3D Summit wrapped up last week and everything seems to have ended on a positive note. Everyone should have known that the big consumer concern would be, ‘how long am I going to have to keep wearing these funny looking glasses’.  Did you go to the 3D gaming Summit? or are you waiting for e3 or Siggraph to get your tech on? Let us know in the comments below!

(Los Angeles, CA and Milford, CT; April 29, 2010) – There’s no doubt about it, 3D is coming to the game world! That was the clear message at last week’s inaugural 3D Gaming Summit™, produced by The Bob Dowling Group and Unicomm and presented in association with Variety on April 21-22 at the Los Angeles Hilton in Universal City, CA.

Offering a top level roster of industry leaders, including keynotes by Avatar Producer Jon Landau; Resident Evil Director/Producer Paul W.S. Anderson; Phil Eisler, General Manager of 3D Vision, Nvidia, and Josh Greer, President and Co-Founder, RealD, the 3D Gaming Summit defined the impact of stereoscopic 3D on the gaming industry and identified the opportunities and challenges attendant to this technological phenomenon. A premier group of game industry executives, technologists, business strategists, financial analysts, game developers, retail buyers, game enthusiasts, and media explored the impact of 3D on the gaming industry.

In fact, Michael Pachter, research analyst at Wedbush Securities, opined that 3D games will grow into “a $20 billion dollar market within the next decade, dominating and defining the entertainment industry.”

“As the 3D Gaming market accelerates the 3D Gaming Summit will lead the industry thought leaders through the landscape of opportunities and challenges as the industry’s de facto event,” said John Golicz, CEO of event organizer Unicomm. “We’re pleased that the high level of networking we provided at the Summit is helping to create 3D deal making.”

Summit co-producer Bob Dowling, former editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter for almost two decades, said “After listening to the brightest minds in the gaming industry over the course of the Summit, I’m convinced that games and sports broadcasts presented in 3D will drive consumer interest across the entire entertainment landscape. Fans of both are already saying, ‘This is amazing, I want it.’ And that consumer curiosity and desire will ignite the industry at large.”

“Variety is excited to be a partner in the 3D Gaming Summit,” said Linda Buckley Bruno, Variety’s Publishing Director. “Stereoscopic 3D has revolutionized the theatrical industry and is now poised to advance the world of video games. Variety wants to be on the ground floor of any changes in the entertainment industry, helping navigate readers through all future transformations.”

Of particular interest was a presentation by Michael Cai, VP, Research, Videogames at Interpret, LLC. One of the most talked about revelations from the company’s survey of 1500 Americans about 3D was a level of confusion over 3D and some resistance to the adoption of 3D eyewear. The 3D glasses dilemma was raised by many panelists and was cited as the number one challenge to 3D adoption by attendees in an interactive conversation with conference organizers.

But Avatar producer Jon Landau addressed this challenge head on when he confidently predicted that entertainment marketers would rise to the occasion on the eyewear challenge.

“Many of us wear glasses all the time,” said Landau in his keynote interview with event Co-Producer Bob Dowling. “Whether it’s reading glasses or sunglasses, eyewear is a normal part of our lives. We just need to be creative in how we make 3D eyewear a fun part of the experience. Perhaps there could be access codes embedded in the glasses that allow the viewer to enjoy additional content. Smart people will come up with innovative ways to convert what is now a challenge into an asset.”

The importance of industry standardization, specifically in the areas of transmission and eyewear, was another central theme of the Summit and was a major agenda item at a meeting of the non-profit S-3D Gaming Alliance (S3DGA), convened within the Summit schedule.

According to John Gaudiosi, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of videogame syndication service Gamerlive.TV and Senior Content Advisor for the 3D Gaming Summit, “Entertainment leaders and technologists attending our event agreed that while there are clearly hurdles remaining in encouraging consumers to upgrade their high definition home entertainment centers to 3D, videogames offered in 3D will entice the early adopters and later, mainstream consumers to make the leap into the third dimension.”

The 3D Gaming Lounge™ drew serious and casual gamers as well as retail buyers and studio executives to play the latest 3D games on PlayStation. NVIDIA’s 3D Vision technology allowed attendees to experience the hottest PC games in full stereoscopic 3D on its ultra-fast GeForce GTX 480 powered gaming systems.

What Attendees Said About The 3D Gaming Summit™:

“What an amazing 3D Gaming summit. It was very creative and informative to be on a panel gaining knowledge from some of the greatest minds in the gaming world. I am excited to put in motion some of the new technology in my upcoming slate of feature films and videogames.”

- Panelist Matty Rich, Producer/Director/Game Creator

“All the excitement over 3D is currently about theatrical releases, but 3D gaming is going to be the real driver in the near future. We’re looking forward to the next gen 3D capable consoles and stereoscopic TVs.”

- Mark Long, Founder and president, Zombie Studios

“The 3D Gaming Summit was great. It’s a brand new field and I got to meet brand new people and a few old friends. They really got out ahead of this one. There are a lot of smart people out there trying to figure out how to make the breakthrough in 3D games.”

- Flint Dille, film and videogame screenwriter

“I found the Summit inspirational and educational due to the top speakers and the quality of the clips shown. It is also exciting to see the increasing synergy between ‘Hollywood’ and the gaming industry. This is especially relevant as we explore producing the feature film, Buck Rogers in 3D with our director, Paul W.S. Anderson.”

- Gudrun Giddings, VP, Business Development and Production, Paradox Entertainment.