EyePet

By Ellie Gibson Published 18 June, 2009

Give us a cuddle.

Are you a cat person or a dog person? In the future that question will have a different meaning. When we've eaten all the fish in the sea, when all the cows have foot and mouth, when all the pigs have died of swine flu, we'll turn on Rover and Patch. "Cat or dog?" will be the new "Leg or breast?", and instead of turkey on Christmas day we'll have a German shepherd stuffed with kittens.

But we will always want pets. For it is human nature to forge bonds of mutual respect, affection and companionship with animals, at least the ones too fluffy to eat. In the future, when the phrase "doggy bag" will have a whole new meaning, EyePet could be a big hit.

It's being billed as "the virtual, magical pet in your living room", but a more accurate tagline would be "EyeToy meets Nintendogs". For the cost of a full-price PS3 title you'll get a copy of the game, a PlayStation Eye camera and a "magic card" - a bit of black cardboard small enough to fit inside the box. The EyePet disc and card will also be available separately for those who already own a camera.

On booting up the game you're presented with your pet. They all look basically the same - like what would happen if a monkey had a baby and wasn't sure whether the father was a cat or a mouse. (Now that would be a great episode of Jeremy Kyle.)

Skin tone and eye colour are randomly selected and you can't change them, nor can you alter the basic physical attributes of your pet such as tail length, ear size etc. However, there is a simplistic set of customisation tools you can use to make him or her look unique. (For the purposes of this preview we'll assume it's a "him" for the sake of brevity and simplicity, and because we hate women.)

'EyePet' Screenshot 1

Bless it, all cute and expectant. And let's face it a tiny bit weird.

Customisation mainly involves mucking about with your pet's fur. You can shave his whole body or just part of it, right down to individual hairs. Or you can make his fur longer, giving him a mohican for example. You can choose from a wide range of colours, from basic monkeycatmouse brown to vibrant pinks and purples. There are different patterns to choose from such as spots and stripes. It's a bit like the Play-Doh Mop Top Hair Shop except it doesn't smell of childhood.

There are also around 250 items of clothing with which to dress your pet up. You can put him in hoodies, playsuits, baseball caps and so on. Extra options will be available as downloadable content via an in-game store. There will be some free items such as seasonal costumes, but others will be paid for. Branded clothes could be on offer too as Sony is currently looking for licensing partners. So that's how they can afford to give the camera away for free. But what sort of price tags will be slapped on the clothes?

"The very desirable ones will be paid for, but as with the game, we want it to be affordable for families," says the chap from Sony who is conducting our demo [brilliant journalism right there - Ed]. "We're not talking about charging people large amounts for a small costume. It will be good value for money, that's something we identified very early on."

Once you're happy with your pet's look you can start properly interacting. Adjust the camera so your arm is visible on the screen and you can stroke, tickle and play with him. The pet is aware of your presence within the space - he'll jump if you slide your hand underneath him, for example, or start arching his back and purring when he's stroked. Keep stroking and the pet will roll over so you can tickle his tummy, then eventually go to sleep. To wake him up you clap your hands. It all works believably and consistently, and it's all undeniably cute.

'EyePet' Screenshot 2

Quick! Someone should tell Nintendo its photography studio's been broken into!

Showing the magic card to the camera brings up a selection of toys to play with. Pick the trampoline and one will appear over the black card, and the pet will start jumping on it. Move the card and the trampoline will follow, and so will your pet. Move too quickly, however, and he'll fall on his hairy backside with a squeak.

Other toys include bowling equipment, tennis rackets, cards for playing Snap and a singing set you can use to teach your pet to copy melodies. Today, though, we only have time to see the bubble machine. It's shaped like a plastic monkey. Virtually pressing a button on the top causes it to spit out big transparent bubbles, which you can then wave around the screen. You can't pop them but the pet can, and he can also jump inside giant bubbles and float around.

"The cool thing about this is we tested it with families, and mums told us they love playing this with their kids before they go to sleep," says the Sony man. "It's so relaxing, unlike many other games which get them excited. While they had the game at home it replaced the bedtime story before the kids went to sleep."

It's just as important to care for your pet as it is to play with him. Pets get dirty so you need to shampoo and wash them as in Nintendogs. There are neat touches to the process such as the condensation that collects on the screen while you're using the shower, and which you can wipe off with your hand. It's also fun to give your pet a blowdry and watch his fur wave around in the hot air.

You can create a garden, plant flowers and trees and collect food for your pet. For our demo Nick produces some food he made earlier - biscuits in the shape of the PlayStation symbols - in a virtual Tupperware container. Flicking the container sends biscuits flying and the pet jumps up to grab them. When he's full, he lets you know by chucking any food you dispense back up into the air. "We didn't want it to be about menu selections and statistics. It's a mini-game, something fun," apparently.

That's also the thinking behind the feature used to analyse the status of your pet. Instead of looking at graphs and symbols you use the magic card to give him an x-ray, bringing up an image of his brain, bones and organs. If he's happy, for example, his heart will appear bright red and will pump away at a jolly pace.

You can then send the x-ray to a fictional institute known as the Pet Centre, and they'll respond with a report the following day. The report will consist of a video of live actors telling you how well you did. The Pet Centre will even award prizes for effective care. "It's all part of this believable experience - the pet is believable in your living room, and so is the institute behind the game," says Mr Sony.

