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Review: Pet Zombies [3DS]

By
Christopher Coke
– December 10, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, Nintendo 3DS, Reviews

Pet Zombies for the 3DS is a game twenty-somethings want to like.  Speaking, of course, of a shared history that includes Gigapets,  Pokemon, and any number of games that let you invest in virtual animals. Twenty-somethings, we popularized this whole “geek” thing, too,  so we’re probably pre-disposed to a fascination with zombies. Combine all of those elements into a morbid blend of Nintendogs, Angry Birds, and Shaun of the Dead’s humor, and you have something we can get behind. Unfortunately, Pet Zombies overstays its welcome at every turn. Worse, the game feels rushed. Still, after playing through it, there are definitely parts that I enjoyed.

Let’s start with presentation. Pet Zombies utilizes a cartoon-like art style that doesn’t seem to fit the concept. The UI, character models, and animations all seem a little bit cute. I understand why they’d go that route, since parents are more likely to buy the game for their kids. It stands at an odd contrast to other elements of the game, however. Many of the activities you can do, or do to, your zombie have a more mature sense of humor. Players can freely hold a torch to their zombie, burning them as they scream and yell like Disney characters in pain. I hoped the art style would grow on me but, with the juxtaposition of cutesy design and morbid atmosphere, I walked away still wondering what the developer’s were going for.

The game opens with a stunning use of 3D. And by that, I’m referring to the title screen. The art assets have some serious pop-out and it looks great. That said, the use of 3D in the rest of the game was modest at best. During the “main” portion of the game (we’ll get to why that’s quoted later), your zombie wanders through environments and with toys you unlock along the way. There’s a sense of depth present but the 3D isn’t used to enhance gameplay in any way. That would even be acceptable if the mini-games you spend so much time in utilized it here or there. But alas, throughout, 3D is take-it-or-leave-it at best and oh-look-it’s-not-even-on-and-I-didn’t-notice at worst.

But that’s okay as long as the gameplay is good. This is where the game stumbles worst. In the “main” section, you play with your zombie using toys, such as balls, mirrors, and laser pointers. The zombie cheerily chases them and you earn Nurture or Torture points depending on how mean you are. Unfortunately, how your zombie responds to these toys becomes repetitive quickly and you’ll yearn for the break minigames provide. These games unlock as you play and provide currency — known as Zombucks — for items, environments, and other unlocks. The first, and best, features you launching a zombie from a slingshot to collect coins. You have a magnet ability and another that let’s you keep flying for a limited time; more if you collect power-ups on the way. The problem is that this is the only available game for far too long. This is a problem for every minigame: they’re fun, but you’re forced to play them ad nauseum to continue.  If you get tired of those, you have the caretaking portion of the game, the part that became repetitive in the first hour, to keep you going.

You see where the problem is. You’ll spend most of the time playing Pet Zombies as a minigame collection rather than a pet simulator. It all adds up to a really conflicted sense of design.

All that said, I could see kids under the age of 13 having a good time with this game and it deserves points for that. It is ideal for short bursts, such as during lunch or before homework, and for someone who will come back to the game often. The minigames are fun, taken in moderation, and have the same addictive quality frequently found in mobile games. Should you buy it for Christmas morning? Probably not at the current price point. At $15, though, or for a rental, the game offers a unique twist on a classic formula.

Pros:

  • Unique concept
  • Good sense of humor
  • Good progression path
Cons:
  • Conflicted design
  • Repetitive gameplay
  • Progression takes too long
Score: 2*/5

 

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PSN Review: Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken

By
Kyle Baron
– October 19, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, PS3, Reviews, Vagary.TV

From eroding compounds to sunlight forests, the environments really pop

 

I expected Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken to be a persistently self aware artsy indie action game that banked on the game’s premise of chicken-versus-fascist-penguins to propel the comedy forward. Instead, Rocketbirds is a surprisingly methodical adventure game that touches on war crimes and light humour while busying the player with artfully composed adventure set pieces.

Originally a $10 flash game, developer Ratloop Asia’s Rocketbirds is a side scrolling adventure where you control Hardboiled, a bipedal gun wielding chicken, in a world where a fascist military regime of penguins has brought the world to its knees.

