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Youth Gone Wild

From the “I wish they had that when I was a kid” department…

I saw Playstation 2’s Eye Toy in action for the first time while I was visiting my family this past weekend. For those who are unfamiliar with this product, it’s essentially a camera that utilizes one’s physical movements to create the illusion of interaction with video game characters on the television screen. My cousin’s stepchildren demonstrated a couple of the game options for me, and appeared to be having a blast while doing so.

One of the biggest complaints critics of video games have is that they aren’t very helpful in encouraging physical activity with children. After watching my cousin’s kids work themselves silly last weekend, I gotta’ admit–the Eye Toy offers an ingenious solution to that problem! Those kids were jumping, punching, and kicking all over the place–a full-on workout. There’s something about seeing themselves on a TV screen that seems to be so appealing to children, and this game really exploits that attraction. Well played, Sony.

Now getting them to settle down when they’re done is, I’m sure, an altogether different adventure…