3D technology has been around for a long time, but has grown significantly over the years - of late, "3D ready TVs" and "3D movies" have become the latest buzz words, and public opinion seems to slant toward gimmicky and borderline useless. We're here to analyze the uses and pitfalls of nVidia's gaming version of 3D technology, which they've named 3D Vision (we've spoken about it before).
This article is meant to be one of the most in-depth analyses of 3D technology currently available on the web, so that means it's going to be comprehensive and, namely, long. Don't worry, though: we'll be able to convey the positives and the negatives to help your decision making. For your convenience, we've paginated the article into several sections. We've also summarized our opinions, so if you're short on time, start with that and go from there. There is also a TL;DR summary of each major paragraph at the end of the section, so check those out! Let's get to the question on everyone's mind:
Is 3D Gaming A 'Gimmick?'
The short answer: No, not entirely. It's an honest attempt at furthering the entertainment experience, and seems to fall within about the same zone as real surround-sound and multi-monitor setups. When we consider potential upgrade paths for our gaming rigs, it is often video cards, RAM, heatsinks, or other non-sensory enhancements -- rarely is it that we look to HiFi soundcards, speakers, or enhanced 3D viewing. This is largely because as gamers, we tend to be more interested in "maxing out" the next-gen games rather than improving sound or depth perception; sure, "ultra" versus "high" may yield more visually-pleasing results (often higher anti-aliasing settings, higher-res textures, or complex shaders), but whether or not that gain is greater than the gain produced by auditory or non-setting-specific visuals (i.e., 3D, LED monitors) perplexes me. It often boils down to a game of stats, rather than a game of specific entertainment tweaks (alas, this is for another article).
The most linear line can be drawn to LED monitors -- the initial concerns were "it's brighter - so what?" and over the years, we've learned that LED-backlit monitors often output much crisper graphics with more defined transitions. This doesn't mean that 3D Vision is inherently useful or progressive, but does - in short - tend to lean toward enhanced entertainment in at least some genres.
Of course, being that it is their product, nVidia feels wholeheartedly that 3D is the future. We've played with it for a month or two now and have reached many conclusions -- the TL;DR version is simple: in its current state, 3D vision looks stunning in all compatible games (more on that in a bit), yet makes multiplayer competition nigh-unachievable, specifically in RTS games. Even for those of us that are not pro-level, it's simply impossible to accurately smash those hotkeys with black-tinted glasses on; further still, game-specific graphics tweaks are required for every game you play -- shadows won't render in 3D, after all. However, it is amazing for singleplayer racing games and RPGs (multiplayer or singleplayer, unless, perhaps, if you are playing a competitive MMO - more on that as well), and generally non-competitive games, including some FPS's.
In their defense, Michael McSorley -- nVidia's product marketing manager -- did tell us at PAX East (as seen in the previously linked article) that competitive gaming is not necessarily their target market (although nVidia's recent push into e-sports gives a different impression). As McSorley adeptly pointed out, seriously competitive gamers are the very same that decrease graphics to minimal settings for maximum performance - the overhead of 3D technology would contradict that whole mantra; what he did not address, though, was that those of us who self-identify as "better than noobs, but not quite pros" would have equal challenges with 3D tech (which is discussed in this paragraph).
Back to the inherent gimmicky impressions of 3D technology, there is really no way to tell you whether or not you will like it -- sadly, although I can take 3D screenshots and videos, I cannot show them to you unless you also have 3D Vision configured, which makes it difficult to show you 'what it looks like.' You would need to visit a physical retailer (gasp!) to see the stuff in action, however, I can do my best to explain in text what 3D Vision is. I've done so in intricate detail in the technology section. It's quite impressive and definitely worth a read, if for no other reason than to learn a bit about how it works. Oh, and as a final note: no, you won't get headaches. If you can play games in their current state for hours without headaches, it is unlikely you will experience those here (and if you do, I'll accuse you of falling victim to the placebo effect). This is not medical advice.
