Compelling content is the key to ensuring that 3D smartphones are more than a just a flash in the pan, and right now, there just isn’t much of it floating around. LG, maker of the Optimus 3D handset, aims to address that content issue with the recent announcement of their new 3D Game Converter software.
Due for its first demo at IFA 2011 in Berlin, LG’s new 3D Game Converter does exactly what the name implies. After firing up the converter on the Optimus 3D, about 50 compatible 2D games will receive a 3D facelift, while unsupported OpenGL games can be manually tweaked to achieve the desired effect.
The games will get a pretty comprehensive work-over, or so LG’s 3D Evangelist Dr. Henry Nho would have us believe: “LG’s 3D Game Converter automatically recognizes the depth information based on the location of each object and separates the 2D graphic images for each eye. Using the existing depth information, the 3D Game Converter generates two different images — one for the foreground and one for the background.”
LG has pledged that another 50 titles will get 3D support by the end of the year, a significant addition to the existing library of 3D content. It’s something of a win-win for game developers and their customers: devs get a no-hassle way to offer 3D functionality, and customers can expand their 3D content library at no extra cost. The converter will come as part of the Optimus 3D’s new maintenance release, currently scheduled for an October release.
To their credit, LG seems to realize that for all their gimmicky fun, 3D smartphones will live or die depending on the quality of the experience they deliver. Some users will be more that happy to shoot stereoscopic video until they’re blue in the face, but that novelty will usually only last for so long. The announcement adds a bit of value to the 3D experience by making more content available, but the inevitable question is “will it be enough?”
Games are one thing, but in order to transcend their gimmick status, 3D smartphones need more applications that designed from the ground up with 3D in mind instead of just as an afterthought.