'EyePet' Screenshot 3

Yes fine this is all very nice but when do we get hologram chess?

For EyePet's next trick, we're shown how you can teach your pet to draw. The demo man takes a piece of paper and a marker pen and separately sketches the component parts of a simple aeroplane - the wings, the body and the propeller. He writes "ELLIE" on the body. He then uses the magic card to select a material to make the plane out of. There are obvious options like wood, plastic, cardboard, newspaper and plastic, but you can also choose from fantasy materials like fruit.

He holds the paper up to the camera and three exclamation marks appear on-screen to signify the pet recognises the drawing. The pet produces his own sketchbook, sticks a pen in his mouth and starts drawing - specifically, replicating the shapes on the real-life piece of paper. The virtual shapes float upwards, turn 3D and come together to create the plane. It's not quite perfect - the propeller is a little off and "ELLIE" looks more like "FI IF" - but it's instantly recognisable as the plane our human friend just drew. The pet jumps in the cockpit and starts zooming around, controlled by the DualShock. The background changes to blue skies and fluffy clouds appear along with brightly coloured balloons, which the pet starts popping.

You can't just draw anything you like and expect your pet to copy you - he can only draw certain things such as planes, cars, robots, puppets and balloons, and you need to know the component parts required for each design. However, "The designs themselves are completely open," says the Sony chap. "As long as I draw the body, the wings and the propeller... I could have drawn bigger wings, or omitted parts if I'd wanted. I could have just drawn the wings, and the pet would have sat on the wings."

'EyePet' Screenshot 4

Sky Odyssey meets The Last Guardian.

The balloon template offers even more scope for creativity. "The good thing about balloons is that any shape will do. You can draw a heart and that heart will become a balloon, floating round in the air." Time for my signature question: but can you draw a penis? "If you like. The point is, yes, there are preset, loose templates and within those it's really up to players to come up with a design." To illustrate this we're shown a pile of previous demo drawings and shown how the chaps from Wired subverted the car template, turning it into a shopping trolley. Bizarrely, not one person has drawn a nob.

Which means it is the end of days, surely. And soon we will all be snacking on pup scratchings washed down with cat milk as we play with our virtual pets. Or watching our children do so, anyway - EyePet's too cute and kiddy for the kind of gamer who thinks it's not worth playing a shooter unless you get to see what the inside of your enemy's face looks like. There's not a great deal of depth here and there's no challenge; EyePet isn't a game in the traditional sense, more of a 21st century Tamagotchi. But just as kids went mad for those toys back in the day, they're likely to go gaga over this one by the time we're all eating pastry-encased dachshunds instead of sausage rolls.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (100) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • PatrickEwing #1 3 years ago

    pathetic

  • stevetuck #2 3 years ago

    Im gonna call my pet Milo

  • Moonprince #3 3 years ago

    'He holds the paper up to the camera and three exclamation marks appear on-screen to signify the pet recognises the drawing.'

    Sounds like the natal tech. In fact, much of it does.

    (someone had to get this ball rolling and of course, now it is, I won't be returning to this thread ;)

  • Dave52 #4 3 years ago

    Probably not aimed at the hardcore eurogamer reader types, but I can see this being a huge hit with kids under 10.

  • woodnotes #5 3 years ago

    It's on the wrong console.

  • _LarZen_ #6 3 years ago

    Im 30 years old and im getting this, people saying it's pathetic can f*** themself.

  • mingster #7 3 years ago

    My Niece is probably going to love this...
    shame she hasn't got a PS3 only a DS.

  • Dave52 #8 3 years ago

    @woodnote: "It's on the wrong console"

    Why's that...? Surely this kinda thing is perfect for the Eye Toy...? The 360 can't do it yet and the Wii doesn't have a camera.

  • guernican #9 3 years ago

    It's a Mogwai.

  • Doctor_What #10 3 years ago

    "While they had the game at home it replaced the bedtime story before the kids went to sleep."

    Yep, that's the way to persuade the Daily Mail that this is a good idea. Duh.

    Still, it looks like a nice app, and does a lot of what Natal seems to be proposing. It'll be interesting to see the response in the market.

  • Negotiator #11 3 years ago

    What a load of crap, this is a carbon copy of Nintendogs, and this looks dated as hell compared to Pete's Milo, a full AI controlled child that reacts to your emotions, from your tone of voice to facial expressions. I've seen the future, the future is Milo.

  • YourMessageHere #12 3 years ago

    It all sounds very clever, but I think this could have fairly bad ramifications for real pet ownership, to be honest. Kids brought up with this might very well start to believe that pets exist solely to entertain their owners and have no independent agency of their own, an attitude that at best will very quickly sour anyone's enjoyment of a real pet, and at worse could lead to abuse. If a child expects a dog to consistently interact with them without regard to consequences of their behaviour or the dog's own wishes, I can forsee unpleasantness.

    This case is a bit different from the usual "games influencing realworld behaviour" argument, as 1) this is explicitly designed for young kids and makes a point of taking a real and familiar image of reality and augmenting it, rather than presenting it as fantasy, and 2) unlike most game-simulated activities such as violence or racing or professional sports, pet ownership is commonplace and easy.

