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PlayStation (Games) Games

Sony Teases 3D Playstation 3 171

Posted by Soulskill from the next-big-gaming-revolution? dept.
Ars Technica has a brief report from CES, where Sony demonstrated the work they've done to bring 3D technology to the PS3. Quoting: "The idea was just to show the technology to people, to see if they would be interested in sitting at home, wearing a dorky set of black glasses, watching content in 3D. I couldn't pry details about how the 3D affect was achieved, or if the display could turn any source into 3D, but what's clear is that, glasses or no, the 3D affect is amazing. Sony showed off Wipeout HD running in true 3D, and I was ready to whip out my credit card right there. Frank and I both agreed, this was one of the best demos of 3D technology we have ever seen."
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Sony Teases 3D Playstation 3

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  • I'm hopeful that Sony pulls this off and manages to get 3D-TVs to be the norm. Starting with gamers is a good way to do that, too.

    Of course, if they have patents on this technology and nobody else can do it, it'll die an early death... Especially since Sony TVs are so heavily overpriced to begin with.

    • Re:Hopeful (Score:5, Interesting)

      by VinylRecords ( 1292374 ) on Friday January 09, 2009 @07:42AM (#26384521)

      Do we really need to move on from HDTV already?

      HDTV lag has yet to be solved, meaning tons of old game consoles must be played with input delay. HDTVs are also still too expensive for many people to afford. And once you buy an HDTV, you need something that outputs in HD, digital cable, a Blu-Ray machine, a PS3, those aren't cheap either.

      I still use my SDTV for gaming or watching DVDs as upscan converters or scalers look horrible on my HDTV. Because HDTV lag and upscaling are problems I am forced out of necessity to keep an SDTV around to play old video games without lag.

      I would rather see HDTVs perfected than a move to 3D.

      • Re:Hopeful (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 09, 2009 @08:22AM (#26384705)

        Do we really need to move on from HDTV already?

        I'd say we haven't moved to HDTV at all.

        Not a lot of people I know actually have an HDTV. They are indeed still expensive, but more importantly, they don't really offer anything that people need or want. The difference between standard TV and HDTV is just not large enough for people to actually care about.

        HD-DVD is already dead and Blu-Ray doesn't seem to be doing all that well either. More evidence that people just don't care.

        What I'm hoping for is some actual innovation when it comes to television. On-demand streaming content, where I am no longer dependent of the exact time a tv show is aired, is a feature I'm missing. 3DTV sounds interesting to me as well. I'm certainly more likely to buy a new TV for those new features, than just to get crappy reality tv shows in a slightly higher resolution.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by aliquis ( 678370 )

          On-demand streaming content, where I am no longer dependent of the exact time a tv show is aired, is a feature I'm missing.

          Checked the TV networks webpages or your local bittorrent tracker lately?

          • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

            by Anonymous Coward

            Exactly. I'm more inclined to ditch my tv and get an extra pc instead.

            • Yeah, I want an 802.11n router with web bittorrent support, external harddrive support and eventually wireless audio to.

              It will be hard to find one though so I'm starting to considering getting a netbook with an external HDD and eventually an OS supporting airfoil and max it with RAM and use that one instead.

              I assume all wireless cards can work as accesspoints? Or do I need anything special for that?

              Netbook = Not that high energy consumption, lots of processing power for the purpose, lots of RAM for handlin

              • Comment removed based on user account deletion

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by aliquis ( 678370 )

                  No wifi on it? Guess it can be done thru USB. Nice form factor =P

                  Thanks, I think I've seen it some time when it was released but I haven't thought about it at all, I looked at some barebones but they are so big and expensive.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by cduffy ( 652 )

                The Linksys 610N, in addition to being a really nice wireless router, has an external USB port and a huge 64MB(!) of flash. OpenWRT doesn't support it out-of-the-box yet, but (1) if you're adventurous it can be made to work anyhow, and (2) if you're not adventurous, it probably won't be too much waiting.

