Sony: 3D gives you "competitive edge"

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 16 July, 2010

"You can process information more quickly."

Sony has proclaimed the benefits of 3D gaming to its hardcore fans, saying it provides a "competitive edge".

During a presentation at the Develop Conference yesterday Sony Computer Entertainment Europe senior director Mick Hocking described in detail why playing PS3 exclusives Gran Turismo 5, MotorStorm: Apocalypse, Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 in 3D is better.

"With something like a racing simulation, this gives us greater accuracy," Hocking said.

"You can judge or brake a distance to a corner that much better than you could before. You can position your car on a track with greater certainty. You can judge relative speed to the other cars or relative speed to the track better than you could before."

On upcoming arcade racer MotorStorm: Apocalypse, Hocking had this to say: "We can throw particles through the screen at you. We can make the building feel like it's going to collapse down on top of you. It helps to enhance the sense of speed and scale and excitement in the game."

He added: "You can also process information more quickly. With a game like WipEout, where you're racing very fast down a track, it's twitch control mechanics. You've got to be very precise and quick about changing the direction of the ship or you hit the wall.

"With this [3D] your brain can pick up more cues from the digital image because there's more information there, because we have depth. We find that players can play this a bit more accurately than they could before."

On Killzone 3: "We have particles flying past them. You can see projectiles coming towards you. You can judge just how far you need to throw a grenade because you can see how far away the enemies are.

"We can have things collapse on top of you, or you can be reaching down into a ditch to pull a comrade out. 3D helps bring greater immersion to these types of action experiences."

And, finally, Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet 2, which, Hocking reminded us, has Z-depth.

"In 3D we found it was much more intuitive to judge where Sackboy was in the level. We found we could traverse the level rather than falling off the platforms quite so often."

Essentially, Sony reckons 3D will help PS3 owners be better gamers.

"For our hardcore, this could mean a competitive edge. Racing simulations, if you can get a better lap time, in shooters, if you can get more kills, this all appeals to our hardcore gamers. Anything that gives them a competitive edge is worth having."

Hocking's comments come as no surprise. Sony is putting plenty of eggs in the 3D basket, and hopes it'll convince millions to fork out their hard-earned cash on the tech that enables it.

"We think 3D is now here to stay," Hocking said.

"There are many different parts of media now supporting 3D with a vested interest in seeing the success of 3D. Not only the film studios and film creators; games, broadcasters, photography, camcorders and phones of the future. All of them will be looking at 3D.

"We are the only company that has the entire hardware and content chain of 3D within our core business."

With an installed base of 36 million PS3s, and with firmware updates that enable the console to play 3D games and Blu-ray discs in the wild, Sony is confident of success.

The Japanese company predicts that by 2014 more than 40 per cent of tellies will be sold as 3D ready.

Last week Ubisoft UK marketing boss Murray Pannell went one further by predicting that a 3D-enabled telly will be in every living room in just three years time.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (70) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • dirtysteve #1 2 years ago

    This competitive edge has nothing to do with Sony HQ making sure every department does their best to flog 3d TVs.

  • butler` #2 2 years ago

    "We are the only company that has the entire hardware and content chain of 3D within our core business."

    "We think 3D is now here to stay," Hocking said.

    Oh.

  • linea #3 2 years ago



    3D is definitely going to be much more use for games than it is for films etc, where it's frankly just a gimmick. The only TV/film application I can see actually working on a long-term basis is sports- people generally want depth of plot and characterisation, not depth perception.


    What he's saying about GT5 and distance judging is definitely true, and if I won the lottery a PS3, 3DTV and copy of GT5 is definitely one of the first things I'd pick up, but is the 'hardcore racer and FPS fan with large amounts of disposable income' demographic going to put a 3DTV in every home in the next few years?

    hmmm

  • sneetch #4 2 years ago

    What's that old man? These are the droids we're looking for? I dunno...