    I'm currently staying in Japan, and the attitude here towards pets is exactly what I am describing - few people see them as anything other than accessories, and as such most dogs are tiny, lifeless bundles in frilly pink outfits, and most cats are hostile, cowed beasts abused by owners who think cats need to be washed and brushed. It is this attitude to animals that is behind this game, and as such I am roundly against it.

  • Tonka #13 3 years ago

    I would have loved this as a kid. I was a sucker for all those corny virtual reality things. Weird Science, TRON etc and I was also a sucker for Ai and robots.

    /did that make me sound like a sad and lonely geek?

  • _LarZen_ #14 3 years ago

    @Tonka

    Not at all :)

  • Dave52 #15 3 years ago

    @ Negotiator: "and this looks dated as hell compared to Pete's Milo"

    Er... except this is real, is working now, and doesn't have to ship with a member of the development team to sit behind a curtain frantically tweaking everytime you want to do something that varies from the pre-defined script... lol.

  • prettyboytim #16 3 years ago

    Nothing will replace bedtime stories.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #17 3 years ago

    "While they had the game at home it replaced the bedtime story before the kids went to sleep." - Sony Guy.

    but

    "In the end, there is no programme or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will [...] put away the video games, and read to their child" - Persident Obama.

    Better watch out Sony Guy, he'll swat you down like a fly...

    Edit: Beaten to the point not once but twice! Three times, really, if you count Obama.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 09:38

  • kangarootoo #18 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    "and this looks dated as hell compared to Pete's Milo"

    Well that is the great thing about strictly guided demos of unfinished products. They can look as advanced as you want them to look, because barely anything has to actually work.

  • kangarootoo #19 3 years ago

    @YourMessageHere

    I think the risks you describe could easily be avoided by the presence of that old staple "good parenting". It would really take very little parental involvement to make sure a kid playing this still had a proper and balanced view of the world and how to treat real animals. And even in the absence of that, it would probably only be kids with other independant mental health problems that would end up with a distorted view as a result of playing this game.

    "I'm currently staying in Japan, and the attitude here towards pets is exactly what I am describing"

    But things have been that way for a very long time, far longer than any form of artificial animal has existed. This feels like another incarnation of the "gangsta rap creates ganstas" theory.

  • kangarootoo #20 3 years ago

    "KILLITWITHFIRE!"

    Heeheehee, that made me chuckle.

  • Negotiator #21 3 years ago

    Er... except this is real, is working now, and doesn't have to ship with a member of the development team to sit behind a curtain frantically tweaking everytime you want to do something that varies from the pre-defined script... lol.

    Dave52 where in gods name did you get this info from, apart from pulling it out of your ass. Milo was working at E3, just ask anyone who used it and even at that early stage was far more advanced than this Nintendogs rip off.

  • Syrok #22 3 years ago

    I for one love the looks of this and I don't care what you think of me because of that. It's cute, probably a bit shallow, but I will buy it nonetheless. :)

  • Rodchenko #23 3 years ago

    What a load of crap, this is a carbon copy of Nintendogs, and this looks dated as hell compared to Pete's Milo, a full AI controlled child that reacts to your emotions, from your tone of voice to facial expressions. I've seen the future, the future is Milo.

    I sure hope you get a decent cut for your repeated attempts in viral marketing.

  • Pastici #24 3 years ago

    It's a bit creepy innit?

  • greenthumb #25 3 years ago

    @Negotiator
    you might want to read some of those e3 milo reports again... its been stated in a few that there was a person behind a curtain controlling it. And by all accounts it could only answer the predefined questions in the predefined order, anything else stumped it and was left nodding or shaking its head.

  • the_dudefather #26 3 years ago

    I ONLY HAVE ONE SPACE IN MY HEART FOR A DIGITAL PHANTOM AND HIS NAME IS MILO

    LONG LIVE MILO, MAY HIS REIGN LAST FOREVER

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #27 3 years ago

    There's not a great deal of depth here and there's no challenge; EyePet isn't a game in the traditional sense, more of a 21st century Tamagotchi.

    The major difference between this and Milo and Kate, is that Molyneux's project is intended to be a game, with a storyline. Eyepet is a more advanced Nintendogs with the augmented-relatity tech from Eye of Judgment.

    I am skeptical about Eyepet's potential for success, though, mostly due to the market penetration of PS3 with their target audience. This had nowhere near the prominence of the Natal demos, or even Sony's own glow-phallus demo at E3, and Eye of Judgement didn't eactly take over the world like Pokemon cards.

    Thinking about it, they might have been able to build more of a platform for success for this if they'd made a PS2 version as well, or even instead. The success of Nintendogs would indiate that the target market won't care if the pet is made up of less that 100 polygons.

  • woodnotes #28 3 years ago

    Nintendogs was a game though. You had to train your puppy, take him to dog shows and move him up classes.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 09:54

  • #29 3 years ago

    More to the point, why does Ellie keep asking about nobs? Does she think we are all 14 or something?

  • UncleLou #30 3 years ago

    If only the creature didn't look so tacky, like a cheap Hong Kong toy for fun fairs. Should have let Team Ico, or the LBP guys, design it.

  • mingster #31 3 years ago

    Hmm choose between a creepy virtual child and a cute virtual mogwai...
    The little cute pet is gonna romp this all the way to the bank.
    The only thing stopping this being a massive cash cow,
    is the demographic for PS3 owners isn't really youngsters especially not young girls.
    (who would love this).
    If this was out on the wii or DSi then it would sell gazzilions.