                (Personally, I'm not so adventurous right now -- adding a JTAG or serial port [to fix things up if I make a brick] is a bit beyond my skill level, and I'm no longer owed any favors by my hardware-hacker frie

          • your local bittorrent tracker

            umm... what? For some reason this made me think of unions... where did you get the torrent for (whatever)? Oh, I hit up tracker local 142. It's got all the goods! lol

            Your point though remains and I download most tv shows and movies that I want to see. For tv shows I can get the wide screen version without commercials. Sometimes I even get episodes before they air. Weeds had the first four or five eps posted online about a month before the season started. Was great until I h

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by aliquis ( 678370 )

              That's why I always wait until each complete season of prison break has been aired :D (and would do with any other series.)

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Lussarn ( 105276 )

          Not a lot of people I know actually have an HDTV.

          This may be in your country, at least in sweden it's pretty much impossible to buy a TV set not capable of at least 720p. Most people I know already have at least 720p.

          They are indeed still expensive

          Expensive compared to what? Have you managed to find a non HDTV on sale somewhere. Are you sure that wasn't a firesale.

          , but more importantly, they don't really offer anything that people need or want. The difference between standard TV and HDTV is just not large

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by AvitarX ( 172628 )

            This may be in your country, at least in sweden it's pretty much impossible to buy a TV set not capable of at least 720p. Most people I know already have at least 720p.

            In my country (the alleged disposable consumer driven hell of the USA) most (by a HUGE margin) people have TVs over 5 years old, so even though 720p has been pretty much the only option for any non-really small TV for a couple of years, still the vast majority of people have SDTV.

            4 years ago my parents purchased a 30" SDTV for $299, 2.5 years

          • Expensive compared to what? Have you managed to find a non HDTV on sale somewhere. Are you sure that wasn't a firesale.

            Compared to what I paid for my SDTV in the 90s.

            Compared to buying a used SDTV today.

            Compared to not buying a new TV at all.

            Compared to the metric used by the average family that's staring down a hard recession and the worst job contraction in half a century.

            I gotta wonder why a statement like "HDTVs are expensive" needs justification.

      • Actually, the lag problem has been solved. There are a number of LCDs that have 0ms lag. The problem is that most TVs haven't been designed with lag in mind, as it hasn't been much of an issue up to now. I've done plenty of gaming on my TV and never really noticed a lag before. I could play any sort of action or FPS game without a problem. However, now that I have Guitar Hero and Rock Band, those games are definitely a lot more timing sensitive, and I certainly did notice it. Hopefully the tremendous popula

      • There's no such thing as "HDTV lag" or input lag on a good HDTV. I've used NES, SNES and a 360 on my 32" LCD (720p), no input lag what so ever. Stick to the good stuff, as always.

        • I'll second this one.

          Although, I've stuck with Composite/Component/S-Video style connections except for TV (I guess I shouldn't count my 360 which is a newer console. uses DVI)

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Cerium ( 948827 )

            I challenge you to play Rock Band or Guitar Hero on your HDTV. It's especially noticeable on expert difficulty (where the lag makes it damn near unplayable).

            I love my HDTV and all, but even with the 0ms lag and 120hz refresh, the previously mentioned games are not playable above medium and as a result, have not been played since I got my new TV. Wipeout HD, on the other hand, looks amazing and gets played quite literally every day.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by aliquis ( 678370 )

        What panel technology do most LCD TVs use?

        S-PVA or what? Does all of them have input lag?

        • Re:Hopeful (Score:5, Informative)

          by courtarro ( 786894 ) on Friday January 09, 2009 @12:46PM (#26387969) Homepage

          For LCD HDTVs, most of the input lag comes from all the processing hardware, not the LCD panel itself. Many TVs now come with a "game mode" that disables certain processing features to decrease lag time at the expense of noise reduction, or upscaling quality, or whatever.

          When I play Guitar Hero on my Sony LCD TV, I get about 60ms lag with the TV in its normal operating mode (as measured by GH's lag compensation feature). When I enable game mode on my TV, the lag effectively drops to zero. With game mode enable, many of the picture optimization features are not available, but that doesn't generally bother me since I usually disable them anyway.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by brkello ( 642429 )
        Yes, please stop innovating and coming up with new ideas. We hate new technology and exploring new ways to be entertained. Seriously, how is this being modded up on Slashdot? You are not forced to buy anything new. Unless you have some sort of technology pissing contest with your neighbor, isn't it a good thing to try and create new technologies. You have some sort of weird idea that working on 3dtv is going to prevent them from improving HDTV. Well, it won't, so quit complaining. This is turning in
      • HDTV-lag _HAS_ been solved. I'm sorry you either bought a crappy TV or have missed the appropriate setting. And I'm sorry you have a TV or DVD-player with crappy upscaling. But, don't jump to the conclusion that all HD-sets behave the same. Look at Sony W/X/Z4500 series or Samsung LCD 6, 8 and 9 series for instance.

