EyeToy devs question casual rivals
Microsoft's You're In the Movies may face technical difficulties, Wii remote is not as intuitive as camera, says Sony team
Sony's EyeToy development team has questioned some of the casual offerings on the shelves from rival format holders Microsoft and Nintendo.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the developers behind the latest EyeToy releases said they expect Microsoft's You're In the Movies to face difficulties due to unreliable technology.
"I think that [with You're In the Movies] they're probably going to have some technical difficulties to wrestle with," offered Sandy Spangler, designer for Sony's EyeToy.
"They're using some technical elements that are not reliable, at least not according to our experience. They're using background subtraction to put you in the movie, and it's not very robust, that's why we haven't done it in any of our games. If the white shifts in the room or something, it can stop working," added Spangler. "Good luck to them."
You're In the Movies will be published by Codemasters and is in development at UK developer Zoe Mode. Spangler also said it's surprising how poorly Microsoft has supported its Xbox Live Vision camera with dedicated content.
"It's surprising - the camera came out a while ago and they came out with the one download game, Totem Ball, and then that was it."
Discussing the differences in interface between EyeToy and Wii, the team said it has respect for Nintendo's home console and its ability to attract a much larger casual audience to gaming.
"I think it's just great, it's just making that many more people out there who maybe would never have thought about buying a videogame system or playing videogames - suddenly they're interested," said Spangler.
Although the Wii controllers have been praised for ease of use, Spangler still believes the EyeToy is a more intuitive interface for casual gaming.
"It's more intuitive, it's very clear, as opposed to trying to figure out how to... use the Wii remote in ways that maybe naturally don't make sense - you wave it a lot to do activities where you wouldn't be waving in real life.
"Whereas what we always try and do with our games is make a direct correlation between the motion that you're doing and the action on screen, the effect you're having on the game."
The full interview Sandy Spangler and Mark Parry, where they discuss the future of EyeToy and the PS3's PlayStation Eye, can be read here.