The simple controls have you firing, doing tactical rolls, occasionally taking cover, or automatically giving an enemy an uppercut if you get close. Even at its most frenetic, with enemies popping up on both sides of the screen as they often do midway through the game, the combat is a deliberately paced balancing act of you using your guns and grenades to keep enemies juggled in the air so that they can’t fire back. There are also some simple pressure plate puzzles to solve, as well as some surprisingly fun gadgets, but I really don’t want to spoil the latter here.

Soon after it appears and progresses in difficulty, group combat becomes the game’s lone gameplay fault. Enemies like to appear at both sides of the screen at once, which leaves you in an awkward spot if there’s no cover. Sure, you can spray bullets at one crowd of enemies and then the other on the opposite side of the screen, and this works fine for a while. However, the enemies will eventually clump up in groups and your bullets will end up juggling corpses instead of the live enemies standing right behind them as they ready their weapons. Even if you’re careful, you can sometimes end up being kept in the air by bullets for a little while. This results in a lot of starting over from one of the game’s generous checkpoints in order to figuratively bang your head against a wall until something works.

Wait, why is that guy on the bottom about to cap his buddy?

Thankfully, the jetpack combat sequences, introduced by Hardboiled saying “time for some jetpaction,” are free from any frustrations. It has a sort of aerial dogfighting feel to it, with you and several airborne penguins doing loops and killing your throttle in order to get on each others’ tails and send feathers flying off into the clouds with a spray of bullets. Oh, and you can also lead anti-air rockets back into the peop…I mean, penguins who fired them.

In fact, the game isn’t really about penguins and chickens at all. Through some overheard dialogue and the game’s several wordless cutscenes drenched in stylish chiptune-indie rock, the game expounds on Hardboiled’s background and motiviations. Child soldiers, genocide, hope, and loss of innocence all lie subtly in the undergrowth of themes that make the game more than just a ubiquitous revenge tale.

While it works perfectly in the game’s many cutscenes, a lot of the in-game tracks don’t quite fit. Sure, the Atari-era chip tune techno and catchy guitar riffs work, but once you start listening to the lyrics you’ll wonder why a song about relationships is playing while you’re sending the blood of enemies careening into walls at the ends of a shotgun’s buckshot.

The excellent cutscenes aren’t the only thing Rocketbird has going for it beyond the combat – the art direction is hard to ignore. Although the game is played from a side-scrolling perspective, the environments have a fantastic amount of depth and rich colour to them even in the darkest corners of the game world; sun drenched mossy trees, rainy night-time airbase raids, and blood and rot stained detention centres are a few of the visual treats you’ll tromp and blast your way through. A lot of the environments have backgrounds that pitch left and right as you walk across the screen, which creates a great sense of depth.

Speaking of depth, anyone with 3D glasses will be pleasantly surprised to see how well Rocketbirds executes on the technology. I played through the entire three hour co-op campaign in 3D and I wouldn’t want to play it again in any other way. The rich colours and depth really popped out in a pervasive and unobtrusive way, something that only Shadow of the Colossus has done for me.

The single player environments get recycled, but co-op is still worth your time

Co-op sets you and a buddy out on a rescue mission through a handful of recycled single player levels with some extra puzzles thrown in. The real difference lies in you and your buddy, playing as Vietnam-era soldier budgies (no, I’m not joking), overcoming the limitations of your size. You’re both short and you can’t roll around with the same speed of Hardboiled, so you’ll have to piggyback on each others’ shoulders to fire over certain pieces of cover, reach high up ledges, and solve puzzles.

Sadly, the co-op campaign doesn’t receive the same treatment as single player as far as cutscenes go. I’m aware of how odd it seems to be lamenting the absence of cutscenes in a game where you, y’know, play, but that’s only because they were such an integral and well-done part of the single player game.

Despite some minor combat frustrations, Rocketbirds is easily one of the most satisfying downloadable experiences I’ve had on the PSN in a while. I still have the game’s music in my head as I’m writing this, and I still pop in and replay a level or two to soak in the game’s lovingly handled juxtaposition of fart jokes and contemporary themes. Gamers who download this PSN exclusive while expecting a frenetic twitch-fest or an unimaginative cheap-laugh will be pleasantly surprised by a tenderly crafted world and some competent action not often found in something that used to be a played in a browser.

