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NBA 2K15 scans your face, thinks you're beautiful
NBA 2K15 will feature the ability for players to scan their faces into the game and onto the bodies of digital athletes. 2K Sports revealed the feature in a tutorial video, which instructs prospective virtual basketballers to hold the PlayStation Camera six to 12 inches away from their faces. After slowly turning their head both ways, players will find their mapped mugs in the game, at which point they can fine-tune their features. Created players can then be used in MyCareer mode, where they will likely get dunked on by cover star Kevin Durant. While the tutorial mentioned the PlayStation Camera by name, 2K says the feature uses "first-party camera hardware." The publisher also doesn't specify whether the feature is locked to a given console, indicating that Xbox One players can use the Kinect to scan their faces as well. NBA 2K15 will launch October 7 for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. [Image: 2K]
Not every headshot will make it to PlayStation 4 profile pics
Oh, cruel fate! The PlayStation Camera – previously known as the PlayStation Eye – can't be used to create a PlayStation Network profile picture for the next-gen PlayStation 4. Although having your real name displayed is happening, the only way to pull real-world photos of yourself for the profile pic is through Facebook integration. We speculate it has to do with Facebook's anatomical detecting algorithms. For those who don't have a Facebook account (or don't want to use it), they'll have a selection of Sony avatars available, like things are now for PlayStation 3 and Vita. Also, if somebody wants to be your PSN friend, searching by your real name (even if you've selected to use your real name) won't be an option. To find you, they'll need your PSN ID. So, please try to keep it simple. You know who you are, xXxZOMGPUPPAYZxXx. [Image: Brian A Jackson via Shutterstock]
PlayStation Eye, DualShock controller both priced $59 for PS4
The PS4's Eye camera will be priced at $59, as will each additional DualShock 4 controller. That's according to a Sony Japan press release (via Engadget), which notes the Eye camera isn't included with the $399 PS4. The additional controller is priced slightly higher than the Eye camera outside of the US. The DualShock 4 costs €59 and £54 in Europe and the UK, while the Eye will go for €49/£44. Sony's press release notes both will be available in that ever so "jet black" color.
Take a closer look at the DualShock 4 and PS4 Eye
Sony has sent out some glossy close-up shots of today's newly-unveiled PS4 controller, the DualShock 4. It features a largely similar setup to its predecessor, the DualShock 3 – save for that front touchpad, light bar on top of the controller, redesigned analog sticks and the fact that it has no start button. Sony also sent over shots of its new PS4 Eye peripheral, a log-like improvement over the single-lensed PlayStation Eye camera that currently exists on PS3. The PS4 Eye has two cameras built in that can gauge player distance from the television and the like. %Gallery-179397%
PS4 Eye promises to unlock your PlayStation at a glance, tips hat to Kinect
Just finished watching Sony's "see the future" of PlayStation event? We hope you didn't blink, you might have missed a quick reveal of the next PlayStation Eye The optical sensor was overshadowed by the reveal of the DualShock 4, but it's nothing to scoff at -- the second generation Eye features two 1280 x 800 cameras, four microphones and an 85-degree field of view. Put together, the setup promises facial recognition, player positioning and depth sensing and enhanced PlayStation Move support. The Kinect-like camera is designed to work with Sony's new controller standard too, recognizing each player by the color of the DualShock 4's LED light bar. Sony says the Eye will allow the PS4 to use face login, and the collection of microphones might make voice control possible as well. No word yet if the new camera device will be a PS4 pack in or sold separately, but if you're interested in mining press releases for details, you'll find one after the break.%Gallery-179414%
Sony patents filed for Kinect-like PS Eye camera, backwards compatibility adapter
A new patent suggests Sony is considering -- or considered at one time -- its own take on a 3D depth-sensing camera. The patent in question was filed by Dr. Richard Marks, the inventor of the PS Eye and PlayStation Move, back in October.The filing calls for "a real-time three-dimensional interactive environment using a depth sensing device" that players would move in front of and interact with. "Embodiments of the present invention provide real-time interactive gaming experiences for users. For example, users can interact with various computer-generated objects in real-time." That sounds awfully close to Kinect, doesn't it? Another patent suggests Sony is also considering a separate set of hardware that would allow for better backwards compatibility. Rather than provide an on-board solution, this would plug into your game console and provide the hardware needed to properly run an older game. (Sound familiar?) Patents are quite a few steps removed from reality, but they might just give us a glimpse at how we might play our games in the future, whether they're new or old.
