For the first time ever, GamerLive.TV will broadcast 3D video coverage of the E3 Expo, the premier game trade show in the U.S., to gamers and tech enthusiasts around the world.  The high-quality, stereoscopic 3D video will be viewable via the YouTube video player for users with NVIDIA® 3D Vision PCs.

E3 video footage will be available for free on GamerLive.TV and on GamerLive.TV’s YouTube 3D channel. In addition, NVIDIA will showcase the videos at 3DVisionLive.com/E3.

From today through June 9, GamerLive.TV will issue over 50 high-quality 3D videos of the latest E3 news – including game launches, booth demos, 3D game captures, Expo events, and VIP parties.  It will also post exclusive interviews with the world’s top game developers, including representatives from Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, THQ, Ubisoft, Sega, Disney and Capcom.

GamerLive.TV’s 3D E3 coverage will also feature exclusive celebrity interviews with stars such as ER and Falling Skies’ Noah Wyle, Lost’s Harold Perrineau, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, wrestling great Hulk Hogan, the producers of Disney and Pixar’s Cars 2 Movie and Video Game, and many more.

“This gives gamers and tech enthusiasts a whole new way to experience the E3 game show with insider’s access and a immersive 3D experience,” said John Gaudiosi, Editor-in-Chief of GamerLive.TV. “With 3D, viewers will almost feel like they are there at the show.”

The annual E3 Expo trade show will be held from June 7-9, 2011, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  Previously open only to the members of the video game industry and press, the E3 Expo experience is now accessible to the general public through GamerLive.TV’s exclusive 3D video coverage.

3D coverage of E3 can be seen with a wide array of supported 3D viewing options on YouTube, including red-blue anaglyph and side-by-side format. But the highest quality visual experience, with the best color and fidelity, will be available only to PC users with NVIDIA 3D Vision advanced, active-shutter glasses.

“GamerLive.TV’s E3 coverage will provide an amazing, one-of-a-kind experience for NVIDIA 3D Vision users,” said Andrew Fear, senior product manager of 3D Vision at NVIDIA.  “For the first time, 3D Vision PC users will be able to experience E3 with theater-quality, high-resolution 3D.”

Last week, NVIDIA announced YouTube support for 3D Vision, which enables users to view thousands of existing YouTube 3D videos in rich, high-quality stereoscopic 3D on their NVIDIA 3D Vision PCs and notebooks.  To view YouTube 3D videos, an NVIDIA 3D Vision-equipped PC or notebook and the latest NVIDIA GeForce® drivers (version 275 or above), are required, as well as Firefox (version 4 or above), which includes support for HTML5 video streaming.  Users will also need to select the HTML5 viewing option when viewing a YouTube 3D video: http://www.youtube.com/select_3d_mode.

For more information about how to view YouTube videos with 3D Vision, please visit:  www.3dvisionlive.com/3dv-html5-detection.

After a successful launch event earlier this year, a second 3D Gaming Summit has been set for March 30-31 at Marriott Burbank Convention Center.

The 2010 3D Gaming Summit drew filmmakers with an understanding of the value of videogames such as “Avatar” producer Jon Landau, “Resident Evil” director Paul W.S. Anderson, as well as many top videogame executives and analysts.

Electronic Arts and Panasonic head an alliance of top gaming and electronics companies creating a consumer study of stereoscopic 3D gaming by the S-3D Gaming Alliance.

The U-Decide Initiative, an industry-wide consumer online survey of PC and console gamers around the world, is open now and ends October 1st, 2010.

When the survey period is complete, there will be a drawing for more than 50 great prizes for respondents, including a  Panasonic 3D HDTV, a Zalman FullHD 21.5 inch 3D Monitor, gaming headsets by Steelseries, and more than 40 PC and console games by Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Blitz Games Studios.

“Panasonic supports this effort to tie consumers to 3D technology,” said James Mercs, Managing Director of Panasonic Hollywood Labs.

“We anticipate hearing what gamers have to say about stereoscopic 3D gaming, and the products they are most excited about,” said Alan Price, Chief Technical Officer for Electronic Arts Canada.

The survey is multiple choice and only takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Interested gamers should visit S3DGA’s consumer arm Meant to be Seen and select U-Decide from the top menu. While Meant to be Seen registration is required, it is both free and instantaneous.

Sony is releasing the highly-anticipated Killzone 3 for PS3 in 2011, and this time in stereoscopic 3D.

GamesBeat got an early look at the videogame in production and says the 3D still needs work, but that it looks great in 2D. Read the GamesBeat review.

Videogames in 3D will become prevalent next year as 3D TVs begin to make their way into homes, according to Futuresource Consulting senior market analyst Patrik Pfandler.’

Although the first rush of 3D gaming is expected to be distributed via download initially, with Sony releasing four games, including “Wipeout,” together with the firmware update, Futuresource expects to see a significant proportion of disc-based games titles featuring a 3D option very soon, “perhaps becoming prevalent by 2011.”

“There are no major obstacles to 3D games development and production; the process is relatively straightforward and is all done in post production,” according to an analysis today by Pfander. “Including the 3D functionality, development costs of a 3D game are only 10% to 15% higher than a 2D game. Most developers and publishers are already fully geared up for 3D – it’s all about the consumer catch up. As 3D functionality becomes more popular we expect prices to drop and 3D to roll out as standard on a wide variety of games.”

Although Pfandler says the uptake of 3D videogames may take longer to arrive than film since movies can be experienced in the cinema long before consumers start to install 3DTVs, once 3DTVs reach a satisfactory installed base, the industry will see a far bigger push on 3D games advertising and promotion.

He says the Xbox 360 and PS3 are essentially 3D-ready, with Sony releasing a dedicated 3D firmware update for the PS3 this summer. Nintendo is expected to announce details of its new 3DS device at next month’s E3 show. The portable gaming machine could be many consumers’ first experience of 3D gaming and will feature an autostereoscopic 3D-enabled screen, negating the need for glasses.

Futuresource will be hosting the Futuresource Entertainment Summit on June 10-11, which is focused on 3D.

– By Scott Hettrick