d ago

I think almost everyone will agree that a monopoly is not good for the industry. But that being said, the competition needs to be smart and strategic with their business. Simply buying up publishers and traditional third-party studios just to keep them out of the other companies reach is not a sustainable practice. That goes for all parties so don't think I'm just referring to Xbox.

I'm no business guru by any stretch of the imagination but I firmly believe that the best way to drive consumers to your software and hardware is to invest smart in your first-party studios. Give them full support and guidance in making unique, fun games that are only available to play in your ecosystem and the gamers will come.

Reaper22_31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

But first party studios aren't enough. They only make up a small portion of the industry. Without 3rd party there would be no industry for Microsoft or sony.Developing games take time and money and sometimes you gotta make moves to stay competitive.

raWfodog31d ago

Nah, I never said first-party was enough. I said it’s the ‘best way’ to drive gamers to your platform. 3rd-party is a free-for-all and there’s no guarantee that gamers will use your hardware to play the game. If you want to push your own software and/or hardware you need first-party, or at least exclusive deals with third-party studios.

SimpleDad31d ago

They Shure did a great job... 25 years later Xbox is dead.

Reaper22_31d ago

Then why be so emotional and continue to talk about it. Xbox will never die be ause it stays in so many people's head.

lodossrage31d ago

How can you even see him being "emotional" in that comment?

If anything, you're the emotional one, constantly trying to go at anyone that says anything against Microsoft. So when you call him emotional, it comes off as deflection

Elda30d ago

I own an XBSX & I can say it's becoming irrelevant out of the 3 current consoles.

31d ago Replies(2)
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40°

Sony Shows Off 20 Minutes of Crimson Desert on a Base PS5

Sony uploaded gameplay footage of Crimson Desert on a base PS5 running in what appears to be Quality Mode at a stable 30fps at 4K.

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powerupgaming.co.uk
BlazedKong57d ago

looks god awful on the base systems