EyePet Proves the EyeToy was a Missed Opportunity on Sony’s Part
Wait, Sony still makes EyeToy/PSEye games? Of course they do, but because of Project Natal, the camera accessory has taken a backseat as of late. We already know Natal is much more advance in terms of how well the unit reacts to human movements, but that doesn’t mean the PSeye can’t impress either.
EyePet from Sony was announced as a PSeye based game for the PlayStation 3 a little over a year ago. Since that time, it’s completely fell off the radar for a number of reason. One would be because of Natal, but also Sony hasn’t talked about the title too much. The game is in fact still in development and engadget had a hands on preview. They were even cool enough to post a video of their experience.
EyePet looks and plays a lot like what Nintendo did with their Nintendogs title for the DS, which gamers had to take care of a virtual dog by touching the screen. In EyePet you do something similar, but you wave your hands in the air in front of the cam and at some points hold a card to interact with the adorable creature — who is displayed on the TV. Does it look fun? Sure. But like most other pet-raising simulators, I doubt it’ll keep me interested for more then a day.
I’m showing the video off, not because I believe the title will be a contender for ‘game of the year,’ or anything like that. It’s more for the fact that the EyeToy I believe, is still a unit that should have been focused on. I do think Sony had something special, and they were kind of the first company to bring motion technology to the forefront. But because of poor marketing and making the camera feel nothing more than a cool demo, the Eyetoy never took off. Which was probably a huge missed opportunity on their part.
July 28th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
The camera talked about here is the Playstation Eye, not the eyetoy, and eyepet was announced way before natal was even heard of, or even rumoured, eyepet was announced last year while natal was announced this past month and a half, and sony is supporting their accesory not just bringing games out because of the announcement of Natal, anyway i see this camera, the Playstation Eye, has a lot more possibilities especially with the comination of the motion control and cam.
July 29th, 2009 at 4:25 am
the playstation eye and the playstation motion control wand is more accurate than a wiimote and project natal. project natal is a gimmick that a lot of people will get tired of the first 2-4 play time with it . natal looks laggy and as demonstrated at e3, its inaccurate .
July 29th, 2009 at 8:16 am
It’s possible that Natal could also end up being “a missed opportunity” as was, so you claim, the EyeToy (Playstation Eye on PS3, btw).
Imagine buying a Wii and it only came with the classic controller. If you wanted motion controls, you had to buy the wii-mote, nun-chuck and Wii Sports seperately. If Sony had included an Eye camera and game compilation with every console sold, “motion control” would be as synonymous with Playstation as it is with the Wii. It seems Microsoft intends to include Natal when purchasing new Xbox 360’s when it is launched, which could lead to greater success with motion control than has been found by Sony and the Playstation Eye/EyeToy. Of course, Sony could package their motion tech with PS3’s in the future. We shall see.