Sony's PlayStation Eye gets a release date

For those of you whose salivary glands have been working overtime when thinking about Sony's new PlayStation Eye PS3 camera accessory (and we're sure there's at least one or two of you), you better go get a napkin. According to reports, the interactive, VGA cam will be heading out to stores bundled with Hasrbo's RPG / card game The Eye of Judgment on October 23rd, for the shockingly low price of $69.99. No word on whether that bundle will include the EyeCreate editing software, or when / if the Eye will be available on its own. Hey -- you'll probably want the game anyhow.

[kaztm @ Sep 21st 2007 9:53AM]

Engadget might also have at least one or two fans.

[root @ Sep 21st 2007 9:58AM]

who needs this pricy thing?

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2007 10:33AM]

$70 is pricey for a game + camera that you can also use for video chat and other upcoming games?

[HeavenlySword @ Sep 21st 2007 12:14PM]

hmm, you must be mistaken $69.99 with $ 699.99 :)

[Temple @ Sep 21st 2007 2:10PM]

$70 for a Game + Camera + Cards + Playing Board.

Not bad for $10 more then the average PS3/360 game.

[Ant @ Sep 21st 2007 10:03AM]

I love Sony’s forward thinking, they make massive losses on hardware to let us gradually pay them back over the years, what a great way to do businesses. I’d really like to see any other console manufacturer offer this kind of tek for anywhere near that amount. Good on ya Sony.

[teej @ Sep 21st 2007 1:05PM]

Microsoft does the same thing, gg.

[MasterCKO @ Sep 21st 2007 6:42PM]

also, the printing and razor industries.

[mlb @ Sep 21st 2007 10:05AM]

Instead of bringing outs a buttload of accessories like the PS3 Eye and the DualShock 3, maybe they should concentrate on bringing out some good games. Maybe then someone would have some incentive to buy all these add ons.

[Noshino @ Sep 21st 2007 10:13AM]

You do know that they have most, if not all, of their developers working on games right? since when does the hardware team takes care of making games? and also, since when are extras features not welcome?

[Ant @ Sep 21st 2007 10:14AM]

I agree they need games real bad, but I get the feeling with their line-up they are well well worth waiting for. I haven’t got a console yet but all this stuff is looking real good for the future, I couldn’t afford to keep buying games so my three games a year need to be really special, I can wait.

[Phillip Black @ Sep 21st 2007 1:39PM]

"since when does the hardware team takes care of making games?"
When you know your console has sucky games.......

[MasterCKO @ Sep 21st 2007 2:01PM]

which buttload of accessories are you talking about, btw? I've seen like a max of 3 major Sony-branded peripherals released for the system (BD remote, controllers new and old, and this).

Also, your first lesson of Biz 101: companies with hundreds or thousands of employees have different "departments" which handle different tasks that are tailored to the skills of the members of said departments. What's great is that these different tasks can be handled concurrently.

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2007 4:00PM]

@MasterCKO: Haven't you learned yet? The Internet tells me concurrency is really hard and not worth the trouble this generation. Making a game that utilizes more than 2-3 cores simply isn't worth the time and money and the same should apply to business because the fanboys deem it law!

[Andy @ Sep 21st 2007 10:08AM]

Not bad. It still looks weird, as if its got a big forehead, but Id like to know what the microphone array performance is like. It should be able to replace a headset in theory.

[jimeagle @ Sep 21st 2007 10:23AM]

I think a headset is still better but they are a pain, where this is much easier.

[Willoo @ Sep 21st 2007 10:41AM]

Ive already used one of these, not very impressive tbh... not that much better than the original eyetoy

[Phil @ Sep 21st 2007 10:55AM]

Have you? Cool!

Can you post some evidence and details please.........

[Raven @ Sep 21st 2007 10:59AM]

It was on work experience at a games company who helped develop the original eye toy and have the closed beta for "Home" which i got to use as well :D

I cant really disclose much because i am locked by an NDA, but it looks good on the outside, but it feels like a cheap webcam from eBay or something, maybe it was just a prototype or somthing.

[Raven @ Sep 21st 2007 11:00AM]

oh its changed my name, im Willoo as well as Raven, lol

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2007 11:48AM]

Yeah, because we should trust someone with multiple IDs for posting...

Makes me wonder how many times you've rated yourself up and agreed with yourself to try to prove a point. :rolleyes:

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2007 11:54AM]

Yeah, because we should trust someone with multiple IDs for posting...

Makes me wonder how many times you've rated yourself up and agreed with yourself to try to prove a point. :rolleyes:

[HeavenlySword @ Sep 21st 2007 12:12PM]

Hmm, you shouldn't really say anything if you're under NDA. Even if you didn't say anything specific. I bet it's written somewhere there.

