Be very careful of what they tell you (or don’t tell you) about the PLAYSTATION®Eye before you buy it. Because of their irresponsible if not deceptive descriptions (which only show I guess how little Sony really cares about their own customers), I found I had bought something that I cannot possibly use for anything at all. In other words, for me it is a total waste of money. Let me explain.

After years of PC gaming in which my system didn’t meet the Minimum Requirements of the newest games, I purchased a PLAYSTATION®3 to see what all the fuss was about (and to be able to play Grand Theft Auto IV!).

I decided to go all the way and get the PLAYSTATION®Eye too so that, as Sony said, I could capture video and audio which can then be edited into a movie using an extensive list of special effects such as Color Filters, Distortions, Art Filters, Motion Trails, Time Lapse and Stop Motion. Wow! They said I could even transfer finished movies to my PC.

The free EyeCreate(tm) software that lets you do all this was available for free download, I was told, on something called the PLAYSTATION®Network.

Since I had already determined before buying the PLAYSTATION®3 that I can download System Software Updates for it using my USB flash drive and a PC, and since none of the things I wanted the PLAYSTATION®Eye for even used broadband (such as making movies and using PLAYSTATION®Eye software like Mesmerize & Tori Emaki), I was very excited.

Like many people, I can not get broadband where I live (even satellite, exorbitantly expensive as it is, requires an unobstructed southern exposure). But luckily, I discovered, to use the PLAYSTATION®3 for single-player gaming and even to download and install System Software for it, I don’t need broadband. It would have been nice if Sony had bothered to tell me that that was definitely not true for this PLAYSTATION®3 accessory.

Little did I know that you can’t even register for the PLAYSTATION®Network unless you have a broadband connection connected to your PLAYSTATION®3 itself, not to mention a TV connected to the PLAYSTATION®3 to see what you’re doing. You can’t even buy anything at the PlayStation Store (such as Mesmerize or Tori Emaki). It’s not like I could simply go to my local library (which is the only access to broadband I have), download what I needed there, and put it on my handy USB flash drive or anything!

Somewhere at the PlayStation Store, if you search through page after page, you finally come to some very tiny print (which is grey-on-black instead of black-on-white and thus barely legible) which says: < >

I assumed of course that “online connectivity” referred to game-playing online (which I’m not interested in) or perhaps to sharing the movies you create with EyeCreate(tm) with other people at the Network. Since you can download PLAYSTATION®3 system software to a PC and then get it to the PLAYSTATION®3 using a USB flash drive, I certainly had no reason to think you couldn’t even obtain the free software that came with the PLAYSTATION®Eye (or download titles from the PlayStation Store) without a broadband connection being directly connected to the PLAYSTATION®3 and the PLAYSTATION®3 to a TV.

All the PLAYSTATION®Eye packaging says is that you can “Download EyeCreate(tm) free on PLAYSTATION®Network”. How is one supposed to know that the procedure is any different from downloading the PLAYSTATION®3 System Software updates?

Even the information obtainable by Amazon from Sony only says that the PLAYSTATION®Eye “comes bundled with EyeCreate(tm) software.”

All Sony had to do was say:

“The free software needed to use the PLAYSTATION®Eye for anything at all, as well as some of the software titles designed for it like Mesmerize & Tori Emaki, can only be obtained if the PLAYSTATION®3 itself is connected to the internet using a broadband connection. Unlike System Software Updates for the PLAYSTATION®3 itself, you cannot get this PLAYSTATION®Eye software on an ordinary software disc or by downloading it to your PC and then transferring it to the PLAYSTATION®3. In fact, you can’t download anything at all from the PlayStation Store.”

OR Sony could simply supply the free software (which can only be used with the PLAYSTATION®Eye) on a DVD disc that is packaged with the PLAYSTATION®Eye. You know, the kind that cost 25¢ to make and are sent out free as junk mail? Tori Emaki and Mesmerize can only be used with the PLAYSTATION®Eye as well. Why can’t I have the option to buy them on DVD or to download to a PC? Is Sony even thinking properly here?

Nowhere does Sony say that unless you’re lucky enough to have broadband, the PLAYSTATION®Eye is totally useless — even though broadband isn’t needed to use it! But guess what, folks. It is.

There are people in the United States who don’t have access to broadband, just as there are those who have access but choose not to use it. For Sony to neglect to tell these many people that they cannot possibly use the PLAYSTATION®Eye if they buy it shows how little thought they give to their customer base.

I guess Sony’s own PLAYSTATION®Eye web page just about says it all when it says: “The PLAYSTATION®Eye lives up to every bit of the PS3(tm) system’s high standards. And that tells you all you need to know… almost.”

Shame on Sony!
Rating: 1 / 5

I bought the Aquatopia game from the Playstation Network for $1.99 because I wanted an aquarium display. But Aquatopia requires the Eye. But beyond that, not really sure what this is good for.
Rating: 2 / 5

It’s a good quality product… EXCEPT….

- ONLY useful with PS3 games… forget about using it as a webcam for other sites/applications.

– The drivers are NOT available for outside applications (of PS3

applications)… that I can find

Considering the fact that you are locked into the PS3 portal on the web, I have found no use for this camera, other than feeding the damned expensive fish in the PS3 aquarium !

Sony seems to be taking the MS approach to ‘use us, and only us’… I do not like it one damned bit !

Hopefully, Sony will open up their doors for other uses… in my opinion… do NOT buy until then !

Rating: 1 / 5

Nice design, looks good in top or around the TV but I was expecting better quality pictures or video, photo quality really poor. I bought some “games” developed for the eye toy but definitely is not worth it.
Rating: 1 / 5

disappointing.

image very noisy and snapshots taken really bad.

chat with cam is not an option as it is too slow and the chat features not useful (you cannot write mesages while you chat!!!).

unless you use it for a game then there is probably not too muych you can do with it.
Rating: 1 / 5