CES 2010: 3D PlayStation 3 Playable

The big theme at CES this year is 3D. At Sony’s press conference this evening, the electronics giant announced substantial plans to invest in 3D technology, from creating 3D-ready televisions to developing 3D channels with partners like IMAX. PlayStation is a major component of Sony’s 3D plans, too, further expanding on the promise of 3D gaming that Sony offered at CES in 2009.

Just as the PlayStation 3 was Sony’s best weapon in the format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, Sony sees the PS3 as the best angle for establishing 3D as a standard. According to Sony at tonight’s conference, every single PS3 can be upgraded via a firmware update to support 3D content, either games, video downloads, or 3D Blu-ray.

Following the conference, I had an opportunity to play three 3D PS3 games: Avatar, Super Stardust HD, and a demo of Gran Turismo. (I call Gran Turismo just a demo because the Sony representative refused to confirm whether or not it would ever be a real game, whereas they were much firmer on the future of 3D Super Stardust.) Sony had three demo stations set up, each with a brand-new 3D-enabled Bravia television and a pair of active shutter glasses. According to the rep showing off the games, 1080p HD content does not work well with traditional 3D glasses such as Real3D lenses used at many movie theaters. Only active shutter glasses can properly “decode” the dual image and translate it into believable 3D.

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