As Nintendo Co. readies to launch its 3DS hand-held game player Saturday in Japan, software developers are still wrestling with how to best utilize the device’s three-dimensional graphics.
“The next step may be to forget about the way we’ve been designing games and think of a completely new approach only possible with 3-D games,” said Yosuke Hayashi, who produced the coming 3DS fighting game “Dead or Alive Dimensions” for Tecmo Koei Games Co. “If making games is like cooking, we haven’t figured out if 3-D is a spice, or maybe a main ingredient.”
The uncertainty about how best to apply 3-D isn’t unique. Major technological shifts come with a certain amount of apprehension from content creators as they test the boundaries of what works and what doesn’t. For example, early TV shows were essentially radio programs shot in front of a video camera.
The videogame industry’s move to 3-D comes as sales of traditional console games are declining and losing ground to easy-to-play casual games played online through social networks or on ever-smarter smartphones.
Videogames started using virtual 3-D graphics in the early 1990s, allowing games to move not only side-to-side but also front-to-back. Game characters and virtual environments became more realistic with improvements in processing capability, but the 3-D graphics weren’t fully showcased on the conventional 2-D displays.
With 3-D displays, the user can now see sparks flying out from the screen during a sword fight or watch a plane navigate through clouds with a real sense of depth. Strictly in terms of graphics, transforming a 2-D game into 3-D has been relatively easy for developers, since the graphics have been made with 3-D design software for some time.
Sony said there are currently 14 3-D titles on the PS3 including car racing game “Gran Turismo 5,” which has shipped more than six million units since late November 2010. For Sony’s 3-D titles, a user can choose whether to play the game in 2-D or 3-D.
Sony wouldn’t disclose what percentage of its PS3 owners are using the 3-D feature. In general, the adoption of 3-D televisions, a prerequisite to play 3-D PlayStation games, has been slower than the television industry had expected. In a chicken-or-egg problem, many manufacturers cite the lack of content for the slow uptake of 3-D TVs.
Nintendo said Saturday’s 3DS debut in Japan will feature eight 3-D games on sale, including one developed in-house. By the time the hand-held launches in the U.S. on March 27, Nintendo said, there will be a total of 18 games available. Nintendo’s 3DS games cost about $40, a slight premium to most 2-D titles.
One launch title will be Nintendo’s own “nintendogs + cats,” a sequel to its popular dog-rearing game. By incorporating 3-D into the game, a playful puppy or kitten, as the title suggests, can appear as though it is jumping out of the screen and onto its owner’s lap.
“This will make it easier to convey what is fun about the games. It really ramps up the intensity of the graphics,” said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Enterbrain, a Japanese publisher of videogame magazines.
Another area of focus for developers is how to create games in a safe way and prevent causing eyestrain or other signs of discomfort that some people experience after looking at 3-D content.
Scientists said applying 3-D in extreme ways—such as content that pops or fades from the screen in a pronounced fashion—can heighten safety risks.
Developers said they are already working within safety restrictions such as avoiding sudden changes in 3-D viewing angles.
The game system makers are also doing their best to make sure developers don’t overdo it on the 3-D. A Sony spokesman said the PlayStation 3 features a software mechanism that adjusts the 3-D effects to appropriate levels based on the television’s screen size. For its part, the 3DS has a sliding bar that allows a user to control 3-D levels.
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