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Sony's Eye Toy Previewed, Future Explored
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Boomtown's hands-on preview of Sony's Eye Toy, the forthcoming USB camera add-on for the Playstation 2 which comes with a suite of mini-games. As the preview explains, "The Eye Toy has motion detection capability, so you basically play all the games by moving your hands, your head, or even your legs." Interestingly, future plans for the Eye Toy, which was one of the E3 Game Critics Award winners, are also discussed, showing Sony are committed to using the hardware for more than just the one title: "The next instalment of Eye Toy: Play is already in development, and is due for release this Christmas. It will be a far more music-oriented product, featuring many tracks by popular artists. It will also feature full online video messaging capabilities."
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Is anyone else surprised by how good those screenshots look? I had an old usb web cam from logitech (same company making the eye toy) and the pictures were far too pixelated to be blown up on a tv screen.
"Masturbation - The Game"
Point of the game is to see how fast you can whack your thing! You place your package in front of the camera, wait for the countdown, AND OFF YOU GO!
Stimulation not included.
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
There is a similar device in the Game On Exhibition, at least they had one at Barbican and in Edinburgh.
Mom and dad won't be able to tell the kids it's too expensive, for the price of a regular game, you get a reasonable videocam, that you can use on your VCR to boot, can't see how this could go wrong. Also, 'Windows cleaning emulator", Hmmm... Won't Bill Gates be just a little bit pissed off when he reads that?
heh.
...spike
Ewwwwww, coconut...
Sega is coming out with its DreamEye camera... article and pictures. Oh wait, it's already out. It was released in the summer of 2000.
Ok, maybe the dreamcast was pulled before they could sell this outside the japanese market. But, sony coming out with a product THREE YEARS after its competitors doesn't get me too excited. Sega had some other kick-ass hardware: its VMU had a much more usable screen compared to sony's almost useless pocketstation screen (which sony never released in the US), plus there is a dev community for it! I guess we just have to wait for Sony to come out with a fishing controller before we get excited with their innovation!
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
The games were simple but amazingly fun. And I bet all of them could become hit games for this new system (a collection of them would be a number #1 seller).
The cool thing about new technology like is that it is...well?new. If you are an independent or small house development group, this is your chance to make something great! A little imagination and you can create the next Tetris.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
I saw the prototype at Sony's keynote at GDC last year. It looked like a lot of fun. They composited the player into an interactive world and you could control it with a "magic wand" (orange nerf ball on a stick.) and it would show all kinds of special effects eminating from your wand. It was basically a game of make believe that the kid can play without the adult around. Or, a party game for the lightly stoned. Or, an amazing virtual reality existence for acid heads.
I think it's smart of them to release this now considering that many of the playstation players are at that age where they start making poop-machines.
this thing is almost (not quite though, as i can see some uses for it...) as gimmicky and useless as the uforce i used to own for my nes. i got it for my birthday and it sure seemed like a good idea... however it was frustrating and unfun to use and ended up back in its box, only to be sold in a garage sale...
i suppose in this case, being an actual camera and not just some led's and the ps2 being a more flexible platform, there are some uses for it depending on how sony and 3rd parties decide to utilize it.
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
"The Eye Toy has motion detection capability, so you basically play all the games by moving your hands"
Two words...Power Glove...and we all know how successful that was.
It will also feature full online video messaging capabilities
This is an interesting concept. If your PS2 has an ethernet connection, it would make a "cheap" (as in you already bought it anyway for games) video telephone.
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Could you get any more kiddie than that? Looks like I'll be picking up a Gamecube now.
hehe, with that camera and internet capability, we will be able to have a whole lot of cyber sex ^^
Does anybody remember a quite similar application for the original Amiga circa 1984?
If the answer is war, you are asking the wrong question
Having seen this animal in the local shop (was released 4thJuly 03 in the UK), I reckon this has the potential to takeover from the dance mat as the focal point of wet weather 'six year old' party antics. Im a bit worried about 'en masse' kung fu in an enclosed space, but Im sure this will go down a storm.
Sure the camera images are not too crisp, but this matters little as the game is sharp and the centre of attention. At this price, its a must have.
Start adding cameras to consoles with broadband links and one wonders how long its going to be before they could realistically be used to spy on people, either by exploit or built in game back door.
Eye Toy: Play is already out here in New Zealand. It's being displayed at pretty much every game store up and down the country, and seems very popular.
A popular move on the part of retailers is to set up a TV screen behind the store window and have the camera pointing out through it, so you can play outside the store.
One interesting thing to note is that people who wouldn't normally give a game store a second glance are stopping and playing on it. So you have groups of mall bunnies wiggling their arms and legs about and having a jolly old time. Now I, for one, am glad to see games reaching a wider audience. Also, mall bunnies wiggling about is a reward in and of itself.
Worst Peripheral of E3. #5 one one of the Worst of Show Lists, and #2 on the other. The two guest reviewers rated it as the worst thing there.
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