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Sony files for the spiffy new Eye Toy
Remember that neat little "secret component" everyone was talking about last month in regards to some extra hardware? You know... the next-gen Eye Toy? Well here's the return of it as Sony has filed big number 2006-178948, which is the patent for a new camera that "will recognize every move and position of an object and will translate these actions accordingly to an object inside a game." What used to take multiple cameras now takes one, thanks to a patented mapping technique.It's like motion capture for the average Joe. But what ever happened to that Israeli company called Prime Sense? Weren't they supposed to come into the scene with their own interactive device which sounds a lot like this one? Well at any rate, Sony is on the move to get this camera inked in their name. Let's hope they don't step on any toes with this, because they haven't had the best of luck in the patent area lately.Could the camera also have videoconferencing features added into it as well? Thanks to Avistar and company (and the magic of licensing), this new Eye Toy could be your next long-distance video phone. Yet another testament to Sony's desire to bring the PlayStation brand out of "For gamers only" territory and into a wider audience.[Thanks, Fan]
Is caricature the Wii's last secret? [update 1]
Though it may be difficult to tell, the adjacent picture is not a live photograph of Shigeru Miyamoto -- it's just a caricature. At Nintendo's E3 2006 press conference, Miyamoto, Reggie Fils-Aime, and Satoru Iwata all played Wii tennis with cartoon versions of themselves.In an interview with CNN's Chris Morris, Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto hinted that the average Wii owner may also be able to turn themselves into Anime Avatars: "we have some different ideas about how to take advantage of that functionality – and we will be sharing that type of functionality with third parties." Is it a software app, inherent to the Wii, or a special trick involving a Wii camera?Microsoft showed us at E3 this year how to use its camera for face mapping, what if Nintendo had a camera that could do the same -- only, the Wii camera would turn us all into Japanese cartoons. This is all, of course, rampant speculation, but we wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo managed to placed a little camera inside its TV-mounted sensor.
360 to Wii: Anything you can do, I can do better
We saw what Sony's PlayStation 3 EyeToy can do in terms of motion technology (as well as its upgraded PS3 remote), and we know Nintendo's primary console feature is its motion-sensored remote, but what about the Xbox 360? Aaron Stanton of About.com visited the GestureTek booth in Kentia Hall at last week's E3 to learn about a new development kit to use with the Xbox 360 camera. Not only can it map your face to a character model, but with GestureTek's technology the Xbox 360 camera can accurately track a player's movement, including specific finger usage.To further impress, GestureTek demonstrated for Stanton how the technology can emulate each Nintendo Wii game on the show floor. The technology is impressive, of course, but as Stanton points out not likely to surpass the Wii. Simply put, the GestureTek demo is just that -- a demo. And on top of that, technology for a peripheral, which can be easily ignored by developers. It'll be interesting to see if Microsoft and Sony use their respective cameras to match Nintendo's features, but if Sony's press conference is any indication (Sony just glazed over its EyeToy demo), we doubt it.[Thanks, Eric Stoben]
360 cam to usher in home surveillance?
eHomeUpgrade.com has big plans for the forthcoming Xbox 360 USB camera. Forget video chat, face-mapping, snapshots, and motion-capture gaming ... what about home surveillance?! Wow.Imagine if you will, a network of wireless, motion-tracking cameras stationed throughout your home. Now imagine your Xbox 360 is the hub. And now, there you are, secure in your living room, clutching your controller and ... watching ... watching every twitch on your 42" plasma.
Shots of Sony's PSP accessories: EyeToy, GPS, PSone support
Gamespot has some slides from Wednesday's PlayStation Business Briefing showing off the announced PSP peripherals, like the USB EyeToy, the PSP-290 GPS receiver, and the Memory Stick you're gonna load up classic PSone games on to. Alright, that last one doesn't really look that cool in the picture but trust us, it's pretty cool!The EyeToy is due in September and the GPS receiver in October, so it would really have a nice ring to it if the PSone emulator and download service dropped in November. An even better release date would be "now" so we can play something besides ScummVM and GTA. See also:SCEA: PSP price drop to $199 on March 22nd; EyeToy, GPS, and PSone game-download support coming laterPS3 worldwide in November[Via Engadget]
SCEA: PSP price drop to $199 on March 22nd; EyeToy, GPS, and PSone game-download support coming later
As noted in our earlier story on the PS3's worldwide launch in November, the PSP will drop in price to $199 in the U.S. on March 22nd.According to an official PR announcement from SCEA, this basic package with PSP, AC adaptor, and battery will also retail for $229.99 CND (for our friends up north).Highlights include classic PSone games for download onto Memory Sticks, web browser compatibility with Flash, a silver USB EyeToy camera for video and voice-over-IP chat in September, and GPS support for games like Hot Shots Golf as well. Europe will get their basic PSPs for 199 Euros on the same date, while Japan will get a new white SKU on April 15th.See also: PS3 worldwide in November PSP-specific page from IGN; second IGN page with other pricing info New PSP Value Packs revealed [with bundled games for Europe] Rumor: New PSP to get a built-in camera and 4GB of flash
Xbox 360 camera eyes EyeToy?
Will the Xbox 360 camera have tracking abiities similar to the Sony EyeToy and motion-sensitive Revolution controller? German blogger Erzengel360 dug up a recently updated Microsoft patent for "relative range camera calibration" that would seem to support the notion. Of course the PR cogs at MS told him the details of Project "Vision" will become clear at a later time.I assume nobody is going to complain about added functionality, especially if it allows you to flap your arms at a glorified webcam. What are your expectations for the 360 camera?[Thanks, Ebri]
Sony working on "Revolution Killer"?
Some truly juicy rumors tend to pop up in Gamespot's regular Rumor Control feature, and this latest one is no different. According to an insider at Macromedia, the company responsible for the hugely popular Flash software (and now apparently working on a Flash Lite for the PS3 and PSP), Sony is preparing to turn the Playstation 2 into a Revolution adversary. The company apparently plans to release a motion-sensitive controller that would cooperate with the Eyetoy and thus turn the PS2 into a bastion for weird and unique games. Ha. Now, if we were to assume this were at all true, it would be easy to see that this scheme does make a lot of sense. Given its age and market penetration, the PS2 could match the Revolution in terms of price and, thanks to this new controller, at least partially in terms of weird input device. It would no doubt be a very attractive alternative to developers, especially since the PS2 would already have a 100 million unit lead on the Revolution. Sounds like a great move, doesn't it?There's just one problem. Should Sony implement this plan, they'd be doing it based on the incorrect assumption that the Revolution's unique control system is its secret to success. Now, that's somewhat true, but a key ingredient is being overlooked. The Eyetoy seemed like a pretty innovative control system, right? Now, let's list all the awesome Eyetoy games we've played.Oh, well there's...the one with the ninjas and...window washing...and...err...The games! We're interested in the Revolution because of the games--the possibilities that a new control system brings to the developer. Just slapping a crazy new peripheral onto the PS2 isn't going to automagically create wonderful new games. The Revolution's controller is merely a means to an end, after all. This doesn't mean Sony couldn't pull out some classy games for this device, but it certainly seems as if they're approaching this endeavor from the wrong angle. And hey, if this is "Revolution Killer" is anything like their "Halo Killer", it might be fair to expect the Revolution to die quite quickly...of laughter, that is.