  • Deckard1 #5 2 years ago

    What a load of shit
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 17:16

  • Dark_Era #6 2 years ago

    look, i ain't against 3d. Infact i want it to do better and be more mainstream asap, but don't be making up stuff like this, lol.
    competitive edge, pls....

  • teabagger #7 2 years ago

    I know it's the in-thing to automatically bitch about every press release, but it's actually a fair point.

    Consider a driving game. In 3D you can more accurately judge distances to corners and where the apex is in 3D space. You're not having to make guesses because all the depth information is there for your brain to process in the same way it has done every waking moment of your life so far.

    It's hardly a massive leap then, to say that this gives a clear advantage over someone playing the exact same game in 2D.

    Basically, do you think the same person can drive a real life car round a track with one eye closed and do it in the same time as with both eyes open?
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 17:29

  • AphoticCosmos #8 2 years ago

    Or not. It's like how having a better set of headphones, or a nicer keyboard, or a bigger TV all gives you a "competitive edge" /rolleyes

    I like 3D because it makes things look pretty and makes interactions between the game and the real world more realistic. I don't like 3D when it's pushed by marketing departments with bugger all else to do.

  • Perfecto #9 2 years ago

    Marketing Bulls**t

  • CaptainQuint #10 2 years ago

    If this was proven as indisputable fact then 3D televisions would fly off shelves. It is already proven that people will pay to get the edge on others, bragging rights etc.

  • Shikasama #11 2 years ago

    I don't know what's more ridiculous. Sony's continued 'PLEASE LOVE 3D' spiel or the fact that there is someone in this world with the name Wesley Yin-Poole.

    It might sound like a low blow, but I'm genuinley concerned that such a name exists.

  • dllord #12 2 years ago

    Just incase some of you guys think you need to spend £2000 to get a 3DTV.

    You don't ! you can pick up a new Samsung LE40C750 3DTV on the net for £850.

    In fact thats the 3DTV i might get next month, or the 46" version lol!

  • Arwin #13 2 years ago

    I'm not sure if this is a great marketing strategy - it could easily backfire.

  • Acrid #14 2 years ago

    "We have particles flying past them. You can see projectiles coming towards you."

    This is exactly why you should put the seat down before you flush.

  • Miths #15 2 years ago

    "The Japanese company predicts that by 2014 more than 40 per cent of tellies will be sold as 3D ready."

    I believe that's a very important point. Whether or not early adoption of 3D TVs lives up to expectations, in just a few years time 3D will probably be just another feature in most mid and high end HDTVs. And a year or two more down the line probably in the cheapest models as well.

    So unless 3D implementation is for some reason killed off sooner than that (and I'm struggling to see why that should happen, even if early sales prove disappointing, with all that's being invested in it at the moment), within the near future most people buying a new TV will be getting the 3D feature whether they have any interest in it or not.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 18:11

  • dllord #16 2 years ago

    @Miths i agree, how hard is it to buy a SD tv these days? Theyre all HD wether u watch HD on it is another story. But the choice is there if you want to, itll be the same for 3D in a few years time i recon

  • Vin #17 2 years ago

    Blah blah BLAH.

    Blow me, 3D.

  • jefranklin18 #18 2 years ago

    @linea:

    That is a very reasoned comment about 3D. Please keep it out of Eurogamer. ;)

  • ybfelix #19 2 years ago

    Sony make it sound as if itself is the only 3D display manufacturer in the world...

  • RandomTerrain #20 2 years ago

    I wish the price wasn't so steep, I'd love to play games in 3D, oh well, one day!

  • iamtheoneneo #21 2 years ago

    fuck off Sony , stop shoving shit down our throats.

  • bslsimes #22 2 years ago

    Hopefully it'll make up for the fact that you'll only be getting half as many frames of information per second.

  • StooMonster #23 2 years ago

    Sony: "3D gives us 'competitive edge'."