4/5

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NVIDIA 3D Vision & Super Street Fighter® IV Arcade Edition

By
Ryan Kenward
– August 8, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, Reviews

A few months ago, Capcom released another incarnation of Street Fighter IV on the PC/PS3 and XBox 360. They also launched Super Street Fighter IV: 3D edition on the 3DS, which I previously reviewed here. If there is one thing that we learned from the 3DS version of the game, 3D works well with Street Fighter. I recently had a chance to check out SSFIV the Arcade Edition on my PC that’s equipped with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision.

The first thing I noticed, was the 3D wasn’t looking too hot; however, there was a solution. You need to have the latest beta drivers from NVIDIA. This makes everything much more polished. (Download NVIDIA Drivers, 280.19 BETA here) Once that was out of the way, I was able to get a little further into the game. One issue that I wish would be resolved is the lack of 3D menus, health meters, and combo meters. The 2D on 3D can be a little hard on the eyes. If you can learn to ignore it then you will find yourself immersed in a beautiful 3D environment.

Character models, backgrounds, and special moves look awesome in 3D. The pre-fight cut scenes are also in 3D but the story cut scenes in arcade mode are not. A very big difference between the 3DS version and playing with 3D vision are the backgrounds during the fights. On the 3DS, the characters and other objects in the background do not move at all which looks odd, to say the least. In the PC version with 3D vision, the levels come to life and actually visually enhance the game a tremendous amount – much more than they do in 2D.

Overall, the parts that are in 3D are another fantastic example of the power 3D vision has; the parts in 2D can result in some unfortunate eye strain. Hopefully these issues are addressed in future patches. One thing that remained a constant truth for me was, whether it’s 2D or 3D, I really suck at Street Fighter against human opponents.

Ryan – Over and out!

3D Vision equipment provided for Vagary.TV by NVIDIA, to find out the system requirements to run 3D vision please check this link 3D Vision Requirements.

Review System Specs
Processor: Intel i7 960 Over clocked @ 3.53 GHz
Memory: 8 GB Corsair LP DDR3 1600
GPU: eVGA GTX 570 (Provided by NVIDIA) Over clocked System Core: 875 MHz / Shader Clock: 1750 MHz / Memory Clock: 1900 MHz
OS: Windows 7 Home Edition

Disclaimer: Over clocking can be dangerous to your PC Components, prior to attempting any over clocking we strongly suggest doing your home work! Ensure you have an adequate power supply as a first step!

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The 3D Review: Audiosurf and The Witcher 2

By
Christopher Coke
– June 21, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, PC, Reviews

In perhaps one of the most disparate game pairings ever seen, this week’s 3D Review has a lot of ground to cover. It has been a while since our last update and – like any good 3D enthusiast – I have been spending my time dropped into an Ultra-HD™ paradise. Up for review this week are: Audiosurf and The Witcher 2.

A note of caution: Not all of the games included in this series were designed with 3D in mind, so take care to note that our scores are strictly for 3D enhanced experiences.

Audiosurf

3D Rating: 7/10 – fantastic 3D gameplay, but held back by convergence issues in menus

Recommendation:  Turn off 3D during menu navigation

Audiosurf is an interesting title. It is part rhythm game, part track racer, and part MP3 player, all wrapped in a psychedelic package Jerry Garcia would proudly have stamped on a t-shirt. In short, if hippies had made Guitar Hero and forgot to add the guitar, you’d have an inkling of what it’s like to play Audiosurf.

When I first booted up the game I was dismayed. The menus are obviously not designed for 3D and, since we’re the minority, that’s okay). Convergence issues abound and I found myself simply turning the 3D off any time I had to use them. I would advise you do the same, lest a headache drop in and wreck the party.

Thankfully, the core game-play functions flawlessly with nVidia’s 3D Vision and the experience of playing it is one of the defining experiences on the hardware. Tracks are rendered with great depth, which makes them feel more “rollercoaster” than “road.” The variety in game-play adds unique abilities and interface elements that also render fantastically. Players can choose the level of difficulty and puzzle complexity with their choice of several cartoon-like characters before beginning the song. The barrier to entry remains low, however, asking only that the player enjoy music and have a desire to experience it in a new way.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

3D Rating: 9/10  – The Witcher 2 pairs an amazing art sensibility with an extraordinary use of 3D. nVidia worked closely with CD Projekt Red to ensure the game looked and played fantastic. Despite some early hiccups in performance, the game now runs smoothly.

