The Playroom
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If you own a PS4 and have a PS4 camera, then the chances are you've sat down and tried out The Playroom. In essence it is a well-polished tech demo, and does a very good job of showing the potential for it as an immersive device, especially when Project Morpheus comes along. There are two main games that come in the box with the PS4 Camera: AR Bots, Asobi and Air Hockey. At time of writing I didn't have a second controller and vita remote play isn't compatible (c'mon Sony...) so couldn't check out the Air Hockey. I did test the free downloadable games, ToyMaker (translation - Balloon Maker), AR Studio, Ninjabots and My Alien Buddy. The focus of this test is how much my children (ages 2 and 5) enjoyed it, as children can be the harshest critics.
Asobi involves the flying drone robot companion flying around the screen and allowing you to interact with it. It is basically a pared down version of Eyepet, and although fun to tickle his, um, dangly bits, the children soon bored of him as the interactions were fairly limited. AR Bots, however is a firm favourite, especially paired with the Toymaker, which lets you draw shapes on the Vita, smartphone or tablet and allows you to flick them off the device and onto the screen with the AR bots as balloons which can be kicked about. The bots are swiped out of the controller, to interact with in your front room, but you can also peek inside the controller and watch the buttons being pressed from the inside like a fairly claustrophobic disco. Paired with the controller rumble and speaker, this was quite a magical experience for the children. This was, and still is, the most popular part of The Playroom by far, and the simple paint program has nicely taught my 2-year old the basics of paint programs. |
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My Alien Buddy allows you to control a gelatinous alien in his flying saucer over whimsical dioramas which are satisfyingly destructible. You can stretch and manipulate the alien with the touchpad, but his main controls are based on the sixaxis motion controls of the DS4 controller, with a beam of light 'tethering' the flying saucer to the light on the controller. You can shoot a laser to break up the blocks which form the constituents of the scenery around you and suck up glowing prizes into your ship to affect the next scene you may be getting. Again the children loved this, the child-like playfulness of the game entirely suited to their age group.
Ninjabots was a fast paced runner, which reminded me of one of the less popular sonic games where one of your bots runs forwards in 3D and collects coins. It was attractive and fun, although quite difficult for the younger ones to control. There is a somewhat limited depth to the game, and with two or more controllers you can play with multiple bots. A nice touch at the end was the coins you collect are totted up and thrown around you in your front room so you can swim around them in Mcduck style.
AR studio is designed for front room presenters who want to broadcast their own shows. The tools available are quite interesting in a playful, bubbly way, and there is a good selection of filters (again taken the earlier PS3 Camera games), however it doesn't strike me as being a professional toolset, and are more whimsical in nature. It's worth checking out Playstation Live to see how they are being used by other people. The children thought they were mildly entertaining and enjoyed controlling them from the tablet, but it didn't hold their attention.
Overall the quality of the camera is way ahead of its previous iteration and the controls and tools were easy and intuitive to use, which is good for younger users. All the games are free to download from the SEN store, and are very good value for what they offer. It would be great if the Wonderbook games were available on the PS4, and I look forward to new AR content for the children and me to use with the camera.
Ninjabots was a fast paced runner, which reminded me of one of the less popular sonic games where one of your bots runs forwards in 3D and collects coins. It was attractive and fun, although quite difficult for the younger ones to control. There is a somewhat limited depth to the game, and with two or more controllers you can play with multiple bots. A nice touch at the end was the coins you collect are totted up and thrown around you in your front room so you can swim around them in Mcduck style.
AR studio is designed for front room presenters who want to broadcast their own shows. The tools available are quite interesting in a playful, bubbly way, and there is a good selection of filters (again taken the earlier PS3 Camera games), however it doesn't strike me as being a professional toolset, and are more whimsical in nature. It's worth checking out Playstation Live to see how they are being used by other people. The children thought they were mildly entertaining and enjoyed controlling them from the tablet, but it didn't hold their attention.
Overall the quality of the camera is way ahead of its previous iteration and the controls and tools were easy and intuitive to use, which is good for younger users. All the games are free to download from the SEN store, and are very good value for what they offer. It would be great if the Wonderbook games were available on the PS4, and I look forward to new AR content for the children and me to use with the camera.
