My thoughts on 3D gaming (3D Vision 2)

A few months ago I made a thread regarding whether 3D/Physx was worth it, over the better performance of the 6990M. I went the GTX 485M route for 3D/Physx. I mentioned in my last thread, that once I recieve my monitor, I would give a small review of my view of 3D. My previous thread can be found here if anyone is curious.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...s/594747-485m-3d-physx-6990m-performance.html

My laptop setup is as follow:
Sager NP8150
i7-2630
8GB Ram
Nvidia GTX 485m
500GB Hybrid HD /w 4GB SSD
3D Monitor: Asus VG278H (/w 3D Vision 2 Lightboost)

Games tested in 3D:
Batman: AA
Metro 2033
Crysis 2
Trine
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
Battlefield BC 2
Starcraft 2

Before I received my 3D monitor, I've played most these games in 2D, with the exception of Trine (which I just got purely to check out 3D). Just received my monitor last week and so I've been playing games in 3D for a week now.

At first, I was a little skeptical about 3D. I had just got the monitor up and running and was still not comfortable with all the 3D settings. The first two games I tried, was Crysis 2 and Battlefield BC 2. And to tell you the truth, 3D was not impressive at all. I wasn't sure what I was looking at. I noticed that depth was noticeable, but nothing special. I was waiting for those pop-out 3D that I've always wanted, but really didn't see much. I'd like to mention that I only tested these two games about an hour or so each in 3D.

Decided to do some research on the settings, and noticed the adjustments for the depth and convergence not as high. So I decided to try another game with the new settings. This time I tried out Trine. At first, I played about an hour or so of the game in 2D to see what it was like. Then I tested it in 3D...

All I have to say is, 3D is amazing! Trine looked absolutely gorgeous in 3D. It made the game much much more immersed. Details that you never see before, you notice them in 3D. It made the game more visually appealing. What's suppose to be in the background, looks like it's in the background, and what's suppose to be in the foreground, is in the foreground. The added depth is very nice. My girlfriend who plays Trine too, really enjoyed playing it in 3D.

I then decided to test 3D in other games to make sure the 3D effect was not just great on one particular game, but on everything else. I retried Crysis 2 and the 3D effects was so-so, but I've only played a little of it in 3D. Haven't had a chance to try BF2 again yet.

I've tested the game in Metro 2033, although I was not able to run the game at high settings (like I did in 2D), the game looked great in 3D. There were times where instead of moving my mouse to turn right, I tried to look at the corner of the monitor to see what was to my right! 3D really made me feel like I was in the game.

3D in Starcraft 2 looks great, was one of my favorites. The HUD display is all in the foreground, so when looking onto the battlefield screen, it looks like you are looking out of a window. Marines and such, looks like little stand-up action figures. When a building is destroyed, the explosion and debris slightly pops-out of the screen.

Another game that looked gorgeous in 3D was The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. 3D made things that I did not even notice, more noticeable. For example, in chapter one, by the Inn, when running through the tall grasses, in 2D, the grass looks all meshed in together. But in 3D, you notice that the grasses are not meshed in with each other, you can individually see each tall grass. I also noticed that little slopes/dips in the road is more pronounced. So I was able to tell that I am going down a small slope and etc. Curves on the road, is now noticeable, before (in 2D), roads looks fairly flat.

Batman AA was another great game in 3D. Only tried it for a little bit (I'm hooked on Trine atm!). The fight scenes looks so much better in 3D, and with Physx turned on, this game was a beauty!

Also, I did not have any racing games to test, but from what I've heard, racing games benefits the most from 3D. The added depth suppose to help you have better judgement on those turns, I am going to be buying Drift 3 soon, so hopefully I'll have some input on that.

A thing to note, I am using Nvidia's 3D Vision 2 with lightboost. The 3D vision glasses was quite comfortable, although after 4+ hours, it starts to hurt around my ear, but a few minutes of break and it's all good. I do wear contacts and have prescription glasses (big frame ones). Have not tried it much with my glasses, but it fits quite comfortable over it, but with the noticeable weight of my glasses and 3D vision, it could get uncomfortable in long use.

