James Cameron’s Avatar certainly got people talking. Released in three-dimensional versions last December, the Canadian director’s blockbuster film and its accompanying video game were part of the vanguard of what may be the next big thing.

No matter what you think about the 3-D revolution, this summer you’ll have plenty of opportunity to bring the 3-D gaming experience into your home, with a variety of hardware and software options.

Most of the major television manufacturers now have 3-D–enabled models in stores. Samsung was the first to market in March, and Sony’s and Panasonic’s LCD and plasma flatscreens were released in June, just in time for the World Cup, which is being broadcast in 3-D in some markets.

Most 3-D TV sets carry the same manufacturer’s suggested retail price as last year’s premium models. “The price hasn’t changed,” Brent de Waal told the Georgia Straight in February at the Sony Style store in Pacific Centre. “What has changed is what you get for that price.”

On that day, de Waal, a training supervisor for Sony Canada, was demonstrating his company’s 3-D Bravia models for the media. He said he expects the first 3-D customers to be people like cinephiles and hard-core video gamers. Sony has already updated its PlayStation 3 consoles to enable them to run games created for 3-D televisions, and in July a firmware upgrade will allow the PS3 to play 3-D films.

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in mid-June, Sony Computer Entertainment group CEO Kazuo Hirai said that Sony is “the only company that provides an end-to-end ecosystem of that [the 3-D] experience”.

In addition to pushing the delivery end of the 3-D pipeline with its televisions and the PS3, Sony is also innovating on the other end. The 3-D effect is created by sending two different visual signals to your eyes. Avatar was filmed using a dual-lens camera, but Sony has developed a single-lens camera that uses mirrors to send images to two sensors.

De Waal explained that with the creation of the Sony 3D Technology Center at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, the company is helping producers and directors learn how to properly make 3-D content using its technology. “3-D done badly is when you have problems,” he said.

Video games, which primarily render images with virtual cameras—it’s all done on computers—can more easily generate two video signals. It’s not quite as simple as clicking a mouse, but almost. That’s why with games like Gran Turismo 5, which has been in development for years but is finally shipping on November 2, Sony was able to commit to releasing a 3-D version without having to rebuild the entire game.

At E3, 3-D was touted by some industry players, Sony being one, as the future of gaming. There is a long list of games being developed for release in stereoscopic 3-D. While Sony Computer Entertainment games are being made to work only on 3-D televisions—while players wear active-shutter glasses—most 3-D games being released by third-party publishers in the near future will require the use of polarized glasses.

Except, that is, for those being developed for Nintendo’s 3DS. Unveiled at E3, the handheld device is notable for its top 3.5-inch screen, which is able to display 3-D images without the need for special glasses. And game developers—23 were named at E3—are queuing up to release games for the portable system, which is expected to be released in 2011.

Games coming for the 3DS range from Nintendo’s own Nintendogs + Cats, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Mario Kart to editions of franchises such as Activision’s DJ Hero, Capcom’s Resident Evil, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid, Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy games, and Warner Bros.’ Batman and Lego series.