Great news . . . Sony’s gone and slipped in an anaglyphic game for the PS2, beating out the competitors for a stereoscopic console game with an innovative twist on old technologies and new . . . Sony’s new Sly Cooper sneaks in 3D – PS2:

Turning heads and crossing eyes at this year’s E3, Sly 3 is poised to make a big splash for the PS2 – offering unique 3D gaming via classic blue and red 3D glasses. This latest episode should continue the success of the previous games in the series, with improvements on everything the previous games offered, and adding some new unique features. The lovable thief is looking better and better with each new Sly game, and Sly 3 passes for a Saturday morning cartoon. The gameplay remains familiar to Sly veterans, slinking around crates and crevices and trouncing baddies. There are still floating platforms to navigate, but the addition of 3D levels have E3 attendants buzzing. Not only is Sly 3 a roam anywhere 3D action game, it now also pops right out of the screen. Low tech red and blue 3D glasses work remarkably well in discerning depth during the games 3D levels. The foreground and backgrounds are crisply separated with very little blurring associated with using 3D glasses. The red and blue lens do wash out the game’s color, but some will agree it’s a small price to pay for true 3D gaming. Unfortunately, some gamers will suffer slight disorientation after prolonged gameplay, not unlike the discomfort experienced when playing Nintendo’s old Virtual Boy system.

The photo above is from the nice folks at Gaming Horizon . . . go here for their coverage and to see the image in full size and full color (click on the thumbnail).

As to the difficulties, one way to avoid minimize the headache potential of an anaglyphic display is to use anachrome style glasses which are color coded to let more color through, creating a better 3D experience. Also, anaglyphs can be more pleasingly enjoyed by cutting down a bit on the eye separation in the left and right images. This reduces depth a bit but is more appropriate for an anaglyphic display.

Here is a screen shot from the game in stereoscopic anaglyph. The red lens goes over the left eye and the blue/cyan goes over the right eye.

Game designers in the mainstream 3D gaming market can easily add stereoscopic support to their games on the software side. Some are touting shutter glasses type adaptations but anaglyphic is actually more marketable at this time as shutter glasses don’t work with most of the newer displays and cause severe eye strain from flicker with the old CRTs. However, anaglyphic processes will work with all televisions . . . albeit, I prefer anachrome type glasses and delivery as there is more light pass through and the colors are preserved better (the image separation issue is important for anaglyph as well . . . it is not the same animal as polarized or shutter systems).

I like shutter glasses type systems and love poloarized for it’s ease and clarity but these aren’t quite practical in terms of market penetration, ease of conversion or use, and the like.

Ideally, the next generation consoles should include full feature stereoscopic support for all of the major true 3D delivery methods on the chip side. That way the software game folks could concentrate on the gaming experience rather than on how to deliver the 3D. I would suggest having modes to choose shutter, anaglyph, and other systems would be nice as well as the ability to adjust the paralax or eye separation for individual viewer eye comfort.

With a console-side implementation of stereo support (current computer graphics cards like those from the good folks at Nividia already have such multi-level stereoscopic support despite fewer systems being able to use them now due to so many monitor limitations, but that will change as more autostereoscopic displays go on the market and price points begin to drop while demand goes up, fueled by the new cinema boom in 3D that is beginning) . . . anyway . . . console-side support in the chip level would mean that virtually ANY “3D” type game from Doom to Forgotten Realms to Dynasty Warriors to Crimson Skies or Halo or pretty much just about ANYTHING out there and that will come out in the future could easily be displayed in 2D or true 3D by player choice and in the format appropriate to the home equipment of the players. More market penetration as then anyone and everyone could play with anaglyph or upgrade to superior systems when the price point becomes more manageable. That is a very very good thing so be sure to send in your umpteen million requests for features to all of the console manufacturers as they are now tweaking the next generation offerrings.

In any case, this is very very exciting . . . I have been ranting and begging for something like this for some time. Nice to see it happening.

Be sure to tell the folks at Sucker Punch Productions they’ve done well and make sure you ask other game producers to get on the stick and give us more, more, more.

BTW, see my 3D news posts here and view my various 3D photo galleries here and here.

Most koolness splendirosity.