How It Works and Looks
The idea that 3D technology is cheesy is certainly not new, but keep this in mind: this isn't the red-blue lens tech that makes objects fly from the screen and at your face -- it's not even the polarized lens tech that we see in modern cinemas; nVidia uses 'active shutter lenses' (which flicker at 120hz -- 60hz per eye, in conjunction with a 120hz monitor) to sharpen and intensify visuals in games or compatible movies. In my experience with the product, I primarily noticed greater sharpness to the edges of characters, cars, or other 3D models. This sharpness tends to help with anti-aliasing issues on mid-range cards, and even at the lowest depth settings possible (1%, for example), 3D Vision still tends to make things a bit crisper.
Of course, introducing depth to the en-crispified image does add a level of roundness and immersion to games unachievable by non-3D technology. Some games are entirely incompatible at depth settings higher than 1%, which is a complete let-down, but many of the major games (listed on nVidia's website) are more-or-less functional with 3D Vision. GRID: Race Driver is a fantastic sample of 3D Vision's limitations -- let's first define what 'depth' is in nVidia's eyes:
Depth, as its name might suggest, allows objects within the game to be rendered at seemingly-differing distances from your focal point. Imagine a table is presented to you in real life, and four levels of depth are illustrated by varying distances of objects placed upon the table -- an apple is four inches from you, another some eight inches, and so on.
In GRID: Race Driver's cockpit view, the steering wheel of a Formula 1 racecar will appear closest to me (not my face, as the cheesy red-blue technology might do), while its steer-shaft renders one step further back, the dash buttons another level back, and finally the dashboard at the final level of depth. Of course, after these comes objects like cars or signs outside of the car, viewed through the windows: cars certainly don't fly out of the screen at you, but the acceleration is more pronounced by 3D technology, making it slightly more noticeable when a vehicle is gunning it and leaving you in the dust; conversely, rear-ending a car in the apex of a corner will give the best view of the other driver's vehicle -- you'll see his bumper at the closest levels, the side mirrors at a far depth, and the car's interior (through the rear window) at a middle level.
Whew. Hopefully that made sense, because I'm not about to try and explain that again (just kidding, ask me anything in the comments below!).
All of these visuals are received by a pair of wireless glasses that communicate with the monitor within given parameters (they operate best, from my experience, when you are positioned at about two feet from the screen, with your head centered). Nvidia earnestly tried to make the glasses look cool, and they sort of succeeded, but I can already hear the cries through the screen: people don't like glasses. Unfortunately, there's not currently a lot that can be done about that in the PC gaming space. The DS style of multi-layering screens wouldn't necessarily scale to larger devices affordably or efficiently, so for the time being, you'll get the best 3D rendering from glasses-based 3D technology.
The glasses (which are incredibly durable) have an extended battery life, several hours at a minimum (they would easily hold up to a day-long gaming extravaganza), and they are charged via a standard USB to Micro USB connector (as found for most wireless headsets, camcorders, or cameras). They have extra thick temples that eliminate peripheral vision and cut-down on the real world's intrusion of your 3D view (to use 3D technology without these would introduce light pollution that severely decreases the quality of the visuals). When closing one eye or the other, you'll notice that the 3D effects are diminished back into normal 2D -- this is because, as you may have learned in science classes, depth perception is impossible without both eyes coordinating their efforts. Closing one eye will also display the layers perceived by that eye (using our previous example: the steering wheel and rear-view mirror may be displayed for the left eye, while the dashboard may be shown for the right eye).
All of this in mind, the glasses are surprisingly incompatible with larger headsets (specifically those like the Razer Carcharias and Electra, even the Astro headsets). How, you may be asking, could a pair of glasses be 'incompatible' with a headset? Earphones. The very temples that enhance the 3D view make it impossible to wear a headset of any reasonable quality. Technically, if I really jam the glasses under the earphones, I can get it on -- but then I lose my sound cancellation and sound location perception. I can also slant the glasses so that the temples are above the earphones, but then we run into worse issues: 3D images are now skewed and painful to the eyes. Unless you have a behind-the-ears headset, don't plan on using 3D Vision simultaneously with anything other than speakers. Astute and handsome readers such as yourself may have just come to a sudden realization: "Wait, most exquisite reviewer, I can't talk to my friends without my headset! I need my headset to play multiplayer games with friends." You're right. And that is boiled down further in the next page.
