Sony Releases A Camera For The PS3 - Did Anyone Ever Buy The PS2 Version?

For those of you that have been on the fence over whether or not to pick up a PS3, you just got your reason - Sony is releasing a new PS3 camera! Can you taste the excitement? Okay, this isn't exactly the peripheral that everyone was clamouring for...or anyone was clamouring for, for that matter. But, it's here, so we might as well talk about it.

The first thing you'll notice is that they changed the name from EyeToy to PlayStation Eye. The second thing is the huge, honkin' microphone that is now strapped to the top of the camera. According to the press release, this is a "four microphone array", which supposedly allows for location tracking as well as some noise canceling features. Meaning, no need for a headset. That's a good innovation.

Now, some bad news - it's not an HD camera. While it does support higher resolutions than the old EyeToy did, it's only 640 x 480 at 60 fps (or 320 x 240 at 120 fps, which would make it suitable for fast-paced action games). Also, while it can record video to the PS3 hard drive, which you can edit and add effects to with the free included software, you can't export it to another device - it can only live on the PS3. I'm sure they'll let you do something with it in the upcoming Home service, but still, the ability to save files to a USB flash key or external HD would have been nice.

Ultimately, the success of this peripheral will come down to how developers support it. The only games associated with the original EyeToy were simple, waste of time games. If the PlayStation Eye gets the same kind of lineup, you can expect this thing to fall flat on its lens. That being said, it could have some life in Home, as the Xbox 360's Vision camera does on Live's video chat. Time will tell.

No price has been announced, and no release date, though it's expected that this will hit sometime in the summer. You can pimp the full press release and some pics here. In the meantime, better get a hair cut and some acne medication, because soon enough, you'll be live for the whole world to see.