Microsoft working on 3D games

By Games Industry.biz Published 3 July, 2008

But unsure about the whole headgear thing.

XNA's general manager, Chris Satchell, has revealed that Microsoft has experimented with 3D - or stereoscopic - games.

Speaking exclusively to good old GamesIndustry.biz, Satchell said the technology is "extremely interesting" and that Microsoft has experimented with it. However, there are concerns about whether the requirement to wear headgear will hamper its widespread acceptance.

"This is a very interesting area of graphics technology. We have done experiments with this at Microsoft and the results are extremely interesting. However, the current systems that work well require wearing active shutter glasses and I think it is hard to be mainstream with asking people to wear headgear to play games," he said.

"There is some very interesting technology being developed that can overcome this obstacle and it will be interesting to see where this leads. So, some way to go yet. I love that some developers are experimenting along this path. It is a great way to move industry technology forward."

Satchell's comments follow an earlier announcement by Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot that the publisher is working on a series of 3D titles, including the game for James Cameron's upcoming 3D movie Avatar.

A full interview with Chris Satchell will be available on GamesIndustry.biz tomorrow.

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Comments (38) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • sargemat #1 4 years ago

    Good to hear.

  • Law07 #2 4 years ago

    Welcome to the future.

  • Inquisitor #3 4 years ago

    But I want to see them! Release the glasses Microsoft, we look bad enough wearing those headsets, I'm sure a VR headset can't look that much worse...

  • Gradius #4 4 years ago

    As long as they don't model them on Bill Gates' NHS style glasses, then it should be alright.

  • Pulsar_t #5 4 years ago

    But isn't support for those goggles virtually nonexistent? Even Nvidia who promised too much haven't updated their stereoscopic drivers in ages. Now if MS fully backs VR then it's likely to perform better.. But bring the prices down first!

  • agparrot #6 4 years ago

    I hope this isn't the future of gaming, I don't have steroscopic vision.

  • bonker #7 4 years ago

    I've never understood why this stuff hasn't taken off already given the 3D power of PCs and consoles these days.

    I've only had one exposure to a 3D game - a flight sim 10 years ago with 8 colour graphics and zero textures - and it was easily the most immersive experience I've ever had ...

    MS could 'do a Wii' if they got this stuff into the Xbox 720 ...

  • Pulsar_t #8 4 years ago

    ^ Because a) the displays have been low-res (that's slowly changing nowadays), b) the hardware+R&D are expensive and c) developers don't care to support it if only a tiny fraction of the market wants it.

  • Xerx3s #9 4 years ago

    I have been very fortunate to have access to the 3d lab (a playground for companies and uni's to experiment with new 3d tech) and the stuff that they have planned for the coming decade is very interesting. Especially the Philips tech is very impressive imo. True 3d without goggles or anything.

    This not so much. Went to scar3d this weekend and apart from it being an extremely boring film that wasn't worth my time, the goggles gave me a headache. I really don't fancy wearing that stuff.

  • CreepinJesus #10 4 years ago

    Those red+green goggle really hurt my eyes, and the resulting 3D image is always blurry. Until these problems are solved, I doubt this will go anywhere...

  • seasidebaz #11 4 years ago

    I loved the 3D episode of Gamesmaster with that Amiga shooter in it.

    Mindblowing at the time!

  • Brogan #12 4 years ago

    Again, 3D TV will be the solution. No glasses needed.

    yeah but they were coming on about 3D TV on tomorrows world 20 odd years ago.

  • miiiguel #13 4 years ago

    meh... Sony said PS3 is 4d-gaming...
    :)

  • Beano #14 4 years ago

    "meh... Sony said PS3 is 4d-gaming..."

    Funny - that was my thought also when I read the headline :)

  • smelly #15 4 years ago

    >yeah but they were coming on about 3D TV on tomorrows world 20 odd years ago.

    They were displaying a WORKING 3d tv at siggraph last year.. it looked brilliant, and worked really well...

    They had a rubiks cube sitting there in thin air.. Best thing about it was - you could interact with it and spin the sections around using your hands - like a real rubiks cube.

  • smelly #16 4 years ago

    check out..

    http://www.holografika.co m/

  • Xerx3s #17 4 years ago

    "Those red+green goggle really hurt my eyes, and the resulting 3D image is always blurry. Until these problems are solved, I doubt this will go anywhere..."

    Technology has moved a bit since rgb displacement.

    "yeah but they were coming on about 3D TV on tomorrows world 20 odd years ago. "

    Philips is already in the process of selling their first two 3d displays. Unfortunately they are only aimed at companies but it should prove a good entry into commercial development.
    Iirc they are aiming for 2015-20.

  • smelly #18 4 years ago

    who are also now part of :

    [link url=http://www.3dathome.org/
    ]http://www.3dathome.org/
    [/link]


    Get ready to ditch you hdtv's kids.. soon to become obsolete!

    What's the betting xbox 3 has 3dtv support?

  • DanWhitehead #19 4 years ago

    3D is going to play a huge role in cinema over the next ten years or so - all new Pixar movies will be 3D, Dreamworks may follow suit if Monsters vs Aliens is a hit, James Cameron now only shoots in 3D, Lucas is looking at re-releasing the Star Wars movies in 3D. Now the technology has moved on from the old red-green glasses, and digital projection has made blurriness a thing of the past, I'd say it's here to stay.

