Last week, Sony showed off head tracking software for the PlayStation 3 using just the PS Eye camera (via MTV Multiplayer). That's right, no crazy hardware configurations devised by third parties (e.g. Johnny Lee, Electronic Arts), just software that identifies your head and its movement.
A representative said the head tracking software has not been announced for any titles, but we'd love to see it show up soon for pretty much any genre of game. Video embedded after the break. (Note: It doesn't work for users with Canada, Japan or U.K. IPs.) While you're at it, (re)watch Lee's video to get a better idea of the potential of head tracking software (also embedded after the break).
In what looks like a mash-up tech demo, Super Mario Bros. gets a helping hand from a player, with the plumber being guided and lifted by simple gestures. The video makes us hopeful for fun camera-based games to finally take hold. Bring on the crazy, creative games.
While waggling your Wii remote around provides a decent approximation of natural motion, Intel predicts a future where cameras will provide highly accurate motion data to a game system. "We imagine some future generation of [Nintendo's] Wii won't have hand controllers," Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner, told Business Week. "You just set up the cameras around the room and wave your hand like you're playing tennis."
It should be noted that there's nothing in the article to indicate that Rattner has any insider info on Nintendo's plans -- more than likely he was just theorizing about what he'd like to see in a future system. Still, the idea of a camera-based 3D motion-sensing setup has incredible potential for gaming. More than the simple video transposition of the Xbox Live Vision Camera or the PlayStation Eye, a multi-camera system could model your three-dimensional movements in real time, in effect placing a digital version of you in the game. The result could revolutionize the way we play games and even how they're made -- after all, why should developers use motion captured performances when the players can provide them for themselves?
Such a theoretical system would take quite a bit of processing power, though, which might explain why Intel is talking it up -- after all, they already have a chip that can perform one trillion calculations a second. The future's so bright, we're using our Wii remotes as makeshift shades.
Long ago, cynicism hardened the hearts of the Joystiq staff to lumps of coal (or in Ludwig's case, a conflict diamond), so it's hard for us to get too excited about anything. That said, we're almost certain we feel a few cracks in our ticker when we watch these videos of Sony R&D using the PlayStation Eye to customize games.
In one video, a staffer draws a spaceship and a planet surface on a sheet of paper then the PS3 generates an impromptu game of Lunar Lander with them on the fly. In another, a Combat-esque game is interrupted when another player wants to scan his own hand-drawn tank into the game. This is all just research at this point rather than an actual product, but it's hard not to be excited about the possibilities. (Little Big Planetobject creation? Dare we dream?)
When Sony first showed off its camera-based collectible card game Eye of Judgementat last year's E3, it was less a game and more a proof of concept for what eventually became the PlayStation Eye. Now that we're closer to the game's planned fall release, a pre-beta version of Eye of Judgment is looking more like an actual card game that just happens to use a camera and PS3.
The basic goal of Eye of Judgement is to control five of the nine areas on a 3x3 cloth mat by placing creature cards on them. Your opponent can challenge you for control of those spaces by placing other creature cards nearby and sending them into battle. Usually the outcome of these battles is a simple comparison of power levels (a la Dragon Ball Z), but special abilities and boosting spells can affect the outcome.
So if it's just a card game, why do we need the somewhat ungainly camera and game console setup?
Hot on the heels of their PlayStation Eye announcement (but eons after the product's Japanese launch) Sony has announced the launch date for the long-time-coming PSP camera, now dubbed the Go!Cam, for Europe and PAL terrirotories. Like with the Eye, we expect a North American date to trickle out any minute now. But back to what we know: the Go!Cam will sell for €49.99 (that £34.99 for the UK, or about $68 US), comes with a built-in microphone just like its big brother, is bundled with Go!Edit, "an editing software package which allows users to save and edit photos, video and audio clips" (Game 3.0 here we come!), and is due to hit Europe on May 16th.
What features do you look at when buying a digital camera? Megapixels? Battery life? White balance override? How about games?
We can't really imagine the consumer who will be swayed to buy the DXG-589V because of what the press release describes as "20 built-in full-color 2D or 3D video games." If a consumer is interested in playing games on the go, they can already buy a portable gaming system or download some games for their cell phone or PDA without denting their bank account too much. If they're not interested in games, then the promise of being able to play what will likely end up being derivative ports directly on their digital camera isn't likely to turn them into instant gamers.
We also can't imagine that Sony will be too happy with the colored shapes being used as control buttons on the camera, which bear a striking resemblance to the arrangement the PlayStation line has been using since 1995. Patent infringement lawsuit, anyone?
Computer and Video Games has an extremely short story (more like a haiku, really) in which Criterion's Alex Ward hints at digital camera support for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Burnout 5. Our first thought upon reading this was, "Why does this game need camera support?" Is there going to be some sort of wave-your-hands-to-move- the-on-screen-steering-wheel mode? Is the game going to display our twisted, mangled faces as we react to the twisted, mangled cars on screen? Are they going to let us take pictures of our own car and then blow up an in-game model of it? Because that last one would be kind of cool.