  • Earl_G #32 3 years ago

    wow, laziest article style for a long time... is the hayfever getting to Ms Gibson?

  • ShiroBen #33 3 years ago

    "While they had the game at home it replaced the bedtime story before the kids went to sleep."

    Mr Sony, you have just made me sad.

  • menschenfracht #34 3 years ago

    @ Negotiator:
    oh, bow down before the Great Peter.

    TEH POWER OF THE MILO.

    P.S. Nice negotiating skills, by the way. Are you popular?

  • kangarootoo #35 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    Dude, whilst what was demonstrated might have "worked", what was demsontrated was simply not a finished product.

    Is that what Milo is going to be? 5 mins spent following a script asking some kind about his homework, putting on goggles and then disturbing some water? Wow, where do I sign up?


    You are clearly either in the employ of MS, or just a bit nuts. Either way, here is a question. If your absolute lack of objectivity is clearly and utterly visible to everyone, what exactly do you achieve? If your mission is to convince everyone that Milo is awesome, you are doing more harm than good.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #36 3 years ago

    Mr Sony, you have just made me sad.

    ”I’m so sad. Reading bedtime stories is a father’s job. I don’t want to be replaced by a teddy bear.”

    You've made Duncan Bannatyne sad, too.

  • captainrentboy #37 3 years ago

    Mingster that's exactly what I thought. Whether the tech behind it is impressive or not, this thing's going to flop like a mother fucker! :/
    From what I see at work every bloody day, just like the majority of 360 owners, PS3 owners all want to know when the latest Call Of Duty game is out, or ask even more simple things like ''Can you tell me where all of your gory and violent games are?''
    Never have I been asked, ''I'm looking for a game where I get to molest and bathe a cute and furry creature on screen, can you point me in the right direction?''

  • Beano #38 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo : Well said, sir!

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #39 3 years ago

    PS3 owners all want to know when the latest Call Of Duty game is out

    Indeed, and what's crazy is that Sony have a ready-made audience of millions of younger and casual gamers with PS2s and the original eyetoy. The people keeping Sony Europe in profit by buying Singstar and Buzz expansions.

  • yupyup #40 3 years ago

    @DaemonB: considering your profile picture is a pair of bouncing tits, you can hardly blame her.

  • jonsaan #41 3 years ago

    So NATAL then? ;) Just without the tiny person frantically working away behind the scenes.

  • zuljin #42 3 years ago

    "What a load of crap, this is a carbon copy of Nintendogs, and this looks dated as hell compared to Pete's Milo, a full AI controlled child that reacts to your emotions, from your tone of voice to facial expressions. I've seen the future, the future is Milo."

    I've seen the future and it will be. I've seen the future and it works. And if there's life after, we will see.

    God I'm old.

  • JeroenZM #43 3 years ago

    That picture on the frontpage burns into your soul

  • Jos #44 3 years ago

    To those saying the PS/3 userbase won't go for this - isn't that the point.

    Or rather to develop for PS/3 a range of propositions that will attract a wider userbase. Like kids going nuts for a virtual pet.

    Vidzone is a similar thing.

    Widening appeal.

    It's like wot businesses do to make more money.

  • dadrester #45 3 years ago

    i'm quite interested in this. have been into the idea of AR for ages now and have even gone so far as to investigate it a little bit. plus my currently 11 month old daughter would no doubt love it. she plays nobi nobi , flower and locoroco... now if only i could get her up to my standard on SFIV

  • Spydy #46 3 years ago

    Natal = Destroyed

  • Negotiator #47 3 years ago

    "If your mission is to convince everyone that Milo is awesome, you are doing more harm than good."


    Not everyone my good man, just the visionaries, the people who can see outside the box, the people who don't give up when people like you say it can't be done. Did Edison give up when people said he couldn't create the light bulb, or Marconi when he invented the radio, the answer, no they did not.

  • Negotiator #48 3 years ago

    "So NATAL then? ;) Just without the tiny person frantically working away behind the scenes."


    Yes Jonsaan, there was someone behind a curtain rewriting the code as questions were asked, you moron.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 11:28

  • Dave52 #49 3 years ago

    Negotiator: "the visionaries, the people who can see outside the box, the people who don't give up when people like you say it can't be done. Did Edison give up when people said he couldn't create the light bulb, or Marconi when he invented the radio, the answer, no they did not."

    OMFG LOL...

    And Jesus did say unto his flock.. The meek shall inherit, go now, follow the man with the pitcher of water, enter my Father's house, and invent a virtual pedo dream machine. And he saw that it was good...

  • kangarootoo #50 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    "Not everyone my good man, just the visionaries, the people who can see outside the box, the people who don't give up when people like you say it can't be done. Did Edison give up when people said he couldn't create the light bulb, or Marconi when he invented the radio, the answer, no they did not."


    You have clearly lost your mind, and that is the end of it.

  • kangarootoo #51 3 years ago

    "Yes Jonsaan, there was someone behind a curtain rewriting the code as questions were asked, you moron."

    There was code?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #52 3 years ago

    There is nothing in the Milo and Kate demo that couldn't be done with the Playstation Eye (or indeed the Xbox live vision camera)as far as I can see, Negotiator. The other Natal demos are where the meat of the motion tracking stuff was explored.

