Sony's EyePet beta hands-on: it's probably the most adorable thing ever

We just got a brief glimpse at the new PlayStation Eye-based augmented reality EyePet game from Sony, which is on track for a holiday release on the PS3. It's no Project Natal, but what the game lacks in gesture-based interaction (though we were able to pet and play with the little guy pretty intuitively) it makes up for in extensive adorability. You can naturally play, feed, groom and customize your pet -- even teach the thing to draw shapes and bring them to life in a sense -- but it's surprisingly fun to just watch the little dude scamper around in seemingly real space. The title will be available both as a standalone game and as a bundle with the PlayStation Eye. Check out a video of the game in an early beta state after the break, and you can find Joystiq's E3 impressions of the game here.

[skepticals Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:15PM]

Wow, that's actually pretty cool.

[Andir Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:16PM]

D&D and many other "dice/card" games. Me, a couple friends, and one of their 9 year old kids spent this past weekend playing a game called Descent with cards and dice which would be pretty awesome to see on the TV with the spells and animations instead of plastic figures and cardboard templates. It would even be cooler if TV tech got to the point where LCDs (OLED, whatever) could be your coffee table with multi-touch (unlike Surface which is too big) then you could play on the table.

[Andir Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:17PM]

hmm, was supposed to be a reply to "jol" ... and I know I hit the right reply button.

[spin cycle Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:28PM]

Eye of Judgment came out over a year ago. It is what you describe.

[SirNoDroin Posted Jul 28th 2009 6:07PM]

this weekend, I went out, had some beer, and talked to some women.

I win.

[Andir Posted Jul 28th 2009 7:39PM]

Not quite... Eye of Judgment was a card game. I'm talking about a dynamic dungeon map made with cardboard cutouts and plastic avatars. It's fun for the kids in it's regular form.

@Grammar: So did I ;)

[ndrwme Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:20PM]

This puts Sony ahead of Microsoft since Sony already had EyeToy technology since the PS2 and they are adding their wand concept while Microsoft is still working on their Natal. Obviously Wii is behind now, especially when you include graphics.

[PedoJokerBear Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:32PM]

this isnt the same as NATAL...

[ndrwme Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:44PM]

I know Natal is more advanced (full-body plus more gesturesi) but it won't be out til the next generation. Sony has this out already, plus they still have the wand.

And I take back that the Wii is behind, since Sony and Microsoft haven't released their wares to the public yet.

[spin cycle Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:54PM]

Natal is more advanced because it has far more hype behind it.

[magallanes Posted Jul 28th 2009 6:12PM]

Natal is way better than Eyetoys in the same basis than Dukem Nukem Forever is way better than Halo.

Or you could say, a vaporware (fanboy wish) is always superior to a real product.
:-P

[Extinction Posted Jul 28th 2009 11:28PM]

yeah it is the same as natal

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 5:01AM]

Seeing this makes me hope volumetric displays become possible/commonplace. Imagine the critter actually being there, rather than viewing it through the display 'mirror'.

[Castaa Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:49PM]

Is there a Michael Vick mode?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 28th 2009 5:50PM]

Not sure if I would ever play THIS game but the possibilities are very interesting!

[SirNoDroin Posted Jul 28th 2009 6:05PM]

people would buy this, play with it for 20 minutes, then be bored.

[IronArcher Posted Jul 28th 2009 6:57PM]

... but kids will probably get quite a bit of play out of this along with their parents.

[Wwhat Posted Jul 28th 2009 8:45PM]

Not japanese people, they will get addicted.

[Jordan Posted Jul 28th 2009 6:13PM]

This is Nintendogs only more lame

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 28th 2009 7:29PM]

What exactly do you feel makes it more lame than nintendogs? Is it that it is not dogs or is it that it is not nintendo?

[Jordan Posted Jul 28th 2009 9:17PM]

It's that it's a virtual pet inside an actual physical space, depicted on your television. It's that people around the world will be sitting there petting the air as they pet their virtual pet. Don't misunderstand me, this isn't a Nintendo/Sony comment, Nintendogs is lame in itself, but this is just that plus more lameness.

[WickedEast Posted Jul 28th 2009 10:03PM]

You don't seem to know what "lame" actually means.

[Jordan Posted Jul 29th 2009 12:32AM]

Actually I do know what lame means.

But if you use the slang term, this is lame.

[Wwhat Posted Jul 28th 2009 8:44PM]

The game costs just $30 buck, but each virtual pet vet visit will cost an additional $160 to $2000 determined by a random 'issues selector', I guess.

[Stapyhlococcus Posted Jul 28th 2009 11:36PM]

So CUTE!!

Only thing is you need to have a table set up in a certain way.

[AnastasiosAntonios Toulkeridis Posted Jul 29th 2009 3:57AM]

hi from Greece. I'd prefer a real puppy that has genuine intelligence. Knowing that the virtual creature has a pre-programmed repertoire of behaviors would make our interactions uninteresting no matter how vast that collection. And even if Sony somehow allowed downloading of new behaviors or even provided the user with some sort of programming tool it would STILL be uninteresting. What they need instead is to develop an advanced A.I.

[phearme Posted Jul 29th 2009 5:17AM]

this seams cool. will buy since project natal will not be out before late next year.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2009 2:58AM]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Susan

http://onlinemariogames.net

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2009 2:59AM]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Susan

http://onlinemariogames.net