SCE 'not concerned' by 3D TV adoption rat

SCEE senior development manager Simon Benson has said the platform holder isn't concerned by the reportedly slow consumer uptake of 3D TVs. "It's certainly not a concern for us on the game side, the major reason being... when we're adding 3D features to a game, it's not a significant overhead for us," he told Gamesindustry.biz. It's not like we have to justify being able to sell millions more games because of it, it's just another feature of the game."What we're talking about here is, in some cases we've had titles where 3D has been half a percent of overhead," he added. "It can literally be the render programmer spending a couple of weeks manipulating it... So often it's the case of it doesn't even hit the radar of whether we should or shouldn't, it can just be done."Clearly 3D TV sales are important to SCE parent Sony though, which has invested heavily in the technology. Benson said the price of 3D sets is coming down "all the time", suggesting "the margins aren't that different" between 3D and non-3D TVs, which should draw new customers in."We're not asking people to fork out twice as much here, and I think what probably going to happen over time is it'll be the case like now, if you try and go out and buy an standard definition TV you probably just wouldn't be able to," he said.At E3 in June, Sony revealed plans to release a PlayStation-branded 3D monitor designed to be affordable for all later this year.Last week, EA CEO John Riccitiello said 3D gaming hasn't caught on as the company once expected it might, and that the firm plans to refocus investment in other areas. Tom Ivan