XNA's Satchell: Microsoft experimented with 3D gaming display
by Kyle Orland 
{ Jul 3rd 2008 at 8:30PM }
In an excerpt from an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, XNA General Manager Chris Satchell revealed that Microsoft actually looked into using this stereoscopic technology for gaming, but determined the need for special glasses made the idea impractical. "I think it is hard to be mainstream with asking people to wear headgear to play games," he said, thus explaining the failure of Hat Hat Revolution. That said, Satchell hinted at "some very interesting technology being developed that can overcome this obstacle, and it will be interesting to see where this leads." Oh, we all know where this leads, all right.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DWells55 @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:38PM
That image is terrifying.
mr nimblewick @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:40PM
I hate the idea of movies requiring headgear to watch, same goes for video games. 3-D has never been anything more than an excuse to make objects quickly jump out at the viewer. Cheap scare tactics. Like the president.
ippolit @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:40PM
germany based company http://www.charisma-tv.de is up to some interesting technology that transforms even simple pal signals into 3D pictures. people say it's based on depth of focus and said to be quite impressive. maybe that's something microsof is up to... it's no holodedeck though... sadly.
Jhongerkong @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:46PM
3D is a thing of the past. It still has to catch up to the 4D and 120fps of the PS3.
WiiFTW @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:28PM
Aren't you forgetting the 2160p graphics which are BETTER than real life?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2160p
born2kill @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:21PM
Theres already a bunch of 3-D devices on the market:
https://edimensional.com/index.php?cPath=21&ref=137
MS is late to the party
CyberKnight @ Jul 4th 2008 12:33AM
3D rocks. Nvidia has Windows drivers for their cards that will turn just about any Direct3D or OpenGL signal into a stereoscopic signal. I got a pair of shuttered glasses, and there was nothing like playing Unreal or Wolfenstein in "true" 3D.
Haven't done that in a while, though. Unfortunately, it only works on CRTs, and my 20" behemoth died a couple years ago. Replaced it with a very nice LCD, but unfortunately it can't do 3D. :(
Sharp had some auto-stereoscopic (i.e. without glasses) LCD displays, but they were expensive, small, and I never saw one in person so wasn't confident in ordering one. Maybe in the future...
Dwag @ Jul 4th 2008 1:06AM
what they should have been doing is making XNA a better service you know like making some of us who don't pay get a taste of what some of these gamer/devs are doing on it like releasing demos to the marketplace.
Snowblind @ Jul 4th 2008 6:01AM
It's coming, they said the next update would allow that sort of thing. Thus far there isn't very much to see anyway, most people/groups are still in the process of desiging or developing the games. You've alreadly seen the really interesting stuff, Jelly Car, Dishwasher Samurai, etc.
John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5) @ Jul 4th 2008 2:29AM
Well Sony has been experimenting with using the PS3eye for head tracking to give a 3-D appearance and Johhny Lee has done something similar with two Wii Motes and a pair of glasses that have IR emitters on the side. I am just guessing that it could involve the Live vision camera and some head tracking since Chris Satchell mentioned its not practical to expect consumers to wear gear on their face. I agree with him on that matter.