EyeToy: Play Sports review

Something very close to my heart died today. My wireless keyboard suddenly stopped working, and after replacing the batteries, trying to connect it again and smashing it up in anger I have decreed time of death to be around 3:30pm (right in the middle of a FPS with no way for me to then save it! Agh!), so I’ve been around trying to select a nice new keyboard with which to type this review. Keyboards are very personal things, with style, feel and general clickyness being a factor. With such a tangible user input method, the EyeToy still feels unique in contrast.

For those who still aren’t in the know, an EyeToy is a little camera device that plugs into your PS2, sits on top of your TV and puts you, the player, into the game. Using motion sensor software, it can judge what kind of motions you are performing, as well as making you flap your arms around like an overly expressive drama teacher on caffeine. Before too long in the arms of one of the plentiful EyeToy games, it becomes clear that there are only so many ways to make this control method unique.

Moving or not moving in certain areas of the screen is the basis for a lot of the minigames available for the EyeToy, but they do generally remain as mini-games, that is, never enough of a game to warrant full effort dedicated to one process. EyeToy Sports takes this knowledge to an extreme, providing us with 101 minigames in an attempt to saturate us with what can only be every possible use of the EyeToy as a control method imaginable.

Let’s get into the games

Naturally, a list, description and review of each of the minigames is impractical, not only from a time standpoint but because they are randomly selected, I probably have a load of them still to play. A lot of the quality of EyeToy games comes down to how well it can recognise your movement and interpret it against whatever background you are standing against. Fortunately, I have finally managed to get a setup that I am pleased with that seems to work. Your own enjoyment of the game does depend on how well lit your own room is.

The game modes themselves begin with a selection of how many players will be taking part, then a style of game to base the mini-games on. This can take the form of a simple scoreboard that grants the winner of each game a point in an attempt to get the most points, or even a football match where you have little control over the players, rather a minigame’s result decrees who takes control of the ball, and then another decides whether or not an attempt at goal is successful. The presentation is quite stylish, yet simplistic. An effort has been made for these themed competitions over the simple scoreboard game, to keep the repetitive nature of everyone battling it out interesting.

It’s not just about balls

There really are a lot of minigames, and while you may see repeats quickly, it is always nice when a new one pops up to confuse and amuse (depending on your attitude towards it). When people try a new minigame it does seem to be a case of whoever can work out the best way of actually controlling it first will win. The game will have you steering a car by tilting your arms up and down like turning a steering wheel, firing arrows with some inexplicable thrusting motion and competing in a sack race by… jumping. The screen is split into sections before each iteration begins with a brief explanation of how to play (that vary from obvious to confusing) and gives you time to get into position.

The lack of space in your room is going to be a factor here, as waving your arms around madly can easily break into a fight in your living room if you aren’t careful. The game does put you all into position however, taking photos of you for celebratory poses and of course playing you into the game quite effectively when the screen splits apart.

Ugly characters

Graphically, the games are simplistic but well designed to serve their purpose, and normally you won’t have time to question the bright colours (or how well your room is decorated) because of the immersive and constant action you will be subjecting your body to. After a few rounds, it does become apparent how good exercise you are getting, merely because of how tired you become from waving your arms around frantically, in an attempt to perform a backstroke for your onscreen persona. Reminiscent of those (thankfully dated) athletics games that required you to merely button bash faster than your opponent, faster actions will generally win the day here. Some games require more accuracy when it comes to the occasional puzzle style piece, stringing a tennis racquet or the goalie ball or puck stopping challenges.

While there are plenty of variations upon a theme, there is the sense that the designers have used a lot of imagination in terms of taking the EyeToy capabilities to their extreme. With the recent (and soon for the UK) release of the Wii, we will undoubtedly be seeing a lot more gimmickery in terms of control mechanisms, but the EyeToy seemed to be the first of the mainstream alternate control systems that emerged, and it still entertains.

Cover the EyeToy to exit

The fact remains that basing a game around mini-games is a formula for either an entertaining party game or a very limited experience. As ever, if you have an EyeToy, are still enthused by its potential, and think your friends will be too next time they’re over, then EyeToy Sports is a decent stab at keeping you in the game, but playing it on your own will do little more than give you a bit of exercise and confuse onlookers.

I did find some pleasure in embarrassing my friends once again, with EyeToy Sports, but with almost no exceptions, the original games available in EyeToy: Play bring much more entertainment, and excel further in presentation than these new ones. If you are looking for a new theme, or indeed it is your first EyeToy experience then you will be entertained, but I’d head for one of the various other EyeToy games that have done it better than Sports if there is a question over which game to get. Then again, maybe the promise of 101 games and the occasional glimpse of genius in some of the minigames will grasp you enough to take this one onto the field and shoot for another party.