Say you swooped on Best Buy as soon as you heard it would carry 3D-capable HDTVs, picked up the glasses you'll need to experience the effect, and sprung for a Blu-ray player to watch some 3D flicks. You're probably set for 3D movies for a while, but what about day-to-day content? DirecTV may have the answer for you, as it's set to launch ESPN 3D this June.

Joining the slew of other ESPN channels available through the satellite provider, ESPN 3D is lined up to start airing certain sporting events in full 3D. Among those on the roster are soccer matches, the X Games, college football, and both college and professional basketball. It looks like some of the other big sports, especially with the national leagues, have yet to sign up for the technology. That's certainly understandable, as it hasn't really been demonstrated yet that there's a big market for 3D television, nor if the thrill of 3D will last. Waiting a year to sign on might just be a smart move on their part.

If you've already got ESPN HD with DirecTV, you'll be able to access the 3D channel for no extra cost when it goes live this June.

If you're loving the latest wave of 3D technology to finally start entering the mainstream but aren't willing to drop the several thousand dollars you'd need to upgrade your home theater system, Nintendo may have just the solution to get you through it, as the company apparently inadvertently let slip that a 3D version of the DS, the 3DS, will be out soon, with the first look coming this summer.

The 3DS came to the world's attention through a mention in a series of press releases Nintendo published on its Japanese web site. What makes the idea of the 3DS so interesting is that it would not rely on any special glasses to achieve its 3D effect, greatly enhancing its portability. It's also not going to be a clunky mess like the Virtual Boy, but maintain the general look of standard handheld system.

There's already speculation that Nintendo isn't going to be able offer a proper glasses-less 3D screen at a competitive price, instead using optical tricks to simply give the illusion of 3D. Using cameras to track the player's head would allow a system to offer some of the parallax effects of a 3D display while letting Nintendo make use of ordinary 2D LCD screens.

For now we're optimistic, but Nintendo already has one strike on its portable 3D gaming record, so it's got a lot of people curious to see if it can get things right this time. If everything stays on track, the 3DS would be out by this time next year.

If you're getting tired of Avatar after your twelfth viewing, wish you had some new games for your Nintendo Virtual Boy, and just don't feel that the real world "pops" in 3D like the movies do, the 3D fix you've been craving might be just around the corner, as Best Buy is about to give the US its first big taste of in-home 3D screens, with a little help from Panasonic.

Starting this week, as soon as Wednesday, Best Buy is going to set up 3D demo areas in its stores to show off the technology to consumers. Just like how the company created listening rooms to show off the capabilities of surround sound systems, these demo stations will likely introduce this new technology to plenty of people for the first time. The showcase of the displays will be Panasonic's 3D sets, with Best Buy stocked and ready to start selling them to interested customers.

Best Buy will start things off in 300 of its stores in major markets, and plans to expand its promotion of 3D sets to about 1,000 locations by the end of the year.

Though certainly more expensive than normal 2D screens, the Panasonic models Best Buy will be selling aren't priced so exotically as to make them unaffordable - in fact, we should be getting the sets cheaper than they can be found in Japan. A 50-inch set will go for around $2500, with another $500 for goodies like the 3D glasses and Blu-ray player you'll need to really enjoy some 3D content.  Just think of the expense like 250 trips to the movies; after that, you're saving money.

File this one under innovative but ultimately a little too much (in my opinion) to make a dent in the highly competitive world of e-commerce.

VirtualEShopping.com combines social networking features with a three dimensional shopping environemnt. The site bills itself as an “alternative to mall traffic, pulsing crowds and parking headaches” (isn’t that what the holidays are all about?)

Shoppers must download the mall software (free) to enter the virtual shopping mall and create a persona to represent themselves or interact with other shoppers. Once setup is complete however, they can view storefronts from familiar retailers like Apple, Best Buy and Footlocker and from unusual web retailers like Prankplace, Preschoolians, and ShopIrish.

Retailers offer coupons, have salesbots and sales personas in front of their stores and have storefronts, mall carts, billboards and info’ kiosks to woo customers to shop. Special events like seminars, concerts, guest appearances and contests are held on the main stage in the mall atrium.

While I won’t be doing any virtual shopping in a 3D environment, I have to admit that it’s quite creative. VirtualEShopping is offering a $500 gift card for new users. The contest requires no registration or activity completion on the site such as inviting friends.