      • HDTV lag has yet to be solved, meaning tons of old game consoles must be played with input delay.

        You're exaggerating. Get an analog HDTV (directview CRT or rear projection CRT) if you're that worried. Frankly, I've only seen significant lag on DLP sets, and they're getting better all the time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      pulls it off? Hell 90% of the tv stations in the USA dont even have HD equipment to broadcast their local news in HD now you want all of them to buy TWO cameras per cameraman as well as special editing gear and other crap to make it "3D" with goofy glasses?

      How about getting broadcasters to use HD first.

      • ... now you want all of them to buy TWO cameras per cameraman as well as special editing gear and other crap to make it "3D" with goofy glasses?

        I don't see anything in the post you were replying to that mentioned the local news being broadcast in 3D, so I'm not sure why you're ranting about this.

  • Content (Score:3, Insightful)

    by symes ( 835608 ) on Friday January 09, 2009 @07:32AM (#26384455) Journal
    But it's not just the tech that's needed for these new fangled televisions and PS3s... it's the content. The whole world archive of tv/film footage would most likely be useless for conversion to 3D and I just can't see the point of buying a new TV and another bloody playstation to watch a couple of mediocre films and play a few games. If I want good 3D I'll go to the theatre (or a specialst cinema).

    • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Uhm. It's just a rendering technique and a set of dorky glasses. You won't need to buy anything except the game and dorky glasses.

      • True, but your TV can only display 60 FPS. So a game won't look that great and there will be flickering.

        Which is why this technology didn't catch on in the 90s, there weren't any monitors that could display it.

        And it tried a bit to catch on a couple of years ago in PC gaming but everyone left the inferior CRTs for the advanced LCDs.

        And IIRC those new HDTVs that claim to do 120 don't actually do it they just generates a frame that links the other two. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that though
        • And IIRC those new HDTVs that claim to do 120 don't actually do it they just generates a frame that links the other two. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that though

          You are wrong. The whole point of the tv's that that do 120 is that they don't have to add any frames. Film is usually 24 fps. At 120 hz you show the same frame 5 times and everything is peachy. At 60hz you have an issue. You show it twice and you are at 48... so you need to make up the difference somehow. That said, from what I've read,

    • Oh... don't you worry.

      Movie industry is hoping [wired.com] that 3-D will be the "new colour".
      So, more and more movies are getting a 3D treatment. [blogspot.com]
      As for games... they are already 3D - just add a function that will render everything for both eyes and start creating games that rely on the actual 3-D content and immersion.

      And then, there is all that old stuff [wikipedia.org] out there.

      • Movie industry is hoping that 3-D will be the "new colour".
        So, more and more movies are getting a 3D treatment.

        This comment seems to be a repeat from the early 1980s, the early 1950s, the 1910s...

  • Grammar - Affect / Effect (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I'm pretty sure the author means "effect" instead of "affect".

    Dorky reference: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/affect-versus-effect.aspx

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by HTH NE1 ( 675604 )

      Unfortunately, typoinsummary isn't correct. It should be typointfa or sitfa something similar. The summary is accurately quoting the article's inaccuracy. (Of course, the summary could be sprinkled with some "[sic]" markers.)

  • "if the display could turn any source into 3D" (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Man, I've got this bridge that would make a wonderful investment.

    • Re:"if the display could turn any source into 3D" (Score:4, Informative)

      by Nerdfest ( 867930 ) on Friday January 09, 2009 @08:31AM (#26384757)
      There was a demo by NVidia for this kind of technology for any PC game earlier this week. It apparently uses the Z buffer information and glasses with active shutters. This is likely something similar.

      • There was a demo by NVidia for this kind of technology for any PC game earlier this week. It apparently uses the Z buffer information and glasses with active shutters. This is likely something similar.

        Uh, what? nVidia has been doing this with any PC game for years. I can do it on my laptop (if I had goggles) which has Quadro FX1500M. LCD shutter goggles are NOTHING new for PC gaming. Practically any nVidia card with an S-Video output will do it.

