Sony Plans Swordfight With Nintendo in Motion Tracking

The games industry has by now seen that casual games are where the market is growing fastest. The Wii, with its easy to use motion controller, is attracting a whole new audience. Sony knew this early on, and with its EyeToy camera accessory for the PlayStation 2 did the company start its dive into games away from the controller.

According to one report, Sandy Spangler, one of the lead designers on the EyeToy: Play series of games, said that EyeToy was successful because it was easy to pick-up-and-play and was a great game for kids, families and parties.

Sony’s R&D lab in Europe has now developed a new software technology that allows for the Eyetoy camera to more accurately track a subject – potentially opening the door for Wii-like applications from the humble PS2.

Current EyeToy games track the change in pixels inside the camera’s field of view. The new method tracks a specific color on screen, perhaps similar to how movies make use of green screen. Two new titles that make use of the new tracking technology – which does not require new EyetTy hardware – are currently named “Pom-Pom Party” and “Hero.”

UK gaming site DarkZero calls Hero the more interesting of the two, drawing comparisons to the sword fighting program in the upcoming Wii Sport Resort. Instead of holding a Wii Remote (with the new attachment), players are to hold a fluorescent baton to represent a sword.

“The first thing to note is that EyeToy Play: Hero is played from a first-person perspective, so the player’s image is not displayed onscreen like most other EyeToy games,” the story read. “What is seen onscreen is a glowing green representation of the sword that the player holds, and as the game is camera-based it follows the player’s movements to an exact 1:1 ratio.”

The 1:1 ratio will be compared with the claims Nintendo makes of its upcoming Motion Plus add-on. In the end, the EyeToy won’t be able to match up against the Wii controller as Sony’s camera can only detect two degrees of motion as compared to the Wii Remote’s three.

Nevertheless, the install base of the PS2 is impossible to ignore and the constant sales make it still relevant. The latest EyeToy technology is proof that there’s still life in the old console.