Naughty Dog: "PS3 still has a lot of mileage"

By Johnny Minkley Published 3 November, 2011

But will studio's next game be made for it?

Uncharted 3 may be pushing PlayStation 3 harder than ever before, but the game's lead designer reckons it can still go further.

"PS3 still has a lot of mileage in it," insisted Naughty Dog's Richard Lemarchand, while admitting it was "very hard to say" whether the studio's next project would appear on the console or future Sony hardware.

Speaking to Eurogamer TV at GameCity6 last week, he said the team "felt we were really almost taking full advantage of the Cell processor" to produce the "big graphical leap forwards between Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3".

Getting more out of the console from now on, he explained, was more about processes than power.

"It now becomes a question of: how do we optimise those processing jobs that we send to the Cell processor; what kinds of things to choose to send to the Cell as opposed to the graphics processor; what different tricky ways can we find to get even more out of the system?"

He added: "I think whatever we do next on the PS3 or on any future platform, we're going to be able to apply those lessons we've learned in the course of making this sequence of games, and put those lessons to good use. Every single person at Naughty Dog is brimming with ideas for future games."

Uncharted 3, out in the UK yesterday, is the latest instalment in a series that began life on PS3 in 2007.

Speculation is rife that Naughty Dog will jump straight into development of Uncharted 4 - with some even suggesting it will launch on Sony's next console.

Lemarchand this week told Eurogamer there exists a "top secret plan" about what Naughty Dog will do next.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Johnny Minkley is a veteran games writer and broadcaster, former editor of Eurogamer TV, VP of gaming charity SpecialEffect, and hopeless social media addict.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Feanor #1 7 months ago

    Fix the diagonal aiming issues, Naughty Dog.

  • Snake_2011 #2 7 months ago

    legends ND.
    Uncharted 4 on PS4 release day game sounds really good.
    Edited by Snake_2011 at 03/11/11 @ 13:52

  • el_pollo_diablo #3 7 months ago

    ND: "PS3 still has a lot of mileage"
    EG: "So your next game is going to be a PS3 game?"
    ND: "LOL no fucking way."

  • MattEdWithCheese #4 7 months ago

    Crash Bandicoot, 2: Cortex Strikes Back, 3: Warped, Crash Team Racing
    Jak and Daxter, Jak II, Jak 3, Jak X: Combat Racing
    Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, 2: Among Thieves, 3: Drakes Deception, Uncarted?
    Edited by MattEdWithCheese at 03/11/11 @ 13:55

  • wizlon #5 7 months ago

    As much as I love Uncharted, I would like to see something different from ND on the PS3. An Uncharted on the PS4 would be a killer launch title though.

  • UncleLou #6 7 months ago

    o produce the "big graphical leap forwards between Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3".

    It looks great and all, but I don't really see a big graphical leap between UC2 and 3.

  • Eoin #7 7 months ago

    That's excellent. After Uncharted used "30 to 40 per cent" of the PS3's power, and Uncharted 2 used 100%, I guess Uncharted 3 uses maybe 150% of the PS3's power. Those future games with the extra mileage might be able to push it out to 170% or 180%.

  • PinktotheLast #8 7 months ago

    This generation can't finish before we get ONE game from Team Ico.
    Then, and only then, can we think about new consoles.
    To be honest, I'm fearful Last Guardian doesn't actually exist, and its just been a playful ruse, all the while Team Ico sit on a beach and laugh at us.
    Damn you Team Ico!!:mad:

  • MattEdWithCheese #9 7 months ago

    Don't see why you've voted @Fearnor down, whenever you try to aim horizontally and vertically the sensitivity drops considerably and that's a fact! Your opinion is whether it affects the play experience...

  • UncleLou #10 7 months ago


    Don't see why you've voted @Fearnor down, whenever you try to aim horizontally and vertically the sensitivity drops considerably and that's a fact! Your opinion is whether it affects the play experience...

    Because this article is about something else, while there's a dedicated article about the controls on the front page...

  • Vitor #11 7 months ago

    @lollage Why are you getting thumbed down for that? I love ND and am really enjoying UC3 but I totally can feel the control issues. They're not huge but it definitely reminds me of the Killzone 2 issue.

    According to NeoGaf posts, one of the developers said they changed nothing about the aiming between games. Seems like a possible glitch then and hopefully something the can patch.

  • RawNinjaKid #12 7 months ago

    Sounds like they are too confused whether Sony's new hardware is a controller or another console!

    I suspect the former; I think Sony will want to extend the lifespan of the PS3 a little longer than normally planned.

    The WiiFit did work for Nintendo, after all.

    Move, kinect, Sony's and Nintendo's new controller are really the battle grounds of the future. New next-gen console hardware will be more powerful, but the control mechanics will be the differential factor, more than the so called technical "differences" you will see on screen.
    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 03/11/11 @ 15:45

  • MattEdWithCheese #13 7 months ago

    @UncleLou Soz, didn't see that...

  • peterfll #14 7 months ago

    I'm only on chapter 3 and the only thing I can point to in terms of superior graphical prowess is maybe in the number of characters in a scene (impressive numbers in the Cartagena squares and markets). I also can't decide whether to run the game in 3D or not. The 3Ds alright and all, but I'm not sure it's worth the trade off in terms of the drop off in resolution. It makes the game quite jaggie...

  • Ryze #15 7 months ago

    Lots of mileage, fuck all RAM.

  • Hindle #16 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:04:43 04-04-2012

  • anthonypappa #17 7 months ago

    why cant their next game be for both?

    the ps3 will have 70 million users or something. to release a game with no install base isn't so good.

    probably beneficial in a few ways bringing it out on both systems.

  • Badassbab #18 7 months ago

    @lollage

    Uncharted 2 had input lag as well. Just something you get used to.

  • Retro_ #19 7 months ago

    UC3 graphically is a fair leap up from UC2, it looks spectacular, hats off to Naughty Dog, they really do show just what the PS3 is truly capable of.

  • Mister-Wario #20 7 months ago

    I just hope it's not a really realistic shooty title. I loved Crash and Jak back in the day.

  • carlosdfn #21 7 months ago

    Time to move on. I want a PS4 launch game by ND.

  • Miths #22 7 months ago

    @peterfll

    In my opinion this game absolutely needs to be played in 3D if you have the option. Performance is rock solid in 3D - unlike too many 3D games - and yes, some edges look a little more jagged than I'd like (but nowhere near Killzone 3 levels of resolution drop) and I get some minor crosstalk on occasion, but if there was ever any game that's begging to be played in 3D it's this one.

    Depth is phenomenal, objects and characters have a solidity to them that skirts around the issue with layered depth ("pop up book effect";) you see in some 3D content, and as I saw a poster on a forum somewhere suggest, rather than just looking amazing, 3D actually adds to the excitement as well when you're hanging from a ledge over a huge drop that stretches far into your screen.

    In terms of flawless image quality in 3D games we'll unfortunately probably have to wait for the next console generation and a lot more processing power (or settle for less graphically intensive games, such as the recent God of War HD/3D remakes that look very sharp in 3D). But for now Uncharted 3 is definitely a fantastic example of how thoroughly impressive 3D can look in a game - even with those minor flaws.