Pinball in 3D is %#%%!!. A Review of the PlayStation 3D Display/Zen 2 in 3D.

[spoonman]

I ordered a PlayStation 3D Display last week.
I've been wanting one for about a year now, but the initial price ($499) was too much IMO.
When I saw it had dropped to only $199.99 I was all over it!

I heard about many of these burning out, something a out the internal PSU blowing, so I also picked up a SquareTrade 4 year warranty on sale for $20 just for piece of mind.

I was really excited to see Zen Pinball 2 now supports 3D stereoscopic video on all of their tables so of course that was the first thing I had to try.

I loaded up the Iron Man table with 3D glasses on and dodged a few laughs from my girlfriend, who said I looked like I was about to walk onto the "Game grid of TRON".

When the game started up I was underwelmed, it looked about the same as regular Zen Pinball, but darker, and blurry. Then I realized I had the power switched off on the glasses!
I switched them on and BAM!! I was in pinball heaven!

The 3D effect on the pinball tables was extremely impressive.
They had so much depth to them. The Plants Vs Zombies table was even more impressive. Perhaps becase it was designed with 3D support from the get go, where as the others were remastered to 3D.

All of his really makes
Me hope that Farsight may consider adding this to TPA some day.
It's the kind of thing that you don't think much of (especially if you don't have a 3D display), but once you see pinball in 3D you can only imagine more of it!

I'll add some more thoughs on the other tables after I try them out.

I was just so impressed by his that I had too share. has anyone else played Zen Pinball n 3D?

I hope this post isn't a mess. I'm trying to beat out a dying battery on this iPod and the text isn't formatting very well for some reason!

 

[Carl Spiby]

Shame it will do your eyes no good if you play for extended periods.

 

[mmmagnetic]

Never tried one of those 3D displays, but the 3D on Zen Pinball 3DS is easily the best thing about it. The very low resolution of the system makes playing it without 3D almost unplayable.

Same with PHOF on 3DS - it´s too dark, low resolution, low framerate and has the floaty PHOF physics, which seem to run even worse here - but man, being able to look deep into the table is just so good.

And it just make so much sense for pinball. On fast games like Mario Kart I actually get quite motion sick sometimes, but on a static screen with few moving elements, 3D looks very cool. Especially on lower angles. Top-down it´s still cool, but way less useful.

And it´s still the one reason I´d really love to see TPA on 3DS, but according to what Farsight members have posted here, the hardware is too weak for the emulation as they have it now. They said they were working on it, but I wouldn´t count on it, and really... that screen is just so incredibly low-res.

 

[bavelb]

And it just make so much sense for pinball. On fast games like Mario Kart I actually get quite motion sick sometimes, but on a static screen with few moving elements, 3D looks very cool.

The same with movies. The best immersive 3D effect sofar has still been the HUD displays on avatar when the dude talks into the "webcam".

That said I'm totally over the 3D fad. Having to wear glasses over my glasses gets old.

 

[laughing_lunatic]

has anyone else played Zen Pinball n 3D?

Hell yeah. And I love it. I just got a new 27" 3D monitor to replace the 23" 3D monitor I had and because it's with the new nVidia 3D Vision 2 technology, there's no darkening of the image with the shutter glasses running. Not only do my Imax 3D movies look phenomenal, Battlefield 3 is so real it's scary (I have the monitor hooked up to my PC as well), and yes ZP2 in 3D is truly impressive.

Probably my favorite table in 3D is Sorcerors Lair. When you go down to the basement for the minigames, the 3D effect is amazing, and makes me grin like an idiot every single time. It'll never get old.

The only table that messed with my eyes was Paranormal. I don't know if it was just a depth thing, but I found I had to knock the 3D effect all the way down to stop my eyes going boss-eyed.

Another cool moment is on Fear Itself, when Skadi flips over to launch the ball, she's SO 3 dimensional, you feel like you could reach out and touch her. VERY cool.

I thought about that 3D monitor for a while figuring that, while it had a LOT of bad reviews, for every 1 person complaining about it, there'll be hundreds that are perfectly happy. But when the price drop came, I told my buddy about it and in a couple of months, he's now on his second one. After a few weeks, his first one just refused to switch on. So I passed. I hope yours works out well though bro' and welcome to the Dark Side....

