PS3 SPUs are ‘total monsters’, says inFamous 2 dev

PS3 SPUs are ‘total monsters’, says inFamous 2 dev
Wesley Yin-Poole Updated on by

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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.

“Compare this [Infamous 2] to the last game,” studio co-founder Brian Fleming told VideoGamer.com.

“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.

“Is future proof the word I would use? I don’t know. The future is always coming and coming and coming. But we’re four years in and working on this and we are still getting a lot more out of it; almost five years in on working on the PS3, still getting tons more out of it.”

Such is the power of the PS3 that Sucker Punch, which unveiled its open world action sequel during E310 last week, has vastly improved upon the visuals seen in the two million-selling original.

Fleming described the SPUs that make up the much-lauded Cell processor that powers the PS3 as “unbelievable”.

“The SPUs kick ass,” he said.

“Move your s*** 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.”

And there’s more to come from the PS3, according to Fleming.

“At some point everybody figures out most of the big stuff,” he said.

“But we’re still figuring out big stuff. There was a check-in today – I sent a mail about it – that was great. There was a big improvement in the performance of our light renderers – that was another thing we figured out, today. Bill Rockenbeck [programmer] back at the office – kudos to Bill by the way – he made a great check-in today taking advantage of some new stuff that we hadn’t figured out before.”

So, is the PS3 future proof? Perhaps. But games like inFamous 2, due out next year, suggest the console is yet to show its true potential.

There’s loads more inFamous 2 goodness over in our Brian Fleming interview.