        • The 'new' aspect to the recent NVidia demo was using a 120hz TV to provide a full 60 fps for each eye.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

            That isn't new, though, because you've been able to do the same thing for some time. 120 Hz LCDs are fairly new but 120 Hz CRTs have been around for some time and the "on a flatscreen!" thing is no more valid than the "on the internets!" patent suffix.

            • and the "on a flatscreen!" thing is no more valid than the "on the internets!" patent suffix.

              Ah, but "on a flatscreen internets!" is pure patentable genius!

      • I forget, wasn't Sony working with NVidia to make their graphics chip... I guess NVidia just wanted to steal the spotlight to sell more PC graphics cards...
      • From the photo in TFA it looks like polarised lenses, meaning a fancy new expensive screen....

  • Ze goggles ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 09, 2009 @07:46AM (#26384537)

    ... they do something?

  • Playstation 3 cries in a corner. Parents sue for therapy bills.

  • Hang on... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ItsColdOverHere ( 928704 ) on Friday January 09, 2009 @08:43AM (#26384839)

    So is it just me or does this bear a striking resemblance to Nvidia's recent demo of shutter glasses combined with a 120Hz HDTV. To me the black glasses are a dead giveaway.

    As far as the "any source" part is concerned, let's not be silly here, you need concrete depth information. Sure our brains can infer this information but the sheer processing grunt required for a computer to do this means it will not be done any time soon at least not in realtime on full motion video.

    I am embarrassed for Ars Technica and more than a little disappointed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      As far as the "any source" part is concerned, let's not be silly here, you need concrete depth information. Sure our brains can infer this information but the sheer processing grunt required for a computer to do this means it will not be done any time soon at least not in realtime on full motion video.

      Maybe they meant "any game" which is how it works, for example, on a PC with LCD shutter goggles.

      Nice to see that technology is rolling back around to the Sega Master System, though.

      Maybe next they will use Vectrex technology to make black and white TVs display color :P

    • Given that they are talking about 3D gaming on the playstation, surely it's obvious that "any source" refers to games, rather than some DVD movie.

      • Given that they are talking about 3D gaming on the playstation, surely it's obvious that "any source" refers to games, rather than some DVD movie.

        The headline Slashdot gave to this article is "Sony Teases 3D Playstation 3". There's no indication there that the subject refers exclusively to games, as the PS3 is not just a game console but also a Blu-Ray player, DVD player, and networkable media center.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • To me the black glasses are a dead giveaway.

      Why? Polarized glasses like you would get at a 3D movie are also shaded like that.

      It's too bad they didn't look more closely. The telltale of a shutter would be if you could find some sort of transmission to the glasses to synchronize the shutter. The NVIDIA system uses IR which would be a piece a cake to spot using a digital camera. Alternately, if it was IR they would be able to block the receiver with their hand, stopping the 3D effect. If they were using RF, it would be harder to spot, although it is po

  • 1) Come last in the present generation by releasing the most expensive console.
    2) Release a console in the next generation that requires everyone to buy a new TV to support it.
    3) ???????
    4) Profit!

    • 2) Release a console in the next generation that requires everyone to buy a new TV to support it.

      Are you referring to the need to buy an HD display in order to actually watch HD content in... you know... HD, or are you implying that for some reason you need a new TV to watch 3-D content?

      If it is the former - DUH! Same way you can SEE color movies on a black and white TV, you can watch HD content on a regular TV.
      But same way a black and white won't show you colors - non HD TV won't really show you that HD everyone is talking about. Particularly the Joneses from across the street.

      And if it is the later -

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by BarneyL ( 578636 )
        Take a look at the glasses in the article.
        They're just a pair of polarised lenses like you'd get for an IMAX film(no shutter job or anything). Unless your present TV can display pictures at double a comfortable refresh rate alternating between two different light polarisations you are going to need a new one.
        It may well work in non 3D mode on an normal TV but then what's the point? Nintendo got the Wii where it was today in part by ignoring HD and passing the cost saving on to the customer, do you really

        • Or even the title.