Recommendation: The Witcher 2 is an expansive and enthralling RPG. In it, you step into the shoes of Geralt of Rivia and embark on an epic journey that sees your choices directly shaping the world around you. Geralt is a rough soldier of the monster-slaying persuasion and, as the name implies, finds himself embroiled in political intrigue from the very first moments of the game. The action is tight and satisfying, and is a great improvement over the original’s timed-click approach. Players can look forward to extensive character customization, as well, through a skill-tree system that, by and large, provides a noticeable impact for each point invested. Though the journey is shorter than the original — I beat my first play through in just over 26 hours — it is a satisfying jaunt through one of the most well-realized game worlds in modern roleplaying games.

As a 3D experience, the game makes excellent and varied use of its third dimension. I noticed very minor ghosting issues near certain light sources (such as the torches in the game’s many dungeons), yet the game is surprisingly free from the shadow-issues that plague the technology in so many other games. While the greatest use of 3D is in providing the familiar and well-embraced sense of depth, players will also experience pop-out intermittently on their adventure — sometimes profound and other times very subtle, such as the falling of autumnal leaves.

Some users have reported issues with indoor frame-rates while using 3D Vision. While updating to the latest drivers fixed this issue for me, another work around is to either uninstall 3D Vision while playing through the game, or less detrimental to the multi-gamerous among us (yes, I made that up), you can simply end the stereoscopic vision service in the Windows Task Manager.

Parting Thoughts:

As I play through my bevy of 3D games, I am reminded of why I first got excited to add an extra dimension to video gaming. It, without a doubt, takes the experience to the next level. I am also reminded of how new and yet-to-be embraced this technology still is. It is fantastic but developers are still working to iron out the kinks and get rid of issues that are all too commonplace: Ghosting, Lag, Consistent Convergence and Depth.

Yet for all of the hiccups along the way, there is no way I would trade these experiences for faster or shinier 2D. None. When I play games, I am in it for the immersion. Sometimes that is game-play, or story, or even just colorful graphics. 3D enhances all of that – even bad 3D – which is really a testament to how much potential it really has. At the end of the day, it makes you wonder whether Hollywood had it wrong to bring the third dimension to movies first. Comparatively, 3D gaming wins every time, no contest.

Requests? Questions, comments, suggestions? Email them to Christopher.Coke@vagary.tv and participate in the column!

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Portal 2 – PC Review

By
Christopher Coke
– June 14, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, PC, Reviews

Note: This review is specifically for the PC version of Portal 2 and should not represent any other system.

Portal 2 is an interesting beast. Having never played a Portal game before I went into this one not knowing exactly what to expect. Would I be lost in the story? Would the puzzles be too hard? One might be tempted to look at it like any other first-person game, but that would be a mistake. Portal 2 is a game like no other. It is a puzzler, true, but it is also a piece of interactive fiction. It is a thinking man’s game and a game for the non-gamer. Portal 2, quite simply, is an experience that should not be missed.

Graphics and 3D

If I told you that Portal runs on the same engine as Half-Life 2, you probably would not believe me, but it is true. Valve has been iterating on it is engine, over and over again through the years, updating the look and shine, all while keeping the most necessary elements familiar and enticing.

The effort the Steam Team has put into revolutionizing Source is evident. The game simply looks amazing. High quality textures realize expansive and varied environments. The smallest test chamber looks as good as the biggest, and somehow lake-holding, open-air chamber. Valve has taken special care to give plenty of treats to the more observant gamer, so you are rewarded for looking for even the smallest of details. Character models and animations are top-notch for the platform, yet maintain the stylized charm that characterizes Valve games.

If you have nVidia 3D Vision, you are in for a treat. The game was designed from the ground up with 3D in mind and it shows. The Ultra-HD effect we often mention here is in full swing. I caught myself several times sitting over just how detailed the portal gun is. The use of depth is great and really draws you into the experience. When you are climbing from platform to platform, ever higher above a deep and muddy lake, you feel the sense of height when you look down. You do not want to fall because you are worried about losing your progress; no, you don’t want to fall because damn it is a long way down.

This is, simply put, one of the best examples of 3D you will find. Bravo Valve and nVidia. Job well done.