    It'll make its way into the home, that's for sure.

  • Stuz359 #20 4 years ago

    That stuff looks amazing. Should be cool for the future.

  • BeerBread #21 4 years ago

    Anybody remember the SEGA Master System's 3D setup?

    It used LCD to alternately blink each eye very fast. 60 or 120 times a second. Worked well, fit over standard glasses, didnt cause any headaches.

    Maybe MS is going to do something like that?

    [link url=http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/20486.html
    ]http://ww w.gametrailers.com/player/userm...[/link]

    http://co mmons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:...

  • seasidebaz #22 4 years ago

    @BeerBread:

    It was more likely to be 50 or 25 times per second, to be honest, as back in those days we didn't have NTSC tellys, and I don't think the mastersystem was capable of rendering 2 slightly different frames that quickly.

    So I reckon 25 times per second.

  • bad09 #23 4 years ago

    3D has been done before.........

    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=wn59uDlvmCo
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=wn59uDlvmCo
    [/link]

  • jaydeluxe #24 4 years ago

    And even before that... Tomy 3D

  • bad09 #25 4 years ago

    @ jaydeluxe

    Now they were wicked! \o/

  • Kafeen #26 4 years ago

    How long do we have to wait for holodecks?

  • HEAVYface #27 4 years ago

    theres a guy on you tube who has made VR looking 3d using the wii mote and a pair of glasses with LED's on them (wii mote sits under the tv) the 3d trick only works from the perspective of the person wearing the glasses, but it looks great (he puts the glasses on a camcorder then moves it about).

    basically the glasses are a substitue for the sensor bar you'd normally put on top of the tv.

    its entirely possible to have true looking 3d depth on a normal TV right now:)

  • Fleisch #28 4 years ago

    /\/\

    yeah i saw that Wii thing too, no one would be fussed about wearing a tiny headband/specs frame, if it meant getting 3D perspective. Shutter tech is heavy and annoying.

    For those that find RG goggles or the Polarised ones used now annoying/impossible your suppressing an eye or have a binocular vision problem and should consult a good optometrist!

  • Xerx3s #29 4 years ago

    My eyesight is 20/20 tyvm, I had them tested last year. But still nice of you to tell me my condition over the internet whilst knowing nothing about me.

  • L42yB #30 4 years ago

    I never found the 3D thing at cinemas appealing... if that's what they are talking about then I'm not interested. Everything becoming slight shades of Green and Red is annoying... Is that what they're talking about here?

  • BraveArse #31 4 years ago

    I'm with AGParrot - my stereo vision has never been very good. I have one working far more efficiently than the other which I'm pretty sure would b0rk even a glasses-less stereoscopic effect. I'm pretty sure there'll be huge number of gamers with the same problem.

    Smelly - was this proper holography or a stereo effect at Siggraph? Looking at the webby it looks like true 3D which is quite mindblowing if confirmed.
    Edited by 1 at 04/07/08 @ 13:05

  • BobsUncle #32 4 years ago

    @ BlueDragon

    Have you actually seen one of those TV's working? I have at a trade show, and they do give you a certain degree of 3D immersion, but if you move out of one of the 'sweet spots' it all goes to shit.

    Basically you have to sit with your head in the same position all the way through what you are watching, otherwise it all goes blurry.

  • bushwod #33 4 years ago

    interesting

  • schachmatt #34 4 years ago

    Exactly what they seem to want to achieve here has been done for the pc years ago.
    It's a software games didn't need to be specifically created for and the one guy I knew said it worked really well.
    Practically everything the new consoles are trying to achieve has been done for the pc one way or the other.

    http://ww w.download3k.com/Press-Breakthr...

  • Skooch #35 4 years ago

    PC gamers are so self-righteous...its as if they forget their systems cost 5 to 10 times as much as a console.

  • davisorle #36 4 years ago

    Why cant you stfu about what Sony said about their PS3 and be for once excited about the good news? i eman when i found out Jaguar was coming out from Atari if I remember right i was so happy. When i heard about the NDS coming out i run to go get it. You hear about MS a huge company being intrested into 3D gaming which is a company that is huge enough to make this work instead of all the last failed attempts from other companies and all you have to do is open ur pathetic little mouths proving that ur assholes are big enough to even stuff up a PS3 in there.. This is pathetic. I hope you die before u manage to play any kind of console you all spoiled pricks are addicted to. Get a life and then play or something. Just be normal. Learn how to think before u fry up the rest of ur leftover braincells on the TV playing PSx.

    I'll live quiet a few more years tho to see the future of the gaming developement ( hopefully :S ) . I still have my Atari somewhere in the attic.

  • davisorle #37 4 years ago

    @Brogan

    That would bea cheap way to do it m8.. Just think of the fact ur have to be placed infront of a huge 3D monitor to do what you would with a pair of 3D glasses... And yet it wouldnt feel right. Not as much as they could make it feel with a perfect pair of 3D glasses. Really 3D tvs will be a waste of technology/time/generation in gaming. Plus they will be way cheapper than making me a demanding dude go buy a new huge TV for my bedroom for a 3D tech.. :S that would mean a huge wallethole.

  • Farzlepot #38 4 years ago

    I have to wonder whether wearing such contraptions so close to your eyes will do them some long-lasting damage if you played these 3D games for more than ten minutes.