Head-movement transmitting technology (like TrackIR), if configured to be minimally sensitive to your movements, is not necessarily friendly to the construction of the glasses -- moving your head left and right will produce blurred images and de-interlace the two transmitted images, effectively causing you to "see double." This can be resolved by increasing head movement sensitivity, although that can have adverse effects if you, for example, sneeze. Just don't aim at the monitor, man.
Nvidia's lenses are tinted black when in use, primarily due to the shutter technology's activation scheme, which darkens the lenses when 3D tech is in use. The good of this is passive -- it won't work without doing that, so it is sort of irrelevant for me to point basic functionality out as "good;" the negatives here are barely noticeable, but anyone who uses hotkeys heavily in RTS games or, in general, has a hard time finding control keys on the keyboard will be hindered drastically by this tint: you won't be able to see the keys. Even with my G11 keyboard backlight on max settings, I still can't see the keys when 3D mode is active. Now, if you haven't noticed, I type quite a bit. A lot, in fact. Several tens of thousands of words in the past few months alone -- I have a relatively solid understanding of where my keys are. That's why I was surprised to find that when gaming, especially in a game where hotkeys are all over the keyboard (lifting up a building in SC2 is default to 'L,' control groups are 1-0, building something could go from 'b' to 's,' attack move is 'a,' and so on), I had trouble locating some of the keys in a pinch - you know, 'cause my APM is about 10,000.
This deficiency was noted to the nVidia team when we first met them at PAX East, and acknowledged with some embarrassment -- it is our hope that this issue will eventually be remedied by some clever tweak.
Of course, a 3D Vision ready video card is also required. For this test, we primarily used an nVidia GTX 570 (though other cards were tested infrequently). More comments on the AMD vs. nVidia debate in our "honest opinion" section below.
TL;DR: The technology is impressive, to say the least, in its methods of perceiving images as different 'layers,' which creates the depth that is viewed by the gamer. The technology is sorely incompatible with some games, however, and restricts use of certain settings (like shadows, which produce graphics tearing and double-vision issues). The glasses are durable, have long battery life, and are constructed to eliminate external light pollution, thus producing a crisp experience; however, they make it impossible to see the keyboard or wear larger-sized headsets when gaming in 3D.
Will I like 3D Vision?
3D Vision as a whole has been a battle against everything I've known as a gamer since I started playing, but after working with it for almost two months now, I can safely assure you that it is entirely... a user preference. That makes it hard for me to make the decision for you, but I will detail in this section who will and who won't like 3D Vision, followed by our summary and my honest opinion of the technology.
Who won't like it?
Gamers who play competitively in the majority of their gaming time. If you play StarCraft 2, Counter-Strike: Source, or other major e-sports titles competitively, and you focus very little of your time on racing simulators, RPGs, turn-based strategy, indie games, or generally non-competitive multiplayer and single-player games, there is a high probability that you won't like 3D Vision in its current state. Now, of course there are competitive MMORPGs, racing sims, and turn-based games -- however, it has been my discovery that many of these games are mapped to more localized keysets, reducing visibility issues (as discussed above, the glasses make it hard to see the keyboard) to a minimum.
3D Vision adds overhead to your gaming, so it is entirely likely that you will have to disable or lower certain graphics settings to play free from lag. Shadows are required to be off in a vast number of games when running 3D mode due to improper rendering; lights, too, must often be disabled or turned off -- as with motion blur. If you use shadows to tell that an enemy is around a corner or above you (yes, we know about your 'I can see shadows through floors' trick!) as in many FPS games, this feature will no longer be available to you in flawless 3D Vision. Similarly, lighting effects (like those that take place in Splinter Cell or some single-player RPGs) must often be disabled, which means you - again - won't be able to see where certain light-emitting objects are centered as easily as with them on. Even in GRID, one of a number of games that I love in 3D mode, I have to disable 3D for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, since the day-night cycle generates rendering issues. When day goes to night in GRID, light-emitting objects cause me to see double, which, if you hadn't guessed, makes it very hard to figure out which side I can safely pass on.