Gameplay

This is one of the most outside-the-box puzzle games you will ever play. Portal 2 moves from chamber to chamber (some small, some huge, all sectioned off) where you will be challenged with getting to the exit. Everything is driven by story, however, and some great voice work leads on a suspenseful journey from the labyrinthine underground testing facility towards the surface; friends become enemies, enemies become friends, and you will feel totally and completely immersed in the experience by the time you are done.

The game’s main tool is the portal gun. With it, you can shoot an orange and a blue portal, which allows you to step into one and out the other. High up platform? Put a portal through the wall it is attached to, another in the floor beneath your feet, and instantly you are falling… out onto that high platform. The game structures these challenges to get progressively more difficult, but I never felt frustrated. Any time I failed, it was because I was over-thinking it. That is not to say the design is simplistic or without challenge. On the contrary, there is some truly excellent game design here, and I always walked away from each puzzle with the satisfaction that I had “gotten it.” Portal 2 hits that special sweet spot so many games aim for.

As you progress, more tools are added into the equation. You will get leaky pipes spouting blue bounce gel or orange slime that gives you super-speed. You’ll even find pipes spouting white gel that allows you put portals where you might not otherwise be able. The challenge comes in strategically coating the environment with just the right combination of gels, which often involved using portals to spread the love.

The combination of story and unique game play makes Portal 2 a great addition to the franchise.

Oh, and I tried it with both an Xbox 360 controller and a mouse and keyboard. Stick with mouse and keyboard. There is a subtle dead zone in the controller that removes some of the precision you will cherish in the more complex puzzles.

Room For Improvement?

However, no game is perfect and Portal 2 has it is own set of flaws. Sometimes the perspective changes when hopping through portals can be extremely disorienting. I can appreciate the skill it takes to perfectly place a blue portal as you are flipping and falling through the air but at times it went so far as to induce motion sickness – a common complaint against the series. In these situations, I had to turn 3D completely off. Yes, even 3D can be too good at times.

The game also seemed to drag a bit in the later half. By the time I was scrambling through the game’s most massive environments, I was ready to move on – enjoying the depth and enormity of the puzzles, but ready to move on nonetheless. There is a big twist in the middle, which is great, but the suspense seems to taper off as you’re lead from close off location to closed off location. The ending is great, by the way, but I won’t spoil it for you here.

Final Thoughts

As someone who never played a portal game before, I had my reservations going into this one. I expected to be lost in the story and, even worse, I feared that so much of the wonder people exuded when talking about the original would be lost on me. I will admit it; I doubted the concept, the simplicity of it is the great deceiver. I was wrong.

Getting in there banished my fears and replaced them with dreams of orange and blue portals.  I started to think in portals, strategize with blue and orange and white goo, plot of precise laser trajectories. Before the end, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. All this in no small part brought to fruition by the power of 3D technology.

Portal 2 – 4 Stars

Summary: A wonderful experience that is ready to expand the franchise into the full-game experience. Newcomers need not be afraid. Though the game is simple in concept, it weaves an entertaining narrative brought to life with great graphics and intricate level design. The game tends to drag in the middle and may cause motion sickness in those susceptible to it. Even with those issues, this is an easy recommendation to any PC gamer.

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The 3D Review: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Dirt 2

By
Christopher Coke
– April 28, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, PC, Reviews

The 3D Review is a weekly (or more) column that delves the depths of 3D gaming. Whether it’s on the 3DS or 3DTV, or nVidia’s 3D Vision, we’ve got you covered with the 3D breakdowns you need to game your best.

Here’s the thing: 3D kind be kind of gimmicky. You’re probably used to it by now. You go into an IMAX theater and find yourself looking silly-in-public just so you can see some virtual paint blobs float in front of your eyes. Done it once, done it a million times. Not so with 3D gaming.

3D is a revolution in every part of gaming today. No matter if you own a console, a computer, or even a handheld, the tech gods have pronounced that “3D Cometh” and developers should start baking it into their games. Sometimes you get something that feels gimmicky; other times, most times, not. Instead you get depth. You get the “ultra-HD effect,” which makes many games look “more HD than HD.”  This is all because 3D technology tricks you into believing that  the screen is not that; that instead of something being rendered, you have events unfolding, just beyond that, quite literal, fourth wall.

Vagary is prepared to give you best-in-class 3D coverage on every platform. Today we’re going to be looking at a couple of PC games seen through the sharp-looking-yet-strangely-too-large-for-my-head nVidia 3D vision.

