Develop 2010: Sony woo developers that 3D is the next evolution in gaming.
Sony made a bold effort to convince developers that 3D is the way forward for home entertainment at Develop in Brighton. “It increases the immersion and realism of any game you apply it to,” said Mick Hocking, head of Sony Computer Entertainment’s global 3D gaming group.
He estimates that 50 percent of TVs will be 3D ready by the end of 2010. There are now 36 million 3D ready PS3s worldwide, thanks to a firmware updated released in early June. And later this year, Sony is planning to add 3D Blu-ray and photo support to their console.
“We’ve found applying 3D to racing simulators has been quite profound… even for people who don’t normally like racers,” said Hocking. He described that the added depth makes judging distances easier, something he believe will “appeal to our hardcore audience, because anything that will give them a competitive edge is worth having.”
“It’s almost more intuitive and will help us bring new players in, because it’s closer to reality,” he said. Using PlayStation Move (PS3’s upcoming motion controller), games like EyePet and Tumble will combine augmented reality with 3D.
“[Avatar] has shown an enormous amount of people out there, through its quality, really how good 3D can be,” said Hocking, as he ended his brief history of 3D technology. 3D is a major focus for Sony’s electronics division, and Hocking said it was the first time SCE has worked so closely with their sister divisions on a shared project. Sony’s new stereoscopic displays use active shutter glasses, rechargeable glasses that alternately darken in sync with the TVs’ refresh rate. The result is a much cleaner 3D experience.
However, 3D gaming does not come without a price. New 3DTVs from Sony, Samsung and Philips currently cost anywhere between £1000 and £3000, and the extra glasses necessary for viewing increase that figure. As it is early days for home 3D technology, content also happens to be slim, though Sony and other manufactures are betting on the technology for the long-term.
From a technical perspective, 3D currently only supports up to 720p resolution – which means a dip for 1080p titles, like WipEout HD. Including it also means game production practices have to change, as everyone from creatives to testing and marketing need to be trained accordingly. 3D will certainly lead to a change in home entertainment usage, and Sony has already acknowledged that the technology may cause eye strain or nausea.
In his rundown of 3D technologies, Hocking made light of the lenticular technology used in the recently announced Nintendo 3DS handheld. He went on to say: “All glasses-free solutions can create good images for small devices, but they don’t scale up.”
Sony has been developing 3D gaming technology for the past two years. Firmware update 3.30 has enabled plug-and-play 3D on PS3. Four games are currently compatible: WipEout HD, Super Stardust HD, Pain, and a demo of MotorStorm Pacific Rift. There are a number of titles set to be released in 3D over the next 18 months, including Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5, MotorStorm Apocalypse and Crysis 2.
See our impressions of 3D gaming on PS3.
Aaron Lee
Tags: 3d, 3ds, develop, motorstorm, ps3, sony, super stardust, technology, wipeout
