Sony Says 3D Can Give Gamers an Edge Online

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Sony Says 3D Can Give Gamers an Edge Online


Sony says that playing videogames in 3D not only makes them more accessible but can also give players an edge in online combat against 2D-equipped competitors.

It should come as no great surprise that Sony is touting all the great features of 3D gaming, since it's banking pretty heavily on it as the Next Big Thing. But positioning it as a way to gain an edge in online combat? Really? Well, said SCE Worldwide Studios [http://www.worldwidestudios.net/] Senior Development Manager Simon Benson, it depends.

"We think it's pretty much in a similar domain to when someone has got an HDTV and someone else has got an SDTV," he explained. "The person with the HDTV may have an advantage if the game requires them to perceive a lot of fine detail in the distance or something. It depends on the game and it depends on what you're trying to do with the core game mechanics as to whether you get an advantage."

"One interesting thing that we have found is that it tends to make the games more accessible in a lot of cases," he continued. "If you're playing a racing game and you're getting some additional [3D] information you can actually measure distances with your eyes, making it easier to judge braking."

He acknowledged that many hardcore gamers are already quite good at making use of alternate visual cues, meaning that the advantage of playing in 3D may be more pronounced with new gamers. But even the hardcore will see a benefit, he added, although it will probably be less pronounced.

"You can give a controller to someone to play a stereoscopic driving game and even if they've not played it before the [visual] cues are more relevant to them because they're used to measuring things with their eyes and they really do feel like it's more familiar to them," Benson said.

"I think at the high end with the hardcore gamers you'll still see a [3D] advantage there, potentially, but the margins will be far smaller. Again, we don't really know and it's something we want to quantify and be a lot clearer on," he said. "It's certainly one thing we are conscious of, and as part of our platform validation cycle we do check these things. We did tests on Wipeout's [http://www.amazon.com/WipEout-Online-Game-Code-Playstation-3/dp/B002N2YLDA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1279132997&sr=1-5] online racing modes to make sure that it wasn't hugely different... It's not like you're twice as fast or anything."

Source: Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/sony-3d-can-make-games-more-accessible]


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Banana Phone Man

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May 19, 2009
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What visual cues are you going to notice in 3D that you won't in 2D that makes you think "Oh hell, I need to break now" (in a racing game). A bend? Just a really good, realistic and in your face bend. Honestly I think this is just a little silly and a poor excuse to try and see the good side of 3D.
 

Virgil

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Jun 13, 2002
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I set up my PC to play games in 3D recently, and I would actually say that this is, in general, not true. 3D looks awesome, but I found that it does not give you a much better sense of distance.

On the contrary, because the HUD elements in most games are not a part of the 3D world, they float above the game like they were stuck to glass on a window right in front of you. This is fine, in general, but it does mean you need to re-focus your eyes to look at the HUD elements instead of the game world, which you don't need to do on a 2D display. I'm sure designing the game from the ground up to handle 3D could make this better, but most games still need this kind of information display, and I don't think that will change.
 

no oneder

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Jul 11, 2010
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I don't think that a better tv can give you any advantage. If anything is worse! I can't imagine playing online AND in 3D.

I think we should all reduce our carbon footprint and play in a GameBoy Advence tv adaptor.
 

Megacherv

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Sep 24, 2008
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Actually, I sorta support this. Seeing some 3D, it's not like films where it looks like a bunch of flat images on top of each other, each individual object has varying depths due to its shape.

Look at 3DS trailers for OoT and Lylat Wars. Use the 'cross-eyed setting', which give the same effect as what Sony's 3D is doing.
 

Jumplion

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ultimateownage said:
That's complete rubbish. It just confuses you with random crap popping out.
For some people, maybe. But as he said, it can depend on the game, like having more depth of field in a racing game and such.

That seems like an interesting tidbit of info on 3D. Personally I haven't had too much problems with playing a 3D game, it gives me about as much discomfort as playing a regular game even if I have to wear glasses on top of my glasses (I tend to forget they're there after a while).

I really do think that 3D has a better place in video games than it does in movies, there's a lot of potential with 3D gaming that could really change up the "rules" to game creation. We'll just have to wait and see.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

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Apr 8, 2008
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I hate 3D, it doesn't do anything for immersion, it's disorienting, and it's certainly not something I want to see in games. So what scares me the most is that Sony was right about Blu-Ray.
 

tomtom94

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May 11, 2009
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Of COURSE it does Sony. In fact I feel JUST like shelling out £1000 for a 3DTV with worse general quality than the HDTV I'm still yet to purchase and with no dedicated channels.
 

Virgil

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Donnyp said:
I agree with this statement somewhat but 3D would probably screw us with the immersion till everyone got used to actually seeing shit come at them lol.
3D gaming doesn't involve things trying to pop out of the screen at you, or at least it won't for good games. Like bad 3D movies, I'm sure crappy games will try to do that too. But it makes the screen seem more like a window than a flat display. It's hard to explain without seeing it.

If you have glasses and can remember it, it's kind of like the first time you ever got them - you probably never noticed how much you were missing until you put them on and saw what everything should look like. It's very impressive when you see it in action though - it's a subtle effect that you really notice when it's not there.
 

PseudoDuck

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Oct 18, 2009
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Yup, wearing active glasses that WILL make the screen appear darker is an obvious advantage over someone who won't suffer eye-strain from prolonged gaming in 3D.

Bravo Sony, bravo.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Your kidding right? Thats like saying people with widescreen have an edge over people without widescreen. It doesn't make a difference.

HD doesn't give you any edge either. I should know, I play an on SDTV without widescreen with my 360 and do just as good as when I play on an HDTV with widescreen with my PS3. And I did equally well on both of them.
 

Korten12

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Aug 26, 2009
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silver wolf009 said:
Yes! because glasses that give me a head ache make me the superior sharpshooter!
wait...
yeah thats just you... your trying to diss them on something that can be a problem with only u and not it....
wait...
 

Rarhnor

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Jun 2, 2010
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Companies are saying the silliest things nowadays. Now get back to the concept-room, and make me some games.
 

V8 Ninja

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May 15, 2010
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Umm...why do I not care? Oh, it's because 3D TVs cost almost insane amounts of money.