Fire with fire: Can the PlayStation Eye topple the Wiimote?

The Wii Remote has been credited with the phenomenal success that the Nintendo Wii has had since its launch. With its innovative motion-sensing capabilities, casual gamers were drawn in and the market was expanded to what it is today. Hardcore fans and pundits may not fully understand what the deal is, but everyone concedes to the fact that the idea sells.

On the other hand, Sony finds itself trailing behind in sales even with the technical superiority of its PlayStation 3 game console. Loaded with a Cell processor and a Blu-ray drive, the PS3 is the state of the art machine in today’s gaming scene. Sony, however, hopes to turn the tides with a price cut, a strong upcoming line-up of games and a new accessory called the PlayStation Eye.

The PlayStation Eye, in essence, is a digital camera attachable to the PS3. It can recognize visual patterns, as exhibited with the game Eye of Judgement, and can sense movements and distance in a 3D space. That, according to Sony, gives it more potential than a Wiimote.

“All of the different Eye-Toy games that we’ve made so far and the wide range [of gameplay] that we have delivered shows that the camera isn’t the key device, it’s what we do with it that’s important,” says Eye of Judgement director Kazuhiko Miyaki.

In the game, players use the PlayStation Eye with electronic cards to summon monsters. It never misses a beat as it can distinguish all 150 cards perfectly and can even tell how far they are and what their tilt angles are.

There’s no doubt that the PlayStation Eye is a remarkable accessory that can spell big success for the games that take advantage of it. The only question now is whether or not developers will have the initiative to create games that will define its capabilities. Will we see a controller revolution where the PS3 and the Wii will fight fire with fire? For that, we’ll have to wait and see.

Via CVG

The Wii Remote has been credited with the phenomenal success that the Nintendo Wii has had since its launch. With its innovative motion-sensing capabilities, casual gamers were drawn in and the market was expanded to what it is today. Hardcore fans and pundits may not fully understand what the deal is, but everyone concedes to the fact that the idea sells.

On the other hand, Sony finds itself trailing behind in sales even with the technical superiority of its PlayStation 3 game console. Loaded with a Cell processor and a Blu-ray drive, the PS3 is the state of the art machine in today’s gaming scene. Sony, however, hopes to turn the tides with a price cut, a strong upcoming line-up of games and a new accessory called the PlayStation Eye.

The PlayStation Eye, in essence, is a digital camera attachable to the PS3. It can recognize visual patterns, as exhibited with the game Eye of Judgement, and can sense movements and distance in a 3D space. That, according to Sony, gives it more potential than a Wiimote.

“All of the different Eye-Toy games that we’ve made so far and the wide range [of gameplay] that we have delivered shows that the camera isn’t the key device, it’s what we do with it that’s important,” says Eye of Judgement director Kazuhiko Miyaki.

In the game, players use the PlayStation Eye with electronic cards to summon monsters. It never misses a beat as it can distinguish all 150 cards perfectly and can even tell how far they are and what their tilt angles are.

There’s no doubt that the PlayStation Eye is a remarkable accessory that can spell big success for the games that take advantage of it. The only question now is whether or not developers will have the initiative to create games that will define its capabilities. Will we see a controller revolution where the PS3 and the Wii will fight fire with fire? For that, we’ll have to wait and see.

Via CVG