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3-D video gaming is coming, but at what cost?
By: cnn.comPosted On: 05/05/2010 11:43 A
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After the rush by audiences to Hollywood 3-D blockbusters "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland," game designers and developers are hoping to strike gold with 3-D gaming.
After the rush by audiences to Hollywood 3-D blockbusters "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland," game designers and developers are hoping to strike gold with 3-D gaming.
Today's best games, already immersive experiences thanks to large-screen TVs and sophisticated graphics, could become even more intense in three dimensions -- imagine "God of War III" in full, bloody 3-D glory. So far, however, the video gaming industry has proceeded cautiously.
The big three console makers are taking different routes to 3-D. Sony has already pushed out software changes to allow games in 3-D on its PlayStation 3 system. Microsoft said it also can do 3-D on the Xbox 360 but prefers to wait, while Nintendo, maker of the Wii, is going small with its 3-D gaming plans.
Panasonic and Samsung recently introduced home 3-D television systems, and Sony is prepared to issue its own 3-D TV models next month. Other TV manufacturers are close behind.
Video: 3-D TV in your living room Video
Computer manufacturers also are making the technical adjustments to show games in three dimensions, but those changes will come with a significant price -- and with many questions.
Digital graphics maker NVIDIA has developed technology that renders an image twice on computer monitors and requires shuttered eyeglasses to produce it in 3-D inside the user's brain. Phil Eisler, an NVIDIA general manager, said the company is taking advantage of work already done by gaming developers.
"They do all the work to make games in 3-D, but then render them flat," he said. "We can portray the games the way they should be."
Gaming software for 3-D play shows the action from two slightly different angles. The active-shutter glasses alternately open and close to give the eyes different views and allow the brain to put the images together in what appears to be three dimensions. Eisler said the glasses refresh at a rate of 60 hertz for each eye, with a scroll wheel that allows the user to adjust the depth of vision for the game.
"It is like hyper-stereo," he said. "For first-person shooter games, this kind of depth could be invaluable."
Games coming in 3-D
Patrick Bach, senior producer at game developer DICE, said whether it is this technology or another, gaming is headed for 3-D soon. DICE and its owner, Electronic Arts, will be upgrading their new game, "Battlefield: Bad Company 2," into a 3-D game with a patch.
"Special hardware will be a hurdle. But we want people to experience the game in 3-D," Bach said. "We wouldn't add this if it didn't add to the game."
Eisler said developers don't have to do anything extra to make their games work in three dimensions. The "NVIDIA 3D Vision" process automatically transforms nearly 400 PC games into full stereoscopic 3-D right out of the box, without the need for special game patches, he said.
But he said many companies are going the extra step to make their titles look better in 3-D by adding such enhancements as out-of-screen effects and showing in-game movies and backgrounds in 3-D.
"In 'Bad Company 2', for example, they have rendered all their cut scenes in 3-D as well," Eisler said. "They have done a stellar job with their game."
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