EyePet Review
- Posted October 13th, 2009 at 16:30 EDT by Steven Williamson
- 9,498 views
- 40 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 6.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 7.0
Summary
Your EyePet does some amazing things, but the tech is so inconsistent that you'll want to slap him just as much as stroke him.
We like
- How cute he is! Those big eyes are adorable
- His animation. He moves around your living room like a real animal
- Some of the amazing things he can do, like draw a picture that you've created
We dislike
- The inconsistent response to our commands
- The lack of any real aim or purpose
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Do you remember Tamagotchi, the stupidly addictive hand-held digital pet that made its maker a fortune in the 90’s? If so, you’ll be instantly familiar with the concept of EyePet, which is essentially a modern day take on that time-consuming, some would say time-wasting, activity of nurturing, feeding, playing, cleaning and loving a pet that actually doesn’t exist. Technology has obviously advanced significantly since Bandai’s tiny egg-shaped computer, as have gamers’ expectations, so EyePet represents the future of what can now be achieved in the pet simulation genre. EyePet’s biggest selling point is its promise to blur the boundaries between on-screen entertainment and reality.
EyePet does that fairly impressively by making a virtual pet appear to interact with you in the comfort of your own living room. When the furry, ape-like creature hatches from his egg, jumps onto your T.V screen, but appears to sit there as if he were right in your home space, you’ll probably initially be quite excited. After naming our pet "Samson," feeding, showering and then stroking him lovingly to sleep our first reaction was that children are going to absolutely love this endearing, playful creature. However, after a couple of hours of pampering and exercising “Samson,” despite enjoying some brilliant and charming moments together, we became frustrated by the problems that have occurred as a result of the clumsy motion-sensing functionality of the PlayStation Eye.
The only time prior to EyePet that we’ve spent any quality time using our PlayStation Eye camera has been to upload videos of ourselves murdering popular songs on SingStar, so it is nice to be able to put its motion-sensing capabilities and microphone into effect; even if does inadvertently end up being the game’s downfall, as well as its unique selling point. When the PlayStation Eye works and your furry friend responds to your commands EyePet is brilliant, but when it fails to recognize your gestures it’s excruciatingly frustrating.
EyePet begins with a series of well-produced video tutorials that help you to set up your room ready for the birth of your EyePet. Placing the camera at knee height and ensuring that you have decent lighting in the room, as well as clearing a space on the floor where your virtual pet can run around free from obstruction, are the first set of instructions you have to follow. The PlayStation Eye captures what it sees on the T.V. so you'll see yourself sitting in front of the screen waiting for your pet to arrive. After placing the "magic card" on the floor, which comes boxed with the game, the EyePet appears as an egg sitting between your legs, ready to be hatched. After rocking the virtual egg with your hands, flapping at thin air in front of the camera, the EyePet is born. A word of warning though: the EyePet loves natural daylight. In fact he loves it so much that when we've tried to play with him in the evening he hasn’t wanted to respond to a good chunk of our commands under artificial lighting; that’s despite us plugging in two extra lamps in the living room to comply with game's request for ample lighting.
The gameplay in EyePet involves completing daily objectives. As well as using your hands to interact with your EyePet, you also use the aforementioned “magic card." You pick up the card and point it at the camera and on-screen it transforms into a variety of physical objects, including the likes of a baby’s bottle so you can feed him, a hairdryer so you can dry him after a shower, or a trampoline that he can leap about on to get some exercise. You can then tilt and move the magic card in front of the camera and your actions are translated on-screen. Similar to the Nintendogs set of videogames, EyePet is all about tending to the needs of your creature, giving him the required love, exercise, food and stimulation on a daily basis. As you progress you unlock rewards so that you customize your pet and you unlock further tasks that get more bizarre in nature. Kids will probably love the vast array of outfits and the fairly in-depth customization options. This is a family-friendly game after all which isn’t designed in any way ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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netherdragon |
netherdragon- 4:54pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 3
this doesn't really fill me with all that much confidence about the PS wand if im honest. i know the PS eye isnt perfect (eye of judgement was horrifically frustrating at times) but if its incosistancies crop up when being an integral part of the 1 - 1 pixel maping that is thwe edge the PS wand system has over Natal, this could be really bad.
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Calsufonians
- 5:31pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 10
@8 you stopped reading this sites reviews? yet you have just posted a comment on this site under a review and have most likely read some of it? anyway eyepet looks pretty cool, think my girlfriend will enjoy it more than me mind, but hey it looks fun!
