PS4 not "designed in an ivory tower" like PS3, devs say

The PlayStation 4 was built in close consultation with game makers, developers have reiterated, painting a very different picture to the PlayStation 3's production.

In The Guardian's report of a round-table event following the PS4 reveal, Guerrilla Games co-founder Herman Hulst said PS4 system architect Mark Cerny came to visit Guerrilla several times during the console's development.

"We got the entire group of core developers together and gave deep feedback on everything system-related. It's no longer designed in an ivory tower somewhere in Tokyo, it's shared with us, with Naughty Dog, with Sony San Diego – and together we've built the machine," he said.

"As Mark said at one point during the launch event, it's a console for gamers by gamers."

Hulst said the PS4's PC-like architecture is going to make things a lot easier.

"If you look at the transition between PlayStation 2 and PS3 and the launch titles on the latter machine, then look at the launch titles for PS4, I think you'll see a much more impressive leap in quality," he said.

"I think the console and the ability for us to work with it has shown that we can make that leap much faster – we as developers are much closer to the insides of the thing."

Evolution Studios' Matt Southern said developers were also invited to give feedback on the Dual Shock 3 ahead of its successor's debut. The racing-focused team asked for better tilt controls.

"We all had a secret meeting after E3 last summer and shared our own prototypes, we called it our science fair," Southern said.

"There was lots of very open feedback and constructive criticism from a wide variety of studios. That was important because it meant we could build a controller that was a design classic but also embraced a new age."

At the same round table, Hulst said next-generation development costs aren't as "scary" as expected. Ubisoft CEo Yves Guillemot also shared some thoughts on what the publisher had contributed to the new console's design - that it be more like PCs and mobile devices.

Thanks, Joystiq.