Having to wear glasses over my glasses gets old.

That doesn't bother me at all. The only thing with the first generation nVidia glasses were that they used to clamp on behind the ears with a vice grip that did get uncomfortable after a while. But the next gen glasses are very comfortable.

 

[BonzoGonzo]

just one question, what happens to the fps rate when switched to 3d? before 60fps, then 30 fps?

 

[laughing_lunatic]

just one question, what happens to the fps rate when switched to 3d? before 60fps, then 30 fps?

nope, you maintain the 60fps but switch to 720p.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/sony-ps3-3d-games-720p-20100717781.htm

 

[BonzoGonzo]

ah, ok

 

[Hinph]

Yeah, the 3D effect is realy neat for pinball even on the low resolution 3DS screen. I have yet to see it on PS3, but I imagine I would really enjoy it. I'm a fan of 3D for games and action movies, and it really doesn't hurt my eyes or give me any sort of headache. Still, I don't see myself buying a 3D television any time soon... still too damn pricey.

 

[spoonman]

just one question, what happens to the fps rate when switched to 3d? before 60fps, then 30 fps?

It's a perfect smooth frame rate either way.
The PS3 is a very capable machine so there is no compromise.

I think a lot of people are getting the wrong idea that when a developer impliments 3D into a game they are forced to drop the frame rate or reduce details, but that's not the case here.

Probably the reason you see more games such as the HD remastered games show up in 3D is because either they want to add something special to the package (Ico/SOTC, Sly Cooper, GOW, Ratchet & Clank, etc).

But then you see some powerhouse games like Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, Motorstorm Apocalypse, Batman Arkham City, WipeOut HD, and others with with 3D options, so you know that's not the case.

Still, I don't see myself buying a 3D television any time soon... still too damn pricey.

I felt the same way. I wasn't sure if I'd use the 3D enough to make it worth the cost, but at $199 I has to bite! And I'm glad I did. It has a great picture (in 2D too). Much better than my Asus and Samsung monitors from 2011.

Probably my favorite table in 3D is Sorcerors Lair. When you go down to the basement for the minigames, the 3D effect is amazing, and makes me grin like an idiot every single time. It'll never get old.

The only table that messed with my eyes was Paranormal. I don't know if it was just a depth thing, but I found I had to knock the 3D effect all the way down to stop my eyes going boss-eyed.

Another cool moment is on Fear Itself, when Skadi flips over to launch the ball, she's SO 3 dimensional, you feel like you could reach out and touch her. VERY cool.

I thought about that 3D monitor for a while figuring that, while it had a LOT of bad reviews, for every 1 person complaining about it, there'll be hundreds that are perfectly happy. But when the price drop came, I told my buddy about it and in a couple of months, he's now on his second one. After a few weeks, his first one just refused to switch on. So I passed. I hope yours works out well though bro' and welcome to the Dark Side....


That doesn't bother me at all. The only thing with the first generation nVidia glasses were that they used to clamp on behind the ears with a vice grip that did get uncomfortable after a while. But the next gen glasses are very comfortable.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely be buying more Zen tables now. In fact I'll probably buy them all.

The zombies look so cool in 3D in the Plants vs Zombies table.
They look like you could pick them up off of the table.

I hope this monitor doesn't crap out on me, but if t does I have the old warranty on stand by.

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of wearing 2 pairs of glasses, for visuals like this it's worth it. They do clamp down rather hard too. I wonder if I could buy a more comfortable set and have them work on he PS Display.

I don't think of 3D as a fad anymore. People said the same thing about color TV, HDTV, and the Rubik's Cube...well, they were right about the last one.

I enjoy some games on the 3DS. Mario Kart 7, and Super
Mario 3D Land in particular look very nice.
Glasses free 3D is nice idea, but with glasses you don't have to worry about moving your head a little and losing the effect. I'm glad you can dial down the effect on both types.

 

[djwille]

I think the 3D effect in zen pinball 2 are the best there is!
I never had a good feeling about 3D in games but this is so much beter.
Everytime i start up a table in 3D i must yell realy hard because it's so beautifull. WOW!
Good Job Zen for this option. And i hope that there a more tables coming in the near future!

