Videogames have begun to use the latest stereoscopic 3D technology and are now ready to entertain us at home, while biggest names in Hollywood is working on 3D videogames and expanding on the stories of their 3D films.
Let’s take a look at Disney Interactive Studios and see what the company has done. Disney’s “G-Force” game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 which is based on Jerry Bruckheimer’s live action 3D film featuring secret agent guinea pigs, will use Anaglyph 3D, the traditional red and blue glasses from the 1950s 3D craze.
Disney uses this same technology on a Wii game due out in fall, “Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story Midway Mania,” which is based on the Walt Disney World and Disneyland 4D theme park ride and comes out alongside the movie “Toy Story 3D” in October.
At the same time, Ubisoft - in a bid to push 3D technology even further - has developed proprietary stereoscopic 3D technology, the clear polarized glasses movie theater patrons receive these days, for “James Cameron’s Avatar” game.
The action game, which was shown behind closed doors at E3 in Los Angeles last month, will be the first Hollywood-licensed game to introduce stereoscopic 3D to gamers. It is pretty fantastic, because by sticking our head into the monitor, the world will wrap around us. Besides, this is the first time in a videogame that we will be frightened afraid when the hammerhead enemies attack.
As videogame consoles like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 helped convince consumers to upgrade to HD TVs, 3D videogames could enhance the attraction of 3D TVs in living rooms. Since all entertainments are going 3D, there is a huge interest and desire on the part of equipment makers to bring the 3D stereoscopic technology into the home.
Games are expected to lead that trend as the 3D really does add an appreciable level to the playing experience. The combination of the “Toy Story 3D” released this fall for family audiences and “Avatar” for sci-fi fans will raise awareness and grow the fan base of 3D.
But as is usually the case, we will expect heavy media users, chiefly sci-fi fans and gamers, to be the first to upgrade, and for them, “Avatar” could be a key demand driver. Mass audiences may be later to the party, first because of the price, and second, because the amount of 3D content will be limited for some time.
For the time being, 2D gaming remains the staple. Electronic Arts has just launched its games based on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” while Activision has a double feature with a virtual version of “Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs” and a new “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” game. The original “Transformers” game sold over 3.16 million copies in the US alone.
Comment on this, actor Shiar LaBeouf who stars in both games, said videogames were now more successful than films. LaBeouf said it is a more all-encompassing medium and we have more control over it. It moves at the tempo of the personality playing it, the actor said. It is really a different form of entertainment that’s more of a tangible, visceral, emotional experience, he said.
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