    Sony: "We are the only company that can sell 3D TV hardware by pushing 3D games content within our core business."

    Sony: "We can process revenue more quickly."

  • Climhazzard #24 2 years ago

    So all that money for the tech to give you a competitive edge? Fuck off plain and simple. Concentrate on the gameplay and innovating in that area rather than waste money on tech that isnt quite there yet.

  • woodnotes #25 2 years ago

    "Sony make it sound as if itself is the only 3D display manufacturer in the world..."

    I think they have to talk like this given that Samsung beat them to the party and Panasonic threw an even better party.

  • hiddenranbir #26 2 years ago

    I like how they're desperately advertising 3D TVs to the mass consumer. Problem I see is, what 3D channels are there for me? I'm not going to get a 3D tv just for a handful of blu-ray movies that may, MAY have 3D in it.

  • SG79 #27 2 years ago

    "I think they have to talk like this given that Samsung beat them to the party and Panasonic threw an even better party."

    Here's the quote that was clear enough:

    "We are the only company that can sell 3D TV hardware by pushing 3D games content within our core business."

    They're the only CE company in the games industry so it's not exactly untrue that they're in a better position to pull off bundles more than the others. They're also in the movie business unlike others.

    On topic, it still sounds like a gimmick for the most part and it's a bit funny that they're somewhat comparing it to having good depth perception in real life. Aside from the racer example (sounded an awful lot like having first person view), everything else sounds gimmicky not unlike 3D movies (particles flying etc.). But hey, the whole CE industry is trying to push 3D so pushing all angles including such bold quotes that it'll make you a better gamer is a given.

    Expect to hear more bullshit down the road until 3D is rejected by the masses or accepted. I just don't like the tag that it'll be far more beneficial other than being a neat visual effect. I still don't care and will only jump in out of necessity sometime in the future if 3D becomes a standard.



    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 20:14

  • sanctusmortis #28 2 years ago

    So... why are the douche comments getting upped so much, and the actually relevant ones getting marked down?

    Oh yes, I remember, it's a comments thread.

  • IronCladChicken #29 2 years ago

    @Miths
    Didn't they make a very similar prediction about Blu-Ray?

  • Kaminari #30 2 years ago

    Tiring marketing craptalk.

  • Dizzy #31 2 years ago

    Very funny that they say this. It is actually the opposite. 3D on a 2D screen is actually fake and tricks your brain into thinking it is 3D. A lot of the 3D information is hence not entirely correct but your brain manages to compensate for some of it (that is the job of the brain). Sadly this results in incorrect 3D positioning information in a lot of cases.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 21:35

  • hjarg #32 2 years ago

    Hmmmm... perhaps 3d porn would be better marketing idea then "competitive edge" in games? :p

  • wyp100 #33 2 years ago

    "I don't know what's more ridiculous. Sony's continued 'PLEASE LOVE 3D' spiel or the fact that there is someone in this world with the name Wesley Yin-Poole.

    It might sound like a low blow, but I'm genuinley concerned that such a name exists."

    The Yin comes from Hong Kong. That was my great grandfather's. His son, my grandfather, was Jamaican. He came over here during WWII to work the radars, and married an English woman. Their son, may father, was a Londoner, from Stockwell. He married an Irish woman, with the maiden name Poole. They decided to put them together for us kids.

    The rest is history.

  • mrboshingles #34 2 years ago

    By purchasing the new Sony Skynet PS3 - 3D - T101 model, you will no longer have to worry about your fate, we will decide that for you in a nano second

  • Shikasama #35 2 years ago

    I'm going to assume the 'Wesley' is an homage to either Wesley Crusher or Wesley off Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel.

    Both of which your probably older than, but I've never let facts stop me before.

    I feel like we have connected now though, if it wasn't for that Shafer business we could have been great friends :(
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/10 @ 23:06

  • Boku #36 2 years ago

    Make better games, improve performance @ your hardware and give us real HD games instead of shoving us 3D and Wii crap.

