Just like TV and the movies, video games are currently busily engaged in embracing 3D. Technically, they are ideally suited to the 3D revolution – modern games are already modelled in 3D, then rendered down to 2D for display on conventional TVs. Making them work in 3D is a relatively trivial (at least when compared to the equipment challenges faced by TV and the movies) matter of adjusting the output from consoles or PCs after a bit of technical jiggery-pokery.

There have been isolated incidences of 3D games in the past, all of which have been tied to 3D movies (and any keen gamer will tell you that games-of-movies have a dire reputation). But this Christmas will see the arrival of the first truly credible games that can be played in 3D: most notably Gran Turismo 5, Killzone 3, Crysis 2 and Tron: Evolution.

Keen gamers are always amenable to early adoption of new technologies – and the appeal of 3D games is obvious. 3D allows you, in particular, to judge distances in games more easily: useful for shooting at waves of incoming enemies or gauging the perfect braking point in order to clip those apexes at the wheel of a virtual racing car. Just like in films and on TV, it makes in-game objects pop and generally adds to the prevailing sense of being immersed in a world.

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