    What is intriguing about Milo is that it's (according to Molyneux in Ellie's interview) the product of years of experimentation with trying to make a game out of playing with an artificial life form ("Project Dimitri";), as a follow up to the largely failed experiment in Black and White. And as Kangarootoo so often points out, it's impossible to tell how well that's going to succeed.

    The ambitions of this are far less lofty. It's Nintendogs / Aibo / Pleo / Ubisoft's Catz with augmented reality, aimed at kids, and as a result it's far less likely to fail as a technical exercise. Whether it succeeds commercially, though, is another story.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 11:52

  • Widge #53 3 years ago

    Depends on the demographic of PS3 owners/users.
    If there is no market for it, no-one will buy.

  • celery7 #54 3 years ago

    There was a range of plastic faced fluffy bodied toys in the 80's called chickaboo (from Palitoy) which looked a lot like this. I want it, I'll be more at ease with this rather than a grooming simulator

  • menschenfracht #55 3 years ago

    @ Negotiator: so, the point is that Milo = advanced AI. Spielberg's style.
    OK,
    but actually Sims 3 is more than advanced AI than.

    Oh, I completely do forget about [link url=http://www.virtualfem.com/
    ]http://www.virtualfem.com/
    [/link]

    By the way, who exactly said that Edison couldn't create light bulb? these folks, maybe?
    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I ncandescent_light_bulb#Early_pre-commercial_research
    ]http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescen...[/link]
    and, of course, the Italian fascist DID invent the radio, yeah. I forgot to say that I introduced God to the concept of the Universe and the Sony Playstation wand. Microsoft, by the way, invented computer and the mouse (not the peripheral but the actual animal).

    I dare say that you play only on the Phantom game system (yes, it IS superior to all our system, we poor sad sods) then, if you're so eager to believe in this whole Marketing thing, eh?

    "I've seen the future, brother, it is murder"

  • Hypercube #56 3 years ago

    "You just got NEGOTIATED!!!"

    lol. I don't think you actually know what "negotiating" means, Mr Negotiator. I'd rename yourself to "Mr Shouty".

  • IronGiant #57 3 years ago

    IF Sony get their act together and market this well then it could be a huge hit, if this is released at around the same time as a price cut for the PS3 and they bundle it with the console it should do good business. Trailers for this should be put on kids TV and before some of the family movies coming out, well if Sony had any sense it would be!! My missus saw the trailer and keeps pestering me to get it and she's never been bothered by the Wii or things like Nintendogs.

  • Meho #58 3 years ago

    The thing is... people known to play virtual pet games (or 'games') are not likely to be the people who spend tons of money on hardware or software. Yes, Nintendogs was a smash hit but it didn't try to sneak in a microtransaction routine with the game (Pay for costumes for a virtual pet? Really? ) and it was made for a cheap handheld device. Most people who I know to play VP games do it online, playing free flash stuff so making a game where you get a virtual pet with a high poly count and individually modelled hairs in the coat looks like missing the point by a country mile.

  • Dillinger #59 3 years ago

    i only came in to look for Negotiators lazy shilling. oh, there he is! how about that.

    (have a look at previous comments for a laugh)

  • Hypercube #60 3 years ago

    Did Edison give up when people said he couldn't create the light bulb

    No, because he didn't invent the light bulb. You're not very good at this, are you?

    Anyway, to return to topic, I think it looks interesting, and the real/pet interaction is going to be fun. I can't see it being something I'd get, but I know a lot of people who would.

  • GreyBeard #61 3 years ago

    I think this look good, but truthfully I think Invizimals (from what's been shown so far) seems even better.

    Sure, Sony are riding Nintendo's coat-tails -the comparisons between Nintendogs and Pokemon are unavoidable- but technologically they are a cut above what's gone before.

    I must admit I'm slightly perplexed as to why Sony hasn't been hyping these titles more. I can only assume they are planning a heavy push into the casual space towards the end of the year, maybe coinciding with a price drop?

    On the other hand it may simply be a case of them thinking that E3 just isn't an appropriate venue to bang the drum for non hardcore products. We have plenty of trade shows yet to come this year too.

  • kangarootoo #62 3 years ago

    "Did Edison give up when people said he couldn't create the light bulb

    No, because he didn't invent the light bulb. You're not very good at this, are you?"

    Haha. That slipped me by.

  • Bonders99 #63 3 years ago

    "Did Edison give up when people said he couldn't create the light bulb ?.."


    Well..

    "The Real Inventor of the Light Bulb
    When the question is asked, who invented the light bulb, Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison are usually given credit. However, both of these men worked off of previous inventions. Historians estimate that over twenty inventors worked toward the creation and design of the light bulb. Of these, Edison's version was the most efficient".

    See the parallels with Natal ?

  • phatb0y #64 3 years ago

    This looks much more believable and entertaining than the Milo groom-'em-up.

  • YourMessageHere #65 3 years ago

    I think the risks you describe could easily be avoided by the presence of that old staple "good parenting". It would really take very little parental involvement to make sure a kid playing this still had a proper and balanced view of the world and how to treat real animals. And even in the absence of that, it would probably only be kids with other independant mental health problems that would end up with a distorted view as a result of playing this game.

