Viral Video Teases PS4… Or Possibly 3D

A peculiar new video surfaced over the weekend. It appears to be something to do with PlayStation technology, though exactly what is anyone's guess right now. The video hasn't been confirmed as being from Sony, but there are certainly a few interesting details in there. The video is set in the "S.C.E. Principal Scientific Research Laboratory, Minami-Aoyama". S.C.E. is, of course, short for Sony Computer Entertainment, who happen to have a real-life office in Minami-Aoyama. There's a lot of running, shaky-camera and shouting. Eventually, the people in the video come across a bewildered-looking scientist. Then they enter another room in which a man is lying on the floor. He looks like he's paralyzed or dead. They remove his glasses and attempt to wrestle something out of his hands – presumably a controller. In the background, there's a TV showing a PlayStation logo. Towards the end of the clip, the man on the floor starts giggling and squealing. The PlayStation logo looks like it's bulging out of the TV. Then the video cuts to a test card which says "PS4 V3.1 – Please Wait A Moment". All very mysterious. It's fairly unlikely that the video is to do with a PlayStation 4, given the fact that the PlayStation 3 is still in the middle of its lifecycle. Kotaku, who revealed the video earlier today, speculate that it's possible the "test card" image at the end of the video may have been added by someone else. A cunning red herring or a mysterious teaser? At this time, there's no easy way to know. The more likely explanation than the unexpected announcement of a PlayStation 4 would be that it's something to do with 3D. There are at least two pieces of imagery in the video which support this. The paralyzed man on the floor is wearing glasses, which the other people remove. And the PlayStation logo appears to bulge out of the television. The PS3 version 3.30 system software preps the PS3 system for 3DTV. We are yet to see this feature implemented in a particularly meaningful way. But perhaps this teaser video is the start of a promotional campaign for the feature? Doubtless there'll be a lot of 3D excitement at E3. Sony will surely have plenty of things to show off that take advantage of their new firmware. And of course there's the 3DS, too. But a lot of gamers are still justifiably skeptical about the new technology. Many are yet to see a 3D "killer app". Sure, things popping out of the screen is a cool gimmick. But is it worth the headaches associated with wearing 3D glasses for a long time? And does it serve any practical function other than looking good? This time next year, will everyone be ducking and weaving out of the way of things flying out of their TV? Or will 3D have passed everyone by as an ultimately meaningless fad?