And a Surprise Ally Emerges…But I Don’t Welcome Him!

A while back one of my favorite web reviewers made a rant against 3D in movies, about having to pay the extra ticket surcharge, the discomfort of having to wear cursed glasses, and the fact that a well known movie series (all SIX parts of it) are going to be re-released AGAIN, but this time in 3D. As if the Special Editions didn’t ruin the original trilogy to begin with. In his rants, he summed up 3D perfectly, putting the crappy 3D glasses on, pausing for a few seconds, and yelled out two words…"(CENSORED) 3D!"

I couldn’t agree more. But I would add one more factor to the attack on 3D…the fact that some theaters are FORCING moviegoers to purchase tickets to a 3D showing despite also showing the same movie in 2D. I had that issue happen to me twice, with Tron Legacy last Christmas and Thor earlier this summer. It seems that everyone wants to force feed 3D down my throat, and I am still resisting.

But it looks like finally there are others who are joining me. Apparently not many people wanted to get their hands on the Nintendo 3DS, despite not being forced to wear glasses while playing.

Still, even without wearing glasses the system did leave me cross-eyed, but that’s a different story. Either way, the sales have been so weak for the 3DS that Nintendo actually did the unthinkable, cutting the price by almost a third from $250 to $170! Even more, and this came as a surprise to me, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is taking a 50 percent pay cut, and both Old Bug Eyes Miyamoto and Shinji Hatano will take 30 percent cuts. Other execs will also take pay cuts of 20 percent. I am quite impressed that Nintendo is taking responsibility for the 3DS’ poor launch this way. It proves to them that money isn’t everything, especially when it comes to 3D.

But just after this announcement came out, I read something else that shocked me even more, that a certain chief executive notorious for finding ways to make money is actually speaking out against 3D, and even making what normally sounds like a BS claim from him that "we are here to react to what customers want."

This coming from a guy whose track record, or rap sheet as I like to call it, consists of the following:

Stabbing Dreamcast owners in the back by not supporting their system.

Making false claims in their ads by saying certain games (i.e. Dead Space 2) are PlayStation 3 exclusives

"Project Ten Dollar"

And most recently the "$25 Sports Season Ticket."

Yes I’m talking about one John Riccitello from Electronic Arts. At first I was surprised to see him voice his opinion and take a stance against 3D, and that there might be some glimmer of hope that someone that I consider one of the "public enemies" of the gaming industry (aside from Bobby Kotick and Christian Svennson, of course) might have a change of heart to appease the gamers out there.

That was, until I read more on what he said about his stance against 3D. "We see really high returns in these markets," referring to mobile, social, and online gaming, "and very poor returns focusing on 3D, so we are allocating resources toward new innovations." What innovation? I haven’t seen any innovation from EA in a long time. I still fear with your PopCap acquisition we will be getting Plants vs. Zombies 2012 next year.

Granted John, I’m happy you are not backing up 3D, but I know your track record way too well. I don’t trust you enough to welcome you to the anti-3D group that I am a part of. Matter of fact, it would be easier if you just posted your comment this way…

"The dollar we spend on a 3D game is one less dollar we spend on our online or false PS3 exclusive marketing strategy." Sound familiar? You still have a long way to go if you want to earn my respect, but at least not supporting 3D technology is a start.

Currently Playing: Oblivion 5th Anniversary Edition (360)

Waiting For: Deus Ex 3 (360)