My LCD TV broke down mere months out of warranty. It could have something to do with the fact that my daughter was cleaning it by spraying water on the screen the day before, but I was nonetheless disappointed that its manufacturer was unable to do anything save offer to sell me a new one.
I ended up purchasing a television from another maker. Not out of spite, but because I had a specific objective: A 50-inch 1080p plasma display from a reputable manufacturer with four HDMI ports, web connectivity, content sharing capability, stereoscopic functionality, and a pair of 3-D glasses. And I wanted it for less than $1,000. I found exactly what I was looking for in Samsung's $999.99 PN51D550. I've had it for nearly a week, and I haven't experienced even a hint of buyer's remorse.
But let me clarify the 3-D thing.
I'm not a fan of 3-D movies. I see far too many of them with my kid (the studios and theatres are cleverly indoctrinating our children at a young age so that they simply come to expect all movies to be in 3-D), and I almost always find myself wishing that I could just pull off the glasses and watch the show in old-school flat form.
The picture quality in most stereoscopic televisions, which use technology different from what's found in theatres, is more palatable—by which I mean crisper, more vivid, and easier on the eyes—but it still doesn't make me want to watch many movies (save, perhaps, Avatar) in 3-D.
That said, I find that I do prefer playing some games in 3-D.
The additional dimension doesn't confer an advantage, despite what you may have heard online from excitable fans and pushy publishers. I spent much of this past weekend playing games like Gran Turismo 5 and Killzone 3 in 3-D, and my performance did not benefit from sensing depth in upcoming turns on the track or watching as the scope of my virtual rifle bobbed in front of me.
But, given the proper circumstances, it can help to create a more immersive experience.
I've found I prefer to play Sony's action racing game Motorstorm: Apocolaypse in 3-D not because it confers an advantage of any kind, but simply because of the high-speed spectacle. Seeing the debris of collapsing buildings pop off the screen while whipping past is invigorating, and watching the gears and broken fibreglass of wrecked rides seem to hover in midair after a crash is just plain cool. It's not essential to the experience, but it does enhance it.
The popular PlayStation 3 downloadable game Super Stardust HD is an even better example. It's a twin joystick shooter that has players piloting a ship across the surface of a globe centred on the display. With 3-D switched on, the sphere appears to hover in my living room just in front of my TV. It really feels as though there is a miniature three-dimensional planet in the room. What's more, whenever my ship explodes lines of energy seem to shoot off the screen and shower past me. I like playing Super Stardust HD. I like playing Super Stardust HD in 3-D a little more.
However, the game I'd most like to try in 3-D is Child of Eden . This marvellously involving Kinect-controlled rhythm action game is already a hyper-immersive experience. Its kaleidoscopic visuals, which do a splendid job of drawing players into the game's trippy, techno-fantasy environments as they use their hands to blast bits of corrupt data, seem perfectly suited to make the most of a stereoscopic display. Sadly, the Xbox 360 edition doesn't support 3-D output. However, it's maker—Tetsuya Mizuguchi—has hinted that PlayStation 3 gamers might be treated to depth effects when it comes to Sony's system this fall.
Playing games in 3-D is an indulgence, and its impact on the overall experience is, by and large, negligible. However, from the perspective of immersion, a handful of titles are substantively more satisfying when played on a stereoscopic display. There's certainly no need to rush out and buy a 3-D screen—I wouldn't have picked one up had my previous television not decided to up and commit suicide—but now that stereoscopic graphics are available to me I'm happy that I have the option to flip them on.