With the release of The Last of Us coming ever closer, those who worked on the game are claiming it pushes every boundary the PS3 system has.

Naughty Dog is the company behind the Last of Us, and they also hold one of the most impeccable track records of producing great games – creating characters like Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and Nathan Drake.

Having turned away from their platforming roots, The Last of Us will be Naughty Dog’s first foray into survival-horror-action, but so far things are looking pretty incredible and, according to lead designer Jacob Minkoff, that’s because they’re making the console work the hardest it ever has.

“Hardware cycles are always really interesting because at the beginning of a hardware cycle, you don’t really know how to use the hardware yet. I think Uncharted 1 used maybe 30 per cent efficiency.

Uncharted 2 we were finally using 100 per cent, but it wasn’t as efficient as it could be. Then, Uncharted 3 we got way more efficient. With The Last of Us, we are as efficient as we can possibly be.”

Minkoff says they were able to push it so hard because of the amount of time they’ve spent developing for the console, coming to know the boundaries of the system and what it can handle.

“It’s only because we learned the PS3 so well that we can finally push graphics that are this complex,” he said.

In terms of next-generation readiness, Minkoff says even once it releases it’ll take some getting used to.

“There’s excitement, right. Whenever a new console comes out, if it comes out, you’re like ‘Ok, cool, more power,’ but we gotta learn this now.”

Regardless of that, Naughty Dog certainly won’t be unprepared for the PS4 when it arrives, but in the meantime they’ll be focusing on the upcoming May 7 release of The Last of Us.