1. We sell a lot of video games, and we never heard of stereoscopic solutions. Why should we care?
The videogame marketplace is growing exceedingly competitive. With thousands of titles on the shelves today, it is difficult to differentiate one product from another. More that that, consumers are expecting more for their gaming money, and traditional 2D technology is facing a declining thrill to dollar ratio.
S-3D or stereoscopic hardware solutions offer an excitement to gaming that is otherwise non-existent. Imagine bullets flying out of your screen, or an eerie depth down a dark hallway – this is a thrill that gamers are willing to pay top dollar for.
There is also a ticking time bomb of consumer pressure. Stereoscopic 3D cinema has proven exceedingly successful with 2:1 and 3:1 revenue compared to traditional 2D theaters. The millions of consumers who enjoyed their theater experience want the same thing at home, so get ready NOW.
S-3D gamers also spend thousands of dollars on their computer strictly for the benefit of playing video games. A little extra programming time on your title will help guarantee a sale to this high value market.
2. Is it true that stereoscopic technologies only work on NVIDIA cards?
No. While NVIDIA has been a tremendous pioneer in the area of stereoscopic driver support, and has served as a catalyst for many S-3D hardware options, additional driver solutions that support both ATI and NVIDIA GPUs are available from iZ3D LLC and other manufacturers.
3. I don’t have a lot of resources, what do I need to do?
The good news is the majority of the hard work is already done. Most DirectX and OpenGL games work to some extent with the existing drivers.
The majority of the stereoscopic compatibility needs can easily be met by rendering objects at the correct depth and having the option to turn certain special effects on and off.
Please follow the stereoscopic 3D programming guide found on this website for the best results.
4. Our programmers are having a lot of trouble getting our games to work in S-3D. Can you help us out?
YES! Some of the members of our advisory board are experts in stereoscopic programming, and have agreed to volunteer their time to assist with any questions your development team may have.
5. What will Meant to be Seen do for me?
When you meet our certification guidelines, we will:
- Award you with a certification logo and hotlink that you can place on your website.
- Award you with a hardcopy certificate that you can keep for your records.
- Award you with a certification logo you can print on your game boxes.
- Promote your game to our members so they know what titles to look out for when making their purchasing decisions.
6. What will certification and promotion cost me?
Nothing! Certification in itself is free, and our standard promotion offer has no cost. All we require is that you post your certification hotlink on your website for each game that is approved.
7. How can I accelerate my certification?
We would recommend pre-filtering your games at the development level, and giving us a list of titles you think will meet certification guidelines. We can then confirm your judgment.
We would also welcome beta copies of your games in development, and evaluation copies of your games in print.
8. Can I lose my certification?
While we think this would be rare, it can happen. For example, a game patch or game enhancement can impact the compatibility.
However, if there are concerns, we can take shared measures to prevent that. It is in all of our interests that your games work properly.
9. Are you only certifying new games?
We are placing a priority on modern games, but our goal is to equally certify all popular DirectX 8 or later games regardless of original publishing date.
10. Our game isn’t listed in any of your certification categories, why not?
We probably haven’t had the opportunity to test your game yet. Another possibility is your game didn’t meet our certification criteria, and has therefore remained unlisted.
If you want to be certain that your game is tested, please contact us, and arrange to have two evaluation copies sent for evaluation purposes.
11. My company makes game engines. How do I fit in the picture?
MTBS endorses game engines that implement native stereoscopic 3D support for our participating partners and/or more. Endorsement means your engine is added to a promoted list of products that will let game developers release their titles with out-of-the-box stereoscopic 3D support. This way, games can be played in S-3D without the need for special drivers or software wrappers, and will make for an even better experience for your participating developers and their customers.
We have also learned from game developers that while drivers are attractive, they want the ability to tell S-3D stories the way they visually want, without additional software interferring with that. This is why native S-3D game engine support is increasing attractive.
In 2007, we endorsed the first modern native stereoscopic 3D game engine called Unigine, and additional game engine announcements are in the works. A game engine that supports stereoscopic 3D will not negate traditional 2D game development.
While there is a testing process we follow to make sure certain standards are met, there is no cost for earning MTBS endorsement.