The New Age, 3D

.

August 20, 2010 • David Utt, Online editor  
Filed under Student Life

Whether or not to choose 3-D technology has become one of the choices that consumers must face this year and into the definitive future. Movies, games, and even TVs, these now commonplace entertainment systems, are entering the 3^rd dimension. Are you going to embrace 3-D or leave it behind?

While 3-D technology has been around since the 50s, it has been limited to select movie theaters. It also required consumers to wear ridiculous looking magic glasses that make the 3-D effect possible. This greatly limited its possibility of being more prevalent in our world. However, with new technology, 3-D movies have become modernized allowing them to be part of our everyday life.

The reasons we have more access to 3-D is that most people can find a 3- D theatre  in their town. Also, those ridiculous glasses have been improved to look like regular sunglasses.  3-D has become a technology which many movie directors have embraced. In 2010 numerous blockbusters were in 3-D. Avatar, Toy Story 3, and Despicable Me showed much of their profits from their 3-D versions of the film. Avatar having 71% of its profits from the 3-D version, How to Train your Dragon made 68% of it’s money from the 3-D version, and Toy Story 3 dedicating 60% of its money to 3-D. More and more we are seeing soon to be released  movies are having 3-D versions including, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Step Up 3D, and Tron Legacy.

3-D not only is moving into theaters but also into homes with new 3-D capable TVs and 3-D video games. In only a few months, 3-D TV’s will be appearing in stores, with major companies like Sony leading the charge. The first step for 3-D televisions is ESPN 3D. Launched in July this year, ESPN 3D allows people at home to watch games, and major sports events, such as the World Cup and X-Games in 3-D at your home. This is one of the first major steps into a complete 3-D world. One can imagine that in the very near future you could watch all your favorite television shows like Discovery’s Planet Earth and Life as if you were standing right next camera.

This move for 3-D technology has allowed for video games to move to 3-D as well. Many developers have had the idea of 3-D in their back pocket but have never had the chance to use it until now. One company, Nvida, created a 3-D system, which allows people to play current 2-D, games in 3-D on your computer as an example of some of the first to move into 3-D video game development. Currently, many Triple A games are lined up to be able to be played in 3-D such as: Killzone 3, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Crysis 2, and Assassins Creed Brotherhood. In addition one major video game company, Ubisoft, gives high hopes to the future of 3-D gaming, stating in an interview, “We are working to offer the possibility of 3D on most of our upcoming triple-A titles, as we’d like to ensure that we are there for those consumers that begin putting new 3D enabled televisions in their homes.” Nintendo is also investing greatly in 3-D with there new handheld 3-D system, the 3DS. the 3DS brings many new 3-D features to the handheld market including a 3-D camera for pictures and video, hundreds of games that will be playable in 3-D. Most importantly all of these 3-D features are usable meaning you can see them in 3-D without the use of any kind of special glasses.

While 3D is a technology that much of the industry is taking in whole heartedly, nothing endures unless people buy the products. So, are you going to go spend the cash to upgrade to the next dimension and support the change, that might change the way we see the world permanently or are you going to hold on to you money and be the reason why the 3^rd dimension fizzles?  The choice is yours.

Tags:

 Email This Post        Print This Post