14 DAY TRIAL // With all the hype surrounding the 3D display format, film makers have started their 3D push and hardware makers, especially monitor manufacturers, actually make a point of having 120Hz displays on sale. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is still in its beginning stages and In-Stat predicts that about 20% of new TVs, in the US at least, will be S3D-capable by 2013. This figure may actually sound impressive to some, but leading game maker Ubisoft thinks the transition will be made much faster.
"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.
HDTVs started out about ten years ago and, even now, the transition to them hasn't completed. This goes not just for the US, but especially for Europe, where it will take more than another ten years for HDTVs to become common. Despite this, however, Ubisoft believes that any gamer will have at least one S3D display by the time the next three years have passed.
"The truth is I think it is a technology that's coming,” Pannel went on to saying. “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."
"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."