Finally...the Eye Toy

[DJGeki]

And everyone thought it was just going to be a gimmick! HEH...well, it sort of is, but I can see this thing being VERY fun with a few friends around.

 

Purchased mine today at the Wal-Mart across the street for a little under 45 dollars. Not bad, considering it comes with a nice selection of mini-games (11 to be exact) and the camera itself. Not only are there minigames, but you can take videos of yourself doing stupid crap, and save it to the memory card (not in-game stuff, unfortunately). The files are relatively small: 10 seconds with sound is only 16k. Yes, there is a mic attached to the camera so you can record audio, too. If you're looking at it, it's to the lower left corner...I think. There's a little rectangular thing that looks like its only function would be a screen for a mic. You have the option of 10 to 60 seconds of video. It's kind of neat. Anyway, the games...

 

Out of the 11 games, a couple are DDRish games (hit the "insert target here" to the beat of the song or copy what the onscreen character does), but most are "whack-a-mole" types. Now, there are a couple of different themes between the whack-a-mole games, and that makes them different enough to each be enjoyable for their own reasons. For instance, in the ghost hunter game, you have to watch for the ghosts, and then put one or both hands over them while waving. It's like you're erasing them from the screen. Eventually they pop, and you move on to the next ghost. Similarly, in the SlipStream game, you have four clouds from which a good character or a bad character could pop out. If you "hit" the good ones, that's a point off your mistake meter. You get three chances for a lot of this stuff.

 

So far, my favorite has been Kung Foo. It's got a great little bonus level where you have to break boards along the corners and sides of the screen. And you can't just wave your arms around, you've got to use a bit of aim and skill to get your strikes in the middle of the targets, or you don't get the points.

 

While these games are by no means genius, they are fun to play, and with friends around, it'll be a great deal of laughs as you laugh at them, they laugh at you, etc., etc., etc.

 

All in all, I'd have to recommend the Eye Toy to anyone who has semi-active friends (i.e., they don't just sit around all day, everyday), or an interest in yet another peripheral that may not get much use after its initial pack in I can see this being good for homebrew devvers to make use of.

[Jasoco]

If I had a PS2, I'd buy it... after it is on the market and gets to its lowest price.. just before it's discontinued and rises in price as a collectors item.

[Raijin Z]

If I still had a PS2, maybe. That kind of hardware is definitely up my alley.

[GruBBworM]

Just bought me one this is a really fun little item I bet if ya got drunk withg all your freinds it would be hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DJGeki]

Just bought me one this is a really fun little item I bet if ya got drunk withg all your freinds it would be hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

That was one of my thoughts. Of course, if you get enough alcohol in your system (NOT the PS2, folks), nearly anything is fun

[Jasoco]

Just bought me one this is a really fun little item I bet if ya got drunk withg all your freinds it would be hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

That was one of my thoughts. Of course, if you get enough alcohol in your system (NOT the PS2, folks), nearly anything is fun

I dunno, pouring alcohol in a PS2 sounds like enough fun to me.

[bjk7382]

I started the other post about this being a gimmic. I really can't say, I have heard some good reviews, and for that price and if it is fun, maybe it will catch on.

 

It doesn't seem extremely expandable (game wise), meaning, do all the games include the same gameplay with different graphics? Maybe they will get creative with it and make some strong titles.

[Ze_ro]

Anyone remember the Activator for the Genesis? It was a flat, eight-sided ring that you stood in, and it had sensors that could see when you kicked or punched in certain directions... it revolutionized the fighting genre! Boy, was that thing ever fun!

 

Incidentally, I think I've gotten to the point where people can't tell the difference between me being sarcastic, and just plain lying. This thing is a neat gimmick, but it'll just get tossed in a pile with the Power Glove, Interactor, Activator, U-Force, and all kinds of other peripherals that seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

--Zero

[Jasoco]

Anyone remember the Activator for the Genesis? It was a flat, eight-sided ring that you stood in, and it had sensors that could see when you kicked or punched in certain directions... it revolutionized the fighting genre! Boy, was that thing ever fun!

