New motion-sensing tech in PS2 games

[absolute55]

SCEE has revealed two new PS2 games that will take advantage of new motion-tracking technology developed for the EyeToy.
Current EyeToy games can only detect basic movement in any area of the screen, but devs at SCEE London have developed new tech that allows the EyeToy to accurately track specific colours with one-to-one accuracy.

This tech will be utilised in a new first-person sword fighting game called Hero, which will come packed with a green foam sword that can be accurately tracked by the game.

Players slash the sword to perform blocking and attacking moves in the game, taking on enemies in what Sony says is a fully-fledged story-driven adventure, with a mini-game structure.

You earn new powers in the game, one of which is the ability to light up dark passages with a fiery sword (quiet at the back). An interesting stealth mechanic sees players hiding the glowing sword behind their back to mask its light as enemies pass by.

The other title, Pom Pom Party, is a cheerleading affair using similar tech presumably to track your dancing motions. One for your sister, then.

Both games are pencilled in for a late 2008 release.

[robodude]

It seems people loved the idea of motion-based gaming (another jab at the Wii there?) as the varied mini-games in EyeToy: Play went onto spark a hugely successful brand that has resulted in over 10.5 million cameras making their way into PS2-owners homes.

Spangler explained that EyeToy was successful because it was easy to pick-up-and-play and was a great game for kids, families and parties. In fact, it was so successful that it created a whole new genre: Physical and Social Gaming. (Do we sense a little bitterness at the success of the Wii?)

Spangler explained that early EyeToy games worked by recording when pixels change colour in the camera’s field of vision, and viewing this colour-change as motion. This meant that the games could not track specific body parts or gestures, only sense where motion was happening onscreen. (This was why you had the irritation of having to wave your hand vigorously over any icon in the EyeToy menu to get the game to recognise your intentions.)

She went on to explain that Research & Development departments at SCEE London had created a way for the existing EyeToy technology to be able to keep track of specific colours. This lead to the announcement of two new EyeToy: Play games, to be released by Christmas this year. These were named Hero and Pom-Pom Party.

source