Xbox 360 to get the full 3D treatment?

Xbox 360 about to board the 3D boat?
Xbox 360 about to board the 3D boat?

Microsoft looks likely to bring 3D to the Xbox 360, with the company all set to reveal its 3D plans at E3 2011.

This is according to Eurogamer, which is quoting unnamed sources close to the matter who say that the 3D will be the same as what you currently get on the PS3 and that it could well be announced at this year's E3.

Sony announced its 3D firmware upgrade for the PS3 back in February 2010, with the update finally landing in June.

Although the Xbox 360 technically already has 3D content out – Call of Duty: Black Ops was released in stereoscopic 3D – it doesn't currently do it to the exacting specifications of the PS3, which outputs at 1280x1470.

Xbox 360

It seems, however, the Xbox 360 may well be getting the HDMI 1.4 protocol adopted by the PS3 (Sony has managed to cram most of HDMI 1.4's specs into its 3D without actually giving the PS3 a full hardware upgrade), which would allow Microsoft to market the Xbox 360 as an all-singing, all-dancing 3D gaming machine.

"The machine is not only very capable, it's more capable than the PlayStation 3 of doing stereo, assuming you don't have one of the old crappy ones with the composite leads... assuming you have a HDMI Xbox," said Eurogamer's man on the inside.

"The bottleneck is more on the graphical throughput for rendering out in stereo."

If you want to find out what else Microsoft could be launching at E3, then check out our in-depth Microsoft at E3 2011: what to expect feature.

Via Eurogamer

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.