KinectNUI enables Minority Report style interaction in Windows sans gloves (video)
When Microsoft released its Kinect SDK we marveled at the impact it could have on desktop interaction; sure enough, Kevin Connolly's Kinect Natural User Interface has made our geeky pipe-dreams a reality. His inspiration for project? Not surprisingly, the Minority Report UI (aka g-speak). Similar projects like MIT's hack do exist, but it's brilliant knowing that another emulation has been made rather quickly with Redmond's tools. In a brief video using the Kinect on Windows 7, he demos various ways of manipulating on-screen content with hand gestures and body tracking -- neglecting his mouse in the process. It's still a work in progress, but the results are already quite striking, so take that ancient input device and click past the break for the full demo.
TriMount turns your Wii, Kinect, and PlayStation sensors into a video game Eye of Sauron
All right, we get it. You love motion gaming. You fell so hard for your Wii that you had to run out and buy the Kinect and PlayStation Move the minute they hit stores. And now you've got a lot of sensors, but not much in the way of space atop your flatscreen. DreamGear understands your decidedly first world pain, and is offering up the TriMount, a shrine to gesture-based gaming that has slots for your Wii sensor bar, Kinect sensor, PlayStation Eye, and a clamp for attaching it to your set. The $30 setup ships August 15th, and is available now for pre-order. Until then, you're going to have to manage the old fashioned way: making a younger sibling hold up the sensor while you play Dance Central.
Kinect enabled head-tracking previewed in Forza 4 spotlight video, turns heads (video)
Ever since Johnny Chung Lee was snatched up by Microsoft's Project Natal team to work on Kinect, we've been curious to see how his Wii head-tracking skills would come to fruition on the device. This week, an Inside Xbox episode shows us how it will work with Forza 4, and the Kinect enabled head-tracking appears to run fairly smoothly compared to others we've seen (just try getting similar results on Gran Turismo 5 with a PlayStation Eye). There's no word about other titles planning to make use of this new feature, but we'll surely find out more while we're at E3 next week, and possibly get some hands heads-on time while we're at it.
SOCOM 4 bundled with Move in $150 'Full Deployment Edition'
If you're thinking about picking up a PlayStation Move controller with which to bust caps in the bottoms of your foes in SOCOM 4, Sony and Zipper Interactive have announced a pretty tight little bundle to fit your needs. It's the SOCOM 4 Full Deployment Edition, a $149.99 package which includes the game, a Move controller and Navigation controller, the "Sharp Shooter" gun attachment and a PlayStation Eye camera. The bundle will arrive on store shelves on the same day as the standalone game, April 19. That's a pretty sweet deal -- all those components sold piecemeal would run you over $200. More importantly, think about all the time you'll save if you purchase them altogether! Seriously, searching for these items and clicking "Add to Cart" five times would take you, like, three whole minutes. Three minutes! In this fast-paced, interconnected world, that's like, seven minutes.
Kung-Fu Live punches into the US on December 7
Tired of kicking various random things (the trashcan, pieces of furniture, garden gnomes) around your house? Waiting for the day when all that kicking can finally be put to use winning a game? You don't have to wait much longer -- Sony has announced that Kung-Fu Live will available in the US on December 7, so, in a bit less than two weeks from now, you'll be able to drop your real-life limbs on some virtual baddies. There's also a new trailer, embedded after the break for your convenience. Sony recommends that you empty out about seven by nine feet of space to stand in front of the PlayStation Eye camera and do all your moving around, so it looks like you might be able to put those furniture-kickin' skills to use early after all. Hi-ya! Oh geez, sorry kitty, didn't see you there.
