3d-gaming posts

PC gaming-related hardware sales are supposed to increase 27 percent in 2011 to $22 billion worldwide. That's the result of a new study announced today by Jon Peddie Research. Part of the growth will be in China as that country's internet cafe upgrade their PC hardware in order for them to run newer and more hardware intensive games. Russia is another country that the study claims will be spending more on gaming-related hardware products.

The study also claims that PC gamers in general have an "increasing appetite" for products like "high quality speaker systems, headsets, mice, cases, cooling, and other accessories and customizations." It also claims that interest in 3D gaming continues to grow as does buying monitors with "higher resolution and better color capabilities."

While there's been a lot of buzz about 3D gaming lately, especially this week with the launch date revealed for the 3D-enabled Nintendo 3DS console, the folks at PC graphics chip company Nvidia have been promoting the fact that it has enabled support for hundreds of PC games to have 3D support over the last few years with its 3D Vision tech. In its latest article, Eurogamer's Digital Foundry takes a close-up look at 3D Vision and compared how games that support the tech look next to its Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts.

In short, there was no comparison with the article saying, "These are console games radically transformed: they look better, they feel better to play, and they're getting us involved in the action in a way the console versions just can't match. This feels like the future of 3D." Nvidia's 3DTV Play support also allows PCs to hook up to 3D-enabled big-screen TVs for some living room PC gaming although if you turn up the resolution to the full 1080p frame rates suffer. Digital Foundry suggests dialing it down to 720p for TV-based 3D playing which still blows away the graphical looks of console games at that same resolution.

In summary, while a 3D Vision supported PC will still cost more than a PS3 or Xbox 360, Digital Foundry states, " .. the sheer power you're getting for that outlay is phenomenal, the games you're buying will be much cheaper and the available catalogue of 3D software outstrips any other platform."

We have said it before and we will say it again; 3D PC gaming won't become popular until it can be done without having to wear goofy glasses to see the 3D effect. Our sister site Engadget got a chance to see PC laptop that's under development by Toshiba (under its Qosmio brand) that promises to deliver such an effect.

The laptop has two parallax 3D LCDs and also has a webcam that can, in theory, keep track of your eyeline when you move. However, Engadget reports that the technology is still "very rough around the edges" saying that while you can see the 3D effect when you look straight at the screen, "slightly tilting to the left or right threw off the effect and we were stuck watching some blurry contents." Toshiba plans to release a final version of its Qosmio 3D PC laptop before the end of 2011.

With 2011 still pretty fresh in everyone's mind, it's time to see into Big Download's crystal ball for what's going to happen in the PC game industry in 2011. Looking back at our predictions for what we thought would happen in 2010, we got about 50 percent of our predictions correct. Not bad but not all that great either.

However that track record isn't going to stop us from making our predictions for what might happen in the next 12 months. As we see it, the PC game industry is looking pretty darn good, concerning all of its competition (console games, iPhone and iPad gaming, social network games, etc) and the fact that the overall economy, while better than it was at the beginning of 2010, still isn't the greatest. But will there be any unexpected left field surprises? Read on for what we think might happen:

3D! 3D! 3D! If you are tired of hearing about movies and games going 3D then you might want to avoid Electronic Arts at E3 2010 in June. As part of their conference call to investors today following the release of their latest financial reports, EA's Chief Operating Officer John Schappert stated that an EA game will have a 3D showing during E3.

There's no word yet on what game will be getting the treatment with Schappert saying only that it will be a "marquee title" IGN reports that the game in question will be fully revealed sometime next week.

Nvidia has been pushing its 3D Vision technology for 3D PC gaming for a while now. The problem with their set-up, though, is that it requires a compatible 3D capable monitor and expensive shutter 3D glasses. Now game developer Darkworks (who developed the survival horror game Cold Fear a few years ago) has announced at GDC 2010 their plans for Trioviz, a software wrapper that can convert any 2D game into a 3D experience. The technology does not require a special 3D monitor and the effect can be seen with passive (and cheap) 3D glasses.

Our sister site Engadget got to see the technology demoed at GDC 2010. Their verdict? "Not bad." They state, "We could very clearly see the 3D effect, and even though it was subtle, it definitely enhanced our experience." We are betting that a lot of game developers could be interested in using this tech for their own games.