The Eye Of Judgment is a new game for the Playstation 3 that uses the Playstation Eye camera to allow us to play a CCG (collectible card game) on the system while using real cards. To understand what I mean, take a look at these shots:
The rightmost shot shows it the best. The device perched on the left side of the white table in front of me is the Playstation Eye camera. It is looking directly down onto a 3 x 3 grid onto which the game itself is played. When I place my cards on that grid, the camera scans them and places a card on the grid in the game itself, which is what’s happening on the TV.
In these shots I’m playing online against someone. If you look at the screen you’ll see some squares have units in them that are empty on my table – that’s because on his table, wherever in the world he’s playing, he’s got cards down on those squares. The goal of the game is to occupy 5 of the 9 squares. And with 110 different cards, with all sorts of different strengths and weaknesses and various strategies, the game is deliciously complex.
Much like ‘real’ CCGs, you improve your deck by buying booster packs of real cards. Which can then be used in the game. Here’s a picture of one card:
< Ouroboros Dragon
The strange black bars on the top and bottom of the card are the barcode picked up by the camera (so it knows what I am playing). The green squares allow it to align which direction the card is facing (direction is important in the game). Unfortunately there is no 'copy protection' on the cards, so anyone can photocopy and print them and the game wouldn't know you were using a fake.
But simply owning the cards is nothing if you don't know how to use them. Furthermore, the computer controls the draw in online games, so cheating isn't possible.
It's a very fun game (of course two can play offline as well) with speedy play and very, very nice graphics. It seems to be quite a success so far as well, if the inability to find boosters in the stores is any indication.
If you have a PS3 and this game, let me know and we’ll duel together!