Kung-Fu Live preview: You are the controller
Kung-Fu Live made quite the impression when I saw it a few months ago, promising a full body-controlled gaming experience -- using Sony's PlayStation Eye instead of Microsoft's much-hyped Kinect. As with Kinect, you'll need a lot of space in order to play comfortably. The developer tells us that you should "ideally have about 7x9 feet of space." The camera needs to be able to see your entire body, from head to toe. You'll also need some bright lighting, and you'll have to watch what you wear. For example, wearing a white shirt against a white wall will confuse the game. (Hence the jacket in the picture above.)%Gallery-97839%
MakerBot mod turns PlayStation Eye into 3D scanner
Do you feel the inexplicable compulsion to map the contours of your grotesque visage on a professional level? MakerBot Industries has come up with a clever device that should let you do so using a gaming peripheral you might already own: The PlayStation Eye. The MakerScanner (which isn't available for purchase yet, though interested parties can put their names on a mailing list) is designed to let users create a full 3D geometric scan of an object using the PS Eye and a laser line pointer. This results in a data map that can be used to create 3D models or, with the right -- presumably expensive -- equipment, a physical statuette. We think it would be worth the investment to fill our apartment with busts of ourselves. "Oh, this one," we'd tell our visitors, "this one's us in repose."
PlayStation Move review: The hardware and experience
Four years after the arrival of Wii, Sony's take on motion controlled gaming is finally here. Well, at least it's here at Joystiq, where we got our hands on the final hardware and initial lineup of games a couple of weeks in advance of the peripheral's September 19 North American debut. I spent several days with Move, from the initial unboxing to putting my thoughts on the hardware together for you in this review. I also played the Move launch games from Sony and one from Ubisoft, which I've reviewed in the companion piece to this article. PlayStation Move, as you've no doubt read on the site, comes in a variety of configurations. There's the Move controller itself, the Move controller bundled with the required PlayStation Eye camera and Sports Champions and a system bundle that includes the latter plus a PS3 console. There's also the Move's "nunchuk" Navigation Controller, which isn't actually used by any of the Move-specific launch titles (but will be supported by future games and current titles, such as Heavy Rain, via patches). I received two Move controllers, one Navigation Controller and a PS Eye camera. The Navigation Controller arrived in packaging styled to match other PS3 accessories, such as the DualShock 3. The Move controllers themselves were already unboxed, though it stands to reason that they come in similarly difficult-to-open-without-spilling-blood plastic packaging. Anyway, enough background -- let's get on with the review.
Sony giving away PlayStation Move for block parties, along with completely wild freebies
Looking for a free PlayStation Move setup and a bunch of useless schwag? Too bad you didn't sign up for Sony's Ultimate Block Party. In the vein of the hilarious Windows 7 and TiVo promo giveaways of yesteryear, PlayStation's thrown a virtual bash that actually requires a modicum of interaction to properly enjoy this time. As this isn't a retail Move package, there's no traditional unboxing to be had, but soon-to-be-host Phil does show off a demo disk (with eight titles and uproarious setup guide) that we pray will be included in the final kit. Other than that, the promo box includes your standard array of party supplies -- PlayStation Move cocktail napkins, Sports Champions mini-frisbees, plastic soda can handles, and the gift that keeps on giving: a bag of Kevin Butler button badges. Because real boxers don't do Tupperware. Spot all the goodies at our source link.
New Kung-Fu Live trailer fights for your attention
If you punch and kick the air while you watch this trailer for Kung-Fu Live (after the break) -- and if you happen to look exactly like the guy in the trailer -- it'll be just like playing it! The latest video of Virtual Air Guitar Company's PlayStation Eye-based brawler demonstrates the fighting abilities, otherworldly powers, and even storyline integration that you'll be able to experience by simply standing in front of your TV. In a lengthy PlayStation Blog post accompanying the trailer, Virtual Air Guitar Company's Teemu revealed a weird multiplayer feature, in which up to four players can use PlayStation controllers to fight against the player using the camera, presumably with the unstated goal of making him or her pass out from exhaustion.
