Posted Tue Jun 7, 2011 at 12:50 PM PDT by Michael S. Palmer
Heads up, PS3 fans. Sony hit the stages at E3 last night to apologize profusely for the Playstation Network outage and to talk up 3D gaming. Integral to this is the Playstation Move, which will enhance just about all of their new games, including titles like 'Bioshock: Infinite' and 'NBA 2K12'.
Second, Sony has heard your complaints about the high costs associated with upgrading to 3D, both in terms of displays and glasses. To address these customer concerns, this fall Sony will debut more affordable active-shutter 3D glasses as well as a new game/display/glasses bundle.
The glasses themselves should work with all Sony 3DTV displays, and will retail for around $70. They include a rechargeable Li-on battery that is designed to quick-charge. Meaning, charge these batteries for 3 minutes, and you'll get 3 hours of use. Or, charge them for 45 minutes and you'll get 30 hours. Sounds impressive, but we'll have to see how long these optimum charging/usage times last over the life of the batteries.
The 3D gaming bundle will retail for a penny shy of $500. It includes two pairs of the aforementioned glasses, a 6-foot high speed HDMI cable, a copy of 'Resistance 3' (playable in 3D, of course), and a brand new 24'-inch 3D display.
Now, while most people aren't drooling over getting a 24-incher in their living rooms, Sony said this edge-LED 3D display was designed for gamers specifically, for bedrooms and dorm rooms. It has some impressive stats, some nifty tricks, and should be available in Japan, North America, Europe/PAL territories, as well as Asian countries/regions (pricing may vary, however).
Spec-wise, the new 3D display is a full HD 1080p TV (and only 35mm thick), with a 176 degree viewing angle, a 5,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 4ms response time. It also has two, full range, 28mm stereo speakers and a 50mm built-in subwoofer. It supports "frame packing", "top and bottom", and "side by side" options for 3D viewing.
File under "nifty features", this new 3D display is also designed for to support multiplayer games in a unique way that promises to eliminate horizontal or vertical split-screen gaming. Specifically, thanks to 3D's ability to divide content into two separate images, game players will be able to face off against friends (up to two players) with both players seeing two, separate full screen images.
What do you think? Have you been looking for a gaming-only display? Do you care about full screen multiplayer gaming? And most importantly, is $500 a good price for a 24-inch display, a game, two glasses and an HDMI cable?
Hit up the forums and let us know.
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