[Sean @ Sep 21st 2007 10:54AM]

Can I get a job as an editor with Endgadget?

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2007 10:59AM]

First you have to figure out how the hell the tags are assigned/created, then you pass the first interview stage.

[anderesp @ Sep 21st 2007 11:18AM]

im down to get one,

but why the hell does it not look like its even remotely related to the PS3?!

MESSING UP MY MOTIF!!

[James @ Sep 21st 2007 11:39AM]

What an Apple rip-off. I mean, the iPhone had a camera months ago, now everyone is adding one to their device. Why don't these companies come up with their own ideas instead of stealing Jobs'?

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2007 11:56AM]

Yeah! Because no other phones had cameras before Apple!

(I'm assuming your sarcasm tag was stripped)

[HeavenlySword @ Sep 21st 2007 12:14PM]

OMG I couldn't believe I read another weak statement.. you ruin my day you fanbot!

[James @ Sep 21st 2007 12:20PM]

Also, this camera is black. Isn't the iPhone also partialy in black?

[James @ Sep 21st 2007 12:22PM]

Does anybody know if this will use the "standard" profile for webcams? I assume it's a USB device, and it would be nice if you could plug-and-play on a modern computer without needing drivers. Looks like the average VGA webcam with integrated mic goes for at least 60 bucks, so if you can get one for 70 with an included game, I might bite (after I get a PS3, that is ;-).

[infinityv @ Sep 21st 2007 1:24PM]

Knowing Sony and the PS3 it will be bluetooth and use a usb cable to charge...now the question is am I kidding or not... @.@

[JeffDM @ Sep 22nd 2007 7:15PM]

infinityv; I don't think Bluetooth would work well, unless they have an MPEG-4 encoder inside the Eye. That would sound like something that would suck down batteries.

[Garst @ Sep 21st 2007 12:50PM]

Only VGA? Sony has made a lot of noise about what the PS3 can do, and graphics being the biggest. Who's going to attach a VGA camera to a PS3 to view on their, supposedly, HDTV?

[Harry Wagstaff @ Sep 21st 2007 1:18PM]

Yeh, realtime image processing is fairly resource intensive. My PC and particular use of image processing (spot the difference) runs at less than one frame/second, and a program written for a PhD I saw about 2 years ago ran at about 5. This is the PS3, so I suppose they could dedicate a whole ton of power to it, but even so.

[Neuro @ Sep 21st 2007 4:21PM]

IIRC the idea was that instead of sensor with 1+ megapixel, they use one that's more sensitive - getting less noise and higher framerate (120hz), both of which would help for the image tracking applications. Now if that's the truth and not just another excuse like "rumble is so last gen", that's another question :)

[Dan @ Sep 21st 2007 1:04PM]

Is this the fabeled PS3 voyeur cam? That's what I call interactive gaming!

[MasterCKO @ Sep 21st 2007 1:57PM]

whoa, I actually might get this. 70 is not a bad deal and that card game looks somewhat fun.

[Ian H. @ Sep 21st 2007 4:57PM]

Does this remind anyone else of Princess Leia's bounty hunter mask? Zeebuss!

[Marty @ Sep 25th 2007 10:10AM]

Are you kidding?
"$70 is pricey for a game + camera that you can also use for video chat and other upcoming games?"

"$70 for a Game + Camera + Cards + Playing Board."

Ok... first off, I spend $60 on the games I WANT to play. I spend $60 on triple A games like Halo 3 or BioShock. It's not a value when you get some crap you don't want. Hello, what if someone who wants the EyeToy or whatever they call it DOESN'T want some kiddie card-game? Hmm... visions of used copies littering Gamestop shelves I see.

Secondly... I do understand that this has a mic built in... but the Xbox 360 camera (which comes bundled with a headset) is $39.99. Heck, I was even critical of MS for not selling the camera WITHOUT the headset (If the headset by itself is about $15... then that means the camera could only be around $25 - $30 if they sold them seperately).

Sony's been making a lot of wack-ass business decisions. Drop the game/card game and sell this thing for $40. Not that some chintzy web-cam is going to be the deciding factor when one decides on a PS3 or 360... but you're still going to turn a lot of people away who might have been willing to drop $40 on a the camera but not $70 for the bundle.

[JDigital @ Oct 5th 2007 1:20PM]

You do understand that some people can afford both a 360 and PS3, right?

Its amazing how your perspective changes when you actually buy your own toys and quit depending on mommy and daddy. Maybe some day you'll grow up. I for one welcome new things... and fortunately for me I spent more time learning a skill than being a fanboy when I was your age, so I can easily spend $70 for the bundle. Good job Sony.