Killzone developer defends PS4 hardware against PC 'trolls'

Guerilla Games' Technical Director Michiel Van Der Leeuw has batted away claims that the PS4 is little more than a high-end PC in a games console package.

"The fact that the best pieces of [PS4] hardware are also devised from, or optimised versions of, the stuff we find in PCs doesn't make it any less a console," the Killzone man told Edge.

He then talked more specifically about members of the gaming community who have accused the PS4 of being just a PC in console clothing: "That's difficult because people are trolling, right. What do you say to a troll? You don't feed the trolls, that'll make them grow."

Don't feed the trolls. It's valid advice. Of course, it makes sense for Leeuw to defend the console as he then went on to explain how Guerilla Games played an instrumental role in the creation of the PS4, including making at least five changes to the graphics chip, CPU and bandwidth between components.

"I think it was for more than a year that we knew the main ingredients and there was just discussion after discussion trying to find a bottleneck," he said, revealing that Guerilla ran Killzone 3 and early Killzone 4 art assets through simulators to test prospective hardware.

Behind the scenes

Debate has raged over the PS4's specs ever since it was announced, with both Nvidia and the console's CPU/GPU provider - AMD - attacking and defending certain components to TechRadar at different junctures. Leeuw's comments, despite his troll warning, should add even more fuel to the fire.

Also revealed by Edge was that Evolution Studios, the team behind MotorStorm and the upcoming DriveClub, played a significant part in putting the PS4 together too - namely on its DualShock 4 controller.

"We were instrumental in securing the specific gyro components that [will] go in the DualShock 4," said Evolution's Technical Director Scott Kirkland, explaining that the company wanted controllers with high frequency gyros. It also helped shape the triggers and analogue sticks.

"So we put a very compelling case forward to the guys in Japan, they listened and they're the components that are in the DualShock 4."

The controller's triggers were developed alongside input from Guerilla, but Kirkland admitted there had to be some "compromise" between the studios over how they should function and feel.

"But the controller sits on the desk beautifully," he said. "It doesn't accidentally press the triggers, [and] they've got really nice resistance to them."