James Cameron, he of limitless ambition and hubris, spoke at the Microsoft Advance 08 advertising conference about the possibilities of 3D entertainment. It’s well-known by this point that Cameron is making his movie Avatar in 3D, and he has been crowing about it since the project began. His enthusiasm for 3D movies honestly baffles me. I thought 3D movies were a thing of the past. I watched the 3D Jaws movie, and I thought, “Meh.” Certainly the new generation of 3D will be more technically sound, but I don’t watch a movie and wish the images would be everywhere around me. I also don’t read a book and wish I could just have someone read the book to me. But I do understand Cameron’s point about expanding 3D to video games.
Cameron’s excitement for the medium, if you can call it that, is palpable:
“When you are viewing in stereo, which is what we do,” Cameron said, “more neurons are firing. More blood is pumping through the brain.”
He then pontificates about the bringing 3D to interactive media:
3D isn’t just for theaters. The real revolution, Cameron said, comes as games and television also start appearing in three dimensions.
“Stereo production is the next big thing,” he said. “We are born seeing in three dimensions. Most animals have two eyes and not one. There is a reason I think.”
He noted that games, in particular, stand to benefit. First-person shooters become true first-person experiences, he said.
“You are in the game,” he said. “This is the ultimate immersive media.”
He noted that Ubisoft, which is making the game version of Avatar, already has a stereoscopic game up and running using a standard Xbox 360 and 3D glasses.
Cameron, I was with you until you said “3D glasses.” Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go play tennis on my Virtual Boy for the next 3 hours and then vomit for the 3 hours after that.
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July 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
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