 

[lqdsky]

Spoonman,

If your looking for another amazing 3d title. Look up Super Stardust HD on PSN. 5 years old and it's still one of the best shooters through PSN. Very challenging and it looks incredible in 3d.

http://www.housemarque.com/games/super-stardust-hd/

 

[laughing_lunatic]

Spoonman,

If your looking for another amazing 3d title. Look up Super Stardust HD on PSN. 5 years old and it's still one of the best shooters through PSN. Very challenging and it looks incredible in 3d.

http://www.housemarque.com/games/super-stardust-hd/

+1 It's a really cool game to start with, add 3D and it's amazing. What I particularly like is that they haven't gone overboard with the 3D effects. In fact when I played the first few times, a few minutes into the game, I thought "it's not THAT 3D-ey..." but then I switched to 2D and saw that it really was very 3D-ey, just very well done that it feels "right"...

 

[lqdsky]

Also the fact that there able to pull out a 120 frame rate for 3d mode is incredible. Very smooth experience.

 

[spoonman]

Spoonman,

If your looking for another amazing 3d title. Look up Super Stardust HD on PSN. 5 years old and it's still one of the best shooters through PSN. Very challenging and it looks incredible in 3d.

http://www.housemarque.com/games/super-stardust-hd/

Oh yeah, Super Stardust HD is one of the first digital games I bought for the PS3.

I'm trying to take my time with these games since they are pretty limited.
I don't want to play too much 3D content in one night either.

I found what looks to be the most complete list of 3D content on the PS3 here:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/07/01/stereoscopic-3d-on-ps3-updated-list-of-all-3d-games-and-movies/

I really wish Beat Hazard Ultra had a 3D option. That game has some really trippy visuals. I can only imagine how insane it would look in 3D!

Oh yeah and I just realized Super Hang-On (Sega Classics) has 3D stereoscopic video support. I love the classics!
Now if Sega would release all of the Sega Master System "Sega-Scope 3D" games on the PS3 with 3D support that would be awesome.

 

[laughing_lunatic]

Oh yeah and I just realized Super Hang-On (Sega Classics) has 3D stereoscopic video support.

Get the flying &^%$ outta here !!!!!! That's so freakin cool... I'm gettin' it... next stop: Outrun !! Yeah baby !!!!!!

 

[spoonman]

Get the flying &^%$ outta here !!!!!! That's so freakin cool... I'm gettin' it... next stop: Outrun !! Yeah baby !!!!!!

Hehe.. Oh yeah! I kind of wish M2 made all of the Sega 3D Classics with 3D options.
Even Revenge of Shinobi would look cool in 3D!

Seeing how great these games look in 3D really makes me wish The Pinball Arcade had 3D support.
Farsight obviously has the skills to do it since they already made some of them in 3D for the 3DS game. I know it could be a very long time (if ever), but I hope
this happens.

It's the kind of thing you don't give a crap about until you own a 3D display and then you crave every game to have a 3D option.
It reminds me a little of when we first bought an HDTV. We were scouring everywhere for HD media. Even crappy movies were more exciting in HD. LOL

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Why not TPA then? With cabinet view...Id rock 2 PS3's for a backglass, even it wasnt 3D wich would probably be best. 2D backglass,then you look down OMFG! 3D PINBALL.

 

[laughing_lunatic]

Why not TPA then? With cabinet view...Id rock 2 PS3's for a backglass, even it wasnt 3D wich would probably be best. 2D backglass,then you look down OMFG! 3D PINBALL.

hahahaha, OMFG indeed... do we dare dream of it ??? The castle in MM, destroyed in 3D... the lamp in ToTAN spinning wildly in 3D...

It reminds me a little of when we first bought an HDTV. We were scouring everywhere for HD media. Even crappy movies were more exciting in HD. LOL

A little off topic, but grab the Bluray of "A Christmas Carol" in 3D... it's amazing...

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/A-Christmas-Carol-3D-Blu-ray/9164/#Review

another reference quality 3D Bluray:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Tangled-3D-Blu-ray/18855/#Review

 

[J2fold]

I think Farsight hands down makes the best pinball. That being said I also think Zen Pinball 2 has given Pinball Arcade a run for the money. In my personal opinion I believe Pinball Arcade will be 3D soon and it is not that hard to do. Fantasic 4 will be epic in 3D, but I can only think how much more epic it would be to see CFTBL, Monster Bash and MM in 3D.