 

Incidentally, I think I've gotten to the point where people can't tell the difference between me being sarcastic, and just plain lying. This thing is a neat gimmick, but it'll just get tossed in a pile with the Power Glove, Interactor, Activator, U-Force, and all kinds of other peripherals that seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

--Zero

I remember seeing it (The Activator) in commercials, but never tried it, or the U-Force. I plan on picking up both of those just because. Gimmick peripherals can sometimes be neat to have. Even if they're crap to use.

[bjk7382]

yeah, I think there can be good gimmics, but most don't catch on.

 

Personally I would like to get one of the first boxed nes sets with rob the robot in it. They are pretty tought to find even out of the box, and most don't come with all the little parts that came with it.

[Clock]

A friend told me you can use the EYE TOY to take a shot of your face and put it on your character in some games such as TONY HAWKS UNDERGROUND (THUG). I don't know if this is true - but it sure sounds like a great idea.

[Jasoco]

Personally I would like to get one of the first boxed nes sets with rob the robot in it. They are pretty tought to find even out of the box, and most don't come with all the little parts that came with it.

I sorta have that. It was my first eBay purchase in 1999. The box is shitty, and it is only missing one part, the top styrofoam piece. ROB was missing parts, but a fellow Forumer helped me on that part. So it's basically complete. The "Deluxe Set" was the one with ROB. Look for that.

[vanman]

isnt there a game like breakout, and your hand is the paddles or something?

[Raijin Z]

A friend told me you can use the EYE TOY to take a shot of your face and put it on your character in some games such as TONY HAWKS UNDERGROUND (THUG). I don't know if this is true - but it sure sounds like a great idea.

 

Half true. You don't need the eyetoy to do that. In fact, I don't think you can do that with the eyetoy. Either way, all you need is a digital picture of yourself, and a way to email it. Meh, Gamepro talked all about in the latest issue.

[PuddWakkr]

When I bought a computer a couple of years ago it came with a little web cam thing and the software that came with it had these types of games with it so the technology isn't new at all. Wasn't fun at all on the pc but I guess having some beers while doing this on a TV could be kind of fun.

[Agent X]

Incidentally, I think I've gotten to the point where people can't tell the difference between me being sarcastic, and just plain lying. This thing is a neat gimmick, but it'll just get tossed in a pile with the Power Glove, Interactor, Activator, U-Force, and all kinds of other peripherals that seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

Maybe, or maybe not.

 

The EyeToy seems to have a lot broader appeal than any of the devices you named. Many of those peripherals were "one-trick ponies" that relied heavily on a particular gimmick that did little to enhance the gameplay experience, and (in most cases) was not even necessary to play the games anyway. On the other hand, EyeToy has the potential to add greatly to the experience--the EyeToy: Play disc packaged with it has several games which are quite fun and utilize the camera well, in ways that are not possible just twiddling a joystick and mashing a few buttons.

 

Also, consider the price. The other devices you named were initially sold at $50-$80 and didn't come with a game. The EyeToy is $50 and comes with EyeToy: Play in the box. Many new games are $50 anyway, so you could view it as buying EyeToy: Play and getting the EyeToy camera for free.

 

With regard to Clock's question about Tony Hawk's Underground, Raijin Z is correct. It doesn't utilize the EyeToy at all. You can get an image of your face in the game (for creating custom characters) by sending it to them from your PC or a camera phone. It would've been nice if EyeToy support was in there as an added option for people who don't have a PS2 Network Adaptor and/or access to a PC or camera phone. I believe they were considering adding EyeToy support when they announced this game at E3, but it definitely didn't make it into the final version.

[Ze_ro]

The EyeToy seems to have a lot broader appeal than any of the devices you named. Many of those peripherals were "one-trick ponies" that relied heavily on a particular gimmick that did little to enhance the gameplay experience, and (in most cases) was not even necessary to play the games anyway

 

How many more games do you think will be released that will actually use the Eye Toy though? Aside from some rythym games, I really don't see much other application of this thing. The Power Glove was even programmable, so you could theoretically use it with ANY game... but it just didn't work very well for most types of games. The NES' Power Pad could have been used for lots of games... but it's not like you could have used it to play Megaman or Contra very effectively (Although it would be interesting if Dance Dance Revolution was around back then)... you won't be able to use the Eye Toy to play Tekken or Gran Turismo, so aside from the pack in game, and whatever other bones Sony throws you, I don't see much use for this thing.

