The hype train got moving a long while ago, and consumers are going to be flooded by 3D, whether they like it or not. While big manufacturers in the consumer electronics industry such as Sony and Samsung are looking more and more into 3D technology for the near future, game developers, however, remained mixed on how the technology should progress to the end user. id Software’s Todd Hollenshead thinks that the technology needs more time to develop before it will be accepted.
Hollenshead is convinced that the early '80s push for 3D has resulted in a cultural belief that 3D is only possibly by wearing goggles. Goggles are “so nerdy that nobody wants to do it,” comments Hollenshead. He doesn't believe that companies have found a way to circumvent the affliction that “nerdy” goggles bring to 3D.
"I know the stuff in your living room is different. You can get higher quality glasses that fit," he says. "But you still gotta sit in your living room wearing these glasses. And then if you're playing games and move your head then it can get out of phase, which is a major issue." For him, watching Avatar for two hours was a drain due to wearing incredibly uncomfortable glasses at the theatre.
He also notes that 3D televisions are “f*cking expensive. Is there really enough content to justify?”
"At the very uber end of the videophiles, those guys are going to adopt that," he says. "But that's not going to be wide enough adoption to create substantial change within the gaming market. It has to be more pervasive and more widely adopted before it makes sense for videogame development companies to invest."
"You may have one or two that are like, oh, we're going to fly the banner of this and we're going to make our name on this one thing," Hollenshead continues. "But to have really meaningful differences is going to require some more time. The price is going to have to come down and you're going to have to have more widespread adoption."
[Thanks Eurogamer]
