Riccitiello: Focusing on 3D makes for 'poor returns'

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 29th 2011 11:00AM

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has plenty to worry about at present, but a future full of 3D displays isn't one of them. VentureBeat reports that at EA's recent shareholder meeting, the executive responded to an inquiry about stereoscopic 3D games by saying, "We have not seen a big uptake for 3D gaming. We have not seen a big uptake in 3D TVs in the home. We are not here trying to drive a market. We are here to react to what consumers want."

And consumers don't appear to be demanding the tech -- evidenced by Nintendo's financial report yesterday, accompanied by an announcement of a significant price reduction of its 3D handheld.

Riccitiello said EA will continue focusing on mobile, social and online. Those are markets where they are seeing "really high returns," compared to the "very poor returns focusing on 3D."

Source: VentureBeat

Tags: 3D, 3DS, microsoft, nintendo, playstation, ps3, wii, xbox

Reader Comments (66)

I told many of my friends from the beginning, this whole 3D thing is a fad.

Well you were/are wrong, since it's been around since movies were first being made.

If TV manufacturers and Nintendo stopped thinking consumers were willing to pay extraordinary prices for it, maybe there'd be a bit more demand for it. There's no mystery right now, $100 glasses and $250 handhelds are too expensive no matter what they do.

It will never be a universally desired thing, and it will also never go away. Science and technology will continue forward momentum regardless of market trends.

@Haunted CoinOp
I'm Republican and I'm perfectly fine with 3D and related technologies. In fact, I plan to purchase a second 3D HDTV for Christmas, provided there are no "surprise expenses" between then and now.
/shrug

@jsx

..... Isn't that almost the textbook definition of a fad .... well I guess more of a trend?

Yeah 3D has been around since essentially when they started making movies ..... about every 5-10 years there is a big push for it .... people eat it up at first .... and then it goes away for another 5-10 years.

I do totally agree that they probably could have gotten it to stick this go round if they hadn't price gouged it to death.

@Existentialist
I dont think its a fad as such. Its going to die down for a few years but i think were getting close

@Haunted CoinOp I'm a diehard socialist, and I hate this 3D fad. Why do you have to bring politics into it, and apply labels to those that disagree with you ... labels you clearly don't fully understand?

@jsx I'll consider it more than a fad when I don't need glasses to watch 3DTVs, and the feature is implemented everywhere. Wearing glasses on top of my glasses is stupid and I hate the very concept of prescription 3D glasses.

@jsx

That's pretty much a fad. It keeps coming back every so often, but it never catches on with the public at large, so it fades away until someone decides they want to try and make it profitable again. 3D media has been around since the 1950s, but always in short bursts, and always ending with someone losing their bank over it.

It kind of hurts to say this, but I think Riccitiello is in the right here. He was gun-shy about the tech as soon as it was being pushed for home use, and market reception has validated that stance. People don't want it badly enough to endure the headaches or pony up the initial investment.

Maybe when it experiences a resurgence in 20 years the tech will have caught up to the concept.

@Existentialist I don't know why he uses the 3ds as reason for 3d being a failure. what part of no games for the console does he not understand? I think the people who were interested are still interested in it they just haven't bought one yet because nintendo didn't hit the ground running with a strong library.

I agree with Existentialist.

3D is a throwaway technology that has failed to add anything to games or film besides added cost and (usually) glasses.

@Faceless Troll

Call it a fad if you like, but try finding a TV over 40" without 3D after this year....TV manufactures HAVE to find ways to keep TV's at a high price. If not for 3D what reason would they have to keep charging the same price for newer TV each year even tho for it gets cheaper and cheaper to make the things. Its not like all HDTVs are suddenly going to be 4K TV's...3D is here to stay this time around for one reason...the TV manufactures are pushing it and NOT just Hollywood...
Yes I agree that I hate it when its not glasses free as well.....but its not going anywhere....

@foxhound

3D is a partisan issue now? I hate this country.

He should´ve said this to nintendo..........

@Hunter141072 That wouldn't have mattered they would've still made it.3d didn't put Nintendo in this position price,lack of games and competition did.

@Hunter141072

In Nintendo's defense, the 3DS has a lot more going for it than just the 3D effect- chiefly much better graphics. However, Nintendo's brilliant marketing division decided to focus on the 3D and made most of the consumers think the system was a DS with added 3D. Couple that with the rushed launch that resulted in no decent games on the handheld and no e-store, it was obvious it would have a rough launch.

Also, Joystiq, way to pothole "Star Wars: The Old Republic" as one of Riccitiello's problems. Clever. -_-

I'm sure that if the prices of 3D televisions would go down, then they'd see something there.

But it is new tech, and is probably still not making enough money to justify price cuts, so that might not happen for a while.

Of course, I'm perfectly fine with my 2D games, but I digress.

@maynase sanwitch

...me no comprendo a single word of that sentence.

@maynase sanwitch What?

It's the price that's been driving people away.

When I play the 3DS, I feel like the experience is incomplete without the 3D turned up.

@maynase sanwitch I'm sorry... but... WHAT?!

@maynase sanwitch
And yet your comment is only 1D...

The reasons the 3DS isn't selling well isn't the 3D it is the poor launch line up that is the problem.

@Kalis

Like the half complete Madden?

@Kalis then why aren't SOny 3D TV, glasses and movies selling?

@kcswanko

Because there is no reason to buy it. Give people a good enough reason to by anything and they will surely do it. People are gladly paying for 3D movies in the cinema because of how good Avatar was in 3D. Without that movie I doubt you'd be seeing any of these latest movies going 3D.

3D is a joke......

Let's face it...what everyone wants is Holographics.

