You up for a little 3D Madden Football in the future? EA thinks you will be and is hoping the sports genre will usher in a new era of 3D gaming. EA seems to think sports games will be the key to early acceptance of 3D gaming technology, but I beg to differ: first-person shooters will be the big lure, not Madden. Here is EA Sports head-honcho Peter Moore:

“None of the games I’ve seen [so far] have been built that way – they’ve been regular games running in 3D. The real secret sauce will be when somebody says: ‘I’m going to build this game specifically for a 3D platform.’

“Absolutely. I’m not making any announcements, but it’s no coincidence that of the 3D [TV] broadcasts I’ve seen in the last two years, I can count the NBA All-Star event in Las Vegas, while ESPN has announced 3D programming – perhaps even a full channel. There have also been a number of announcements around the [football] World Cup, with some games broadcast in 3D.

“This is reminiscent of where we were with HD five or six years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but you’d go to CES and be in awe of HD – and it was sports games that showed up the technology.

“I think there’s great opportunity for EA to bring sports to life in unbelievably imaginative ways, once we can grasp what 3D means to us.”

Source

With the Consumer Electronics Show in full-swing, one thing has become crystal clear: the electronics industry is hell-bent on making consumers look like complete tools by the end of the year. By “tool” I mean, “Who is that dork sitting on the sofa wearing the nerdy 3D glasses?”

3D TVs are all the rage. Every major television manufacturer, and a few minor ones, are jumping on the bandwagon without hesitation. ESPN and DirecTV have both announced imminent, full-time 3D channels. Sony has finalized their specifications for 3D Blu-Ray and the industry will have the home version of Avatar to use as consumer-bait.

But…we’re still going to look like complete tools with our 3D glasses.

Is this really what the consumers wants? Probably not. I think it is safe to say we want 3D without the frickin’ glasses. It’s not just the aesthetic-hit your once macho appearance will take, but the real, cold hard facts of reality that will take its toll. WTF am I talking about?

I’m talking about your dog munching on your beloved pair of 3D glasses while you are at work. I am talking about your rug-rat kids bending, throwing, playing and breaking your 3D glasses. I am talking about your 3D glasses disappearing under the sofa or between the cushions. I am talking about your big, fast ass sitting down hard on that pair of 3D glasses.

3D glasses only work in theory and the safety of an IMAX theater. All other locations will spell constant hassle and small-scale disasters.

Hence, this brave new world they want us so desperately to enter will only work sans glasses.

Beyond the hurdles of every-day life we have the tech itself. Everything on display at CES is first-generation technology without a unified standard. Early-adopters will undoubtedly be screwed by the time the second generation is greatly improved and enhanced.  The 3D TV you buy today could be tomorrow’s HD-DVD.

So wait. Be patient. What is available now will be considered garbage by CES 2011, a date that will hopefully see a whole new generation of 3D that can be attained without glasses and the punishing hit to your fashion sense.

Microsoft made an announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show about the forthcoming spring release of Game Room, a new virtual space for players to hang out as their avatars and play classic/vintage arcade video games. Sounds fine as a basic description, but my intuition says this will be a bust.

There are several issues that will get in the way of Game Room’s success. First up we have the games themselves. Game Room will be launching with approximately 30 titles, with a promised 1000 titles within three years. That is a ton of shit and I mean that quite literally. If you can name me 20 classic video games that actually withstand the test of time, let alone 1000, I’ll send you a virtual medal.

Then there is the pricing, an area where Microsoft really understands the fine art of screwing customers. Players can either pay $5 for a dual-license that allows for PC and Xbox 360 play, or $3 for a single platform. Finally, players can sink 40-points (50-cents) for a single play.

As someone who grew up with the dawn of video games, having played just about every classic arcade title when it was actually available at my local Shakey’s Pizza, I can honestly say the vast majority of those so-called classics sucked. Add classics from vintage home consoles like Intellivision and the Atari 2600 and you have a recipe for complete boredom.

Look, I find value in these old games as museum relics and they are worth a time-limited trip down memory lane, but the overwhelming majority are just awful by today’s standards. There are only a few games from the 70s and 80s that hold up, like Asteroids, Missile Command, Galaga, Defender, Tempest, Star Castle and a few others. As for Atari 2600 games, none will hold your interest beyond a minute or two, perhaps longer if you’re bathing in nostalgia. I mean c’mon, $5 for Sub Hunt? Sea Battle? Outlaw? Ugh.

Microsoft Game Room smacks of a way to attract impulsive consumers into spending money on something that seems cool but will ultimately lead to regret. Besides, every single one of these ancient games can be played on the PC right now, complete with rule sheets and virtual cabinets, using a well-known emulator called MAME. I assume most hardcore gamers already have MAME or had it but grew bored once the novelty wore off.

If I had been in charge of developing the Game Room, I would get rid of 99% of the vintage games, only using the true classics that have aged well, and devoted the rest of the space to new and relevant XBLA (and XNA) titles like Castle Crashers, Space Invaders Extreme, Geometry Wars, etc. This would boost sales of new wares and foster increased multiplayer competition with games people actually want to play.

Unfortunately, I’m not in charge and Microsoft is wasting resources on something that will prove itself an underutilized failure. It wasnt that long ago that Xbox 360 gamers were complaining vociferously about the abundance of crappy vintage games clogging up XBLA. MS seemed to listen and reigned in the number of releases. Now MS is back with a vengeance, eyes on your wallet, hoping you will succumb to memories and ancient passions, futilely chasing Sony’s Home scheme while ripping off Nintendo’s Mii’s, all so you’ll pony up $5 to play Adventure?

Good luck with that.