These games are Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Dirt 2. Two venerable franchises each with newly released (or soon to be released *cough* Dirt 3 *cough*) sequels on the cutting edge of our budget restraints. NFS and D2 both come cheap at less than $30 each and half that if you can catch a sale. They make for perfect candidates for our inaugural edition.

Note that this column is not for full-game reviews, like some of our other pieces. Here we’re going to focus solely on our three dimensions.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Racing games look great in 3D. Let me just state that, flat out: Racing games are by and large made immensely better with the help of nVidia’s 3D Vision Kit. The depth in NFS is great and it amplifies the feeling of speed to a great degree. There’s some very immersive pop-out during rainy races, as well. I should note that the game was pretty finicky for me in getting the depth and convergence just right.  I had to play with mine quite a bit to find a comfortable balance between race perspective and menu/car selection screens.

While the game looks great in 3D, it suffers from several issues. Like many titles, shadows can cause ghosting. Ambient Occlusion is also a likely culprit for this effect, so you’re probably best turning both of these to their lowest settings. Reflections and lighting effects, such as your flashers against garage walls, are also a little wacky and don’t seem to have the right depth compared to everything else in a scene. Unfortunately, night time races only highlight these issues to the point of near unplayability. Be sure to note that these effects can be reduced or eliminated by turning the depth meter all the way to LOW.

Dirt 2

You know what’s pretty great? When this game released, it was plagued by 3D issues. Ghosting was horrible. Depths were all off. It was safely rated low on the 3D recommendation scale.  Patches came in, however, and fixed almost all of these issues and the result is one of the most immersive racing experiences available today.

Now I realize that the Dirt series isn’t about simulation, so much as it is about arcade-style racing, but if ever there was a game that touted a “window effect,” this was it. The depth and clarity of focus are simply stunning. It is a game that, without exaggeration, can easily make you feel like you’re there, behind the wheel of that car. For the first time ever, I played through a whole set of races solely in cockpit mode, just to get more into it.

Like NFS: Hot Pursuit, however, it also suffers from ghosting, though not nearly as severely. I’ve found that I can eliminate most, if not all, of it by turning shadows to LOW and ambient occlusion to OFF. I usually keep my depth on HIGH and my convergence on LOW. There are also isolated incidences where dust particles seem 2D, especially on dusty tracks.

Overall, Dirt 2 is a must-have title for anyone who wants to see what 3D Vision is really capable of.

Final Note

Like many of you, I’m beginning my adventures in 3D this year. I won’t promise to know every hidden gem of a game, or every setting for the best looks, but I will promise to learn with you and share in that growth together. One thing is for sure: The potential of this technology is mind-blowing. As a former skeptic myself, I can honestly say that I didn’t know what I was missing.

Stay tuned over the coming weeks to learn about more great, and not so great, 3D games. We’ll be publishing once or more every week to bring you the best in 3D gaming. See you next week!

Have a recommendation for a game I should try? Send it to Christopher.Coke@vagary.tv or leave a comment below!

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First Impressions: nVidia 3D Vision and RIFT

By
Christopher Coke
– April 5, 2011Posted in: 3D Gaming, Blogs, Chris' Blog

Wow! Am I glad to be back. It’s weird not blogging for a big stretch of time after you’ve been at it for a few years. But, here I am and it’s good to be home.

Now for the big news. I didn’t want to say anything until it arrived, but I was lucky enough to get the first of several 3D Vision kits nVidia is sending over to Vagary TV. This is part of the reason I’ve been gone for so long –  and not a small one, either. I’ve been following this technology for a long time. A couple years, at least. So when Ryan (whom you might remember from such About pages as this one!) called me from PAX East to tell me he’d gotten an interview with nVidia, and then called later to tell me they’d offered to get us “3D ready,” to say I was excited would be an understatement. If there’s one thing I geek out over, it’s upgrading my computer. Chalk it up to a hardware limited childhood. Anyways, over the next week and a half, I emailed back and forth with their marketing lead to get everything set up. All told, they sent over a stock 580 GTX (not branded, straight from nVidia), a new 23″ 3D-ready monitor, and the 3D Vision kit, which consists of the shutter glasses, IR emitter, and cables.

