3D gaming has been promised to the public for a long time, but it's never caught on. NVIDIA is taking another stab at the endeavor with a new product called (wait for it) 3D Vision. Yes, you'll have to wear geeky glasses, but they're a little less geeky than most. The glasses aren't all there is to it, either. In addition to software that renders the image the right way, there's an external device that sends a signal to the glasses, and which has controls that let you adjust the depth level to make it comfortable for your eyes.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, we played Valve Software's Left 4 Dead using this technology. The effect is similar to that of the latest 3D movies like Beowulf (and it's much better than the 3D movies of ages past, of course). We enjoyed having a strong sense of depth and distance when fighting the zombie hordes, but it has the same unreal, ephemereal quality that the cinema tech has. It's neat, and you should definitely check it out if it's up your alley, but don't expect it to seem like reality.

The downside: you'll need at least an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 graphics card and a display that can run at a 120Hz refresh rate. The former requirement is more common than the latter; 120Hz LCD monitors are an extreme rarity at the moment, although they'll likely become more popular in the future. The package costs $200 too, so it's not for the masses just yet.