    Unless you want to level that claim of mental health problems at the majority of the Japanese public, I think you may be in error there. There are already enough adults, in Japan and in the west, who are divorced from any understanding of animals that "appropriately close and attentive parenting" and "actually good parenting" are in this instance far from the same thing. Inculcating your own fucked-up values regarding treatment of animals in your offspring is of course not "good parenting".

    Not to mention the fact that many people are totally unaware of what constitutes good parenting - especially, I would think, people who might be interested in getting something they can plonk their child in front of while they go and do something less responsible, a role which on current information I can see this particular game fulfilling nicely. All it will take a few misguided souls seeing this and reviewing it by saying "this is good because it entertains kids" but not "this is not good because it grossly distorts human-animal relationship dynamics" and they'll be reinforced in their belief that this is an acceptable way of behaving.

    But things have been that way for a very long time, far longer than any form of artificial animal has existed. This feels like another incarnation of the "gangsta rap creates ganstas" theory.

    Obviously I'm not saying that tamagotchi/Nintendogs created the Japanese outlook on pets. Granted I'm making the assumption that this is being developed by a Japanese firm, but irrespective of that, the game mirrors the attitude, independent of where the attitude comes from or how long it's been around. What I am saying is that something that inculcates and reinforces that way of thinking into a society that is already becoming somewhat like that anyway is not a good thing, and using Japanese attitudes to pets as an illustration of where this outlook leads.

  • mr_boogedy #66 3 years ago

    This tech looks familiar...

    [link url=http://gizmodo.com/50751 30/virtual-webcam-girlfriend-is-entrancing-if-a-little-perve rted
    ]http://gi zmodo.com/5075130/virtual-webca...[/link]

  • Negotiator #67 3 years ago

    Natal will show you the way, its funny how most of you are quick to shoot down genuine innovation, in a market that is crying out for it. Gaming has stagnated in the form it is today, the Wiimote and the Sony wand are almost the same, Natal is the next step in motion control and with Milo Peter has shown how that tech combined with his own will create a groundbreaking experience. What you saw at E3 was a work in progress, but what was shown is years ahead of any finished product today. As I said before I own both the 360 and the PS3, I could care less who sells more consoles, but I enjoy interactive entertainment and Natal at the moment is looking by far the more impressive. Sony fanboys, remember Sony copy everything that is successful, Wiimote, Sony wand, Halo, Killzone, Nintendogs, this shit etc.... They show no innovation, instead copy until it makes them money, Microsoft while also in it for the money are attempting to create revolutionary gaming experience's with Natal, good day gentlemen.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 13:21

  • makeamazing #68 3 years ago

    Yawn, give it up Negotiator, your sounding like a crazed Fanboy.

  • Negotiator #69 3 years ago

    "No, because he didn't invent the light bulb. You're not very good at this, are you?"

    "Haha. That slipped me by."

    Well done boy, you just made yourself look like an even bigger moron than you already are, Edison did create the Light Bulb, nob head.

  • SEVQA #70 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    "Marconi when he invented the radio, the answer, no they did not. "

    Nikola Tesla invented the radio!

    And Edison was a scrub when compared to Tesla who's AC polyphase system was far more superior than Edison's DC. Tesla was the true innovator who saw outside the box and was rewarded with obscurity.

  • theiceman #71 3 years ago

    Yo Negotiator, chill out. EYE PET or NADAL are not even out yet and you keep banging about NADAL. For your information i would rather buy EP than that paedo trainer M I L O. Have a crappy day, loser

  • Negotiator #72 3 years ago

    Nikola Tesla invented the radio!

    And Edison was a scrub when compared to Tesla who's AC polyphase system was far more superior than Edison's DC. Tesla was the true innovator who saw outside the box and was rewarded with obscurity.

    Who won the Nobel prize, thats right Marconi, nob head.

  • juuken #73 3 years ago

    Negotuator, I think I'd be better that you shut the hell up.

    Dumbass 360 fanboy.

  • kangarootoo #74 3 years ago

    @YourMessageHere

    I concede that a flaw in my approach is to assume that parents are less fucked up than their kids and might actually be good role models for their kids :) Maybe its a generational thing, or maybe just a personal experience thing.

    I do think you are overplaying the effect of this type of game though. It is perhaps like suggesting that games such as Burnout encourage a perception that leads to bad driving practices on real roads. I am sure similarities can be observed, but the conclusions we might draw would be unsafe without proper evidence. There is an underlying assumption here that this type of game reinforces the behaviour you are describing, and I would suggest that reinforcement is not proved.

  • kangarootoo #75 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    "Who won the Nobel prize, thats right Marconi, nob head."

    Well isn't that what SEVQA was saying when he/she wrote "Tesla was the true innovator who saw outside the box and was rewarded with obscurity"?

    And what point is it that you are actually making now? I've lost track.

  • Les #76 3 years ago

    Like I said in another thread (inspired by a comment from someone from Team ICO) it's a smart design choice to create a non-existing animal. That's why Eye Pet will likely be more 'convincing' than Milo.

  • Kiigan #77 3 years ago

    It's a bit ugly and creepy looking isn't it?

  • mingster #78 3 years ago

    negotiator is freaking me out.
    Is he really that in love with Milo a little virtual boy?
    I'm tempted to call the police.

