3D, Another Empty Castle?

The main item on everybody's lips at CES was 3D, with both 3D Tvs and HDMI conversion 3D Tvs. But what I was really interested in, was how 3D gaming would be implemented into the games industry. The technology is CERTAINLY not new, with 3D films having been released since the 50's, so where is 3D gaming going and is there any future in it?

One of the busiest kiosks at the Sony CES booth, was surprise surprise, the 3D Playstation3 demos, including GT5 demo lap, Super Stardust HD in 3D, recently released Avatar and a series of clips of Motorstorm and Little Big Planet. As impressive as the effects were, people couldn't help but wonder, are they really necessary? Whilst an in car view in GT5 looked great and seemed immersive, all that Super Stardust gained was an extra layer. Is it worth both the investment and discomfort for such a novelty thing? It seems to me as if that in the current economic climate games developers see the best way out of the recession is to toss out a not so new, but flashy piece of technology. They are capitalizing on the recent release of films such as Avatar, and encouraging the consumer to bring the cheap cinema gimmick home with them.

We all remember the hype surrounding the wii's motion sensing capabilities, it was hailed as the next big thing. In reality, few consoles have implemented the technology with great success. On the Ps3 for example, the Sixaxis usage in games is often more of a nuisance than it helps improve game enjoyment. Are we being led down the same route as with the motion sensing technologies of the past few years. However, this time, it's gonna cost a heck of a lot more.

If we want high definiton 3D gaming, we cannot simply use the same technology as modern cinemas use. Instead, you use a pair of active shutter glasses that polarizes the individual lenses in conjunction with the refresh rate of on-screen content. Since the first implementation of active shutter technology with the Sega master system in 1987, both the clarity and contrast of the images has been improved greatly. However, this technology comes at a hefty cost. Many recently bought HDTVs may be incompatible with the 3D signals of the coming years. So that means a new Tv set AND glasses if you want to be doing some serious HD 3D gaming.

Perhaps just as important is comfort. Whilst 3D cinema glasses are light weight, active shutter ones are not, with all the built in technology adding alot of weight. It seems that anymore than a couple minutes play and you become aware of the weight of the glasses, unable to shake the thought from your mind.

As impressive as 3D is I believe it should be kept for the occasional theatre visit. I'd prefer to enjoy my games in glorious HD rather than having 3D detract from my enjoyment. We're have perfectly good spatial judgement as it is, how is being able to tell the depth of a puddle going to improve our enjoyment of the game? Quite frankly it's not.

There we go. First post. I'm a little tired so we'll leave it at that. These are only MY opinions so feel free to express yours. :)