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Thrillville dev: Wii popularity could dwindle like EyeToy’s

July 27, 2007 in News comments 4

In an interview with Next-Gen, veteran games developer, David Braben, (responsible for co-authoring Elite back in the 1980s and more recently the founder of Frontier Developments), has compared the Nintendo Wii to the Sony PlayStation 2’s camera accessory, the Eye Toy - something novel in the beginning that people may get bored with after 18 months or so.

What’s interesting is that people are talking about the novelty of the Wii as if it’s something completely revolutionary but actually we went through this same process with EyeToy...but the EyeToy as a device lasted maybe eighteen months before people got bored with it.
shuandrew via nintendic.com »
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  • 0
    FRoGBuster Jul 27, 07
    I'd have to disagree.. Eye toy didn't haave that responsive control that wii has. The novelty was also mostly looks and concept. Whereas the Wii provides a novelty not just in these two areas, but also in sheer experience. I'm playing RE4 on the wii, though I've beat it on the PS2, and it feels great. I stopped playing God of War II on my ps2 and cannot stop RE4, because the difference in controls actually make it a lot more engaging and immersive. All you could really do with Eye toy was flail your arms around, but the wii-mote opens up possibilities like the DS does, developers can be more creative in its uses as sampled in Wario Ware with all its "form batons", or cooking mama, with all its real-world connections with virtual actions. It's not just large repetitive motions, but now you can play games that distinguish between turning your wrist, flicking your wrist, swinging down or up or side, a subtle twitch or tilt, the range is broad enough for creativity to flourish on the system. The eye toy did not provide this, so it faded. The DS did provide this room for inspiration, so it flourished. And we shall see the same results with the wii as well, as developers finally grasp the possibilities of the wii's hidden fun.
  • 0
    bbb7002004 Jul 27, 07
    I don't think you can compare the two. The Eyetoy was simply a peripheral with a limited library of games and owners to buy those games. Wii is a full fledged system that will have hundreds, if not thousands of games each using the motion control aspect of the controller. A much better comparison would be the Eyetoy to the Balance Board, which I think will share a similar fate to almost every other peripheral in gaming history, abandonment.
  • 0
    cjmnews Jul 27, 07
    The Eye Toy is a great peripheral, the number of games is quite lacking. There are issues with lighting with the Eye Toy but there are ways to work with it.

    As a controller it is quite responsive. Try AntiGrav for a good example. Steer with your face, hit targets and do stunts with your hands at the same time.

    The Wii seems to be better though. No impact from light, or other people in the room. I am enjoying Resident Evil 4, as well as bowling, skeet shooting, and tennis.
  • 0
    Final Blade Jul 30, 07
    Actually you can compare the two, the eye toy was ment for fantastic things and was innovative when it was released. Then it died out in 18 months. Now with the wii remote, its the same deal only if the games fully uses what its capable of it may also die down in 18 months.

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