The age of 'proper' 3D gaming is finally upon us this month, with the much-heralded release of the Blitz Games-developed first game to work with 3D TV technology, Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao, to be published by Namco later this month.
Added to this the recent news that Sky is set to launch its own 3D TV service at some (as yet unannounced) point in 2010 and it is clear why we are already receiving a slew of emails asking us the same question – "what TV do I need to play 3D games?"
How to play 3D games
Right now, the choice is pretty limited for British consumers. In fact , the only proper stereoscopic 3D TVs available on the high street in the UK are Samsung Plasma TVs series 4, which come in either 50" or 63" sizes.
You can pick the 50" version up for a shade over £850 in the UK right now. Expect those prices to come crashing down later in 2009 and into 2010 as more major manufacturers begin releasing 3D TVs in the UK.
Or if you don't fancy splashing out all of that cash on a brand new, hulking great 3D telly for your lounge, you could always opt for one of the few 3D PC monitors that you can already get hold of in the UK such as the Zalman ones (which are polarized 3D) and the RealD polarized Hyundai 24" monitor.
If you are serious about replacing your current TV with a 3D TV, your only other option (if you are prepared to splash the cash) is to import one, using an online service such as inition.co.uk who will ship in a 3D displays to the UK for you.
3D-ready market growth
"The UK is still relatively thin on the ground when it comes to 3D ready TVs and displays, while the market is starting to grow quite rapidly now in Japan and the US," Blitz Games Studios' CTO Andrew Oliver told TechRadar.
"Following Sky's recent announcement and the release of games such as ours we're confident that we'll start to see a rise in the number of TVs that the average consumer in the UK will be able to buy."
While many remain sceptical about the mass market uptake of 3DTV, BSkyB's director of strategic product development Gerry O'Sullivan told Media Guardian that in the company's 3DTV trials, "people forgot they were wearing the glasses within a couple of minutes."
