As a hardware manufacturer, Sony has a vested interest in increasing the popularity of stereoscopic 3D movies and games, but that didn't stop it from admitting that a lot developers are using 3D for the wrong reasons and that this might worsen the user experience.
"We've got 50 million PlayStation 3s that support 3D playback. 3DTVs are selling well. We've had great response from our fans out there at game shows and forums about the 3D games we've produced. But the most important thing is 3D quality," Sony's 3D chief Mick Hocking said during the Develop conference in Brighton.
"We need to, and we're trying to encourage everyone to learn about 3D properly and come and talk to us so we'll support them when they convert the games," he added. "But only deliver the best quality 3D. As we've seen in some other industries, if you make great quality 3D, in film you could say Avatar - it's the most successful film of all time, it's the highest grossing film of all time - but since then that hasn't been followed up with the same degree of success."
"If people see great quality 3D it does enhance the experience. It's a great feature for a game. But if they see poor quality 3D it can put them off," Hocking affirmed. "Unfortunately some people are producing poor quality 3D, in all mediums. Over the last 12 months we've seen TV, film, some games, where the quality hasn't been there. It's just a case of people need to understand how to work with 3D, how to make it technically correct and then how to use it creatively."
"Only add 3D where it makes a difference to the gameplay experience. It must add something. Don't just add depth for the sake of it."
