Review Sony PS4 to be bundled with The Playroom AR game, despite lack of camera

Posted on 4 Jul 2013 at 09:09, by David Ludlow

Sony has announced that it will bundle The PlayRoom, an augmented reality title, with all PlayStation 4 consoles even though the game won't work unless users buy the optional PlayStation Camera.

According to Sony, The PlayRoom is designed to show off the features of the PlayStation 4's redesigned DualShock 4 controller. Using the light bar located on the top edge of the controller, the PlayStation camera can track its motion in order to create interactive on-screen effects including an impressive-looking holographic display system for selecting mini-games bundled in The PlayRoom.

Interacting with a robot helper, Asobi, players can 'beam' augmented reality robots into the DualShock 4 controller and, Sony claims, feel them tumbling around inside, thanks to the controller's in-built vibration motors. A holographic Air Hockey game has also been confirmed, with the controller being used to stretch, twist or bend the board. The DualShock 4's touch-sensitive strip, located on its face, is also used to scroll and interact with the holographic menu system, and to 'flick' objects out of the controller and into the virtual world for the robots to play with.

Sony also promises that it will operate with smartphones, tablets and the PlayStation Vita hand-held console by allowing users to draw objects on the touch-screen, flick them out into the TV screen and watch as it becomes a 3D toy that the robots will interact with. A demonstration video released by the company shows the software in action.

While a neat demonstration of the new console's capabilities, the software sounds like more of a gimmick than a game - which is just as well, considering that despite it being pre-loaded on all PlayStation 4 consoles, it won't operate unless the user has purchased the optional PlayStation Camera accessory. With Sony having made an apparently last-minute decision not to include the camera with the console, allegedly to undercut Microsoft's Xbox One console, it seems that The PlayRoom won't be a universal feature.

Sony has yet to announce pricing for the PlayStation Camera.

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