Sony PlayStation 4 Camera (PS4/PSVR)

Product Information

The only marking on the new PlayStation Camera is a small "PS" logo on one side, where no one will ever see it. In fact, most people will probably never notice it sitting by your TV. There is simply not a single real game that uses the Camera in any essential way, and there are few games that use it at all. It's unfortunate that the PlayStation Camera can't simply log users in automatically when it recognizes them, and to be honest it's a lot easier to simply select your profile manually, even with multiple users in the room. The PlayStation Camera seems to be about on par with the original Xbox 360 Kinect in terms of recognizing players' movements. Granted, that's just based on a single game, and it's a game that was designed to use the PlayStation Camera in the first place: The Playroom.

Best Games That Actually Utilize The PS4 Camera, Ranked 15 Best Games That Actually Utilize The PS4 Camera, Ranked

So The Playroom is amusing but shallow, and Just Dance 2014 is relatively niche and doesn't even technically require the Camera. Anything else? Plus there's the fact that developers at this point have little reason to add PlayStation Camera support to their games, since the peripheral isn't included with the console. That's not going to change unless adoption is high right off the bat, but again, there's no tangible reason to get the Camera at all. Verdict Actually, NBA 2K14 will reportedly give you a penalty for swearing if you yell out a curse word during a game when the PlayStation Camera is plugged in, according to this Reddit thread. That said, if you do run the setup program again from the settings menu it will add to the face data for your profile, not replace it, so that it can recognize you with even more accuracy.

The PlayStation Camera won't automatically recognize everyone who walks by like the Xbox One Kinect does, but it does recognize you on start-up if the PS4 is not set to automatically log in one user. No, it's not an easy decision. So after playing with the PlayStation Camera over the weekend, we decided to break it down for you. Design Watch as a living, breathing game world comes alive all around you, with a seamless field of view wherever you turn. Keep in mind there are a full two dozen PS4 launch games (including The Playroom). And Just Dance 2014 is available on multiple platforms. Discover a new dimension in sound as 3D audio technology lets you pinpoint the direction and distance of sounds coming from all around you.

PlayStation Camera | Stream your gaming sessions and connect PlayStation Camera | Stream your gaming sessions and connect

The other robot-centric application, Play With Asobi, is less entertaining. A cute droid named Asobi flits around your head, reacting to your "touch" with a variety of facial expressions and motions. The PS Camera is more than functional; it actually works quite well when it comes to recognizing users' faces and voice commands. Telling the PS4 vocally to turn off or perform other functions can sometimes be more convenient than pressing buttons. These commands work pretty consistently. Unless the TV volume is up too loud or others in the room are speaking, the PlayStation Camera will almost always recognize your words. The Camera is quite good at detecting faces, even with multiple people in the room. Once it's had a look around it asks you to point out for it which face is yours, and then you're run through a one-time program that will help the system recognize your face automatically later on.In addition, The Playroom provided some solid entertainment, however short-lived. It appears the device has some potential. We disliked At this point there are no gesture controls, so the minimal voice commands and face recognition are all the PlayStation Camera gives you at a system level. That's a shame, since the Camera seems to be quite good at detecting players' movements. Games Project your PS VR experiences directly to your TV screen with Mirror mode, letting friends and family see what you’re seeing and giving them a window into your virtual world. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the Camera isn't even required to play Just Dance 2014 on the PS4. PS3 owners can just use the old PS Move controllers they may or may not have lying around.

PS VR: Quick start guide - PlayStation PS VR: Quick start guide - PlayStation

Go ahead and give the new PS Camera a try if you're a hardcore PlayStation fan who want to see more developers utilize it down the road, or if you simply need to have those face and voice detection features going from day one.This should allow the clip to work with most living room setups. And between the old and new Kinects, the Wii/ Wii U's sensor bar, the PS3 Eye, and the new PlayStation Camera, power gamers' environments are getting far too cluttered with cameras, so elevating one might be necessary or at least more aesthetically pleasing. Anyway, after the log-in process the PlayStation Camera can recognize a few rudimentary voice commands.