Impressions: EyePet (PS3)

Joystiq writes: EyePet truly needs to be seen to be understood. You can do so many things with the critter, and his incredibly detailed and lifelike animation makes this "game" all the more believable. For example, you can try sweeping your arm across the bottom of your TV view, and the pet will jump over your arm. When your pet goes to sleep, you can clap loudly and get it to wake up ... (although it might be grumpy!)

Sony calls the quality of the visuals "Pixar-like" and in our opinion, that's not hyperbole. With all of PS3's rendering capabilities going towards a single character model, it's no surprise the visuals looks so impressive. I'll reiterate that the visuals you see in the trailer aren't pre-rendered -- the game really does look like that.

One of the cooler things to do in the game is to drop down the "magic card" on the floor. This simple black card will be detected by the Eye and a spinning holgraphic menu will shoot out of it. Players will be able to gesture Minority Report-style, around the menu to access various options, like to

One amazing feature that works better than we'd imagine is the ability to draw and import your own creations. You can play an airplane minigame, for example, by drawing a helicopter for your pet to drive. All it takes is a white piece of paper and a black pen. You'll have to draw the pieces necessary to make a working helicopter, and then you'll be able to scan the image with the Eye. The drawing then gets scanned into the world and your pet will attempt to recreate it. (The more you teach it how to draw, the better he will perform.) Your handwriting and drawing turns a real 3D object in the world. In the flying minigame, you'll use the PS3 controller to guide your pet in a balloon-colllecting minigame.

EyePet has been announced for both US and European release, with a holiday target in Europe. The game will be available in two flavors: Blu-ray disc, or bundle which includes the game and PlayStation Eye.