Gaming Giant Ubisoft Forsees a 50% Marketshare For 3D By 2012!!

You read that right! Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, spoke the company line during a conference call this week and said that he expects 15-20% of gaming titles will adopt 3D in 2011 and 50% in 2012!

Personally I believe he is bang on. With Sony's Playstation going 3D (looks like KILLZONE 3 will be S3D!), Nintendo coming out with their "no 3D glasses required" 3DS by March 2011 (more info here) and NVIDIA excelling with their 3D Vision technology for the PC, we are witnessing a 3D gaming renaissance.

I can't get enough of it really. I run NVIDIA's setup here in my office and it rocks! Every new title seems to better the previous one as developers master new techniques and start to envision in 3D what will happen on screen for gamers. You have got to try it!!

S3DHD Gamers Rejoice! NVIDIA Bringing 3D Gaming To Panasonic 3DTVs

Jim here. NVIDIA announced today a partnership with Panasonic and will be joining the "Panasonic Touch the Future Tour" to show off the graphics card maker's new 3DTV Play - a software solution that allows consumers to connect their new S3DHD TVs to compatible GeForce powered computers. Of course, Panasonic just launched their lineup of new VIERA 3DTVs this month.

So what does this mean to consumers? It means you have the power and versatility of S3DHD PC gaming on much larger screens. Further, the active shutter glasses that come with each VIERA 3DTV also works with NVIDIA's GPUs.

Take a look at the features (coming later this spring):
• Can be run on GeForce GPU-based desktop or notebook PCs equipped with an HDMI or DVI connector
• Full support for all HDMI 1.4-compatible 3D TVs, including Panasonic VIERA Plasma full HD 3D TVs
• Enables 1080p24, 720p60, and 720p50 3D formats
• Advanced NVIDIA software and graphics drivers automatically convert more than 400 games to stereoscopic 3D in real time, without the need for special patches.
• Enjoy full HD Blu-ray 3D playback with real-time GPU accelerated decoding and playback on GeForce GPUsi
• Watch streaming 3D movies
• View 3D photographs directly on the 3D TV
• NVIDIA 3DTV Play software will be available later this spring and sold separately with an anticipated U.S. MSRP of $39.99. It will also be available for free for current NVIDIA 3D Vision™ customers.

“NVIDIA is all about raising the bar of PC gaming, and gamers are going to love playing in 3D on one of the new Panasonic VIERA 50-inch full HD 3D TVs,” said Phil Eisler, general manager of 3D Vision technology at NVIDIA. “This is truly one of those ‘must experience to believe it’ moments, and we are ecstatic that consumers will have the chance to try it for themselves on any of our 15 stops across the US.”

Want to try all this excitement first hand? You can! Check out these tour cities and dates and make it on your calendar:
Tour dates and locations are:
3/15 - 3/17 New York, Penn Pavilion, 401 7th Ave at 33rd St
3/15 - 3/17 Chicago, Tribune 445, 445 S. Michigan Avenue
3/15 - 3/17 Los Angeles, Hollywood and Highland, 801 Hollywood Boulevard
3/20 - 3/22 Boston, Copley Place, 2 Copley Place
3/22 - 3/24 Detroit, Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway
3/22 - 3/24 Scottsdale, Fashion Square Mall, 7014 East Camelback Road
3/25 - 3/27 Philadelphia, King of Prussia Mall, North Gulph Road
3/29 - 3/31 Minneapolis, IDS Tower, 80 8th Street South
3/29 - 3/31 San Francisco, One Market Plaza, 1 Market Street
3/31 - 4/2 Washington, Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave, NE
4/6 - 4/8 Dallas, Grapevine Mills Mall, 3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway
4/6 - 4/8 Seattle, Top of the Market, 93 Pike Street, Suite 307
4/7 - 4/9 Atlanta, 595 North, 595 North Ave, NW Atlanta
4/12 - 4/14 Houston, The Warehouse, 4108 Dupont Street
4/15 - 4/17 Miami, Ice Palace, 59 Northwest 14th Street

Want another reason to go? You will have a chance to win a complete Panasonic full HD 3D home theater system—featuring a Panasonic VIERA® 50” full HD 3D TV, a Panasonic 3D Blu-ray Disc player, and a pair of Panasonic 3D Eyewear. One of these systems will be given away at EACH market listed above! If that isn't motivation I don't know what is. After you come back from the event, let me know what you think!

NVIDIA is a sponsor of MarketSaw

METRO 2033 To Support NVIDIA's 3D Vision, DX11 !!

Jim here. THQ and NVIDIA have announced that METRO 2033 will be supported by the graphics card maker's 3D Vision technology. Further, PhysX will also be featured.

METRO 2033 is a first person shooter that will make use of the most advanced DirectX 11 techniques ever seen.

Click images to zoom.

"Our engineers have been working closely with 4A Games to ensure that Metro 2033 takes full advantage of some of the spectacular effects made possible with the next generation of DX11 hardware," said Tony Tamasi, SVP, Content & Technology at NVIDIA. "The 4A Engine is one of the most advanced game engines we’ve ever worked with, and with DX11 enabled, Metro 2033 is undoubtedly one of the best looking PC games of 2010. Combine this with NVIDIA 3D Vision and PhysX and you will experience mind-blowing visuals."

The METRO 2033 video game is set in the shattered subway of a post apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is a story of intensive underground survival where the fate of mankind rests in your hands.

In 2013, the world was devastated by an apocalyptic event, annihilating almost all mankind and turning the earth’s surface into a poisonous wasteland. A handful of survivors took refuge in the depths of the Moscow underground, and human civilization entered a new Dark Age.

The year is 2033. An entire generation has been born and raised underground, and their besieged Metro Station-Cities struggle for survival, with each other, and the mutant horrors that await outside.

You are Artyom, born in the last days before the fire, but raised Underground. Having never ventured beyond your Metro Station-City limits, one fateful event sparks a desperate mission to the heart of the Metro system, to warn the remnants of mankind of a terrible impending threat. Your journey takes you from the forgotten catacombs beneath the subway to the desolate wastelands above, where your actions will determine the fate of mankind.

Man, this sounds like a ton o' fun. I will be definitely checking this out with my 3D Vision system the second it is out.

Look for METRO 2033 in PC and Xbox 360 formats on March 16 in North America and Germany, March 18 in Australia and March 19 for the UK and Europe.