  • sneetch #79 3 years ago

    Awesome, Sony got their 3D hologram tech working. :)

    I'm personally not to sure about the whole "showing the user on the TV" thing. For one thing the bloke doing the tech demo at E3 had a lot of problems with accuracy/synchronisation of actions. For another thing seeing myself in the game just doesn't appeal to me, I don't watch myself as I play games; these rugged good looks would be too much of a distraction for anyone. ;)

    That said I'm sure my nieces and nephews would eat this kind of stuff up.

  • 3william56 #80 3 years ago

    See? No chance of a composite AI killbot here. Just a monkatmouse and a glowing diildo. You line up behind Michael Jackson for the first copy of Milo all you want Negotiator, but don't come whining to me when it's assimilated your family and plugged them into gooey pink cocoon pods as a new environmentally friendly AAA batteries and you're all dressed in rags looking at Laurence Fishburn's hairless chest waiting for the squiddies to bust into Zion and screw up your hippy rave parties.

  • sneetch #81 3 years ago

    I think it's rather sad that people equate interest in the Milo project with paedophilia, it implies that they themselves are only interested in people/things because they wish to have sex with them.

  • kangarootoo #82 3 years ago

    @sneetch

    "I think it's rather sad that people equate interest in the Milo project with paedophilia, it implies that they themselves are only interested in people/things because they wish to have sex with them."

    Oversimplification. Its the same crushing of logic that drives people to say "the only people calling this racist are racist themselves". It also assumes that people are genuinely equating Milo with paedophilia, and you know full well they are not (I suggest you are pretending not to "get the joke" because it serves the point you want to make).

    I see it like this.

    Of ALL the things that a games developer could create for players to interact with in a lifelike way, a 10 year old child is the last thing many would put at the top of their list or could have even guessed at. If nothing else, their choice of "pet" is mildly comical, and the pedo jokes I'm afraid to say result from the comedy that their choice invited.

  • Calgon #83 3 years ago

    Greybeard ah I see what it takes to convince you now... has to have Sony's or Nintendo's name on the box. ;) Has to be said you do have double standards by the looks of it, comparing your last post I saw in a 360 thread to this here is quite annoying actually its night and day and theres too many people like that who feign objectivity yet comparing posts for different platforms, you see double standards(stealth haters).

    I mean sure its true that Milo was basically a tech demo, but the "theres a man behind the curtain doing everything" comments are made by morons who havent the foggiest idea about what they are trying to say(thats even more stupid than beleiving theres self aware AI at work is the irony). Id also agree that it's the technology in the software more than it is with the hardware of Natal(perhaps it would be more difficult since I doubt playstation eyes microphone is up to the spec required for some of it and the more obvious differences between the cameras components... one being clearly more advanced/capable) but some of you here are displaying yet again that the PS3 fanboy base are the biggest hypocrites of them all.

    To see you do 180s here and put a positive spin on it(oooh look sony being innovative... fucking unbeleivable some of you people!) and even ridicule Negotiator for having enthusiasm for Natal/Milo... it just goes to show this is never going to change, no matter what happens you will still put a negative cynical spin on all that is Xbox and pour lashings of enthusiam/cheese/optimism over every half baked idea that Sony comes up with or "borrows" and tries to claim as its own(like the eye toy, rumble and countless other so called examples of Sony being innovative).

    Also M-Writer I think you can forget trying to claim Milo copied off Eyepet... you dunce, Sony just arent anywhere near as innovative as some of you like to beleive(ie any more than MS is... Id say MS has done more on recent form easily). Oh and by "new games" I take it you mean innovative games? Theres about 2-3 games in that list that are even slightly innovative and I do mean slightly in the true sense of the word.
    Edited by 2 at 18/06/09 @ 15:51

  • Les #84 3 years ago

    @ kangarootoo

    very well put

  • Triggerhappytel #85 3 years ago

    I think this sounds promising and I can see my missus being interested in it, although it's not the sort of thing I would probably buy for myself.

    I kind of feel Sony need to hurry up and get this released though, as it's been over two years since it was revealed.

    Also, lol @ Negotiator; bless his incessant attempts to belittle Sony and big-up MS. I hope he comes back to this topic, as his rants are probably the most entertaining of any 360 fanboy on here.

  • YourMessageHere #86 3 years ago

    I do think you are overplaying the effect of this type of game though. It is perhaps like suggesting that games such as Burnout encourage a perception that leads to bad driving practices on real roads. I am sure similarities can be observed, but the conclusions we might draw would be unsafe without proper evidence. There is an underlying assumption here that this type of game reinforces the behaviour you are describing, and I would suggest that reinforcement is not proved.

    I think there are a number of differences here between this and the likes of Burnout. Firstly, while the Burnout universe is a series of real-looking but obviously not genuine roads, the EyePet is visibly right there in your own house - the line between fantasy and reality is very much finer. Secondly, the fact is that this is designed for young children, who are by their very nature impressionable and prone to take fantastical things seriously, rather than adults, who know on-screen fantasy from offscreen reality perfectly well (in 99.9% of cases, exceptions exist etc.), plus the circumstances of Burnout and the experience of real driving should, assuming no lawbreaking is occuring, seem (roughly) equally fantastical to children. Finally, the consequences of acting out the onscreen action in reality are obvious, considerable and very serious in the case of Burnout, whereas, as I pointed out, many people are perhaps understandably not even thinking about their own pets when they let their their kid play with an EyePet, plus in this case, should a child abuse their pet, the only real victims cannot effectively complain.