If I have to view something at JUST THE RIGHT ANGLE....it's worthless...

@Timjoy

The only 3D that requires such a strict viewing angle is parallax barrier screens, which will get better. Remember LCDs on laptops back in the 90s? Someone next to you could even see the damn thing.

@Chibi Chaingun

Typo: "Couldn't* seen the damn thing."

If they really put effort in to 3d it would take off even if it's just used to make split screen games where both players have a full screen to play on

@DevilSei 1st dimension is a dot, lines are 2D.

@DrummingJon

Uh, no. 1 dimension is a line, 2 is a plane (such as the screen in front of you).

@Veko When I think of dimensions I always think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjsgoXvnStY&feature=relmfu

I don't know. EA is missing a golden opportunity to patent "Now YOU'RE in the game."

@CaptainProtonX

"E-A Sports. Now YOU'RE in the game."

@CaptainProtonX
Seriously. For anyone who has the ability or a chance to try it -- play WIPEOUT HD FURY on PS3 in 3D. It's a much more fun experience.

I've also played TRON: EVOLUTION, MOTORSTORM, TUMBLE, and even KILLZONE 3 and enjoyed it. EA, don't give up so soon because immediate returns weren't as expected.

I have experimented with 3D gaming on my PC and a cheap 3D projector with NVIDIA 3D Vision. It's a shame it hasn't caught on more because it's one hell of an 'immersive' experience, WAY more than movies. My next TV purchase will probably be a 3D one. Hopefully it catches on, it's actually still a pretty new feature to the market so there's hope. HD took some time too.

@maynase sanwitch

Me solomon grundy.

Oh who am I kidding, you wouldn't use capitol letters or punctuation...

@Tre I guess what he is trying to say is (from HIS perspective) that since reality is 3D: like you can see the front, side, bottom,& top of just about everything, from human beings to objects. Why can't we accept 3D on televisions since it is the same thing? i guess that's what he is saying

@maynase sanwitch

Trolling? Me fink sow

3D is a repeating fad that emerges every few decades, gets really big, then burns out when companies start throwing too much money at it. This latest 3d craze (about the 3rd or 4rth one) will eventually die off and we're already seeing the beginnings of that. Companies like Nintendo and Sony threw too much money at it, and they're not making it back.

@maynase sanwitch

.... Ok if I understood any of that and I think I might have.

I rather think the CEOs take is that he really doesn't care about people adopting 3D or not. Probably because as (I think) you tried to point out the games are rendered in 3D.

Unfortunately because the games are rendered as so it makes it easier not to care. Because supporting or not supporting 3D is as easy as adding a widget to your game before you compile it (well not quite that easy)

So it really doesn't effect anything they do.....

@Scuffles

what 3d is game not orfin dum dum

I will never wear 3d glasses to play a game. If they start making tvs in the future that have an option to toggle 3D with out glasses then I'll start paying attention, but it can't be too expensive because I just bought a new tv

It isn't that people don't want 3D. It is that people don't want poorly created 3D. The 3DS is something that was done poorly. When I look at games through it when the 3D is turned on, it looks as if I am looking at something cross-eyed. Try it.

People complain about the glasses, but 3D works a hell of a lot better with them than without. I just wish that all companies would conform to one standard so buying glasses would be easier.

@Jason B but people are not buying 3D TV's, movie and glasses too.

What I really want is a 3D that uses Kinect to slightly move the POV camera with my head movements. i.e if I slightly lean left or right, I can "peek" around corners, see the sides of an object etc. I think this could be a powerful effect if used in a subtle way and not made into a gimmick. And it doesn't need a $2000 TV or silly glasses, just a relatively inexpensive peripheral that lives quietly next to your TV, that many of us already own.

yeah he's right SOny and Nintendo need to drop the 3D shit. I think SOny is more invested in it then Nintendo since it can be turned off and it's cheaper then the 3D TV stuff from Sony, but really just stop it all ready.

@kcswanko

Why? It's an option. Don't use it if you don't want to. Now you have nothing to complain about. kthxbai

i knew that the 3DS will fail , im ready for PSvita!

@DrummingJon

A line (not to be confused with a rectangle) is 1D, because it only has one dimension, length. A dot (infinitesimally small; not to be confused with a circle) is 0D, because it has no width, length or depth. A dot can never be 1D.

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Riccitiello: Focusing on 3D makes for 'poor returns'

Reader Comments (66)

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:03AM Existentialist said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:28AM jsx said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:45AM foxhound said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:46AM Scuffles said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:52AM McPo said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:53AM Epoque said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:55AM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:14PM freaparn said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:29PM rhododragon said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 1:41PM making11s said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 3:07PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 4:37PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:08AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:21AM kvn7918 said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 3:21PM EMH said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:10AM Tre said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:11AM Tre said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:12AM CJ9X said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:13AM Gooblechev said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:13AM Georgia Gator said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:14AM DevilSei said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:23AM Kalis said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:33AM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:14PM kcswanko said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:51PM Dirame said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:24AM Timjoy said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:36AM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:38AM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:25AM CaptBirdeye said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:26AM DrummingJon said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 1:01PM Veko said

Posted: Jul 30th 2011 12:41AM DrummingJon said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:33AM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:34AM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:49AM foxhound said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:33AM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:33AM Shockwave said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:34AM Dance Mofo said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:38AM MrAlex said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:45AM Jovrick said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:51AM Scuffles said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:53AM maynase sanwitch said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 11:54AM eat it said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:02PM Jason B said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:12PM kcswanko said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:08PM Ozzpot said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:11PM kcswanko said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:20PM Chibi Chaingun said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:16PM Motwera said

Posted: Jul 29th 2011 12:25PM Dolobill said

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