    F*ck your marketing bulls*it and f*ck the gimmick known as 3D. That edgy enough for you Sony?

  • Collymilad #37 2 years ago

    Yeah, BS.

    For ANOTHER £1000, ill go without, cheers.

  • Miths #38 2 years ago

    "@Miths
    Didn't they make a very similar prediction about Blu-Ray?"

    Well, the cheapest Blu-ray players don't cost much more than a DVD player these days, do they? Another couple of years (ie. around six years after the launch of the BD format) and I imagine there will probably be little or no point to continuing to produce and sell new DVD players, seeing as a BD player will play (upscaled) DVDs as well.

    I know some people still think the price tags on the BD movies themselves are too high, but Amazon etc. constantly have plenty of good offers, and personally I consider the extra cost compared to DVD well worth it for the much superior image quality. But again, you don't have to throw away your DVD collection or stop buying DVDs just because your player can play Blu-ray Discs as well.
    Just as a 3D ready TV isn't going to force you to stop watching 2D content.

    Now obviously not everyone runs out and buy a new TV or assorted other consumer electronics products every 3-5 years, but that wasn't what the quote in the article that I commented on was saying. Merely that in ~5 years most new TVs on store shelf are likely to have 3D support, just as they've been getting an increasing number of other more or less interesting features over the last few years (LED LCD technology in mid and high end models, DVB-C tuner, USB ports for direct media playback, LAN port etc.).

  • RandomRash #39 2 years ago

    I want to know the benefits of 3D porn, does it give you a better aim

  • Sunyavadin #40 2 years ago

    I'm unconvinced.

    There's a reason the driving test has hazard perception as a component. There's a whole lot going on around you, and you need to process it all and act on what you see in a very short space of time. Right now in games that's not as much of an issue, add an extra field of depth to particle effects and suddenly playing a racing game gets a lot closer to the far greater difficulty of ACTUALLY driving.

  • _LarZen_ #41 2 years ago

    Im sure as hell aint gonna miss out on playing Crysis 2 and Killzone 3 in 3D. Gonna get me a 65" Sony 3D tv..gonna be insane!! My wallet is gonna bleed little babies....but who cares!

  • GrumpyMoose #42 2 years ago

    I'm pretty sure that stereoscopic vision is bound to have a negative effect on your COD performance. It represents worlds in completely untruthful ways. What a load of...

  • hy4000uk #43 2 years ago

    honestly must be the shittest company in existence

    putting all this weight behind an expensive technology that no-one can use and that requires retarded looking glasses for everyone in the room to operate

    no wonder the PS3 and PSP bombed so hard

  • man.the.king #44 2 years ago

    @Vin

    "Blow me, 3D."

    Eh?

    Ah!

  • man.the.king #45 2 years ago

    @Boku

    "Make better games, improve performance @ your hardware and give us real HD games instead of shoving us 3D and Wii crap.
    F*ck your marketing bulls*it and f*ck the gimmick known as 3D. That edgy enough for you Sony? "

    Great, another troll :(

  • Bennicus #46 2 years ago

    Its true that in theory 3d gives you more information, since you have a different image for each eye, but when I watch 3d films at the cinema I sometimes get bits where my brain can't quite work out whether something is meant to be in front or behind of something else and then after thinking about it for a bit it sort of 'pops' into the right place. It's bloody distracting though, and hardly what I'd call a competitive edge. Maybe I'm one of the 12% with problems perceiving 3d but it seems to work ok most of the time (IRL). Or maybe I'm one of the much higher percentage in this country with the more general "brain problem".

  • DoctorFraud #47 2 years ago

    Desperation never sounds sexy, and with Sony betting the farm on 3D they stink of desperation right now.

    This 3D fad will fail, and Sony will be at the cutting edge of that failure.

