Phil Spencer, the Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios, has told CNN that he’s not convinced it’s a good time to market 3D gaming. The comments could be seen as a thinly-veiled stab at Sony’s recent drive to convince us all that we need to buy a new TV.
Spencer noted that the barrier to entry for gamers wishing to jump on the 3D bandwagon is possibly too high:
For better or for worse, people just don’t really have TVs in their house right now that are going to do 3D in a way that’s going to work
It’s difficult to disagree with him on that point but 3DTV uptake is slowly growing and Sony’s business is invested in much more than just games and the consoles that play them. This drive to a 3D future is much more about selling TVs than it is about selling games or even PlayStations.
One area where Spencer was not afraid to lavish praise was in the handheld market (where Microsoft Game Studios don’t compete, although the WinMo7 may change that). Apparently the Nintendo 3DS escapes his scorn because “you don’t have to wear the glasses”. Perhaps he just doesn’t like glasses.
TSBonyman
At least MS DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT 3d THIS GEN AS
TSBonyman
oops let me try that again..
At least MS don’t have to worry about 3D this gen as they have no processing power left to use.
cc_star
o_O
Apart from the fact it does 3D just fine, possibly with its usual advantages over the PS3 with its frame buffer and the fact multi-platform game engines just plain and simply work better on the 360, therefore there is the chance 3D gaming could have those problems magnified on the PS3 unless the 3rd parties buck their ideas up.
yogdog
In some cases better than the ps3.
Cc, have Microsoft got any games with 3d being released over the next 6-8 months.
BIGAL-1992
Doesn’t look like MS are publishing any games with 3d, yog. All games with 3d are multi-platform.
DrOf1337
I have to correct you there, cc.
Only multiplatform games where the lead development platform was Xbox/PC architecture perform better on Xbox. Games where the lead dev platform was PS3, unsurprisingly perform better on PS3, (Final Fantasy 13 for example). Vanquish was developed on PS3 as the lead platform as well.
Granted in the past most games have been on Xbox/PC as the lead platform for convenience but big publishers are moving to PS3 for lead development, ie; Ubi and EA.
cc_star
@drof1337
Well yeah, but the ubiquitous Unreal Engine which is more than half of multi-platform releases, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s & Dunia engine, Rockstar’s GTA/RDR engine (whatever it’s called) – In fact, apart from a couple of cherry picked titles it’s pretty much all performance advantages to Microsoft’s console
These advantages can & will be magnified through the stress of 3D unless extra work is carried out on PS3 version and as we’ve seen very few 3rd party titles receive this extra work.
It’s a good job the awesomeness of the 1st party titles make up for the occasional niggles of the 3rd party ones
@yodog
Crysis2, Ghost Recon, Dead Space2 (if that’s in 3D, I can’t remember) basically anything 3rd party is appearing on both consoles in 3D, it’s just that Sony are the one’s making a song & dance about it because they want to shift their warehouse full of expensive TVs, whereas MS have nothing to gain by even mentioning it, but do have stuff to gain by dissing it by helping hinder PS3 adoption.
Quinlank
Yes, now we get to bask in the glory of slightly more detailed grass textures in 3D on Microsoft’s console amirite? :D
TSBonyman
Did i start something? :) .My apologies,It’s too late now but i meant Motion 3D games, MS would of course still be able to create 3D motion games but Kinect uses such a hefty chunk of processing power that it might limit them graphicly at least. So they use statements like the above to play down 3D in the home, instead focusing on kinect as the new home experience, leaving 3D to the 3rdparties.
Not that i think 3D is going to take off any time soon but in the last years of this generation motion 3D games might be the final battleground.
rept0n
I have a TV in my house right now that does 3D in a way that works?
It works great for games, it works great for movies – heck, it even looks pretty good for 3D photos.
I know I’m just a person… and not ‘people’… but as soon as glasses-less technology (and the right price point) comes into play, I don’t see any reason why the suppliers wouldn’t just treat 3D as they currently do with HD.
Personally, I think that Sony are doing something very interesting with 3D and Move, and I’m glad to be in the position where I can experience this as it matures.
If the market does adopt 3D (and the 3DS would suggest both Sony and Nintendo think it will), then it won’t be long before Microsoft embrace it.
ghost5
“that are going to do 3D in a way that’s going to work”
Microsoft are going to say this. For one reason to try and dampen down the whole 3D games thing incase Sony get more sales, but also because Microsoft have been working on glasses-less 3D displays for a number of years now. However they say it is going to be a couple more years before the technology is ready (which is why I was suprised to see the 22″ TV featured on this website the other week).
matt86
I have a 40″ samsung that came with a 3d blu-ray player and 4 sets of active glasses for £1000 bought from comet, Little content available atm but what i have seen is impressive. Looking forward to Gt5, black ops and kz3. 3d is very underated atm but i think that will change when the big releases hit the shelves + aatar 3d for example.
matt86
Avatar#
donotfeedthebears1690
of course they arent convinced by it they are hardly going to talk positively about something the competition are doing.
according to microsoft bluray will never catch on either because everyone wants to stream their high def movies
Sony are not the only company investing heavily in 3D look at how much sky has thrown at it and the movie business almost every week there is a new 3d movie hitting our screens
Serebii.Net
You know what a better save for the 3DS comment would have been?
It isn’t a mini-fortune to purchase.. That would have made MUCH more sense =P
Quinlank
Read the full interview with the guy, basically he complains about pushing overexpensive, experimental and unnecessary technology onto the consumer.
Oh Microsoft, you really don’t have the word “irony” in your dictionary at all do you?
Rocket_345
haha that made me laugh.
fattyuk
Hahahaha
Once again there gonna get beaten!!
2d or 3d??
HD DVD or Blu Ray,
Wait and see what happens, when 3d TVS are cheap as HD tvs…..hmmmmm
1 example kill zone 3d with move support
Or 2d boat racing in an inflatable dingy you sit in innyoure living room.
Blu Ray 3D
Or
DVD??
Hmmm resident evil 3d on xbox in DVD. Or on blu ray 3d on ps3
Yeah good luck!!!
Boomshanks
Halo reach for the Xbox 360 and Hannah Montana the Game for the PS3
See I can compare the best of one with the worst of the other as well. It won’t prove anything though
cc_star
@fattyuk
errrm… The 360 does 3D just fine its just that MS see no need to push it leaving it to 3rd parties on their console, but don’t let that get in the way of fanboyism
spek
Most people that own an xbox have a Samsung Sony LG or Panasonic TV? MS weren’t worried about 3rd party sales when HD was the big thing. Why worry now if their games will look better than PS3 ??