Oh, and people who are draconic about wearing glasses. If that's seriously what's stopping you from playing 3D games -- and none of the other above reasons are -- you should take a look at the next part to see if you can be convinced otherwise.
Who will like it?
Those that revel in four hours of gaming in the dark, alone, with the volume on full blast from the speakers will love 3D. You will revel in it. I must be fair, of course, and note that it would be wise of you to check nVidia's site for compatibility issues with your favorite games. Shadows aren't entirely central to many gaming experiences, and even with them disabled or on low, you honestly won't notice the difference when you are so busy ogling the crispness and seeming-proximity variations of objects.
Games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Battlefield series (assuming you play without a headset, and not extremely competitively), presumably Skyrim - double-check that when it is officially out, the Civilization Series, and racing games all run -- in general -- beautifully with 3D Vision. We also tested Dungeon Siege III with 3D Vision and found it to be one of the best looking games out there, granted, the gameplay renders that point moot. Again, if you like - big - headsets - and - can - not - lie, you will have serious issues fitting those glasses on with the headset. Granted, it has been proven on numerous occasions that I have a big head.
If you're the type of person that likes to lean back, hit the lights, and get entirely immersed in the game - again, this is probably your type of thing. I feel like people who invest in sweet sound systems and immersion-enhancing gaming peripherals would already invest in 3D vision, whether or not I told them they would like it, though.
Rules to live by - Genre Compatibility by Trial
After trying a "3D ready game" from each genre on my rig, I have come to the following general conclusion; this chart does not take into account the effects on competitive gaming or other aforementioned pitfalls, and is entirely a general analysis of functionality:
Genre Compatibility
FPS: High; lag issues with high mouse sensitivity.
RPG: High; graphics might require decreases.
TBS: High; simple graphics and animations reduce issues.
RTS: Medium; issues with selecting 'close' units (flying units); large unit count causes issues.
Racer: Medium; many features must be disabled for flawless racing.
2D games: Seriously? Did you think this was possible?
Summary
There's certainly a lot to talk about here: so much innovation, so many disappointments, so many personalized tweaks -- and with about 3,000 words above this very line, it'll be tough to compress it. I'll do it for you guys, you lazy bastards (no, seriously, I don't blame you - that's a lot to read). I'd like to point out that it would be wise of you to read the sections relevant to your interests above, regardless, here goes nothin'!
Nvidia's 3D Vision tries to further the entertainment market in much the same way that LED monitors and LCDs did: they're providing an additional option, an improvement upon decades-old technology, to make visuals crisper and more immersive. Whether or not this is accomplished depends largely on the games you play, although the 3D tech does have other implementations -- you can convert your photos to be 3D viewable, take 3D screenshots (and even host them online), and record 3D video; nVidia also hosts a number of images and videos for download and demo.
As above, it really isn't going to work out for you if most of your gaming time is spent playing competitively -- and by most, I mean nearly all of it. There's overhead with potential lag issues, decreased graphics and lighting settings can degrade competitive edge, getting acquainted with gaming depth perception, inability to wear the glasses with larger mic/headphone headsets, and it's just one more thing to remember to plug in. If you aren't that person that's pumping out APM like a mad-man, looking for shadows of your enemies, or trying to win in multiplayer games (heck, if you don't know what APM is), then this is not a concern -- you'll probably love 3D Vision for your games.
I'd love to say that 3D Vision is friendly in non-competitive multiplayer games, I honestly would - but I can't do that until nVidia finds a way to accommodate those of us with the now-standard large headset design that is produced by Astro, Razer, Plantronics, and Logitech. Multiplayer, in its essence, is only bolstered and addicting when friends are joining you. Even in Battlefield 3, we suspect that squads will have internal comms systems, and you won't be able to take part in that (which may or may not bother you) without a headset on. It's just best for singleplayer games or playing multiplayer games "alone" (that is to say, without the requirement of vocal communication).
