EyeToy: Play is part game and part new peripheral. The peripheral in question
is the EyeToy, a video camera that plugs into the USB port on the front of the
PlayStation 2 console. The EyeToy is used as a unique controller that puts you
in the game and responds to your motion and actions, and it definitely makes for
a gameplay experience different from most anything that you’ve played before.
Set-up and installation of the EyeToy is pretty simple. All that you need to
do is plug the camera in, put it on top of your TV, and insert the game disk and
you’re ready to play. You don’t even need a controller. Depending on the room in
which you’re playing, you may need to make a few minor adjustments. There’s a
focus wheel that may have be turned depending on your distance from the camera,
and an indicator light will flash if there is not enough light in the room. The
camera works within a good range of lighting conditions from bright daylight to
soft lighting at night, so you don’t need to worry about closing all the
curtains or turning on every light in the house to play.
The video quality is fine for gaming, but don’t expect a crystal clear image
of you on the screen. The camera and TV resolutions conspire to make things
slightly grainy, so don’t expect to get a studio quality image. The image
fuzziness is not too noticeable during play so it is not really an issue.
You may be wondering how you control the games, or even select them, without
a controller. Well you, my friend, are the controller. When the game starts up
the first thing that you’ll see is yourself standing in front of your TV.
Navigation icons appear on the screen and to use them you simply move your hand
until it appears over one of the icons and then shake your hand or wiggle your
fingers to select it. It feels like something right out of the movie Minority
Report. The camera is very responsive to your actions and it’s very easy to
select icons and navigate the menus. The layout on the screen is well-designed,
so you do not have to worry about unintentionally selecting nearby icons.
Before you start play, the game takes some snapshots of your face with
different expressions to use as icons to represent things like score standings
and who’s up next. An onscreen guide shows you where to place your head for each
picture, and in a nice touch will allow you to retake any snapshot that you
don’t like.
Once you have snapshots of all of the players you’re ready to select a game
and begin play. EyeToy Play comes with 12 games to choose from and you can play
as many rounds of the games in any order that you would like. You can keep
playing a favorite over and over or let the game pick at random, it’s up to you.
The games run the gamut from Simon Says style pattern following to faster paced
reaction-testing games. The games include:
- Beat Freak: Point to the speakers in the corners of the screen as CDs fly
past them. Your score is based on how close to the center of the speaker a CD is
when you hit it.
- Boxing Chump: Punch a robotic boxer and knock him out before he can knock you
out. This game is the weakest of the group – it requires an awkward sideways
stance and the punches are hard to aim. Just swing your arms until you win.
- Disco stars: Simon Says to the beat of disco tunes as you must point to the
same areas of the screen as an onscreen dancer and in time to the music. This
one’s fun for parties.
- Ghost Eliminator: Ghosts periodically appear on screen and you must wave your
hand over them to make them pop. There’s not much challenge to this one and thus
the fun factor suffers.
- Kung Foo: Use karate chops to stop attackers coming from your sides before
they can hit you. This one can be a lot of fun and will get you working up a
sweat.
- Mirror Time: You must hit the designated corners of the screen. The trouble
is that the screen flips, rotates, and reverses between each round at random.
This is fun to play in groups and watch people lose their sense of direction.
- Plate spinner: Keep plates spinning on top of poles. Spin them too fast or
slow and they fly off the pole. This one is harder than you would think, but not
necessarily in a good (fun) way.
- Rocket Rumble: This is a pretty cool fireworks game in which you must grab
fireworks of the same color and then hit a plunger to make them explode. Sounds
easier than it is, as different colored fireworks can be crossing paths across
the screen at once. The puzzle element in this game makes it one of the more
enjoyable ones.
- Slap Stream: Dancing characters appear on the screen and you need to slap the
bad ones without hitting the good ones.
- Soccer Craze: Use your head and shoulders to keep a soccer ball from hitting
the ground. Characters at the side of the screen can be hit for points or to
drop more balls onto the screen. Since this game uses your whole body to hit the
ball, you can sometimes bounce the ball off unintended spots. This game is fun
for short spells, but can get boring.
- UFO Juggler: You must spin UFOs to cause them to fly off the top of the
screen. Spin too fast and they explode.
- Wishi Washi: Clean all of the soap off of windows that cover the TV screen.
The faster you wipe and the more windows you clean, the better the score. Where
big and loose fitting clothing and you’ll have an advantage. Put on some music
and use it for a workout.
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