    Oh and as an aside to the serious debate: god but that thing's horrible. My skin crawls every time I see it.

  • Les #87 3 years ago

    "It all sounds very clever, but I think this could have fairly bad ramifications for real pet ownership, to be honest."

    You bring up some interesting points but to be honest I doubt that a game/entertainment software like this will have such power. How people treat animals depends primarily on how they are seen in the culture that one lives in and next on certain innate qualities (or the lack thereof). Of course culture is not static and will change over time but I suspect the impact of something like EyePet will be negligible compared to photo's of Paris Hilton with a dog in her bag...

  • Davemanz #88 3 years ago

    You all got trolled really hard. I thought it was pretty funny, actually, so well done Negotiator.

  • kangarootoo #89 3 years ago

    "but I suspect the impact of something like EyePet will be negligible compared to photo's of Paris Hilton with a dog in her bag..."

    Exactly. There are far more situations involving real animals that are likely to distort an impressionable child's perception of the value of animals.


    HOWEVER, I think an more important assumption has been pushed out there and accepted without proper scrutiny. The assumption being that depicting a non-real animal on the screen is going to have a negative effect on the way kids view animals. The more I think about this the more I have to declare it as being UTTER BOLLOX (thanks to quantz for inspiring the dramatic use of CAPS).

    The root of this assumption seems to hinge on the idea that a kid that knows the animal is not real will not care about it, and then somehow confuse not caring about un-real animal with not caring about real animals out there in the world. I call shenanigans on that assumption, 'cos it utterly disregards the imagination of a child.

    How about this as an alternative. The child plays with un-real animal, looks after it, makes sure it is happy. Perhaps they have no actual pets, so this un-real animal is their only chance to experience caring for an animal at an age where their opinions on such things are still being formed.

    Look at a child playing with a toy baby. They act as if it is a real baby, and care for it as genuinely as they might a real baby (general health and safety failings not withstanding). I once folded up a pushchair that still contained my young cousin's imaginary baby, and she was in tears and screaming because I might have hurt said imaginary baby.

    All EyePet is doing is turning a teddy bear into an electronic animated version of what teddy bears have always been. Do teddy bear's raise a nation of bear hating adults? I suspect not.

    Edit: typos up the wazoo, none of which I can be bothered to correct :)
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 17:49

  • Bigglesworth #90 3 years ago

    You all got trolled really hard. I thought it was pretty funny, actually, so well done Negotiator.

  • Tonka #91 3 years ago

    The Natal, revealed

  • makeamazing #92 3 years ago

    Lol @ Tonka... funny.

    Negotiator.. the proof is in the eating of the pudding, when Natal is here with non jumping, waving arm around games and its like something out of 6th Day, then I will give MS lots of kudos, I recommend you use alittle more common sense and wait and see, because I'm pretty sure though it might move camera technology alittle more forward, I dont see it changing the world.

    If we just take voice recognition...Try this video to see what i mean - Windows Vista Voice... [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=n2p2PtRUf_Y
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=n2p2PtRUf_Y
    [/link]

  • Les #93 3 years ago

    "The assumption being that depicting a non-real animal on the screen is going to have a negative effect on the way kids view animals."

    I think the adjective can be dropped. As you rightly point out, children are able to distinguish between what's real and what's not (hence the number of kids killing people correlates more with the number of psychopaths amongst kids than with the number of kids playing video games). So to summarize: There is very likely no effect.

  • the_genius #94 3 years ago

    Seems over for Milol. Given the chances of it coming out before 2012 are extremely small (let's face it, it's all smoke and mirrors at the moment) it looks like MS are going to miss the boat completely.

    Again.

  • the_genius #95 3 years ago

    "I wonder why Sony overlooked this at the press conference, showing this charming thing off would surely have made more people notice it?"

    It's an SCEE game, and E3 is SCEA's gig. It's the same reason Heavy Rain wasn't featured.

  • rprince #96 3 years ago

    I'm not sure you take this too seriously, Ms. Gibson. However, as there seems to be nothing too serious about EyePet, you're forgiven!

  • messiahtj #97 3 years ago

    PatrickEwing
    "pathetic"

    I bet you were like "ZOMG Project Natal its fucking amazing, damn, look that Milo boy..waaah, im too excited about this shit.....waaaah...I came!"

    You donīt like it?, you are too "mature" (roflmfaopimp) for this eyepet thing? Nice, I respect that, now can you good sir kindly just shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of here, please? The are some people interested about this, so we don't need your stupid 10 yo comment.

    Thank you in advance for your collaboration. Have a nice day.

  • Rodney #98 3 years ago

    so presumabley, according to the Milo=pedo logic, by playing nintendogs I want to rape puppies?

    it all makes sense now!


    (agrees with what Kangarootoo said about it)

  • spamjavelins #99 3 years ago

    sounds like it was made for geordies....eyepet

  • jjolley #100 3 years ago

    I've got to say here i'm really interested in this. As someone who has never seen, interactive pets of any sort are interesting for me. I have the pleo, some furreal pets etc. The fact that it's a monkey is also nice as I like the sounds they make, also, they're a bit like humans to me, just bigger hands and ears. Perhaps I am coming over simple, but the AI in this thing seems quite fascinating, plus the lovely squeeky sounds it makes are fun. My partner's going to love this as she's always on the lookout for things that would be interesting for me to try.