3D gimmick or not, I'm sold on it. The 3D experience for me works. I'm glad I went the 3D route instead. For those that are skeptical about 3D, I suggest you at least give it a try extensively before you decide. At first I wasn't impressed too, but some games are much better in 3D than the others, Though, most of the games I've tested the visuals has greatly improved in 3D. And if the point of buying high end computers/laptops is to have better graphics, then I think 3D is definitely the way to go.

 

I hope 3D dies in a fire.

 

3D when done right is amazing.

Lets take an example:
Nearly all games on the Nintendo 3DS can render the game in 3D.
Does it improve the game?

I turned 3D off in Pilotwings Resort cause it was useless.
I turned 3D off in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS because while it looked great it dident add anything more to the game.

But i did keep 3D on in two games that i own.
Super Mario 3D land because it makes the platforming much easier thanks to added depth & Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars because the flat 2D land showed up like those pop up books, so i could identify cover faster.

I dont play that much 3D on my computer but i did try some on my PS3.
Makes the game look cool but doesent add anything else to the game.

 

I think 3D is a gimmick. My brother recently got a 3D samsung Tv (they messed up, so they sent that as a sorry-we-messed-up) and I was like "EFF YEAH! 3D!"

I turned on 3D mode and flipped a few channels. A complete letdown.

I still have yet to try the ps3 3D (dont have any games that support it)
I tried 3DS and its eh. Nothing really appealing.

 

What kinda tv is that? A plasma 720p 600Hz? I was thinking of getting one too for the 3d

 

its a 52inch (51.4 really) plasma full 1080p 3D tv from Samsung. It came with two battery powered Samsung 3D glasses. Ill have to look for the exact model.

I tried it and yeah its noticeable but nowhere near the hype that they put it out to be.

Im hoping that 3D gets better, cause this is crap. Not worth the money (though we got it as a free upgrade)

 

I have a similar laptop (8170) and I think 3D is cool. It's completely unnecessary but cool. That said, I feel like 3D needs to be utilized via a projector. Smaller screens really do not do 3D justice.

 

Any idea (too lazy to google) how they do the 3D at Universal Studios? like the Terminator 3D stuff.

Now that was really cool! That was done by projector I believe

 

In the 3D World, bigger = better.

 

I have to agree that 3D on the 3DS was not impressive at all. But 3D on a 27" monitor up close is pretty amazing. I haven't tried it on 3D movies yet, but when I watched 3D movies at the theater I was not impressed either. 3D gaming though (on PC at least) have made me think twice about this technology.

Just like DEagleson mentioned, some games benefits from 3D, while others are just eye candy. Then again, I bought my GTX 485m high-end GPU for eye candy stuff and 3D adds to that effect, so I'm quite happy with the results.

 

Batman Arkham City is stunning in 3d, im playing it alot on my desktop

 

3D rulz.
'nuff said.

 

Is there anything that you don't have a completely negative comment about?

I have 3D and love it. I wont play newer games in 3D due to the fps hit, but for older games that can be played in 3D and still maintain over 40fps it's absolutely fantastic. I'm using 3D in WoW with all settings maxed and still averaging about 50fps. It is stunning and adds so much more to the game. Skyrim looked good in 3D, but to get a decent frame rate i had to drop the graphic settings a bit. 3D isn't worth lower settings in my opinion so I'll play that in 2D. Also, the PowerDVD software that came preinstalled on my laptop is able to convert normal 2D movies into 3D. They are ok, but not near as good as actual 3D movies. I don't for a single second regret getting 3D on my laptop.

 

I have 3d capability using the cheapest method: anal-glyph glasses and the low end 3d Nividia mode. I only use it to see 3d videos and pictures shot from my Fuji W3 3d camera. For gaming it stinks because it doesn't give true color. Well, maybe I should try it again.

I have no hope for buying a 3d 120 Hz monitor, as I'm currently hooked on gaming on my Dell 30" 2560 x 1600 monitor.

But my next laptop will have a 3d monitor; Dell currently sells some, but I'll buy a laptop in 2013 when Haswell comes out.

 

where is this low end nvidia 3d setting you speak of good sir?

 

I have a 3D Samsung TV and it is more of a gimmick than anything. It would be cool if it was more adopted but it hasn't been.

 

Unless you have 3D programming from your cable/sattelite provider, of course the 3D would be a let down.