3D Graphics Coming to Sci-Fi Book Covers

[vansau]

3D Graphics Coming to Sci-Fi Book Covers

Not content with ruining films and videogames, 3D effects are coming to book covers.

The push for 3D technology has been met with both acceptance and hostility amongst the general public, mainly because people seem divided about why they should pay extra for the privilege of wearing clunky glasses that dim the images they're looking at (<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.199280-Japanese-Porn-Indicates-3D-Television-Success>though apparently porn fans love the effect). However, it's now been revealed that 3D is coming to a rather unexpected type of media: classic sci-fi books.

Vintage Classics, a division of the publisher Random House, announced that it's going to re-release some of its most-beloved pieces of science fiction with "collectible" 3D covers:

? <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Planet-Vintage-Classics-Pierre-Boulle/dp/0099529041/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304640823&sr=1-1> Planet of the Apes
? <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twenty-Thousand-Leagues-Vintage-Classics/dp/0099528533/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304640889&sr=1-1>Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
? <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-World-Vintage-Classics/dp/0099528525/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304641224&sr=1-1>The Lost World
? <a href=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Journey-Centre-Earth-Vintage-Classics/dp/0099528495/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304641050&sr=1-1>Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
? The Call Of Cthulhu And Other Weird Tales

You can see the covers here; they look great, though they seem a little abstract to imagine in 3D. The books are currently only for sale in the U.K., though if you order them through Amazon, you can have them shipped worldwide.

Source: Geek

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[Hitman Dread]

Was the "ruining" comment truly necessary?

 

[mjc0961]

Oh goodie. Pushing the limits of how gimmicky the gimmick can get. Hurray?

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Because nothing says immersive like the cover of a book hitting you in the face. (sarcasam)

You know, I can accept(begrudingly) 3D on a game or show, because it's a nice little gimmic that helps to make things stand out. If done right, it can be a nice little add-on.

But I seriously won't defend 3D on a book cover. ... Honestly, the hell?

I mean, this is just dumb. It doesn't make the book anymore immersive or anything. This is the true deffinition of 'gimmic'. Its there, because 3D's popular.

Not because it'll add anything.

No, because it'll slightly increase sales by 3D addicts and people who see these as valuable collectors items.

 

[Meggiepants]

This just seems weird. I don't put on 3D glasses to skim the books on my shelf. Now if the books also included a little 3D comic or something, maybe, but this is kind of silly.

 

[MadCapMunchkin]

No...no...NO!

Can someone PLEASE got back in time and kill James Cameron before he makes Avatar? Please?! I have nothing against the man personally except that he started this 3-D craze that should never have started!!!

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

brb

Doing something even more pointless with 3D.

3D magazine covers.

 

[Baresark]

Wow, as if it doesn't struggle enough as an acceptable genre to college professors everywhere. Now we get this shit. If you don't want a novel to sell, you make the covers 3D. I know I would never purchase a novel with a 3D cover, at least not after I got out of the 1st grade.

 

[vansau]

Was the "ruining" comment truly necessary?

"infecting" perhaps?

 

[teh_Canape]

weird, I always thought that books were already 3D

what do you know =P

 

[Griphphin]

Was the "ruining" comment truly necessary?

"infecting" perhaps?

Something with a little more objectivity, perhaps. The article was pretty biased as well, from my point of view. I mean, "'privelage?'"

 

[Mahorfeus]

Far too much hate is being directed at the 3D fad, without much reason asides from "it's a gimmick" and "it doesn't do *blank*." Hell, the 3D hate has become more of a fad than 3D itself, from the looks of it.

Who the hell says that 3D doesn't add anything to a product? Enough people certainly seem to think that it does. It isn't just a fad because companies are creating it, it's a fad because people are buying it. The so-called ruination of entertainment caused by it is just a figment.

 

[Mahorfeus]

[redacted]

 

[yanipheonu]

Well whatevs, it's as good as any other way to grab someone's attention to the cover of a book. I mean, yeah it's pretty excessive, it's like putting flashing neon lights on your book, but hey, it'll attract attention.

And at the very least, having special covers won't affect your actual reading experience.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

For all you kids, a book was a bound stack of paper something people used to consume written information before Kindles and iPads.

Someone else can explain paper....

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Well, let me be the first to say that I'm completely sold on the Lovecraft collection; the prices are good enough that I may get the copy of Planet of the Apes, which is the only one I've never read in any form, as well.

Edit: Excuse me, I haven't read The Lost World either, but I'm pretty sure I have a copy lying around somewhere. If not, that may go on the list too. I kind of want these for the same reason the guy who said it wouldn't be a selling point past the first grade said he didn't; I'm a kid at heart, and this is right up my alley.