The problem with the whole 3D rush in my mind is that it's not a new technology, we've been here before, and saw it as a fad then too. Truthfully I'm not sure if the public is going to remain enchanted by it, because honestly I think some of the productions I've seen, like "Alice in Wonderland" didn't exactly benefit from it. For the most part 3D seems to be a gimmick that is replacing quality film making, and I have yet to see it actually work as an extension of the film making process. I mean right now it's awesome because it's something differant, but with the fact that a lot of people get headaches from it (like me) it will be interesting to see how long it endures.
Truthfully it seems like most of the more interesting, experimental ideas didn't go anywhere with it. For example I remember one movie hosted by Elvira called "The Mask" (which I believe I've mentioned before) where there was this haunted mask that caused people who wore it to have surrealistic visions, and every time a character put it on you were told "put on the mask" (your 3d glasses) and you'd be shown what they saw, and it was kind of trippy, despite not being a great movie overall. The point being is that it was an attempt to use 3d as a storytelling tool, and really I haven't seen much stuff like that.
I also have memories of movies like "Metal Storm: The Destruction Of Jared Simms" that were in 3d and ummm... well, let's just say there are reasons why it's not remembered as a classic of cinema.
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One final note, on the subject of the article itself, understand that Sony is a much bigger company than either Microsoft or Nintendo in most ways that matter. Sony is an electronics manufacturer first and foremost, and video games are only one facet of their business. They invested a lot of money to get contol of the current gen video format (Blu Ray), defeating it's rivals. Taking hits in the video game arena is probably seen as being worthwhile to them because if 3D catches on as an industry standards, their going to be the ones in the best position to tap it overall.
Looking at things like PSP Vs. DS and so on, is a very limited perspective.
Microsoft is a software producer first and foremost, and while ginormous they are limited in scope. Hardware like the 360 is relatively new for them. Nintendo has a very niche role being exclusively aimed at video games. Sony on the other hand is into everything from producing TVs and video players, to video games and game decks, to producing rice cookers, to running movie and music production companies. One of the scary things about Sony is that not many people know how big they are since they are one of the congolmerates that inspired all of those dystopian corperate future stories. A lot of people think Microsoft is bigger, but at the same time nobody really knows all of what Sony controls.
Nintendo will make 3d video games, even if they dominate in that arena, Sony is probably going to out perform them by producing 3d movies, and specialized technologies to view them. They are big enough where they can see a competitor's success in one market as being akin to free advertising for other markets.
