Recently, gaming circles and forums have been abuzz with news that both HP and Dell are working on 3D gaming laptops. They are said to be working with Wistron, which is a major ODM manufacturer with over 30,000 workers world-wide, on producing new 3D gaming rigs. According to rumors swirling around the web, we might see a possible HP gaming laptop using 18.4-inch 3D panels made by Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and a Wistron created 3D laptop solution based on NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision technology.



Actually, the movement towards 3D is probably the next logical way to go with computer gaming but is it a good idea? Will these new 3D gaming laptops be snapped up by hard-core gamers?

Probably so and here's why.

Computer gaming is all about fun and entertainment, new 3D technologies will only add to the fun factor. Gamers are all looking for the next big thing when it comes to gaming, can you say Milo? Sorry wrong storyline but not really, gaming is becoming more and more interactive, we want real emotions, we want real interactions and we want real connections with the characters in our games. But most of all we want real images, the more realistic and life-like, the better our gaming experience will be. We want to be totally immersed in the role playing, if 3D can add, rather than subtract from this immersion, it will be a big winner.

Many people are turned off by 3D movies, at least the ones produced in the fifties, sixties and seventies - to me they just come across as way too cheesy, more aimed at our retinal cones than our minds or hearts for that matter. Ralphie you'll poke your eye out.

Besides, most 3D movies of the past and not so distant past are just plain silly. They can not be taken seriously, no matter how you view them. However, many would agree, 3D movies are a lot of fun and that's what gaming is all about. 3D does have it's place, I can remember being wowed by the 3D Terminator show at the Epcot Center in Orlando Florida which had a mixture of live action and 3D images. No King Lear, but it was entertaining and it was fun.

Gamers want fun and escapement. I keep thinking, would 3D enhance a game like Crysis which I have just finished playing - hell yes. Using 3D would probably make floating around in that mountain/alien much more enjoyable and it would probably make fighting that creature on the battleship at the end much more entertaining, even if all they wanted to do was poke my eyes out.

Hopefully, game designers will go for a little more sophistication in their application of these newer 3D technologies and combine it with the increasingly popular HD technologies to produce a totally realistic immersion for gamers. Pure escape into a world that looks and feels real is the ultimate goal. No doubt, this goal will give many concerned parents added worry about the affect these already too realistic violent games are having on young people. Especially worrisome is the whole argument that popular "first person shooter games" desensitizes impressionable teens and young children into acting out violent behavior in the real world.

This controversial issue aside, if 3D can truly enhance our gaming pleasure in these new gaming laptops, more power to them. Mainly because, in more ways than one, the game is the medium, message and king. Make the game more enjoyable and gamers will be lining up around the block to purchase your new contraption.

So bring it on, HP and Dell, let's see what you got?