Looking for 3D, Strum and Scratch

So now I’ll tell you what doesn’t suck - 3D. And there’s plenty of games being demonstrated using 3D-ready TVs and polarized glasses.

But still I can’t say 3D has really grabbed the attention it should. But maybe the Avatar 3D game based off of James Cameron’s upcoming live-action 3D movie can change all that. However, while the Ubisoft booth is wide, spacious and inviting, getting in to see the demonstration is much more hostile. We’re itching to get on the other side of that theater room sunk into the bowels of the booth - where a 3D-ready HDTV with an external Sensio 3D decoder is working its third-dimension way with the game.

So what is new here? How the 3D is being created, is what. So I looked till I found Michael Malynowsky of Sensio, the Canadian folks providing the 3D technology for the title. The skinny on what makes this application of 3D different than the others that have come before is “that the 3D is being created and streamed ‘on the fly’ as if it were a live event,” he says.

Malynowsky goes on to point out that the 3D content is streamed in real time - with high resolution from the game as it is being played. "Our approach to doing 3D comes from a vast experience with sporting events so we know there can’t be any kind of uncompromising compression going on that could create motion blur or jagged motion. We treat the gaming screens being generated as if they were live action being filmed. This is the real stuff,” he says.

Moving back into the thick of the crowds, I’m reflecting on how there’s two ways to keep a successful franchise fresh. Going over to Activision’s huge exhibition shows me that they’ve got both locked: the first being to build upon the existing concept, so in this case we get Guitar Hero 5 with such niceties as being able to play with any in-game instrument combination (multiple vocalists, drummers, guitarists, bassists) among other options. But there’s also a new guitar to “strum” as you rock out with the hits from such luminaries as Tom Petty and Bob Dylan - the slider bar of the redesigned and re-skinned guitar controller allowing for a more personal play, with enhanced in-game effects. Plus there’s interchangeable faceplates (hey, looks are important too!).

The other way to deal with a franchise is to expand upon it by moving in a new direction while not forgetting where it got its roots. DJ Hero has the creds to do that: not just because hip hop, R&B, Pop and electronica are immensely popular, but also because becoming a DJ and leading the crowd is a great part of the experience. So instead of a guitar you're scratching and blending, sampling and cross fading the tunes - yeah, this turntable-shaped controller will probably do more to introduce Gen Y/ Z to turntables than any ad campaign. And of course there’s all the graphics and club settings you could ask for (most of which would never let me in).

All this is helped along by the addition of two powerhouses in the music scene, Jay-Z and Eminem. Both will be contributing tunes as well as collaborating on a specially branded edition with an even more advanced version of the game’s turntable controller (as in a traveling case that turns into a performance ready DJ stand and two exclusive music CD comps with greatest hits and new stuff from each artist). Talk about vibe!