3-D Technology: Applicable to Video Games? - Shinyhubcaps's Blog

Shinyhubcaps's Blog

3-D Technology: Applicable to Video Games?

Posted on February 14, 2009 at 07:54 PM.

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Today marked my first foray into the world of 3-D cinema. I was able to watch Coraline in three dimensions at my local theater, and visually, I was not disappointed.

The glasses-wearing illusion is quite complicated as to how it actually works. The technology is intriguing, to say the least. For the long answer on how the illusion is created, click here. For the short answer, click here.

The 3-D in the movie was great. There were a few instances where it didn't look entirely calibrated, and of course, high levels of motion in the foreground lead to a blurry appearance. However, these hiccups hardly detract from the experience, as characters stand out from their animated environments, and layers appear to separate themselves from one another, bound only by the outside edges of the screen. The illusion is strongest with a slow-moving object tilted out in layers, normally centered so as to avoid the edges.

This technology is serious business. Not only is 3-D making a comeback in movies (Pixar says all of its future films will be in 3-D, and the other most recent 3-D film, My Bloody Valentine, made over $40 million in the U.S. box office), but it extends to TV as well. A recent article on the matter discusses NBC's Chuck and a Sobe commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. Now I know that people are down on TV 3-D because of wearing the stupid paper glasses, but TV is hardly the golden standard. The film glasses were much more sophisticated, the screen was better optimized for the illusion, and unlike Chuck, the movie was in 3-D for the entire duration, not random and sporatic moments.

So the technology is coming back. After a long hiatus, they did something with it and have opened a viable market. So what about video games?

At CES 2009, PlayStation 3 did a 3-D demo, and it was covered by IGN at this link. What is unclear, however, is whether it would work on a normal television set. Does the monitor have to be digital? High-definition? Does size matter? Even though CES 2009 displayed some nice pre-rendered video, the translation into practicality is something entirely different. Are glasses necessary? (For the movie, they were comfortable and looked like normal sunglasses, by the way. I occasionally had to hold the bridge to my nose as they gradually sank off, but it was infinitely better than the red-blue paper glasses.)

We also all remember the Johnny Chung Lee video with modifying the Wii set-up to support virtual reality headtracking. He also mentioned that Electronic Arts was planning on creating a game for his configuration, yet no more news has trickled down the wire as far as I know.

And what about sports games in particular? Well, 3-D has existed with limited success for some recent events including the BCS Championship, an NFL game, and NBA All-Star Weekend. Surely if you can isolate objects, the 3-D would run more smoothly, and with the intent with which we play video games these days, it isn't too far-fetched to believe that people wouldn't mind the intense focus that it may take.

As mentioned, the motion did cause blurs in Coraline, so that would need to be fixed unless developers thrive on community complaints. Other than that, each year there is one game that pushes the boundary on photorealism. It is my firm belief that with 3-D technologies and the demand for gaming accessories, the 3-D gaming generation is imminent.

Any thoughts? Would you be interested in 3-D gaming? Would you wear the glasses? Would you pay a little extra for a connector or display if it didn't work on your current monitor set-up? And of course, is this possible with our current consoles? I hope to hear some answers from the community, and I'm sure we'll hear from the developers soon enough.

Comments

# 1 Shinyhubcaps @ Feb 15

The PS3 was a tech demo, though. They might need to modify the set-up to run a full disc, and we don't even know if what their set-up was retail.

Action games and shooters would be amazing if they just layered the landscape.