Mick Hocking is a pretty important man in Sony towers.
As well as being a senior director of SCEE, he runs three major Sony development studios in the UK.
Oh, and he's the company's worldwide studios boss for 3D games.
Basically, when he talks about 3D, it's wise to listen... which is exactly what we did today, when Mr Hocking gave a presentation of what we can expect from PS3's 3D powers at an exclusive London event.
Below are the very words he used - and if you're a hardcore gamer, it's pretty difficult not to get very, very excited about what's coming down the line...
Now, in June this year we did the 3D Firmware update. Every PlayStation 3 that's connected online now has a new version of this Firmware.
At the last count we've got 35.8 million PlayStation 3s out there - that means there's an instant market of around 36 million 3D-ready PlayStation 3 consoles. The upgrade basically makes every PlayStation 3 HDMI 1.4 compatible - that's the standard that governs 3D displays.
What this means is that there is no setup at all required. If you have a PlayStation 3 and you buy a 3DTV, you simply connect via your HDMI cable and your PlayStation 3 will automatically recognise that you've got a 3D display attached.
It knows the size of the screen as well, which is very important for actually rendering 3D correctly and giving you the right sense of depth.
And in our games you'll see the menu to play the game in 3D automatically. You don't have to press any buttons or go through any menus - it's all completely automatic and seamless, which is jolly good.
We've launched four titles in June to support the 3D ready PS3 - and these are also bundled with our 3D Bravia TVs for free. If you've already purchased them [in 2D] from our PSN store, they're also free to download - or you can go along and buy them if you don't have them yet.
There's Wipeout, Motorstorm, Super Stardust and PAIN - which involves throwing a character into scenery and hurting them as much as possible. All these are full games except for Motorstorm, which is a demo.
In September this year, we're launching another Firmware upgrade - and this one is going to upgrade the PS3 to support Blu-ray movies in 3D. Again, you won't have to do anything - just connect your PS3. For the film market that's a very significant event.
Then later in the year - we're not going to date it yet - the PS3 is going to support 3D photos. Of course the popularity of 3D isn't just going to come from movies and games. There's 3D cameras on the market, there's 3D camcorders coming on the market in the next 12 months as well, and 3D broadcasts.
Crucially for us, PlayStation 3 will be able to store all types of 3D content. And we can do this through properly upgrading the Firmware on the platform.
YouTube will be supporting 3D content over the next 12 months as well - and you'll be able to watch that on the PlayStation 3. And as you start taking 3D pictures of your family or 3D camcorder movies, you can play those back on PS3, too.
Comments
17 comments so far...
Focker420 on 8 Jul '10 said:
Excelllent article!! I've really gotta start saving up for a tv. PS3... it only does everything
Solm on 8 Jul '10 said:
Sounds great but I will wait until the price of 3d comes down to a realistic price range before jumping in.
RavenxPrime on 8 Jul '10 said:
And by the time 10% of those 30 odd million owners have saved up and bought a 3DTV, PS3 will be extremely old looking tech.
Give it 2 years for the prices of the sets and glasses to come down, and by then we shall all be swooning over the PS4 and 720 or whatever they'll be called.
alan666 on 8 Jul '10 said:
3d tv's are £2000 + if sony give me a free 3d tv then i will agree with what they are saying, otherwise they are talking crap as usual
mkwuk on 8 Jul '10 said:
Hmmm, can't say I've ever played Gran Turismo and buggered up my racing line because the game is in 2D... or not been able to work out how far away a trench is in a FPS because a layer of foreground isn't "popping out" in front of my eyes.
He talks a good game, and anyone who champions core gamers as their target market is all right by my book - but honestly, 3D is about as significant as controller rumble - and that doesn't cost me £2,000+
Taus on 8 Jul '10 said:
3D can only be brilliant for gaming, anyone who seriously argues that seeing a game in 3 dimensions is not a step up from a 2D render is tripping
Having said that I am not sure the current implementation with glasses is the way the technology will develop in future. 3D is a technology paradigm, I expect there to be several competing and overlapping version of rendering 3D before the industry standardizes on a universal format, we're already seeing that with 3DS vs PS3.
Exciting times, want to invest, want to play all those games in 3D, most importantly want to play GT5 & KZ3 in 3D, but not convinced with the current tech.,
I'll pass this time, but only just!
NB Sony and Nintendo are showing real leadship & technical know how in this field, impressive
Dajmin on 8 Jul '10 said:
Still can't get excited about 3D. Until it can be done without requiring stupid glasses I won't be bothering. How many pairs do you get per household? Do you get enough for when you've got visitors round or do they need to bring their own? Will every brand of 3D glasses be suitable for every TV or are you going to need to make sure all your friends have the same brand TV?
