With Microsoft and then Nintendo grabbing headlines at the big E3 Expo trade show now taking place in Los Angeles, Sony took its turn in a press event on Tuesday. But while Microsoft’s new game controller doesn’t actually have a controller, and Nintendo’s 3DS handheld doesn’t need 3-D glasses, Sony showed 3-D for its PlayStation 3 that requires glasses and, without fanfare, released its Move motion controller.
The headline event at the two-hour event in LA’s Shrine Auditorium was the presentation of new 3-D-enhanced titles for Sony’s video-game console, including Killzone 3, Crysis 2, MLB10: The Show, The Fight: Lights Out, Mortal Kombat Fatality, Gran Turismo 5, and The Sly Collection.
‘Authentic 3-D’
Sony has set high goals for its foray into 3-D gaming. “What Avatar did for 3-D movies,” entertainment group head Kazuo Hirai told news media, “Killzone will do for 3-D games.”
Some attendees said the 3-D effect was designed not to send objects hurtling toward the user, as in old 3-D movies, but to enhance the image depth, as in Avatar. Others have wondered about the fatigue of wearing 3-D glasses for the duration of marathon gaming sessions, the lack of focus on gaming because of the imagery, and the need to have a 3-D TV.
The Move controller puts Sony into motion-sensitive game controls, a territory that Nintendo has held largely by itself with its Wii console until recently. Earlier in the week, Microsoft took the wraps off its upcoming Kinect un-controller, where players use body movements and voice commands to control game play.
On Tuesday, Nintendo unveiled the long-rumored 3-D version of its popular DS handheld device, which can play games and show movies in 3D without glasses. The technology was not discussed, but some industry observers have suggested it uses a parallax barrier system created by Hitachi…