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TheTenth666 |
TheTenth- 5:32pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 11
I think they had lighting problems, I played Eye of judgment for some time, and Operation creature feature, and it needs LOTS of lighting ; it just takes some time and adjustment (you can spend days finding the good lighting)
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Daz2399
- 5:33pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 12
As for the comments about the PS Eye working all the time, it doesnt. It has a lot to do with your room conditions. Depending on how far you are away from it and having good room lighting it a must. You cant be too far away, so 5 feet is probably too far, having too much light behind you also affects the functionality. The overall room lighting needs to be pretty bright in order to pick up consistantly. That said it works well just not perfect.
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Beasley2K |
Beasley2K- 5:53pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 14
Basically Sony trying to prove that everything Microsoft's trying to do with Natal, they can already do. The only difference is, Sony aren't bothering to improve the technology like Microsoft are because :
a) they wish to stick with the hardcore gamers, or;
b) they know it'll become a gimmick after a few months.
I could be wrong, and although I have no interest whatsoever in (purchasing) this game or any of Sony's motion tech, it's nice to see that they're certainly capable of easily dealing with the competion should they so choose.
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Sufi
- 6:16pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 17
@Beasley2k, I don't think you know what you're talking about.
That whole bit about no improvement due to hardcore gamers, that doesn't make sense. If anything, hardcore gamers see through the gimmicky bs and that's why PS Eye hasn't sold well.
Also, PS Eye is not the same as Motion Controls. The only reason why PS wand actually has those big balls on top to be able to track without much lighting. Even if PS Eye doesn't work well, PS Wand will.
PS Eye is a gimmick, a fad but I don't think PS Wand is. Of course it all depends how much support it gets but conceptually, it's not a gimmick, it's the most accurate peripheral out there yet (or not out there yet? lol).
Don't judge the Wand based on this game...it's not relevant.
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REEEPR |
REEEPR- 6:16pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 18
Don't get me wrong, i love eye create. What i dont love are the rest of the eye games because they don't quite have the hardware up to speed. I really hope they release a new eye camera that works rocksolidly and doesn't frustrate me anymore. A high def eye toy with more zoom and macro functionality would rock. And no, i won't just go get a wii, so don't even say it. I am brand loyal till my dying day.
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SoulDude
- 7:13pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 20
@10. I guess I meant I dont take this sites reviews seriously. I think they have problems reviewing games that ar'nt really 'games' in the purest sense. Look at the dislikes for this game. Since when did a pet have an aim or purpose? I think you're going to hit problems if you review games using the same criteria for this game as you would for something like Killzone. Linger in Shadows suffered the same kind of review from this site.
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jamesobachand |
sNaKe2112- 7:26pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 21
The wand has glowing spheres which I believe the camera can read way better; so I wouldn't read into that so much. As for this game I was excited because of the new and visual experience but it's sounding a bit depressive like Eyeofjudgement. I like that game but when the lighting isn't perfect the cards don't read and they stopped bringing the cards to my local area. That sucked.
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Beasley2K |
Beasley2K- 7:38pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 23
@Sufi, you don't know what I'm talking about.
Sorry for the misunderstanding, but motion control doesn't necessarilly refer directly to the PS Wand; the PS Eye detects motion, and uses this input to perform particular actions. Therefore, it's defined as motion control. The PS Eye can technically be considered and referred to as a form of motion control technology - just like Sixaxis, any form of input that requires motion (tilting, moving, waving, etc.) is motion control.
When I refer to motion controls, I'm therefore referring to Sony's attempts at any technology that requires some form of motion as input; thus the PS Wand and the PS Eye. These both rival Microsoft's current advances in motion control technology: Project Natal. What I'm saying is that I believe Project Natal will become a gimmick. Given Sony's current attempts at similar technology, I believe they are therefore perfectly capable of doing everything that Microsoft are currently doing.
The Wii is undeniably a casual console (albeit with few hardcore games), yet when it first came out, people were excited by the new technology. It has now been 'dubbed' a gimmick by hardcore gamers due to its lack of being able to interest more than a casual audience after its initial impact. Microsoft are doing a similar thing with Natal, and I believe this will be the exact same scenario, where it will cease to attract much more than casual gamers - and as Natal's direct competiton, the PS motion control may also be considered casual. What I said was that I don't think Sony are trying to do as much with their technology as Microsoft appear to be doing with Natal, because they either understand that it'll become a gimmick, like the Wii is and Natal (potentially) is, or because they understand that, like the Wii, the PS Eye and PS Wand are slightly more casual options than just pure gaming.
However, what I believe doesn't make sense was your paragraph telling me that I didn't make sense:
"That whole bit about no improvement due to hardcore gamers, that doesn't make sense. If anything, hardcore gamers see through the gimmicky bs and that's why PS Eye hasn't sold well."
