MOTION CONTROLS AND THREE DIMENIONS OH MY GOD

You care about this game, I swear you do.

Seeing as the gaming field is where I want to be after college, let's talk technology for a second here. When the Kinect was first announced, I couldn't help but criticize it. Being the proud owner of two (count 'em, two) Eye Toys, I thought it might fizzle out fast like Sony's attempt at motion-capture gaming. Recently I've gotten to thinking that you really shouldn't knock something till you try it. The Eye Toy was sort of a piece of crap, but it was a fun piece of crap. I'd like to think that the Kinect will be able to surpass that claim (ie. fun without the crap element). I don't have much else to say about that since I have yet to actually try the Kinect, but I would still like to encourage positive feelings towards its future. Dance Central, for example, looks like a heck of a lot of fun; too bad it makes you look cool, unlike the other Kinect games.

Some technology that I have gotten to experience recently was 3D TV. I'll admit that I'm getting tired of seeing movies in 3D. After initially seeing Avatar, I couldn't have cared less about it. Sure the visuals were an impressive feat, but I just didn't feel all that amazed once everything else started being released in 3D as well. Once I started hearing about videogames being in 3D, the first thing that came to mind was the Virtual Boy. We all know what happened to that.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU-

However, I took back some of my preconceived notions today when I got to see some 3D gaming in action at Sears. The demo they were showing was of a racing game (I have no idea what it was, maybe it doesn't even exist, doesn't matter really) and I can safely say that the 3D can be done right. There was realistic depth to the backgrounds, emphasizing the height of ledges and the proximity of other cars. If applied to games where depth perception could be utilized a lot more, such as racing games or first-person shooters, it could add a whole new element to an already challenging experience. I think that adding the 3D subtly will make the game immersive enough, without hurting your eyes or being annoying. I'm looking forward to seeing what game companies will make to take advantage of the 3D technology, but I'll still pass on the 3D movies.

I think I'll go play some Eye Toy games now.

EDIT: The Eye Toy isn't all that crappy if you have enough light. I had to use two floor lamps and a 500 watt industrial light to make it work correctly.