Tue, Aug 24, 2010 | 18:22 BST
id’s Hollenshead: 3D TVs are “fucking expensive”
FPS’s poster boy, id boss Todd Hollenshead, has failed to mince words on his opinions of 3D.
Speaking to Eurogamer, the muscly developer criticised pretty much everything about the tech, from the cost of equipment to the fact 3D glasses make his nose hurt.
“Maybe we’re getting to the point where the people who have been pushing 3D, or are pushing 3D now, have figured out a way to make it cool and not so nerdy that nobody wants to do it,” he said.
“My most recent, ‘OK, this is really cool’ experience with 3D was with the movie Avatar, which everybody has seen. Even then, I was a little annoyed that I had to wear these glasses for two hours in a movie. My nose hurt by the end of it.
“I know the stuff in your living room is different. You can get higher quality glasses that fit. But you still gotta sit in your living room wearing these glasses. And then if you’re playing games and move your head then it can get out of phase, which is a major issue.
“And, also, the TVs are fucking expensive. Is there enough content to justify?”
3D schmeedy
Hollenshead isn’t the only one that thinks a 3D push is a little early in terms of equipment being expensive.
Xbox production boss Aaron Greenberg told us at E3 that high costs lead to “narrow” markets.
“The experiences may be fun, but the more expensive it gets, we know the more narrow the market opportunity becomes,” he said in June.
“Technologically we’re ready and capable and demonstrating that, but we’ll wait for the market to respond.
Sony’s unperturbed, though. The platform holder showed off Motorstorm: Apocalypse in its press conference at gamescom last week, and we saw GT5′s 3D photo mode in a private session the following day.
Sounds like you’ve still got Big Todd to convince, PS3. Don’t try too hard, though; he’ll start bench-pressing you.
16 
Posted in: Bethesda, Sony
Tags: 3d, id software, todd hollenshead
16 comments
#1
Goliath
24/08/10, 6:28 pm
He’s fucking right!
#2
Dannybuoy
24/08/10, 6:33 pm
I agree it’s an expensive progression but it has to start somewhere. Early adopters will pay through the nose but it’ll level out and become more affordable. I have other things to spend my cash on at the mo, but I’ll definitely go 3D when the time is right.
#3
Razor
24/08/10, 6:35 pm
This is why I love VG247…no “****” to be seen anywhere
#4
KAP
24/08/10, 6:46 pm
@2 EXACTLY!
Every major tech is expensive to start off with, look at HD, look at this gen consoles, look at mobiles… they soon become affordable. They just need to start somewhere… otherwise whats the point.
#5
Mr.F-X
24/08/10, 6:59 pm
Where are the f*ckin stars “****” ? lol
He’s right, I already have glasses, I’m not gonna wear another pair of glasses to watch TV.
#6
cookiejar
24/08/10, 7:04 pm
Yet they’re still not as expensive as HDTV’s were when they started being more mainstream. Just saying…
#7
naffgeek
24/08/10, 7:09 pm
watched Toy Story 3D the other day and although the 3D didn’t add a frickin thing to that film, the glasses hid my red eyes when the lights came up so none of the kids could see me blubbing like an actress on oscar night.
#8
onlineatron
24/08/10, 7:09 pm
He’s fucking right, but it was the fucking same for fucking HDTVs back in the fucking day. Granted HD is more of a fucking necessity than a fucking trend, but it’s a fucking trend which i’m sure in a few fucking years will catch on. Although i’m not buying a fucking 3DTV that requires fucking glasses, especially when fucking Toshiba will have glassless 3D in our fucking homes soon: http://tinyurl.com/37hlfy6
…FUCK
#9
osric90
24/08/10, 7:22 pm
Fake that 3D is equivalent to HD when it came out for home usage. Fake, fake, fake. I’d rather buy a bigger (I have a 52″) a 100 something HDTV to a 3DTV. And remember 3D isn’t for everybody, it’s proved that 3D makes half of the people that use it sick and dizzy…not to mention the fact of the glasses and that if it DOESN’T have any narrative value, doesn’t fit at all. I’m more in the side of Wally Pfister…I preffer NATIVE 1080p (higher resolutions, more definition) instead of the so-called 3D.
#10
Xuchilbara
24/08/10, 7:24 pm
OLD NEWS ALERT!!!!!… Todd Hollenshead is awesome!
#11
DarkElfa
24/08/10, 9:48 pm
He may be correct, but lets not pretend that his remarks are anything other than an attempt to get on our good sides and make excuses for why id doesn’t want to spend the time, money and effort on the development of 3d games.
#12
hitnrun
24/08/10, 9:53 pm
@9: Correct.
HDTV “started somewhere.” So did DIVX. No, the other DIVX.
There is no such thing as “the future” or “progress,” except as a guess. We collectively – as customers – decide on what we want to adopt moment to moment. Is 3DTV Compact Discs or Clear Pepsi? It’s far from certain at this point.
#13
Gekidami
24/08/10, 10:13 pm
People really need to stop making such a fuss over 3DTV’s, its pretty much gonna be default on all TV’s at one point in the future so you’re crying for nothing, unless you only want to buy old stuff, you WILL end up with a TV that does 3D.
#14
DrDamn
25/08/10, 12:20 am
@onlineatron
That Toshiba thing sounds exactly like what Phillips tried and then ditched when they found people chundered after viewing. Be interesting to see whether the 2d performance is affected by what they have to put over the screen too.
#15
onlineatron
25/08/10, 12:30 am
I don’t think 3D will be a truly viable proposition until holographic technology is put into mass production and is affordable.
If I can view multi-dimensional images without the need of glasses and the risk of bile staining my upholstery… I’d invest.
I’m not fully against the tech, I believe it can have viable uses in gaming and film, providing greater immersion and accuracy (in the case of shooters); I just think it needs more time in the oven.
#16
OlderGamer
25/08/10, 4:49 am
@15 +1
Good call.