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Three's Company

Sony's Simon Benson on why 3D is the next significant upgrade in home entertainment

GamesIndustry.biz Sony's confirmed boxing game The Fight will be appearing for Move and 3D. Are you able to talk about how that will work?
Simon Benson

With something like the boxing title, obviously there's just the nature of the title whether it's 2D or 3D, but when you look at the benefits, if you take the title and you bolted 3D onto that, you immediately think "what would I get there, then?" Or I'm looking at this guy's chin, and I can see how far away it is, because I can see the distance. So I know if my punch is going to fall short or not. And that clearly makes so much sense. It clearly means that that title is going to benefit from stereoscopic 3D in a way that some other games wouldn't.

When it comes to putting it into the 3D game, it really makes that title.. It's just one example of another sport that currently you think about in a 2D sense, then 3D comes along as a bit of a game-changer, suddenly it makes sense. You wouldn't want to do that in real-life - covering up one eye - obviously you wouldn't... If you had one eye covered and I didn't, you wouldn't have much of a chance.

GamesIndustry.biz When do you think 3D will be approaching the norm for games? Sony said earlier that it believes 40per cent of TVs will be 3D by 2014. Is that the kind of timescale we can expect for games to fully embrace this too?
Simon Benson

One thing that is really relevant to this... it's difficult to put projection numbers on... the relevant point is I think games are really in a very strong position when it comes to stereoscopic to lead the way. I think you're going to see more momentum from games than most other areas because of the benefits that 3D projects into games. With all things that are 3D, you get the benefit of the immersion and the rest of it, but when you've got an interactive item whereby you often need that feedback, to be able to perform that activity I have that feedback and I understand how close it is to me, it makes all the difference to the title. Therefore it makes all the difference to the whole industry because people are going to be playing these games for the first time in 3D. The first time they play a 3D driving game they'll be thinking "these benefits are so significant that I want all my driving games to be in 3D from now on please." And that kind of demand is going to mean that everyone who's making games will think I need to feed that now. Because it clearly makes sense.

GamesIndustry.biz So you think games are going to drive 3D TV sales more than films are?
Simon Benson

I would imagine that games are going to be very, very significant compared to any other media, because of the nature... and also because we know already that gamers are into the technology. It's the right sort of people, they love technology, they love having something new that gives them the edge, all those kinds of things are perfect for the typical PlayStation 3 gamer.

GamesIndustry.biz Do you not think that the cost of the televisions will be too prohibitive for most of those guys, though? Or do you expect a price drop in the short-term?
Simon Benson

I'd say it's one of those, isn't it? You think in the short-term or the beginning of something what you'll probably get is your typical people who love the technology getting hold of these sorts of things, telling everyone what the experience is like and then that'll just drive everyone else. It all comes down to that really, people's choice and opinion. People opt in when it's appropriate for them, and if it's a price issue or if it's an 'I just need this issue', or 'I just want this benefit', 'I want that cool thing...' Whatever it's going to be that makes that decision is obviously one for them. I think it's like anything... it's like now, try and buy an SDTV now. It's probably hard work. One day it'll be the same as that for 3D TVs: try and buy a TV that isn't 3D. It's going to happen, longer-term. I think you'll go down to your local recycling place and there'll be loads of LCD TVs that are perfectly working because everyone's decided that they wanted the 3D one now. And whether that's an issue of price or content or whatever it may be... As you can see, that's already happened with something like HD. And 3D's just another one of these big revolutions in the technology. It's another of these step forwards that gives you something else, something that was better than the last generation, and on it rolls...

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Alec Meer

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A 10-year veteran of scribbling about video games, Alec primarily writes for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, but given any opportunity he will escape his keyboard and mouse ghetto to write about any and all formats.
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