14 DAY TRIAL // Epic Games demonstrated this week at E3 that the Unreal Engine 3.0 title Gears of War 2 could run in full 3D, using the Trioviz technology. Reports say that the demo was a success with blood coming out of the screen as enemies were being shot and many other neat effects. Trioviz is the same technology that was behind the Game of the Year 3D edition of Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Mark Rein told CVG during the presentation that, “This technology's great because it works on normal HD TVs, as well as the very high end 3DTVs. (..) We're not planning to re-release [Gears of War 2] in 3D - unless Microsoft want us to - but I'm sure it's technology our partners may be keen to put in of their games.” The Xbox 360 is the console that ran the demo, but the Batman shows that it can run on the PlayStation 3 as well.
The official website of Trioviz states that the technology allows stereoscopic 3D content on traditional devices, eliminating the need for the consumer to spend more money on the currently very expensive 3DTVs. It works on regular and 3D LCDs and Plasma TVs, as well as more recent Digital Light Processing displays. Furthermore, it works on monitors and laptops for the viewing pleasure of PC owners.
Trioviz is already offering a software developer's kit for the inclusion of its kind of stereoscopic 3D in current and future video games as a post-production process. The title doesn't even have to be built with 3D in mind for it to work due to fact that most pieces of entertainment software these days are designed and computed in three dimensions anyway. The SDK is available now for the Xbox 360, the the PlayStation 3 and the PC. The company offers three types of 3D glasses to be used with the technology, catering to everyone's tastes in terms of the compromise between 3D and colors. No games using this technology have been announced as of yet, but, as we move further into 3D, there will surely be many developers to jump in and include Trioviz in their creations.