Probably the biggest question I’ve been asked is “why?” That’s a pretty good question. Vagary is up and coming, growing more every day, but we’re still no IGN or Kotaku. This is a grass roots operation and anything we do, we do on our own as volunteers. What it comes down to, I think, is that nVidia really just wants to get the word out about how awesome this technology is — and it IS awesome — and realize that word of mouth is a great way to do it. They didn’t put any conditions on us. No “you must say glowing things” or “this hardware must be returned by X date.” It’s simply: when you get 3D games, write about them. Very fair and something I’m definitely willing to do.

So how is it? Hands down, this is the single best 3D experience I’ve ever had. 3D monitors tend to be 1080p and that high resolution makes IMAX look archaic. I’m not exaggerating when I say that some games, like Dragon Age: Origins, look more HD than HD. Games most often utilize the 3D to add depth to the environment, so playing them is more akin to looking through a window than viewing a monitor. Then comes something comes along that surprises you: pop-out. It’s not gaudy or gimmicky. I’ve yet to have something fly at me. What I have had happen is pop out adding to the depth effect. For example, I was running around in Scarwood Reach this weekend, happily questing, when a falling cotton floated right in front of my eyes. I mean literally – it made me jump back a little bit. But, then, it’s expected. Instead of playing the game by looking through the camera, you are the camera. After seeing what depth can add to games — even those that aren’t designed for it — I’m excited to see those that ARE. There’s some great potential here.

I can’t say everything is perfect and ready to roll right out of the box. In a lot of cases, it is ready, but the thing is, not all games are designed for 3D and that can cause some issues. LotRO, for example, renders the sky in 2D and the rest of the game in 3D. What that means is real terms is the sky is flat. Where the landscape goes on to the horizon, the sky is a close swatch of color and wisp. It’s not bad, per se, but a little disconcerting. Thankfully, nVidia has compiled a list of over 350 games that work great and there are many others not included. The drivers will try to render just about anything in 3D. So, if you’d like to play a game not included on that list, there’s a good chance you can make it look good just by playing with the wide array of settings. Then there’s the simple fact that people’s eyes, and how they experience 3D, are different. To accommodate the wide array of potential users, the IR emitter has a depth wheel so you can adjust how prevalent the effect is right down to nothing. There’s also a bevy of other settings you can tweak and save for each game.

Here’s another cool thing: Have a 3D-Ready TV? nVidia’s 3D kit will work with that as well through a handy “3D Sync In” port on the emitter.

Since RIFT if my game of choice right now, I’ve spent the most time playing with that (though I’ve tried it in at least a half dozen games since Friday). At first I was disappointed; the game pretty much had two planes: the UI and the game world. And for some reason where I would SEE the mouse pointer was actually about an inch to the left of where it was actually pointing. A little digging found this thread, however, and I got it going pretty quick. Apparently, RIFT shares the same .exe title as another game from the late-nineties and applies those settings to our 2011 MMO. After the tweaks, the change is breathtaking. (It’s also worth noting that this is the only game I’ve heard of this happening with. Every other game I tried worked great, right from the start).

Imagine Telara as existing within an aquarium. You’re looking in through the side panel and while you’re playing the rest of the room goes dark. All the sudden, you can look up through the glass side and see that the top, where you should be seeing an air filter or glass ceiling, actually extends miles into the air breaking into a beautifully distant sky. The horizon, which should end feet before your nose actually goes on. You can feel the distance. That mountain cat on the far rise really feels far. Not far as in “that cat is small” far, but far like “I’m walking to the corner store.” The inside of every porticulum looks like liquid, swirling and bubbly. And just as you’re leaning in, getting as close to that world as you can, something surprises you by reaching out and stopping just before your face. Sometimes it’s a fluff of cotton or a falling leaf. Sometimes it’s a spell effect. But every time, it feels like that glass wall has disappeared and part of you is actually there. That’s the beauty of the technology. In the same way the glasses trick your eyes into making two images one, the added dimensions trick you into feeling like you’re in a real place.

Some of you might have gotten the Nintendo 3DS. Let me use that for comparison. Take that depth, that resolution, that immersion and multiply it three-fold. At least. THAT is nVidia 3D Vision.

Right now the kit goes for $150 and will work with any 120Hz monitor. If you have the chance, I definitely recommend picking it up. Stay tuned for a full review when out Managing Editor gets his unit. We’re going to do a dual review to give the best perspective.