jimomura@lsuc.on.ca (Jim Omura) (01/21/91)
As far as we've seen so far, no one has been able to maintain
a sustained interest in 3D technology in fields of entertainment.
Every time I see a new attempt at this technology, I expect
it to be a "flash-in-the-pan" novelty. Yet it would not surprise
me to see a more permanent sustained interest in the near future.
In the Toronto area, at Ontario Place, I understand there is
going to be some new 3D Imax film being shown in conjunction
with radio controlled stereo glasses similar to the ones that
Sega sells. But that is not in itself significantly more than
what has been attempted before, except for the provision of
high cost, high technology glasses for each individual in the
theatre, without substantial modification to the theatre itself.
Keep in mind that it would have been possible to use the actual
Sega style glasses without radio control simply by wiring a plug
for each seat. But that approach lacks portability, and it
would be expectable that the company or companies involved in
this new venture are looking at the possibility of taking their
show "on the road."
It should be noted that in theatre showings, I would not
expect the image to be much better than a use of polarized stereo
glasses which are far cheaper to produce, though, either is
significantly better than the magenta/cyan glasses which are the
least expensive technology for home use.
A couple of years ago I had the chance to use the Stereotek
glasses on an Atari ST, and not surprisingly, they were first rate.
With no significant ghosting on the screen I viewed molecular
models which floated in the air in perfect clarity. Furthermore,
we have CAD-3D version 2 which supports these glasses, though
I haven't had a chance to try this combination. But for the
Atari ST, nothing else seems to have followed, and indeed, I
don't know if the Stereotek glasses are still being sold. In
the long run, this shouldn't matter since the technology should
not be hard to reproduce now, or at some future date, but anyone
with reasonable resources.
Recently I purchased a Sega Master System 3D adaptor and
a game (Zaxxon 3D) which was on sale, and probably an end-of-line
clearance. The adaptor used the old Sega "credit card" port
leaving the large cartridge port free for software. But the
glasses themselves are not tied to that adaptor. The latest
version of the Sega Master System (SMS II) no longer has this
card port, so it would be expected that production of this
particular 3D adaptor has probably been discontinued. On the
otherhand, the "base adaptor" for the Genesis does have the
card port, so old adaptors can be used on the Genesis, and Sega
could easily create a new adaptor for the Genesis and even
for the Master System II, if they wanted to do so.
With my previous experience with this technology, the
question I had was why Sega had been so relatively unsuccessful
in selling their version. Was it just price? Well, having
played Zaxxon 3D, I think this was the case. The game itself
was generally fine. The 3D imaging was not as good as on the
Atari ST, but not so bad as to be unpleasant to use. First,
the Sony TV I used seemed to leave just a bit of ghosting that
I don't recall seeing on the Atari ST monitor, and second, the
lower 256 * 192 resolution compared to the Atari (which I assume
was probably running at 640 * 200). Looking at the Sega catalogue
though, there were only a couple of other programs written
for the 3D system. The other one that shows promise is Space
Harrier 3D. I don't expect the Missle Command 3D system will
benefit from the 3D rendition.
But the problem is clear. It is comprised of the usual
"Catch-22" which is commonly a part of many marketting failures.
1. You can't see the benefit of the system until you buy it
(because most stores won't set it up for you to test) so you
don't develop a desire strong enough to overcome the price
of involvment, and 2. Since you don't buy it, support doesn't
take off sufficiently to create a stronger desire to have it.
I think this could have been overcome. The solution is
actually fairly simple, and I'm surprised that Sega, and
Atari ST programmers both seemed to miss it. It has a precedent
too. That is, "stereo music." Now, the trick is that stereo
in part took off because you didn't have to have a stereo player
or radio to listen to stereo music. If Sega wanted to create
a market for their 3D system, they merely had to add a few 3D
options to the games they brought out in 2D. This didn't have
to be a part of the main game play. Adventures in particular
were the best target. In them, the graphics are already primarily
ornamentation (in reality, unnecessary to the game itself), and
mainly not animated. It would not have been hard to add some
3D elements which could be selectable by the player. It could
cost a bit in ROM storage, but that could be minimized. Certainly
some "magazine writers" would have griped about only having
partial support of 3D in some products, but in the long run,
it would have built up confidence in the 3D technology and increased
the user base of 3D owners, and thus making it worthwhile to
create more fully 3D products.
Anyway, I think that if anyone is interested in taking
another shot at 3D support, there's probably a way to do it
profitably.
--
Jim Omura, 2A King George's Drive, Toronto, (416) 652-3880
lsuc!jimomura
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