  • jag10 #48 2 years ago

    lol blu-ray all over again. only this time MS have signed a 3D deal will LG just in case they're wrong again.

  • witchdrash #49 2 years ago

    @von_adder which is exactly why you don't buy it from Currys, because they're f'ing expensive for anything vaguely new, you use your friend, the interweb, and find the sets for less than a £1000

  • lockload #50 2 years ago

    Oh the odeur de bullshit from sony is stronger than ever

  • jrb #51 2 years ago

    not for me it doesn't. I can't see 3d content due to vision problems, and currently steer well clear of it.

  • TelexStar #52 2 years ago

    *sniff* *sniff*, I smell bullshit!

  • onezeonx #53 2 years ago

    So Sony are trying to get people to buy 3D tellys because you might get killed more for using the crap HDTV you have now?

    LMAO

    Sad thing is some will believe this crap and spend silly money!

  • skullstorm #54 2 years ago

    So what if they are raving about supposed "benefits" to 3D gaming and trying to heavily market it. In the end it's just an option for current 3D TV owners, I doubt it'll make or break anything. It's just optional.

    If your a rich bastard that spends insane disposable income on owning a 3D TV, the option to use the 3D element would be pretty nice eh? If you don't have a 3D TV then it doesn't really make a difference to you, so why pretend that it does.

  • markmitt #55 2 years ago

    @dllord

    Seriously mate, you wouldn't want a 40" 3dtv. That screen size is far too small! I viewed a 50" Panasonic plasma in Sevenoaks, Cambridge the other day, and despite the d3 quality being amazing, even a 50 inch screen wasn't big enough. That's because as imagery comes out of the screen toward you, it looks great. But when the 3d image just disappears off the side of the screen, it doesn't look right. I have seen Samsung are doing the PS58C6500, a massive 58 inch plasma screen, which you can buy with 3 year warranty, and Blu-Ray player included for £1599. This is the one I am very tempted to get. Just got to find a buyer for my 10 month old Bravia KDL-46W5500 first though...

  • Sunyavadin #56 2 years ago

    @markmitt

    EXACTLY where my problem lies.
    My peripheral vision kills my ability to see 3D.

  • Numbat #57 2 years ago

    I like racing games and love the idea of 3d, but what I really want to know is if it will make me want to vomit! I cannot play Killzone fore more than 5 minutes without feeling sick, and a number of Dreamcast games had the effect. Reading about Wipeout in 3d suddenly made me wonder if I would need to keep a bucket next to me!

  • Vurten #58 2 years ago

    So putting all of my icon shortcuts on the desktop on my windows computer will make me do stuff faster?
    I believe there can be some very good uses for 3D when done properly - also in user interface. Sony doesn't walk the talk here. They seem desperate.

    A racing game in 3D will not make you drive more precisely. Thats just ******* ****. If anything it will demand more precision of you thus making it - in positive terms - more intense but you will feel a loss of control. Airplanes are easier to steer straight than a car? In theory yes.

    If the 3D hype survives a year I hope its for the better.
    As for now my experience with it is more bland/dull colours (coloured glasses) and _LESS_ precision. I had fun seeing two 3D movies but then went to see Avatar in plain 2D because I wanted to experience the lush forrests of Pandora...

  • man.the.king #59 2 years ago

    The fact that a post criticizing a Sony offering from a 360-only owner (in my eyes, blatant fanboy drivel) is voted up, while my post identifying that individual as a troll is voted down does make me wonder as to the objectivity of the individuals occupying these 3D-related threads.

