We as gamers are no strangers to the power that is set to be generated by the next generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. While we've yet to handle all that power ourselves, there is a huge belief that the next generation will certainly be a big leap towards the future of the industry. NetherRealm Studios feels the same, confirming their belief in the power of the PlayStation 4, discussing how powerful the new console is compared to the PS3.
NetherRealm's Senior Producer Adam Urbano was recently in an interview with Polygon, where he talked about how the studio is looking ahead to bring the Ultimate Edition of Injustice: Gods Among Us to PS4. It was also discussed how the team garnered developmental support from the power that’s inside the PS4.
“At NetherRealm, we loved the PS3. Like, I know some devs really didn't like the SPUs [synergistic processing units, the hardware architecture of the PS3], but we have a tech team that spent eight years really perfecting that thing. So we had near-100 percent SPU utilization for Injustice," Urbano stated.
"That said, we were willing to give it up because the PS4 is so easy," he continued. "It's just — the tools are great, the hardware's great, it's super-elegant to work on. So getting code up and running is substantially easier than it's been in past generations."
However, Urbano also clarified that although the development process on the PS4 was relatively easy compared to the same on PS3, it still needed “some very smart guys [at NetherRealm], as well as some external help” to get the job done perfectly in time for the new console’s launch.
It was also clarified that the PS4's development environment is recognizable to game developers since the hardware architecture is reasonably close to a Windows PC, and that seemed like half the battle won for Injustice developers.
"We could focus on art and gameplay very early on. That was important to be able to be a launch title, which is what we wanted," Urbano added.
According to Polygon, “NetherRealm was able to maintain the existing game's frame rate of 60 frames per second while delivering advanced anti-aliasing that wasn't possible on current-gen platforms and using high-resolution uncompressed textures. The studio also added quick, fun minigames that make use of the DualShock 4 controller's touchpad, NetherRealm's first real experimentation with touch controls on console.”
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition is currently set to be available at launch for the PS4.