Don't see why there's been a sudden resurgence either. Didn't catch on 20 years ago and other than not being blue and red any more, the technology doesn't appear to have actually advanced that much. Sure, the resolution is higher and the displays don't flicker, but if you're not sitting in the right spot it doesn't work. If you need regular glasses under your 3D glasses, it doesn't work. If you've got a problem with your sight in one eye, it doesn't work. Solve these issues and THEN call me.
edgeofblade on 9 Jul '10 said:
Oh. My. God.
Shill alert! This is a ridiculous puff piece.
First, there is a difference between "hardcore gamer" and "yuppie scum with too much disposable income". I might fall into that category by definition, seeing how I just bought one of the top of the line Samsung panels... the kind that hardcore videophiles will be scouring the internet for in a few months. I'm a young professional with plenty of disposable income... to the point where, on top of the money I put into savings, I tend to get what I want, within reason.
The idea of 3DTV is... intriguing... not not worth the premium. I would rather spend my money on a quality 2D panel than a sub-par 3D panel. MY 2D panel has MANY selling points. The slightly more expensive 3D version would have basically one.
edgeofblade on 9 Jul '10 said:
It hasn't. I was playing PC games in 3D about 4 years ago with a similar set of "Shutter Glasses". The aesthetic design of the glasses has, in fact, improved. The technology behind them? Not so much.
ChongShin on 9 Jul '10 said:
No offense CVG. I know that you're covering what you think people want to hear, and covering game news is your thing. That's cool. I understand.
However, it's actually very easy to not get very excited. I don't care in the least about this 3D fad any more than I've cared about past 3D fads, which also seems to be the attitude shared by most (though not 100%) of everyone else on the topic.
That guy just spewed a bunch of marketing fluff. He's good at thinking up ways to hype it to each audience, but that's all that it is in the end.
Lastly, I'll soon be looking for a new video camera and I would actively avoid any camcorder that uses 3D. It would needlessly inflate the price, it would probably consume more space on the storage medium (more space required for the same length of video due to the extra information in the video), and I'd prefer to watch video with clear, crisp colors on my 1080p display.
So yeah. 3D = fad. They think that they can boost sales with it, but they're wrong.
Dajmin on 9 Jul '10 said:
I guess the best thing that could come from this 3D fad is different ways of projecting 3D in the future. I came up with an idea a while back of projecting images from different angles onto a glass cylinder filled with smoke so that you got a true 3D image without the need for silly glasses, that actually gave you a different image based on where you sat in the room.
The problem is that's not always going to be practical, and I can't imagine too many companies being thrilled at having to film every angle in every shot. But I guess if it makes these companies think about how to create a better experience then it might spawn some decent tech. But until then it's going to be a niche.
Friend of mine just bought a 3DTV and said we could come round for 3D movie night, which was when I asked how many pairs of glasses she got with it. That sort of killed that idea
Mmmmgrolsch on 9 Jul '10 said:
Hmmm not sure anymore, I was initially impressed by super stardust and thought Wipeout looked bad in 3D. But now I have been playing Motorstorm and it looks a mess in 3D the graphics take a massive hit and there are an insane amount of Jaggys now visible and its hard to make out the background properly.
If Wipeout and Motorstorm is what full games are going to be like then Sony are talking utter s**t and the PS3 has nowhere near enough power for 3D gaming.
My verdict untill something else comes out is that 3D is going to be a gimmick that will last a very short amount of time and makes gaming harder and offers nothing. My impressions could well change if they bring something out.
Super Stardust is still incredible so more of this please.
nb_nmare2 on 9 Jul '10 said:
This all well and good, but what about 3D music?
TheChronos on 10 Jul '10 said:
3D technology IS being done now without those stupid glasses. Nintendo is doing that with the 3DS. I think the technology is not yet perfect so we have to settle for a smaller screen but hopefully it will improve in the future for bigger and badder 3DS screens!
Padua on 12 Jul '10 said:
Found this on Times Online. I wonder how good a Passive 3DTV would be with PS3 3D games? I am seriously not even impressed with the difference between HD Ready and true HD at the moment. Big deal... it all looks the same to me
As long as I have more money in my wallet I couldn't give a monkeys!
Anyway Passive 3D may influence me,... but not until the 3DTV sets are under £700. If you are gonna have to wear stupid glasses at least make them free!
RandyNinja on 13 Jul '10 said:
i love my 3d tv stop being so poor and join the revolution lolz
jimsondanet on 13 Jul '10 said:
I gotta agree with the point of depth perception, it can be achieved with 2D by strafing left to right but this is not optimal for remaining hidden in shooters. the benefit for racing games is obvious.
if i win the lottery il consider it.