It was all good just a year ago. And it seemed everyone was moving towards 3d technology. Movies, Games and TVs were all aimed at consumers to buy in. A year later no one wants the technology like companies thought. Sony believes consumers are not ready for 3d technology.
“Consumers decide how relevant it is. It’s fair to say consumers have decided it’s not hugely important at this time. It’s a capability we’ve got. It may have a bigger life a little further down the line. It’s great we can do it. It doesn’t seem to be the most powerful USP at the moment, so you’ve seen us shift our effort onto fresh new exciting IP. I’m certainly really pleased to see the strength of that as we look into next year. We’ve seen a resurgence really with the strength of the output from the studio network.”
When asked why consumers hadn’t adopted the technology, Gara said it could be the glasses:
“Whether you look at movies or games, wearing the glasses and consuming 3D in that way in the home isn’t hugely popular. That’s just a fact. I haven’t read detailed research on it, but the glasses will certainly be a big part of the hassle factor. I also think there’s a bit of a difference between the highly focused viewing and the more casual viewing. In the home people tune in and tune out a bit, and doing that with glasses on and glancing at your tablet or pausing for a bit, compared to the cinema experience which is a solely focused experience, you know there is a difference emerging there.”
An interesting theory. Here’s my take on it: It’s not that the glasses are annoying, it’s that 3D glasses block part of the light coming in from your game and movie. That makes your media appear dark and blurry. Also: 3D doesn’t tend to work as well on objects that are moving quickly towards you or away from you, and in games, that’s pretty important. It also gives a lot of people headaches. In short: It just doesn’t work all that well.
[g4tv]