 

It's definitely a neat gimmick, and it's price alone may make it worth while... but I think it IS a one trick pony. Perhaps the whole package should just be treated as a single game (ala Seaman + Microphon), rather than the thing being an add-on.

 

--Zero

[DJGeki]

I think we might see some new inroads to game programming because of this. Like something that reacts to both your voice and facial expression (along the lines of Seaman, only a bit more complex). Also, don't forget that it's JUST a camera! How about a little picture in the corner of SOCOM 3 that shows the ACTUAL player you just killed?

[Jasoco]

I think we might see some new inroads to game programming because of this.  Like something that reacts to both your voice and facial expression (along the lines of Seaman, only a bit more complex).  Also, don't forget that it's JUST a camera!  How about a little picture in the corner of SOCOM 3 that shows the ACTUAL player you just killed?  

Some gimmick's succeed; the Rumble feature and the control stick on the N64 controllers were so popular now every system has them.

 

Some are destined to failure; Really, who uses Voice Activation in their games now? They only made a niche market.

 

Who knows what's in store for the EyeToy? I don't like the quality of the video though based on the demo on the PS2 Kiosk. It's like they used a shitty off the shelf camera and used that. It's got horrible artifacts.

[Raijin Z]

It's not supposed to be better than the average cheapo webcam.

[VidGameKing]

all it's for is sensing where your arms are and where your feet are. if they made it 1-5MP it would be too slow for the crappy CPU in the PS2 to compute! so it's a shitty camera thats really fast because it has horrible resolution, but it works. on the other hand if Microsoft did one like itI would expect the resolution to be far greater because the XBOX would be capable of supporting more info at once.

[Bivotar]

remember seeing it (The Activator) in commercials, but never tried it, or the U-Force. I plan on picking up both of those just because. Gimmick peripherals can sometimes be neat to have. Even if they're crap to use.

 

I picked up a U-Force back when they came out. It sounded so awesome that I had to try it. It was on clearance at JCPenney's so it was only like $20.

 

I got it home, set it up, tried it with a few games. It SUCKED. I boxed that piece of crap back up and haven't touched it since. It's not worth picking up even as a novelty, IMO.

 

The commercial for the Eye Toy, with a crowd of people watching the kid play with it, sure seems kind of lame. Popping those aliens or whatever he is doing would get rather repetitive and boring pretty quickly, one would think.

[5millionthUnsoldETcart]

How many more games do you think will be released that will actually use the Eye Toy though? Aside from some rythym games, I really don't see much other application of this thing. The Power Glove was even programmable, so you could theoretically use it with ANY game... but it just didn't work very well for most types of games. The NES' Power Pad could have been used for lots of games... but it's not like you could have used it to play Megaman or Contra very effectively (Although it would be interesting if Dance Dance Revolution was around back then)... you won't be able to use the Eye Toy to play Tekken or Gran Turismo, so aside from the pack in game, and whatever other bones Sony throws you, I don't see much use for this thing.

 

It's definitely a neat gimmick, and it's price alone may make it worth while... but I think it IS a one trick pony. Perhaps the whole package should just be treated as a single game (ala Seaman + Microphon), rather than the thing being an add-on.

 

--Zero

 

The Power Pad was one of the very best peripherals ever. It really showed off the inventiveness of the Nintendo ENTERTAINMENT System.

 

I think this would be such a great idea for dancing games today. It would enhance gameplay so much. I don't know why somebody doesn't put another one of these out; with today's technology it could be so much better too.

 

NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH BODY POWER!!!

[Jasoco]

The Playstation has them.. Sadly the Nintendo systems get stuck with Pokémon while the Sony users get all the fun with DDR and everything. Microsoft has no Japanese culture though.

[VidGameKing]

Microsoft has no Japanese culture though.

 

I'm not raciest or whatever but is that really a bad (not saying you said it was bad) stance for Microsoft to be taking? I dont think so. I think (IMO) that maybe the market can use a little Americanisim. A little less big eyed freeky people, and games where the lips on the charecter speak japanese but the audio track is in english. I think us Getting a system, and software before the asian market gets anything is cool too! when I found out that Korea didn't get the XBOX untill 2002 I was like, "Wow thats sort of cool, usually that sort of thing doesn't happen!"