          Sony Teases 3D Playstation 3

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Stereoscopic_3D [wikipedia.org]

          Stereoscopic 3D

          In December 2008, SCE confirmed that they intend to support stereoscopic 3D games and Blu-ray movies in 2009.[186] This functionality will be introduced to the PlayStation 3 via a firmware update making the first and only games console capable of generating high definition 3D images.[187] This technology was first demonstrated publicly on the PS3 in January 2009 at the Consumer Electronics Show. Journalists were shown Wipeout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 3D as a demonstration of how the technology might work if it is implemented in the future.

          As for refresh rate and glasses...
          HD does not go over 60Hz at the moment. And that only with 720p and 1080i.
          And while 120Hz TVs are relatively new - 100Hz TVs have been around for a decade or more.
          So, unless your TV's remote comes with a cord - there are pretty good chances it has a rather comfortable refresh rate.

          Which is actually - irrelevant.

          Those "no shutter job or anything" glasses are actually circularly polarized glasses [wikipedia.org].
          In

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      When every member of your board of directors lives on an island full of obsessive technophiles, it's hard to get them to understand that not everyone in the world wants to spend all their money buying new TV's and the latest fad gadgets every year.

  • and it will return around 2018.

  • Now, the Playstation 3 can suck in more than one dimension!

  • See Sony fail in 3 D I M E N S I O N S!! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Friday January 09, 2009 @10:41AM (#26386123)
    Seriously, anything that can get some more decent exclusives for Sony is a good thing. I bought my PS3 two years ago hoping for a lot. And so far I've used it mostly as a blu-ray player only. Metal Gear Solid 4 was good, as was Warhawk (Little Big Planet is supposedly cool too, but I haven't played it). But, other than that, it's mostly ports of games that end up looking and playing better on the cheaper Xbox 360 (and it doesn't help that I like Xbox Live and the Xbox controller better too). As a big fan of Second Life, I even had high hopes for Playstation Home. But even that ended up being a huge disappointment.

  • Real D (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It seems to me that it's something similar to the Real D technology [wikipedia.org] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_D_Cinema [wikipedia.org]).

  • Only Three? (Score:5, Funny)

    by scjohnno ( 1370701 ) on Friday January 09, 2009 @12:09PM (#26387409)
    In 2006 Ken Kutaragi proclaimed that with the PS3 came "4D gaming". It seems that his retirement from Sony in August 2007 has stripped the PS3 of 2 entire dimensions. Sony engineers have only now been able to recover one of the lost dimensions via the use of specialised goggles, and it is not clear if the PS3 will ever return to 4D status.

    When asked for comment, Mr Kutaragi noted that "Dimensions are but an illusion. Inside all of our souls is the true energy of dimensionality," before deep-throating the microphone and phasing back into the universe from whence he came.

  • He looks like a transvestite.

    Sony 3d: it's so good, you'll change ...forever!!!! :-)

  • I mean yes up close 3d stereoscopic visuals is nice and all but once things are even a little bit away I don't think you eyes use parallax to gauge distance anyway. (I don't know of the top of my head what the actual distance where parallax no longer works in the real world for human vision.) Admittedly I'm kind of jaded on this, they tried it in the 80's with TV when I was a kid and it didn't work that well. They tried it on the NES and SMS and it didn't work that well. (The SMS had a cool liquid crystal s

  • The glasses in the picture look like Circular Passive Polarized ones sold by RealD. These glasses are used either with Passive-Polarized LCD monitors or more complicated passive-polarized dual projection systems (or an actively polarized Z-Screen if you're really rich).

    The advantage of this technology is that you DON'T need a high refresh rate, and the technology does not cut the refresh rate in half (instead, it cuts the resolution in half, but you hardly notice when you're playing the game).

    Google Arisaw

  • "Nyah, nyah, 3-D Playstation 3... Yo' momma had a card reader, and enough USB ports for everyone to hook up..."

  • I was all psyched on the nVidia glasses until I pictured my fat ass sitting in the middle of the living room, dawning them and headphones playing video games. I think this TV would be the better way to go.

  • I use my Nvidia based lcd shutter glasses to play DX games in 3d, it's truly brilliant. The only problem one has with off the shelf games is that 2d HUDs are not 3d entities so are sometimes hard to read / get in the way.

    Also you need a 100Hz CRT monitor that runs interlaced but they are easy to find.

    Popping rockets off and seeing the trajectory is such fun. Driving is better. I love it.

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