Our second thought was, "Hey whatever happened to the HD EyeToy promised for the PS3?" The thing was shown off way back at E3 2006 working with SingStar and gimmicky card battle game Eye of Judgement. Since then, the Sony camp has been dead silent on the peripheral. The best information we were able to find is a cryptic October interview with EyeToy designer Richard Marks that calls the device "a concept rather than a product line." Since the PS3 supports data from practically any USB webcam for video chats (even the Xbox Live Vision cam), has the idea of a specific, Sony-branded EyeToy fallen by the wayside?
Support for the Xbox Live Vision webcam has been slow to develop. When you look at how EA is implementing the product into Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars it's easy to see why.
Would you want to watch some pimply-faced kid shake his stuff after obliterating you and whoever else on the battlefield? Here's to hoping the 'Spotlight' feature -- giving match winners an uncontested 10 seconds of air time -- can be easily disabled.
It's been rumored and spotted and dated and now that it's out in Japan, it seems it's a little less than impressive. We're speaking, of course, of the PSP camera attachment, which import-focused site GameBrink declares is "worse than most camera phones on the market today."
Indeed, the 5000 yen ($42), 1.3-megapixel phone seems a little behind the times when standard camera phones that come free with many wireless plans sport at least two megapixels. The attachment will only look more obsolete as eight-megapixel phones eventually penetrate the mass market. What's more, the camera's video function limits you to 15 second clips, regardless of how much capacity you have on your MemoryStick, negating one of the attachment's potential benefits.
With no launch details announced yet for America, it's still unclear whether the device will even see the light of day outside gadget-obsessed Japan. Judging by this review, though, that suddenly doesn't seem like such an awful prospect.
A small, plain box arrived unexpectedly from Redmond over the weekend containing nothing more than the diminutive Xbox Live Vision camera floating in a sea of amniotic packing paper. No retail box here, just the tiny little camera and its accompanying PR fact sheet ("Microsoft Corp.'s line of Xbox 360™ Authentic Products continues to grow while ..."). The sheet does detail the two bundles that will be released on September 19th, clipped after the break.
We hurriedly grabbed some snaps before hooking up the Vision to the ol' 360 and taking it for a spin around the UNO block ... where IT happened. We've grown (abnormally) accustomed to the sort of blue language one finds while playing outside of the confines of your Xbox Live friends list -- this is of course, entirely different than the blue language you enjoy while playing with your friends, but we digress -- but it wasn't ten minutes before we had our first PG-13 exposure. Read on for the entire, sordid tale (with NSFW pictures!).
Sony has revealed Japanese prices and release dates for the PSP's camera and GPS peripherals. The camera (PSPJ-15003) will retail for ¥5,000 (approx. $43 US) and will be released November 2nd while the GPS receiver (PSP-290) will retail for ¥6,000 (approx. $51 US) and will be released a little over a month later, on December 7th.
Both were originally announced back in March during the Sony press conference that was supposed to finally set the PS3 launch date record straight. While the official website declared "Spring 2007," Sony ultimately conceded the system would not be ready until this November. They did, however, announce the camera and GPS peripherals would see a September release and, it turns out, they were pretty close.
Check out some pics of the peripherals and their carrying cases after the break.
It seems one forgetful Toys 'R' Us out there has begun stocking Microsoft's Xbox Live Vision camera out on store shelves a wee bit early -- by a whole month actually. With visual proof posted on Flickr, one lucky guy has walked away with a peripheral that many 360 owners are very much looking forward to.
In case you're wondering what was inside the package, here's what it offered: A headset, the camera, codes for one month of Live Gold and a registration key for Uno. We guess TotemBall isn't really coming with the camera as previously reported, unless it is available in a totally different bundle option.
Our friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.
Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.
Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.
Major Nelson has corrected an earlier report made during a recent Blogcast concerning the release date for the Xbox Live Vision camera: it will be out in Europe and Asia (outside of Japan) on October 2nd rather than the earlier September 19th date, which still applies for 360 owners in the U.S.
We suppose the short wait is better than the lack of any confirmed release dates for Japan, New Zealand, Australia, or any of the other countries in which the system has already been officially launched. At least Japanese gamers can still converse on their original Xboxes with the Xbox Video Chat camera that was released only in that fair land. They might not get to play UNO on the current generation of hardware, but it's better than nothing.
Last week, Sony showed off head tracking software for the PlayStation 3 using just the PS Eye camera (via MTV Multiplayer). That's right, no crazy hardware configurations devised by third parties (e.g. Johnny Lee, Electronic Arts), just software that identifies your head and its movement.
Computer and Video Games has an extremely short 
It's been 