What I said is that Sony aren't trying to improve upon their motion technology as much as Microsoft because they know casual gamers will see through it as "bs" and a gimmick (although not in those exact words). In your reply, you said I didn't make sense, and explained your beliefs of the matter... which were exactly the same, just worded diferently.
I believe Sony don't appear to be making as technological advancements as Microsoft in motion technology because they know it'll become a gimmick, or too casual for their hardcore fans. Natal will potentially follow this trend, becoming an 'official gimmick'. However, although Sony is perfectly capable of mimicing Microsoft on such technology, they are simply stopping at the PS Wand, as they understand the whole casual vs. hardcore situation a lot better.
Sorry for any misunderstanding, I hope this clears things up.
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LocalRider#7 |
LR_Se7eN- 7:58pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 24
PSEye fail! How are we supposed to get hyped for the PSMotion Controller, or whatever it is called if the tech for a much simpler game is all hosed up. Sony needed to get this right, at least the Eye part of it. I have said for too long that the camera needs too much light to be effective and accurate. I think Sony did all their testing in a white room with florecent lighting and neglected the fact that many of us like to play games in the comfort of a cozy and low lit room.
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Sufi
- 9:12pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 26
Beasley, so essentially what you're saying is that, as far as motion detection goes, Sony is stopping at PS Eye, which is obviously inferior to NATAL (because I suppose NATAL will also take care of the low-light issues by their infrared sensor). Is this what you're essentially saying? If so, then yes I agree.
Now, as far as motion controls, we have again NATAL vs PS Wand. This is where Sony will supposedly (from what we can tell) cater to the hardcore users like myself (and hopefully the casuals tak interest as well) and if NATAL turns out to be great at its ease of use and implementation then it could get both hardcores and casuals attracted towards it.
Just purely speaking from a hardcore user's perspective, PS Wand already has everything bagged. It just needs the right software and full implementation if possible. Since you were talking about hardcores, that's why I disagreed...I guess you weren't talking about the Wand.
Yes, NATAL, just like the PS Eye, may have a chance to become a gimmick but then again, it could succeed as well, we really dont' know, it's not exactly like PS Eye, it seems more advance, not only that, we know MS will likely push NATAL a bit more than Sony will push the Wand so MS might just pull it off...and, for that matter, Sony could as well with the Wand...just not with the Eye.
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Beasley2K |
Beasley2K- 10:12pm BST - October 13th, 2009
- 29
@Sufi,
I'm not saying Sony is going to stop their advancements with motion control; I just believe they could do a lot better than they're trying. Like yourself, I'm a hardcore game, yet I'm nowhere near as interested in this motion control as I'm assuming you are. It seems too casual for me. I'm not saying it is casual, I cannot possibly know if it is at this point, and I really do wish Sony the best at appealing to more than just the casual audience, but I'm not as sure about this as everyone else seems to be. When I referred to hardcore gamers, I meant the entire motion control concept as a whole; I don't believe there's a single motion control aspect that truly does appeal to hardcore gamers. But as much as Sony's pushing the PS Wand, I don't believe they're into the motion detection concept as much as Microsoft, because I think they'd be easily capable of producing an advanced PS Eye like Natal; they'd just rather stick with the less gimmicky concept of the PS Wand.
As far as motion detection goes, yes, I believe Sony is stopping with the PS Eye (for now). But from the capabilities Sony has exhibited, they could easily improve the technology of the PS Eye by making similar advancements to what Microsoft's doing with Natal. I just believe they feel it's too casual for them to pull off without becoming a mere gimmick.
Project Natal is more advanced than the PS Eye - but I feel that's because Sony don't want to improve their Eye. They acknowledge the fact that it's casual, and would rather improve their abilities regarding motion control rather than detection.
Basically, I think we do both agree here. I just feel that the PS Wands are slightly more casual than everyone else believes. However, I really, really hope I'm wrong.
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Lord_Bahamut
- 2:30am BST - October 14th, 2009
- 31
ok first of all this is for the kids i got a niece and she would love this so much the rest of u just shut up im glad that sony atleast makes games for young kids.
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edward_moffet |
edd- 8:26am BST - October 14th, 2009
- 33
I don't really think this game was rated by it's own merits, it seems to me that it, for the most part, accomplishes what it set out to do plus the fact that there's way more pros than cons kinda makes me scratch my head although i can sort of understand given the fact that there isn't exactly goals but this is meant to be a sort of fun interactive virtual pet rather than a "video game"
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terminator12259 |
tacitassassin25- 11:14pm BST - October 15th, 2009
- 39
im still going to buy it, give me girlfriend something to do
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