Well, what could have been so important? I have excellent eyesight, in fact better than anyone else I know since I had my Lasik surgery. I absolutely love the fact that I can read the smallest type on grocery store products as well as see clearly into the far distance. In that regard, I am the envy of all my friends. You see, as the human eye ages, it loses its ability to adjust focus between distant objects and close ones, thus the invention of bifocal glasses. But Lasik surgery is capable of setting the focal range of your dominant eye (the left in my case) to see distant objects and the focal range of the other eye to see close objects.

The technology is so precise that they can dial in an “overlap” range between 3-6 feet in which both eyes are both able to focus. This is perfect for social interactions and computer work but anything outside that range has one eye out of focus. As long as they determine correctly which is the dominant eye, the brain interpolates the imagery seen by the “soft focus” eye. In other words, the ingredients on a grocery store item, only the “close” eye is in focus but the experience is that I am seeing clearly because of the brain’s ability to interpolate.

Conversely, objects at a distance are in sharp focus with the dominant eye but blurry with the other eye and the brain normally interpolates correctly EXCEPT when watching a 3D movie at the theater. The brain’s natural ability to correct the issue within the brain itself is hampered by the 3D effect.

The stereoscopic 3D technology creates two different images, one for each eye and since the 3D image is artificially produced, the brain does not do nearly as good a job interpolating the blurry image. As a result, the 3D effect isn’t completely broken but it seriously misses the mark unless I wear corrective lenses that allow both eyes to focus at the distance of the theater screen. (Interestingly, this is not a problem for 3D games or 3D computer screens which are usually viewed in the “overlap” zone where both eyes are able to focus naturally.)

So, off I went, likkety-split to get my glasses out of the car. I keep them in my car because the only other time I need them is for night driving. Needless to say, I’m glad I went through the effort because the 3D in that movie was absolutely awesome. I have heard that some people complain that they don’t like the 3D effect and I can’t imagine why…except that maybe they have had this dual-focus Lasik procedure, or for some other reason cannot focus both eyes at the distance of the theater screen. I have heard that a small percentage of people claim they’re not able to see the 3D effect at all, whether its on TVs, at the theater, or even on the new Nintendo 3DS.

Admittedly, if your eyes are like mine and can’t perceive the 3D effect without corrective lenses, you probably will find the 3D effect disappointing, and it may be downright annoying. If that’s your experience, I recommend getting your eyes checked and then order yourself some glasses that allow both to focus at a distance.

You are missing one of the most important and beautiful innovations in entertainment technology since movies and televisions began to broadcast in color! A lot of industry leaders fought the standardization of broadcast for HDTV resolutions a while back and we are seeing a similar advent of new technology today with stereoscopic and auto-stereoscopic 3D in all forms of entertainment. I believe it will be the standard in just a few short years.

I recall playing Rayman 2 on my Dreamcast back in the day and being impressed with its gameplay fun factor. Its not the hardest game around, and is fairly easy to jump into. There’s enough secrets in the large levels to keep the replay value of the game at a moderate level.  I consider it a fun game with an interesting level design. If you are a fan of the Rayman games from the past, I’d say go for it and get this port. It doesn’t have too much in the way of new content (practically nothing) but it has improved lighting, modeling, texturing etc. when compared with the original and its various ports.

If it doesn’t bother you that this is a nearly identical port of an old (but fun) game, and its available on a ton of other systems, AND you have a Nintendo 3DS to play it on, I can say without a doubt that its worth having this slick looking portable version of a classic..

Keep an eye out for my upcoming review of Rabbids 3D, a spinoff from the Rayman franchise that looks like a real fun winner of a platformer!

At the NAB conference in Las Vegas last Monday they announced a plan to ramp up “industry-wide efforts to help filmmakers realize 3D’s full potential as a creative and powerful storytelling medium and accelerate the growth of the next generation of 3D solutions across all platforms” Pace said in a statement at the conference. They already have projects in the pipeline including Life of Pi, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Three Musketeers and the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. They are calling themselves the “Cameron-Pace Group” and they’re planning big things, above and beyond the standard go-to of 3D movie franchises.

That’s not to say that the main focus of James Cameron’s attention is away from cinema. He boasts a prediction that all movie theaters will be able to display 3D by 2015, possibly without glasses! The technology behind auto stereoscopic or glasses-free 3D in home and at the theaters may be just the type of thing to keep 3D from becoming a passing fad. But it’s not easy, and there’s no good way of guessing when scientists will work out the huge kinks, like the image ghosting that occurs if you are viewing the 3D image from a not-quite-right angle. But according to James Cameron, once the technology for glasses-free 3d is achieved, people’s acceptance and support of it will “Go Ballistic!”

I find this new technology to be very exciting although in its infancy. Over the next few years we will be seeing more and more content available in 3D from live sports events to tv series all shot in 3D and available on premium 3D cable channels. I look forward to a time when there will be something akin to hulu or youtube but choc-full of quality 3D content available to stream right through a browser.

Let me know what you think in the comments section below!

There are instructions available to develop, deploy and stream 3D content from your own 3D website, or recieve streamed content from the web. The full details about the process are over at the NVIDIA BLOG.

Now this right here is some exciting news about glasses free 3d tech. Researchers in France created a proof-of-concept app and video that demonstrates the iPad 2’s ability to create glasses-free 3D effects. Jeremie Francone and Laurence Nigay of the Laboratory of Informatics of Grenoble, EHCI Research Group discovered that by using the device’s front-facing camera to track the head of the user—and therefore determine the angle from which the user is looking at the device—they could create a spatially-aware display. Most notably, the effect does not use the device’s accelerometer at all,  instead it relies solely on the front camera. The facial tracking really does give the 3d effect. Amazing.

