Super Stardust HD revitalised by 3D

Sony's pledged to enable stereoscopic 3D on PlayStation 3 this year via a firmware update, and has shown the fruits of its endeavours this week at CES 2010.

Games, Blu-ray discs and downloadable videos can potentially make use of 3D visuals, but they'll need to be programmed to do so - they won't magically transform after the firmware update.

This differs from NVIDIA's PC approach, which makes use of existing code to establish a 3D scene. NVIDIA 3D Vision is bought as a kit for around 300 quid.

Sony's CES 2010 demonstration featured three bespoke 3D games, including a previously unheard of 3D Super Stardust HD. The others were Gran Turismo 5 and James Cameron's Avatar. IGN added that each demo station used Bravia televisions and a pair of shuttered glasses - not regular cinema 3D cinema specs - to achieve the desired effect.

Eurogamer's dizzying Digital Foundry blog filled us in on the theory of 3D gaming on PS3 last year. Expect fuller technical analyses when we see the 3D technology with our own eyes.