One Console 3D Game

THQ Creative Director Sees Promising 3D Game Trends

June 25, 2010 by Jeff Berman|Top News

LOS ANGELES -- There are some promising 3D game trends though the technology’s entry into the living room is still in its early stages, THQ Creative Director Luis Gigliotti told us at E3 last week. THQ is “excited about 3D in general,” said Gigliotti. For the technology to become fully accepted by gamers, two things need to happen and they seem to be happening already, he said: The 3D TV installed base needs to grow and the technology needs to start being used for more than just an “aesthetic” effect in games.

"As soon as the TVs really start to get out to the public” and become more affordable that will “start to drive content” in 3D for the sets, Gigliotti said. And anytime “you don’t have to wear glasses” it becomes easier to sell consumers on 3D, he said, referring to the coming Nintendo 3DS handheld system that achieves its 3D effects without the need to wear special glasses.

Making full use of 3D in a game’s features will also “move it along,” Gigliotti said. The technology, for example, can be used in a game to underscore the nature of space in which players are moving around in and make a title more effective, he said. Developers are already using the technology this way, taking it beyond just the simple look of an added dimension, he said.

To date, the only stereoscopic 3D game that THQ has released is the PC version of Metro 2033 (CED March 18 p5). But it said at E3 that it will ship the game sequel de Blob 2: The Underground in 3D versions for the 3DS and PS3 when the title is released in spring 2011 (CED June 16 p3). THQ is “talking about taking” that franchise “to every platform,” and is “looking into” whether any other versions of the sequel can be done in 3D, he said. The only other announced SKU of the game was one for the Xbox 360. “We know how to make” effective use of 3D in games after Metro 2033, he said. But de Blob 2 is the only console 3D game that THQ has announced so far.

While Microsoft and Nintendo remain on the sidelines for home console stereoscopic 3D games, Nintendo has been the most vocal of the two against it due to the need for special glasses when playing games on a TV. But Gigliotti predicted that “if there’s a demand” for console 3D games by consumers, the people at Nintendo are “very smart” and will “figure out a way to do it,” especially with the next console that it makes after the current Wii. While it would be “more difficult” to make a strong stereoscopic 3D game for the Xbox 360 than for the PS3, he predicted “if there’s enough consumer demand,” Microsoft will “figure it out” also, he predicted. “I've seen them respond to consumer demand very quickly” in the past, he said.

Gigliotti doesn’t think the need to wear special glasses to play 3D console games will stop most core gamers from playing such titles, he said. “They're prone to at least try it” if a game uses the technology, he said. But he said whether the typical casual gamer will wear glasses is “a different story.” That’s why “eventually the technology is going to have to go glass-less,” he said. Gamers will, however, rebel if “you detract from our experience” of playing a game when adding 3D, he warned, saying the 3D has to be applied correctly.

E3 Notebook

Somewhat overshadowed by the coming Nintendo 3DS’s ability to generate 3D effects without the use of special glasses is the fact that it’s “the most connected device that they've ever offered,” said Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. And the connectivity enhancement is being offered “in the one platform that’s always been their biggest seller, which is the personal entertainment handheld space,” he said. The device features Wi-Fi and will play 3D movies in addition to games, Nintendo said at E3 (CED June 16 p2). It will automatically search periodically for Wi-Fi hot spots and other 3DS systems on its own, and will have the ability to receive data from other 3DS systems while in sleep mode, Nintendo said. The device’s slide pad, meanwhile, allows the user to ease up on the 3D effect in a game or remove it altogether. “Your eyes and my eyes are different,” so the slider allows the user to “tailor the experience to where it sort of feels more what you think 3D is versus what I do,” Olin said. He called Disney’s coming game Epic Mickey another standout at E3. There was a “greater variety” of games across multiple genres at this year’s E3 than the past in general, he said. Olin called Sony Computer Entertainment’s pricing for PlayStation Move “aggressive.” Some view the pricing as much too high because consumers will have to pay $49.99 for the controller wand alone, then another $29.99 for the navigation controller on top of the cost to buy an existing PlayStation Eye camera if they don’t have one yet (CED June 16 p1). A bundle including all of them plus a Move-compatible game will cost $99.99. One thing missing from E3 was price cutting on existing hardware, which would stimulate demand in what’s been a challenging market, Olin said.

The grassroots game advocacy group Entertainment Consumers Association appealed to the game industry at E3 to more aggressively support its effort to convince gamers to sign a petition in favor of the industry’s First Amendment rights, President Hal Halpin told us. ECA planned to include a copy of the petition with an amicus brief it’s filing in connection with the ongoing battle over a controversial California law that would make it illegal to rent or sell M-rated, violent games to minors, he said. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Halpin agreed with recent comments made by Entertainment Software Association President Michael Gallagher in the matter (CED June 15 p2). Gallagher told reporters there was “significant risk” for all forms of entertainment, not just games, if the game industry loses the case and states are allowed to enact such laws. A ruling against the game industry would have “a chilling effect” on the industry, Halpin said. He didn’t say how many people had signed the petition, but said it’s been “pretty robust” in the month or so since the effort started, much of the interest being generated by social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter. “We're here asking for” the help of game publishers, who were “open to talking about” the issue, he said. “A couple of publishers” he didn’t name “committed verbally to supporting” the effort, he said. “I think the petition would help” the game industry’s case, but a petition with not enough signatures could hurt its case, he said. ECA wasn’t looking for money from the publishers to support its initiative -- just for them to communicate to consumers what was at stake in the court battle, he said.

Depth Analysis offered a demo at the show of its MotionScan 3D motion capture system for games and movies. The technology was used in the coming game L.A. Noire from publisher Take-Two Interactive and developer Team Bondi. Depth Analysis, at E3, tried to see if other developers would be interested in using the technology, Brendan McNamara, director and founder of Depth Analysis and Team Bondi, told us. “We've had a ton of interest” from the film industry, he said. The technology has numerous applications, he said, and Depth Analysis claimed it can “forever change the face of high definition 3D motion-capture and actor performances” in the videogame and movie industries. The technology “streamlines post-production processing time and therefore budgets as compared to traditional methods, but” will also have “a radical impact on the quality of performances” that companies can “expect to be able to deliver in their game and movie franchises,” Depth Analysis said. Its system uses 32 HD cameras to capture life-like 3D performances at up to 30 frames per second, and is capable of “capturing up to 50 minutes of final footage and processing up to 20 minutes of facial animation automatically per day,” it said. MotionScan “records every emotional detail, mannerism, and facial nuance accurately frame by frame as 3D models” without the need for markers or phosphorescent paint to be applied to actors at the time of recording, it said. In the demo we saw, there appeared to be little noticeable difference between original video footage of actors and the motion-captured versions. The company intends to work next on a full-body application of the same technology, McNamara said. But he predicted that will take “about two years” to pull off.