    This is an option that is being presented, and nobody is being forced to buy anything! Why, then, is SO MUCH vitriol being directed towards Sony on EG comments threads? Usually, whenever I see any post in the EG comments threads (on any article related to 3D as offered by Sony) that is particularly hateful, I just check that poster's game collection, EG profile or XBox profile, and my suspicion is usually confirmed - these are 360-owning assholes who would hate anything offered by Sony (on their own misguided principle). These same muppets would be all agog with praise if this very same option were being offered by their beloved Microsoft.
    Edited by 2 at 18/07/10 @ 08:46

  • Bennicus #60 2 years ago

    man.the.king, while I appreciate your devastating exposés of dastardly xbots, you seem to have missed one crucial point: here on xboxgamer, sorry, eurogamer, you can link your xbox live account to your profile and it will automatically populate your games list with games you've played. If you look at my games list you can see it's all xbox360 games and barely anything else, I do actually own a crapton of PC and PS3 games too, but I cannot be fucked to type them all in just to have a slightly bigger games list than you (which I would have, LET THERE BE NO DOUBT) :)

    edit: despite the slight sarcasm in this post, I didn't bother voting you up or down, lets be internet buddies eh
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/10 @ 09:52

  • AliRay #61 2 years ago

    Absolute rubbish. This smacks of desperation from Sony.

  • jag10 #62 2 years ago

    built in wi-fii was bullshit aswell wasn't it..............................

  • daveflounders #63 2 years ago

    @man the king ..well said m8

  • Guildenstern #64 2 years ago

    Meh. In 2D you can look over the whole screen in a single glance. With 3D your eyes have to refocus every time you have to look at another objects. I've tried it, and it actually interferes with gameplay in a very annoying way.

  • dllord #65 2 years ago

    @markmitt

    Yeah 40" is too small for 3D thats why im going for 46" now
    I only sit 1.5 metres from the tv and acording to samsung 1.5 to 2.0 metres is the ideal viewing distance for a 46" 3DTV.







    £1079 is the cheapest price for the LE46C750 ive seen so far on the net
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/10 @ 17:58

  • Stiggy #66 2 years ago

    Just Sony marketing as usual. They have been at it for years. They won't learn and they won't change.

  • TrainerGreen #67 2 years ago

    3D gaming does in no way give you an edge, Infact it is very much the a hindrance. On a 2d tv., You have not depth, however what you do have is the value of size and height based on how big or small something is you can estimate fairly how far it.

    Depth complicates things, cause now size still matters, you also have to account for how deep it appear could vary depending on your distance and location from the T.V. Making it more difficult each time you play if your not at the same spot. Now this is going to make playing fps hell. Maybe more fun, but increase the difficult quite a bit.

    Action games it might work for, but fighters are gonna be the ones that suffer the most as your mind tries to calculate each fighters distance properly making them, memory based, orI won't attack unless Im right on you....

  • Totoriko #68 2 years ago

    3DTV gives you cancer of the eye, future fact

  • spekkeh #69 2 years ago

    Scientific experiments have shown stereoscopic vision only works for about 6 meters effectively (and about 20% of the viewers won't even be able to discern 3d that far). The distance between my sofa and the tv is 4 meters. So yeah, 's bound to give me a lot of competitive edge.

  • man.the.king #70 2 years ago

    @Bennicus

    "man.the.king, while I appreciate your devastating exposés of dastardly xbots, you seem to have missed one crucial point: here on xboxgamer, sorry, eurogamer, you can link your xbox live account to your profile and it will automatically populate your games list with games you've played. If you look at my games list you can see it's all xbox360 games and barely anything else, I do actually own a crapton of PC and PS3 games too, but I cannot be fucked to type them all in just to have a slightly bigger games list than you (which I would have, LET THERE BE NO DOUBT) :) "

    Thanks so much for the sarcasm. I really needed that.

    By the way, the list that EG automatically populates is this, NOT this. EG certainly did not auto-populate mine.

    So the question arises as to how you found the time to populate your EG Games Collection with 63 XBox 360 games, but "could not be fucked to type" even one PS3/PC game, even though you claim to have a "crapton" of them.

    "lets be internet buddies eh"

    Yes, let's ....
    Edited by 2 at 20/07/10 @ 04:30