PlayStation 5 architect Mark Cerny recently opened up about the process behind developing Sony's newest console, as well as a few of his favorite features and technical advancements. Cerny has been a part of PlayStation since the PS2 days and has lent his considerable engineering knowledge to games like Marble Madness, Crash Bandicoot, and 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man over a 40-year career in the gaming industry.
Mark Cerny’s most recent and noteworthy contribution to Sony came in his role as the lead designer for the PlayStation 5. Last March, Cerny spoke at length about the then-unreleased PS5’s many technical advancements at a livestream presentation - though this was more infamously known for its drab delivery than Cerny's actual words. Cerny continued to discuss the PS5’s console’s cutting-edge Solid-State Drive and 3D Auto output in the months leading up to the new console's release last November and has even mentioned his favorite SSD expansion drive after an update allowed the PS5 to be compatible with them earlier this year.
As reported by VGC, Mark Cerny recently sat down for a video interview on WIRED’s official YouTube channel, where he discussed various aspects of the PlayStation 5's development. Cerny opened up about the PS5's pre-production process and noted that the Solid-State Drive had been requested as far back as the PS4 era. In particular, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney encouraged this development, as he felt that last-gen hard drives were “holding the industry back.” Other areas of note for Mark Cerny and his development team included the need to reduce load times and fast travel in titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Mark Cerny also reflected on the challenges in implementing backward compatibility for PS4 games on PS5, as the newer console’s more advanced hardware led to older games running too fast. Cerny revealed that to correct this, his team put in “knobs” to help “dial-in just how much performance [a given] game could handle” and help account for the “hundreds of essential GPU features in PlayStation 4 that the developers rely on" for their titles to run properly on the PS5. Finally, Cerny spoke about some of his favorite PS5 features, with a standout being the simulated feel of riding on horseback through dirt, mud, and stone brought by the PS5 DualSense's haptic feedback while playing Ghost Of Tsushima.
Sony recently celebrated the PlayStation 5’s first anniversary earlier this month, and the console has managed to become the fastest-selling video game console in US history despite shortages from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing it to fall short of the PS4's first-year sales. Mark Cerny's technical knowledge and eye for cutting-edge technical features are a big part of the PS5's massive success, and it is always fascinating to hear a talented mind within the gaming industry share their personal experience behind the creation of the newest generation of PlayStation consoles.
Source: VGC, WIRED/YouTube