A Rant for 3D

I have a lot to say about the current trend of 3D video.  As a home theater nerd, I have to have an opinion on it.  I have a basic understanding of the various ways 3D is displayed, both in theaters and in the home.  I know that if you purchase a 3D TV and glasses and enjoy the experience, you will still end up disappointed at the lack of available content, especially through cable/satellite providers.  I know that, wherever you watch it, 3D's glasses will limit the amount of light getting to your eye, thus detrimentally dimming the image.

I...love....3D.  Despite its shortcomings, I believe it is spectacular when done correctly.  3D Blu-rays look almost as good as a theatrical presentation (see Prometheus), and video games on the Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 are twice as cool in 3D (see Uncharted 3).

However, Hollywood is killing me.  3D is being treated like a gimmick, and it has to stop.  Here is the problem: movies are being shot in 2D and converted to 3D, without the proper care, in post-production.  The results, in live action movies, are always, always, underwhelming to embarrassing.  Basically, the trend of Hollywood doing this so that they can charge moviegoers more money started soon after Avatar, with this hunk of garbage.

Unfortunately, I went to see Zack Snyder's Man of Steel on opening night.  But let's not focus on that tragedy; the point was the 3D.  It was flat.  The post-conversion was garbage.  It was a waste of money, both for Warner Brothers and audiences.

I have only seen three films in theaters (Prometheus, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Avatar) that blew me away with their sense of immersion, depth and tangibility thanks to 3D, and all of them were shot using James Cameron's 3D cameras.  Check out what he says if you don't believe me that post-converted blockbusters aren't up to par.

ValkyrieSDF1

Uncharted 2= Better Than That Crap You Play

Nate is the new Indy.

For those of you in the know, this is your rallying cry as a serious video gamer. (If you are a Wii gamer, you're at the wrong blog- try Nick Jr.'s website or some soccer mom's blog.) For Playstation 3 owners, the Uncharted series is the best intellectual property of the current console generation.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007) and its outstanding sequel, Among Thieves (2009), have set the bar for video game production values. Their third person gunplay and platforming action were nearly flawless, and their story/ presentation were second to none. Playing Among Thieves, I often wish I could take a screenshot and frame it, so beautiful is the lighting and color, even when I'm playing multiplayer.

The hero, Nate Drake, is pictured above, flanked on the left by Among Thieves heroine Chloe Frazer. (Chloe is the one on the left.) If you want more evidence of the artistry, check out the embedded trailer for Among Thieves.

That's right, a teaser trailer for this game is that good. And, yes, the music from the trailer is in the game, composed by Greg Edmonson ("Firefly").

Nate Drake, for me, has become who Indian Jones should be and was until sometime around 12:01 am on May 22, 2008. Yeah, I can't remember specifically when he lost it, but it was sometime right around then.