Microsoft Plays Wait-And-See Game With 3D Console
Sony has bought in, and even Nintendo has bought in. There's 3D titles
coming for the PS3, and there's a 3DS handheld coming soon; Nintendo
even confessed to thinking about the possibilities of a future 3D home
game console. So that's two of the main three game makers who are
seemingly on board with 3D, surely Microsoft will follow suit soon,
right?
Not so fast. Just after introducing a motion sensing system that could very well become the best of the three available across Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft (the Kinect, which senses your whole body rather than just a motion controller), now the company is saying that the experience you get with that may be the only experience you get for awhile. Responding to questions about their future in the 3D space, Microsoft's UK head Neil Thompson has said the following: "If you look at the costs of entry into the living room and when that's going to become mass-market, we think the offering with Kinect and the natural user-interface we're bringing, that's a more compelling proposition for consumers over the coming years than maybe looking at 3D at this point."
In a way, he's right. The cost of adopting 3D is quite high. You'll need a new television (despite the fact that you just purchased a 1080p HDTV a year ago) and new glasses (active shutter glasses can run around $150 each, and passive TVs are nowhere to be found on the market yet). Who's anxious to spend well over $2500 to get a new TV setup when you just spent that much to get HD-ready a year or two ago? Microsoft thinks: "Not many."
3D is still a really early technology for the home, and it remains to be seen if the tech will have the same adoption rate as HD. Then again, the economy as a whole was in a much better place when HD was attempting to gain ground, and the great benefit of HD over 3D is that no special glasses were required to enjoy the massive jump in resolution. Maybe Microsoft's the smart one here by sitting on the sideline while the world sorts this whole 3D thing out.
Not so fast. Just after introducing a motion sensing system that could very well become the best of the three available across Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft (the Kinect, which senses your whole body rather than just a motion controller), now the company is saying that the experience you get with that may be the only experience you get for awhile. Responding to questions about their future in the 3D space, Microsoft's UK head Neil Thompson has said the following: "If you look at the costs of entry into the living room and when that's going to become mass-market, we think the offering with Kinect and the natural user-interface we're bringing, that's a more compelling proposition for consumers over the coming years than maybe looking at 3D at this point."
In a way, he's right. The cost of adopting 3D is quite high. You'll need a new television (despite the fact that you just purchased a 1080p HDTV a year ago) and new glasses (active shutter glasses can run around $150 each, and passive TVs are nowhere to be found on the market yet). Who's anxious to spend well over $2500 to get a new TV setup when you just spent that much to get HD-ready a year or two ago? Microsoft thinks: "Not many."
3D is still a really early technology for the home, and it remains to be seen if the tech will have the same adoption rate as HD. Then again, the economy as a whole was in a much better place when HD was attempting to gain ground, and the great benefit of HD over 3D is that no special glasses were required to enjoy the massive jump in resolution. Maybe Microsoft's the smart one here by sitting on the sideline while the world sorts this whole 3D thing out.
