So, where does this leave the Revolution? Let me present to you some of the possibilities conjured up by the overactive mind of a mere soldier (but not a casualty) in the Console Wars. Please note that no concepts discussed in this series have been confirmed. Most haven't even been speculated.
Virtual Boy Home Edition: ThreeDeeism
You may be able to freely roam a large city, scale a grand structure, or cover entire solar systems, but ultimately no matter the platform most modern videogames are just a two dimensional representation of something that exists in three dimensions. A developer can add fancy fog, lighting, and texture effects, but in the end it's just a prettier 2D canvas in motion. Aside from high-ended narrowly marketed virtual reality headsets and cheap red/green 3D glasses, the only gaming platform to ever have offered anything three-dimensional was Nintendo's own Virtual Boy.
The Virtual Boy's downfall was that it was stuck in time: too advanced for convenience of play, yet too simplified in it's monochrome vector presentation. Luckily a lot has happened in the past ten years. While Aether and Corneria may still be glued to a screen, NASCAR 3D and The Polar Express are just two movie experiences deepened with a third dimension.
"IMAX 3D technology is the most advanced 3D film technology in the world and is based on human vision," says IMAX's website. "When you look at an object, each of your eyes sees a slightly different view. Through a process called ‘stereopsis' your brain brings the two views into a single three dimensional image." IMAX 3D utilizes two different cameras for filming, and projects two slightly different images onto the screen. Special filtering glasses bridge the gap between the projection and the 3D image.
The interesting part of the IMAX 3D process has to do with how the film is projected. There are two different filtering technologies used to create 3D images. The first way involves a simultaneous showing of both images, and having each lens on the glasses filter out the information such that the left eye will pick up only one image, and the right eye the other image. The second method is more interesting. "Instead of superimposing images, two sets of shutters within the 3D projector switch back and forth at 96 times per second, to project alternate left and right eye images on the screen. During the presentation, [the] glasses sense a signal from the projector. In response to this signal, the left and right eye shutters in the glasses alternately open and close in conjunction with the projector shutters to make sure each eye sees the appropriate image, ultimately creating the 3D effect."
IMAX 3D, ultimately, shows two different images at an incredible frame rate. The specially designed glasses open and close it's lenses at the same frame rate, which is fast enough so that your brain doesn't notice the different images, but blends them together as one three-dimensional event taking place before you. So, how does this all relate to videogames that are displayed on a television screen in our living rooms?
Some speculate that DS technology will be appropriately modified and used in the upcoming Revolution console. How can existing DS technology pull this off? The DS has shown that, on a small scale, dual processors can manage data to and from two different screens and seamlessly have them interact. On a grander scale, more powerful processors could build two slightly different sets of data and work together to transmit them in an alternating fashion. A ‘left eye' processor and a ‘right eye' processor could work together and intermittently display their images to the screen, allowing for a similar effect. As for the glasses? While it may not be the biggest gaming fashion statement (what ever happened to Sony's rumble jacket anyway?), the console could send wireless signals to a pair of 3D glasses, telling them when to open and close a shutter. Both the Wavebird and the DS have proven that gaming platforms can use wireless technology in unique ways; this could just be an extension to that.
Just imagine for a moment that you are playing Metroid, Halo, James Bond, or any other first person game. Suddenly, you peek around a corner and see an enemy. You carefully approach, but not as stealthily as you wanted. He turns around, and opens fire. Now, imagine what that would be like in a true 3D presentation. There would be rounds of bullets and energy coming full at you. You physically flinch trying to duck out of the way as you perceive things flying at you, as your character on screen finds cover, and takes out the attacker. Suddenly it hits you... if a peon with no backup made you react like that, then how will you survive a whole pack of them? Just what will the boss battle be like?
No amount of additional polygons and texture effects could allow a game to engross a player like entirely new dimension can. We have seen this as we went from side scrolling 2D to free roaming three-space. And just how else could someone interact with a videogame like never before? Part two will hopefully explore other avenues that could truly revolutionize gaming.