Eye of Judgment online servers closing in September
While Eye of Judgment never became a runaway hit for Sony, the PlayStation Eye-enabled, augmented reality card game has a small, but dedicated fan base. Unfortunately for them, the online community will be discontinued on September 30, according to a notice on the European PlayStation forums. "Offline play will remain available even after the conclusion of online service," the announcement adds, meaning EoJ fans will have to meet in person to continue competitively playing. While it's not uncommon for online games to be discontinued, it does leave fans with few options. Some EoJ players are planning to move on to the PSP version, Legends (which doesn't require physical cards). Others, however, feel betrayed by Sony. "I am afraid that my long lasting relationship with SCEA/E/J products end 9/30," one fan commented on the forums.
Students accelerate cubicle arms race with PlayStation Eye-tracked, iPhone-guided coilgun (video)
DIY weaponry gets more lethal with each passing year; where once we were content with a simple foam missile launcher, technology has progressed such that our automated turrets now spew screwdriver bits, airsoft and paintballs. As progress forges ahead, two engineering students at the University of Arkansas have added injury to insult with this four-stage DIY coilgun. Using an Arduino microcontroller to actuate the firing mechanism and steer the monstrous wooden frame, they nimbly control the badass kit with an iDevice over WiFi, and line up targets using a repurposed PlayStation Eye webcam. While we'd of course prefer to have our phone SSH into the gun over 3G, we're not going to argue with success. We'd like to keep our lungs un-perforated, thank you very much. See it in action after the break.
Hands-on: PlayStation Eye's Kung-Fu Live
Kung-Fu Live sounds almost exactly like a Project Natal game. With the aid of a camera, your image is placed directly into the game, and real movements are translated into in-game actions. As the concept trailer above shows, you'll be able to kick and punch wildly into the air to take down virtual baddies. But Kung-Fu Live isn't destined for Project Natal. Instead, it's coming exclusively to the PlayStation Network. You won't need a fancy PlayStation Move controller, either. This is one of the few games designed exclusively for the PlayStation Eye camera. Powering the gameplay experience is Virtual Air Guitar Company's FreeMotion technology, which promises "real-time tracking of the entire human body as well as background removal using regular webcams." Certainly, the promise of Natal-esque gameplay using a standard camera has us intrigued, but is it better than your typical PS2 EyeToy game? It's clear that the technology powering Kung-Fu Live is far more powerful than what we've seen in the PS2 generation. The system is able to accurately remove the background in real-time -- and is intelligent enough to know when new players jump in or out. Another aspect that benefits Kung-Fu Live: personality. The game is story-driven, told through comic panels in which you can feature. At the start of each level the game will suggest a pose for you to attempt, after which the camera will take a picture and inject you into a comic book scene. Seeing myself roundhouse kick three goons in a generated comic book strip was definitely amusing. (Being able to share these photos online seems like an ideal way to use the game's built-in Facebook functionality, as well.)
Interview: EyePet's Nicolas Doucet discusses Move integration
We were starting to worry that SCEA had forgotten about EyePet when its planned holiday 2009 release came and went. Sony's Eye-enabled virtual pet simulator made a surprising reemergence recently, now featuring PlayStation Move support. We chatted with EyePet producer Nicolas Doucet about implementing Sony's motion controller into the game, and what that means for gamers, new and old. By removing the Magic Card, and replacing it with motion controls, isn't this new version of EyePet, essentially, a brand new game? Especially for North America and Japan, as well. It's going to be the first release, so yeah it's a brand new game. We've really made a lot of effort to make sure that whatever we converted from the Magic Card for the Move wasn't just a port. We deconstructed and reconstructed things to really make it feel like a Move-dedicated game. Obviously, to begin with it wasn't. We put a lot of effort into that. We've extended the development by another nine months to really give something special to players. Will it be a PlayStation Move launch title? Yes it will be, this Fall. %Gallery-88229%
