3D gaming?

Catch up Jimmy, I've been doing this ages now



The promise of the 3D gaming is great, however the reality however is a quite sober affair.

The trade off for many games to display 3D is too much for the current hardware with a few odd exceptions.

Enslaved drops resolution, and the 3D effect is not mind blowing. Though as it uses TrioViz technology it's not as bad as something like Killzone 3 which steps down it's resolution considerably when you utilize it's 3D mode. Basically your turning the game into a 480p game, and whilst you get the 3D effect, you also get low resolution, lots of aliasing issues, and a general lack of clarity to what in 2D is a great looking game.

SOTC & ICO
Jak & Daxter
Sly Racoon Collections all are 3D enabled, but don't bring too much to the table by being in 3D. There is still a performance deficit over the 2D version even in these instances, and SOTC is at times a slide show due to it's poor optimization (heck even in 2D at times).


MotorStorm : Apocalypse is also 3D, and again provides dimension, however due to the mud fuddled nature of its graphics and the collision damage with objects in this iteration - it doesn't actually provide anything extra.

Ridge Racer 7 - with patch - is Ridge Racer in 3D basically. Same game with a small bit of added depth.

Super Stardust - whilst works very well because of the fixed distance away from the planet and such the 3D effect isn't as dramatic, though it's one instance where there isn't a negative impact because of the 3D

Wipeout 2043, with patch - very good use of 3D with small trade off of 720p instead of 1080p. Works well in fairness to it.

Resistance 3 - again another Sony title that drops lots of resolution to add the 3D and because of it suffers in a way that whilst it now has shiny 3D it looks like crap, and the framerate also takes a good knock.


Batman : Arkham City - surprisingly I LOVED this game in 3D. In fact personally because they adjust some of the post grain filters in the engine whilst 3D is on, it actually looks better than it does in 2D with a better clarity. Also the framerate doesn't take a hit or the resolution either. This so far is the best 3D experience game.



As for causing headache etc...

Depends on the TV, how it handles crossover, and the settings it has. Personally I went for a Samsung LED 3DTV because of the ability to take 2D images and 3D'fy them. In some instances such as Killzone 3 this actually makes the game look almost the same as the native 3D option without destroying the resolution, textures etc...

As for movies.


Personally I prefer the 3D at home over the 3D at the cinema as I get a more fixed experience. At the cinema you never know where your going to be sat and at what distance and viewing angle all of which can effect the 3D experience. One time at Avatar i was sat at front row and the 3D was headache inducing being so close to the screen.

My 3D blu-ray collection so far....

cloudy with meatballs,
nightmare before xmas,
monster and aliens,
shrek 3D collection. All 4 shrek movies in 3D
Christmas Carol,
Bolt,
Alice in Wonderland,
Rio 3D,
Lion King 3D,
Tangled 3D,
Beauty & Beats 3D,
Clash of the Titans 3D,
Priest,
Hugo 3D,
Puss in Boots,
Tintin,
Animals United,
The Hole,
Resident Evil - Afterlife,
How to Train a dragon
Captain America,
Thor,
A monster in Paris,
Despicable Me,
Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader,
Green Lantern,
Harry Potter Deathly Hallows part 1 & 2,
Transformers - Dark Side of the moon,
Underworld Awakening,
Pirate of Caribbean : on stranger tides.

some films work better than others, but on the whole the 3D works very well.

Depending on how big your screen is and how close you will sit to it, you should probably be prepared to perceive a lot less depth and "absorption" than in the theater. I have a 46" and had to sit right in front of it (maybe one meter away) to get the most effect/experience out of it. And of course I had quite a headache afterwards!

I am not sold on 3D. Yes, it works, but I have yet to find a game or movie that actually benefits from it in a way that it's more enjoyable to me.

Now i like to play the 3D games because it's very high quality games..Prince of persia is my favorite 3D games..It's very interesting and enjoyable games...

I am a non believer in 3D. I just don't see the point, it adds very little to the experience. Give me good sound, accurate colours and high resolution, that is enough for me.

I have had a 3D TV for a year and a month now, and have to admit I do enjoy playing in 3D, but didn't really think it was a brilliant feature until I got Sky in my room. The sport, films and programs are absolutely ace and make it totally worth it.

With regard to gaming, as best I can tell, some games look worse than others, for example, Uncharted 3 is beautiful in 3D, I played every second of the story mode in 3D and loved it. However, Resistance 3 was awful, I stopped playing it and traded it in it was that bad. The resolution drop is the biggest issue for me, and that is my argument for why 4K TV is going to be worth it. So we can get razor sharp 3D images.

I don't know anyone with a 3D TV. I used to work selling electronics, and I don't think we sold many, and probably around 5-10 3D Blu-rays. That was in 2010-2011 when 3D was a buzzword, but I think it's died down now and consumers don't really care.

I guess it could be cool for gaming, I tried Motorstorm in 3D in some Sony event showing new TVs, but it was only for a minute so I can't say how long I'd want to play wearing those glasses. Once they implement actual holographic 3D that looks different from where you're looking at it, I'll be interested

Now i like to play the Angry birds 3D games because it's very interesting and enjoyable games...

I've got the Samsung UA55ES8000 (debatably one of the best TV's on the market), but unfortunately I've been unable to get my PC or Macbook in 3D on it. They both require some other software to work.

So I decided to boot up my 360 which I haven't played all year and try out Halo: Anniversary. Dear god that was terrible. The resolution, which is already pathetically low, is even lower, and the 3D effect is incredibly bad, so bad that you can't even focus on the weapon.

One day I hope to play some PC games in 3D, but until then...

Hmm I wasn't even aware that Xbox 360 did 3D gaming. Sony did a lot of marketing for that one so I figured it was their turf. And Nintendo's of course

Dagless said:

For PC there's TriDef3D, which works with a lot of games but not all. Works great with Skyrim, Rayman Origins. Still pestering them for a TF2 patch.

Click to expand...

I did try that, even though it's a bitch to move my 10+ kilo PC into the lounge room. For some reason it didn't work for me. I also wanted to use my rMBP with Nvidia's software, but you have to pay for it, you can't even get a trial to use in games.

Dagless said:

Right, so I know what the general MR consensus on 3D content is so I have a rough idea of what replies will be

But I've just ordered a new TV+sound system (Sony Bravia kdl-55hx853 and I forget what the 5.1 is). One of the biggest reasons was so for 3D playback - I love my 3DS and 3D films at the cinema.

So how are 3DTV's? Are they as "deep" as cinemas? Is it comfortable to play 3D games on (at no point have I ever had a headache, felt sick or dizzy with my 3DS or the cinema)?

I already have some games that support 3D-

SOTC and ICO
Super Stardust
Halo Anniversary
GT5
Enslaved
Killzone 3

So... how is it for you?

Click to expand...

The 3d is deep. Not as deep as cinemas and it doesn't pop that much. You will get a headache or feel dizzy with intense games. When I played Dead Space in 3d it was almost too intense for me.

Let's talk when glasses-free 3d tvs become more affordable