Nintendo announced a new Super Mario Brothers game for the Nintendo 3DS. The logo is basically the super mario galaxy logo with a tail, which eludes to the fact that they are bringing back the beloved raccoon and tanooki suit from SMB3. With only a few blurry panels to analyse, it seems that its an amalgam of super mario galaxy, super mario 3, and maybe even super mario world? We will all know more on June 7′th when the E3 expo begins.

3net has chosen genres that look good on a 3D television like action adventure, nature documentaries and natural history. They have also broadened their scope into never before seen territories for 3d TV content like lifestyle, cuisine, and scripted TV series. Every night in February at 9PM ET / 6PM PT there will be a premiere show being aired. Here is the February Premiere Schedule:

Feb. 14 – Magnificent Desolation:  Walking on the Moon 3D (World 3D TV Premiere)
Feb. 15 – Ghost Lab (3net Original)
Feb. 16 – 3D Sun (3net Premiere)/The Last Buffalo (World 3D TV Premiere)
Feb. 17 – High Octane: Mountain Bikes Versus Jet Skis (3net Original)
Feb. 18 – Dinosaurs:  Giants of the Patagonia (3net Premiere)
Feb. 19 – The Haunted (3net Original)
Feb. 20 – I (Almost) Got Away With It (3net Original)
Feb. 21 – Deep Sea 3D (3net Premiere)
Feb. 22 – Oceana Air Show (3net Original)
Feb. 23 – Bugs!  A Rainforest Adventure (World 3D TV Premiere)
Feb. 24 – High Octane:  Downhill Long boarding Versus Freestyle Motocross (3net Original)
Feb. 25 – Puppy Bowl (3net Original)
Feb. 26 – Under the Sea 3D (3net Premiere)
Feb. 27 – 3D Safari:  Africa (World 3D TV Premiere)

For the sports video game lovers out there Nintendo has made a new Madden Football 3DS game, which is akin to the gameplay for the Madden game on the iphone. Its pretty cool in 3D.

The new 3DS title Pilotwings Resort is set for launch and is an upgraded version of the well known flying sections of Wii Sports Resort. The 3D effect on the Nintendo 3DS for this game is amazing to say the least. Imagine a flight simulator full of courses and games, with the bottom screen as your course map or info and the 3D view immersing you in 3d objects you fly by and interact with. I know that the Wii Sports Resort flying games were some of my favorite parts of that title when it came out. The only issue I had was that the flying games felt a little bit uninspired on the Wii title and I’d ususally play more golf or archery in the end, especially in a group. I’m looking forward to seeing what Nintendo has done with what I though had the most untapped potential out of all the mini games on the Sports Resort titles.

The new game Steel Diver for the 3DS is an exciting submarine game which makes good use of the 3D effect and other hardware controls of the gameplay, including a periscope mode where you move your body in the same way you would while using an actual periscope, how freakin cool is that? Think Hunt for Red October, if it was an awesome side-scrolling and 360 degree shooter, where you’re the captain, not Sean Connery.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is coming to the 3DS as a remake that will make perfect use of the 3DS technology. It is one of my favorite games from the list of titles in Nintendo’s  The Legend of Zelda franchise, only falling a close second to the seething nostalgia I feel for Zelda II: Adventure of Link. UPDATE: The release date for this title is set for JUNE 19th here in the US and I am SO excited to get my hands on it! Nintendo is touting this as a completely re-mastered version of one of their most beloved games. It has a reworked motion control and a bunch of new challenges, including a Master Quest which will be an entirely new quest with a brand new set of dungeons to explore. Very cool.

Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS is one to definitely look out for, it features an arcade style shooter where you fight your way through lost of great sections of previous Resident Evil games all mashed up. Imagine 3D zombie slaughterfest in the palm of your hand. I will probably lose sleep and give myself nightmares at the same time thanks to this game.

And to calm myself after white-knuckling my new Nintendo 3DS to avoid my brains being eaten I’ll probably sit back and play with my cute llittle  puppies in the new Nintendogs + Cats 3DS title. Tons of different cats and dog breeds are available to be unlocked and you can have seemingly endless fun with your new pets. Your furry little friends interact with you in a variety of new ways. There is a bunch of touchscreen controls and new features, and the 3D effect increases the cuteness factor exponentially. I recommend trying it out, you’ll have endless joy teaching your pets new tricks and competing with other pet owners. Awww…

To be honest, only a few titles are available right away, meaning when the 3DS comes out, all the launch titles will not be available. Some, like Star Fox 64 do not have a date set, so who knows if it will be next Christmas before we can get our hands on a copy. For the record, here’s The list of announced games available for the 3DS launch window, but some won’t be available until around E3 in June, but hopefully not later than that:

Asphalt 3D (Ubisoft)
Bust-a-Move Universe (Square Enix)
Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D (Ubisoft)
Crush 3D (Sega)
Dead or Alive Dimensions (Tecmo Koei)
Dual Pen Sport (Namco Bandai)
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars (LucasArts)
Madden NFL Football (EA Sports)
Nintendogs & Cats (Nintendo)
Pilotwings Resort (Nintendo)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D (Konami)
Rabbids Travel in Time (Ubisoft)
Rayman 3D (Ubisoft)
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (Capcom)
Ridge Racer 3D (Namco Bandai)
Samurai Warriors Chronicles (Tecmo Koei)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus)
Steel Diver (Nintendo)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D (Capcom)
The Sims 3 (Electronic Arts)
Super Monkey Ball 3D (Sega)
Super Street Fighter IV 3D (Capcom)
Thor: God of Thunder (Sega)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D (Ubisoft)