What's it like to play Gran Turismo 5 in 3D at Times Square? Meh...

We took a test drive of Gran Turismo 5 in 3D on the world's coolest stage: Times Square. But amidst the glitz and glamor of the biggest tourist trap in the world, the experience kind of fell flat.

Times Square is all decked out with promotions for the new Honda CR-Z today. To gain attention, Honda is pimping out the tourist hub of the world in a way that everyone today can appreciate: 3D.

Event staff is there handing out free t-shirts, 3D photos, red-and-blue 3D glasses, and Honda is premiering a new 3D commercial for the CR-Z. Of course we took all the swag we could but we were more interested in the big demo station for Gran Turismo 5...in 3D.

The version on display is still a demo. The game isn't finished yet, which was obvious when one of the managers there told me they were having issues with some of the tracks. They actually had to reset the game while I was playing because it was set to the wrong track. They were only letting players run through the very basic entry circuit. Oh, and every single car in the race was a Honda CR-Z (of course)...

So I didn't get to see what the full Gran Turismo 3D experience will be like, but from what I saw it was a resoundingly underwhelming experience. I've played through all of the PS3 3D gaming content available and a lot of it is highly impressive. Motorstorm blows Gran Turismo out of the water from what I've seen.

It struck me that there really isn't much to pop out of the screen. It's not like Motorstorm where you have dirt, leaves, and sand blowing into your face all the time. Also, the 3D signal to the glasses dropped out a couple times. The same thing happened to me when I went to a 3D TV viewing party for the launch of ESPN 3D, also on a Sony TV. So it leads me to think it's something with the Sony brand. I have no problems with 3D on my Samsung set at home. But I digress...

Anyway, Gran Turismo 5 is set for release on November 2 and will be one of the first full disc-based PS3 games presented entirely in 3D. I guess it deserves credit for that, but it'd be cooler if the cars threw pies at the screen or something.

Sep 23, 2010

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