With both Sony and Nintendo embracing the 3D video trend with attempts to capitalize on it with their gaming platforms, one would think that Microsoft wouldn’t be far behind. However, recent comments from a Microsoft gaming executive seem to indicate otherwise.
Phil Spencer, corporate vice president for Microsoft Game Studios, recently spoke his views on the subject and the reasons why he believes that 3D gaming is “more like a science experiment” than a mainstream product to market to the masses.
"As an entertainment company, we're trying to do things that millions of people can go enjoy today," Spencer told CNN this week. "And for better or for worse, people just don't really have TVs in their house right now that are going to do 3D in a way that's going to work."
And that may not change for a few years. A recent report by NPD showed that 3D TV hasn’t grown as quickly as manufacturers had expected, and won’t qualify as a mainstream product until 2014.
Spencer, like a lot of other people, is also not a fan of the pricey glasses many 3D displays require. "A bunch of people sitting around the living room wearing $150 glasses -- I'm just not sure that's kind of mainstream today," he said. "Trying to get a bunch of people playing together in a room where not everybody sees the same thing ... is kind of a weird disconnect to me." However, Spencer is a fan of the Nintendo 3DS glasses-free concept, although he admitted that he has yet to see one in person.
Of course Microsoft isn’t ignoring 3D altogether, but is leaving the decision whether to implement a 3D mode in games up to the developers. Selection of titles for Xbox 360 owners who want 3D is likely to be thin for a while though. Some of the few titles available now are Avatar: The Game and Batman: Arkham Asylum, with Call of Duty: Black Ops and Crysis 2 on the way soon.
I think Microsoft is taking the right approach to 3D gaming by not moving too quickly. The format is still too young to be proven and the company stands to make a lot more money by focusing on growing their audience with the Kinect.
