PS3 Fanboy

David Reeves is up in arms over at Leipzig, issuing statement after statement. This time, Reeves tipped his hat at Nintendo, saying "...We're very happy Nintendo broadened the market to where we have never gone. But Sony is going places where EA and Microsoft have never been. We're very happy about [market expansion]. It keeps growth of the industry going up and up and up instead of just recycling gamers." Reeves also gave an innovative nod at Sony's own EyeToy, SingStar, and Buzz! from the past on the PS2 that actually first broadened the market, but digresses.

With Sony's PlayStation Eye coming out and set to innovate the gaming world and broaden the market even further, it's nice to know Reeves can display at least some semblance of humility. Even so, he goes on about price cuts and bundle packs, which we've already learned his position on. Bundles will continue in Europe for a while, but if the US demands another price cut, they'll probably get one in the future. Do you think the PS Eye will draw in some more casual gamers for the PS3? Or is that initial investment too much of a hurdle for the casual crowd?

Our initial title for this post was admittedly more flame-worthy, but we decided "immense potential" sounded better than Sony's off-handed "beyond the Wii" inferences. While the title is different, the underlying message remains the same: the PlayStation Eye is being touted as revolutionary in the realm of 3D tracking. The director of Eye of Judgment, Kazuhito Miyaki, commented thus on the camera: "there is much more potential and ability in our technology." He explains that while the card-game is just that, every new PS Eye game will create a completely different dynamic, so the possibilities are pretty close to endless.

We weren't sure if his quote about the PS Eye not being a key device to the PS3 was a knock at Nintendo or not, so you decide: "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." We like pretending that it isn't, since neither the Wii or PS Eye have matured into products worth passing our judgment on. Either way, whether you own a Sony console or are completely satisfied with your Wii, you'll have a fantastic peripheral and a unique console experience headed your way.

The PlayStation Eye accessory is far more advanced than its last-gen predecessor, the EyeToy. With 120fps support, high-res video recording, advanced speech recognition, and EyeCreate photo editing software, we feared the Eye would cost an arm and a leg. It doesn't appear to be the case. The upcoming Eye of Judgment, which includes the camera peripheral, is listed for the same price as a regular PS3 retail game: only $60. According to amazon.com, the game will arrive in October. At this price, it seems worthwhile to pick up -- even if you're not interested in the game.

[Thanks, Jared!]

While at Sony's 3Rooms brand space in London today we had some hands-on time with Folklore and Eye of Judgment (more on those later today). We also saw a couple of things we didn't expect to see, including a PS3 attached to a PlayStation Eye running a game we haven't seen before. Trials of Topoq is a "run the ball through the level" game which reminded us of Kula World on the PS1.

The game requires you to move the ball around the different layers of each castle, breaking open cages as you go. Each level has a different task, including getting to the end within a time limit and breaking a certain amount of cages before reaching the finish line. Crossbows can be found around the levels which, when the ball is rolled into it, will shoot you to a hidden area of the level.

The ball is not moved via the analogue stick, nor the SIXAXIS. Instead, the floor of the castle shows an image of what the PlayStation Eye can see. By moving your arms (or any other part of you, really) you affect the height of the floor temporarily. The idea is to create slopes to guide the ball around and collect the items (or "smash the cages" as the game calls it) whilst making yourself look like a prat in the process.

We snapped a few photos of the game in action, check out the gallery below to see all three. There's no word on whether the game will come bundled with the PlayStation Eye, sold separately or be downloadable. No doubt we'll hear more at Leipzig.

User Shin-Ra at the PS3Forums has stumbled upon the entire package of the upcoming PlayStation Eye game, Eye of Judgment. Now sporting the subtitle Biolith Rebellion, the set comes with the PS-Eye, stand, card mat and starter deck all in addition to the game itself. While you might be thinking "wow, that's a lot of stuff ... it's probably really expensive," you'd be surprised to learn that the cost for all of this is only around 10,000 yen. If you translate that into US dollars, it's around $80. Around there. We think it's a great deal, especially for the innovative technology you'll be investing in!

[via PS3Forums]

PlayFrance recently sat down with Aurélien Poma, the Community Manager from SCEE and got him to spill the beans on the upcoming PS Eye title, the Eye of Judgment. Since the interview was in French, we had to rely on our friends at Gamers-Creed to do the translation and luckily they've done a great write-up on it.

Utilizing the PlayStation Eye, the game is played using a pack of collectible cards (with varying rarities and upcoming expansion packs) and an included 'game mat' which you lay out in front of the PS Eye. Players draw five cards for use in taking over the playing field. By placing a card on the field, the camera will scan it and create the monster in full 3D on the TV screen. Additional information about your monster (strength, special powers, type of attack) can be found on the card itself, a nice touch which keeps the on-screen game from getting too cluttered.

They've also confirmed that there will be online play, a fantastic addition for lonely hermits with no local friends to play with. It will be interesting to see how they deal with cheating though, seems like that would be a pretty bad risk in this sort of game. In another cool little tidbit, Sony mentioned that the game can be played entirely without the Sixaxis, meaning you won't be swapping back and forth from the gameboard to the controller in the course of a match.

A ton of additional information about gameplay and card types was given in the interview, so check it out! Also ThreeSpeech has their own write-up of Eye of Judgment with even more info, so if you're a CCG fan -- you're in luck. It's information overload!

[via PS3Forums]

Games Radar has had their hands on the upcoming PlayStation Eye for a while and have posted an article with some quick impressions and a short video showing off the video quality of the PS Eye (embedded after the break). The video is on the small size, but even so it looks like the quality of the camera has definitely increased. A lack of compression artifacts make the image amazingly clear and smooth compared to the EyeToy of yesteryear. Hopefully GR will update their hands-on with more information soon - intrigued fans want to know more!

If the whole PlayStation Eye thing didn't get your blood pumping, check your pulse! Not only is it one of the most advanced peripherals ever for a console, it may be one of the most advanced peripherals ever. Packaged with the camera will be the game Eye of Judgment, a card-battle game that plays out with the assistance of the camera. It's hard to explain, but it's amazing. These screenshots aren't the most impressive graphically, but they definitely show how fascinating the gameplay will be. In one shot, it seems the way you angle your card will alter the direction of an attack or spell. Pretty detailed! Expect this game to hit shelves in October. Check out a video, after the break.

The elusive Eye of Judgment hasn't had any new videos for a long while, especially one that really shows us how the game will work. Well, we've got two videos for you here. For the heck of it, we're putting the one that shows you how the PlayStation Eye works in regards to the cards behind the "continued" link -- we don't want to clog up our main page with a list of videos. Enjoy them, tell us what you think. All we know is that there's definitely a heavy metal soundtrack to come with this game and it deserves it.