EyePet benefited from Eight Days and Getaway cancellations

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 28th 2008 at 10:10AM }

The adorable debut of EyePet at Leipzig Games Convention was quite possibly the biggest surprise of the show. The innovative use of the PlayStation Eye, coupled with one of fthe most adorable creature designs in recent memory, made it one of the most high-profile titles we showcased on our site during the Convention. Although it's still not planned for a release late next year, it benefited from the controversial cancellations of other SCEE games, such as Eight Days and The Getaway.

"Yes, there are so many things that we want to do, more than we can do with the resources. So when London Studio was looking at the early work on EyePet and the prototype of Eight Days, they knew they couldn't do all of them - and there are even more things they're working on at early concept stage," Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida told GI.biz. "So your expertise and ideas are best spent on some titles rather than others."

London Studios is arguably best known for their work on SingStar and other PS2/PS3 Eye games. Their experience in casual games developent will undoubtedly help EyePet. "London Studio is really best-placed for showing how these things can be done, because they've worked on games in that space for many years - they know how consumers are going to react, how to make it accessible and fun."

Gallery: EyePet

Tags: eight-days, eyepet, getaway, london-studios, shuhei-yoshida, the-getaway

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sholay @ Aug 28th 2008 10:14AM

omg?this instead of TG3?!

Invisible Robot Meat @ Aug 28th 2008 10:53AM

Also the PS3 factory is halting production so they can start manufacturing 'ball in a cup'

Jer @ Aug 28th 2008 10:15AM

I am always happy to see 'Kid friendly' games coming out for the PS3. I need all the help I can get justifying my PS3 to my wife. My kids can only play so much Toy Home and Super Rubba Dub'.

Nate @ Aug 28th 2008 11:05AM

Get them into Pixeljunk monsters and the Lego games..... both are good for both kids and adults. There's also Hot Shots Golf, which is actually pretty accessible and also fun for everyone. High Velocity Bowling is pretty fun, as is PAIN (can't remember if there's profanity in PAIN - I don't think so).

And those are just the good games, if you want to include bad games that are kid friendly, there's all the cartoon games - Wall-E, Ratatouille, etc.

I wouldn't say there's a *lot* of games, but certainly seem to be plenty to show the wife the PS3 isn't just for Dad :)

Jer @ Aug 28th 2008 11:40AM

Thanks Nate, we do have bowling and they love that! I do have the PixelJunk Monsters Demo and they also play that ( I need to buy the full version ). I do prefer downloading games for them so they don't have to switch discs( I have the unit out of reach so Dad has to do it ). Your right though. I do need to get one of the lego games.

One thing I would like to figure out how to do or see supported is PS3 user account restrictions. I have different users setup for me and my kids ( No PSN Access on the kids account ). It would be nice if I could password protect accounts and restrict game access at the user level as well.

spyker @ Aug 28th 2008 10:28AM

What the hell is that thing? A mutant monkey? Anyway, if it works well it could be cool.

adolson @ Aug 28th 2008 11:18AM

Good question... It reminds me of some kind of sick hybrid ferret / Teletubby.

John Giotta @ Aug 28th 2008 10:42AM

To quote my friend:
"...apparently you'll be missing out on molesting cute little virtual furry monkeys"

Nate @ Aug 28th 2008 10:56AM

So, I thought this was a dumb idea until I saw the video. It showed content creation like that developer demo back in the day where you draw something, take a picture of it, and it comes to life in the virtual world. Now that's pretty cool. If they can nail down the interaction so it's a lot crisper than the current eyetoy games, I think that'll make a big difference.

This definitely looks like it'll be a hit with the younger crowd and women in general, which I think is a sorely missed audience with the PS3 right now (aside from PJM).

If done right, this could be a really awesome selling game... I just wish they could have made the camera higher resolution.... it kind of kills the effect of my 1080p screen when it's displaying the 640x480 or whatever it is the camera's video is.

acedoh @ Aug 28th 2008 11:05AM

I think this was a great move on SONY's part. By the time this game comes out the PS3 will be cheaper and this game will attract to many families. Plus there are plenty of hardcore games coming so I don't think we will be missing too much...

Tolkienfanatic @ Aug 28th 2008 11:25AM

Thank you SCEA for making this move. No need for Getaway when you have GTAIV.

A truly innovative use of peripherals is infinitely more useful than a GTA clone, especially when the Wii STILL hasn't done anything special with it's motion control.

Emophia @ Aug 28th 2008 11:40AM

Wait, I'm missing out on Eight Days for that bullshit?

Eugh..

Terrence @ Aug 28th 2008 12:34PM

I agree. No doubt, this EyePet thing is great and all, but I don't honestly see myself buying it.

Eight Days.... the first (and only?) footage I saw of it in an E3 2006 collage, before PS3 was out, made me fall in love with it. It really, really sucks that it was cancelled, especially in favor of something I won't play. I wish they had just handed the work to a different studio if the London studios can't work on it.

duckhunt8 @ Aug 28th 2008 5:03PM

Well aren't you selfish! The Playstation brand always has games for everyone. You're a hard core gamer, I'm assuming, so look forward to LBP, R2, Valkyria Chronicles, WKS, GoW3, KZ2, FF(V)XIII, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Rage, do I really need to go on?

This game looks great for the Playstation brand. It's innovative and it's pushing a lame genre into an interesting direction. No longer do you need a controller for a virtual pet, but your own 2 hands.

Get over it, the PS3 wasn't built for you; It was built for everyone.

shase @ Aug 28th 2008 12:06PM

it would be kinda cool. Maybe making your own pet. Maybe a projection of the pet from the tv walking around the room?

Joe @ Aug 28th 2008 12:40PM

Thank you Sony for a dumb move giving people a casual game when the PS3 costs lots of money not many people out side of the hard corers buy the PS3. So bring back Eight Days and the Getaway 3 then I will be happy again. I love the PS3 but Sony this move was just dumb.

jgpliskin @ Aug 28th 2008 1:48PM

That family look nothing alike,bad casting.

Nibbo @ Aug 28th 2008 2:06PM

So they've pulled The Getaway, a game they've been touting since before the console even launched, in favour of monkey tickling. I'm sure all the people that have been looking forward to it for ages will be thrilled. This is great news.

Waqman @ Aug 28th 2008 4:48PM

Terrible, terrible news. Eyepet, gimmicky wii-like gameplay. Honestly poking air gets boring after 5 minutes. This looks terrible.

Would have definitely preferred Eight Days and the Getaway.

Juan Pablo @ Sep 22nd 2008 11:00PM

Maybe is the only time I'm posting here (maybe in other potsts too), but there is a petition for Eight Days and The Getaway 3.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?g3taway3

Will Talbert @ Oct 17th 2008 8:52PM

Hi I created that Petition 1030 sigs and not one email from anyone from Sony.

I'm sorry Sony but I didn't pay you £424.99 so I could tickle a F*cking monkey!!!

Getaway sold 3.5 million and Getaway 2 sold nealy 2 million. Will be interesting to see how many monkey tickling games they can shift!!!

At £279.99 sony will never capture the so called casual market who M$, Sony and Nintendo are all after.. There is £100 difference between the 360Wii and PS3.

Get over it, the PS3 wasn't built for you; It was built for everyone.

Who is this everyone who is Sony's target audience? Do casual gamers buy Blu-ray? Do casual gamers buy the most expensive console?

As I have owned every Sony console and defended them everytime there slagged off I can't do this anymore they have truely lost the plot!

GTA IV
Final Fantasy
Metal Gear Solid?

How long is it before we loose Gran Turismo?