3DTV in every home in 3 years – Ubisoft

News by Wesley Yin-Poole

A 3D-enabled telly will be in every living room in just three years time, French game publisher Ubisoft has predicted.

“Ubisoft are a big fan of 3D,” UK marketing boss Murray Pannel told Eurogamer.

“We were the first publisher to create a proper 3D game with Avatar last year. Ahead of its time in many ways because the technology was in its infancy and you couldn’t buy 3D TVs at all.

“The truth is I think it is a technology that’s coming. We can’t ignore it. It’ll start slowly this year. But like HDTV I wouldn’t rule out the fact that this will be installed in everyone’s living room in three year’s time, and for us to be in a position to have content that could really look absolutely amazing in 3D.”

Japanese consumer electronics company Sony will be praying that Pannel’s prediction comes true.

The PlayStation 3 manufacturer went big on 3D gaming at E3 2010 last month, where it showcased 2011 shooter Killzone 3 to specs-wearing attendees of its press conference.

Some are sceptical of the tech, and are put off by having to wear special glasses while playing big screen 3D games.

Ubisoft, however, is confident 3D will be a mainstream success.

“That’s not to say every game needs to be in 3D,” Pannel explained. “We’re showing Shaun White Skateboarding in 3D. We showed Avatar. We’ve got other games with 3D functionality built in as well. It’s coming. It’s not going to happen this year.

“For the naysayers, if you like, I would say, ‘Just watch this space’, because when you have global corporations like Sony pushing 3D as hard as they possibly can, Sky, equally, showcasing 3D content on TV, I believe it will become a much more important part of consumer electronics than a lot of people believe.”