The technology in and of itself is marvelous; it is almost an entirely new genre from what we've familiarized ourselves in pop culture as '3d.' Nvidia removes the gimmick of oncoming objects and replaces it with ultimate image clarity and definition. Edges are flawless, cobblestone looks like it is jutting out of the sidewalk and actually appears uneven, the dragon statue in the Heaven Benchmark tool looks more massive and frightening, and so on.
Honest Opinion
What did I think of the technology? This has been a very difficult question to answer, and I've been debating it seriously for the last several weeks. If you were to randomly ask me that question on the street, my gut-reaction would be to tell you this:
At its current price, I find it hard to justify the purchase for the kind of gaming I do. I can't get enough of 3D Vision in GRID, but constantly swapping settings to accommodate 3D mode without any clear-cut macro to do so makes it annoying in the least. I will no longer play single-player, non-headset-oriented games without 3D Vision unless they are incompatible for some reason. On the other hand, though, I will never play RTS games or multiplayer FPS games with 3D Vision until it is refined to fix some of the issues mentioned above. On the other, other hand (Yeah, you know how I told you I have 10,000 APM? This is how) I like to invite people to take turns playing racing games or games like Trine with me (on local multiplayer), and unless multiple glasses are purchased by those of you with similar events, that won't be possible in 3D mode (glasses currently cost ~$100 each, down from $200 earlier this year).
Now, with all of that said, I should note the following: the price argument against 3D technology is weak. Ask yourself this question: do I have a video card? If the answer is yes, you are on the right track. Nvidia's 3D Vision requires, obviously, an nVidia 3D-compatible card (something in the GTX 5x series will do - a 550Ti at the low-end, a 590 at the upper-end). The best time to upgrade to 3D Vision would be when you build a new computer (and if that was recently, you can probably do this) -- the cost of the video card is mitigated by the fact that you do require a GPU to play most games anyway, so it becomes invisible within the build considering you were going to buy it independent of 3D Vision, leaving only the cost of the monitor and glasses (~$350-$400 for a 23" monitor/glasses combo, ~$600 for a 27" ACER monitor/glasses combo).
Of course, AMD / ATi produces the most cost efficient gaming video cards, on average, and you are losing access to a fantastic array of RADEON series cards by opting for 3D Vision, so this is also something to consider. Luckily, many of the cards to perform similarly (a difference of a few frames), so the major difference here will be price - probably in the area of $40 (which isn't a lot, but if you're building one of our famous budget builds, that may be something to think about).
To answer your question in short, oh reader, is very challenging. I'd have to say that I do see 3D gaming becoming more prevalent in the near future, and I do not think it is a gimmick. Nvidia needs to make some tweaks before I can stand on a soap box for them, but in its current state, the technology is intriguing at least and immersive at best; it completely buries you in the game. I've changed my GRID UI to remove the HUD dials, and I now rely solely on the speedometer integrated into the car -- working in conjunction with 3D Vision, my awesome speakers, and the lights off, I can honestly say that this is the most realism I've ever experienced in a game. I look to further this with a racing wheel, but that's another article. I was greatly disappointed to discover how, simply put, debilitating the 3D gear was in StarCraft 2 or some FPS games; even when I played 'for teh lulz' in FFAs or 4v4s, my inability to macro-up effectively due to decreased keyboard visibility made it unwise to play with, and the headset comfort issues definitely played into that.
If nVidia addresses some of these in the future, I think I could tell you to go buy it. Until that point, though, you're going to need to think about what kinds of games you play, how important that extra $400 is to you (really, though, it's a worthwhile upgrade at some point - you'll eventually need a new monitor), and read over my thoughts above to figure out whether or not those restrictions apply to your situation.
While you're finishing up this article and contemplating future purchases, you should check out our amazing $744 gaming rig -- add on a monitor and some glasses, and you're good to go!