Perhaps you spotted this on Joystiq, but we had to post it here. It's been some time since we've seen any Vision Camera shenanigans. This video, however, is special. It's not a video of some jackass on Command & Conquer 3, oh no, this video is not of this world. Gasp as his couch defies the laws of our universe. Feel your mind become one with another dimension as you stare through a man's solid flesh.
If you prefer to preserve the illusion, read no further. It turns out that the Vision camera used in this video was suffering from a case of burn in. It seems the camera has captured the couch in the background for so long that it is permanently within the frame. As it stands, the video teaches us two things. One, be careful using your Vision cam for prolonged amounts of time. Two, if you're not worried about your Vision's well-being, this should make for an interesting party trick.
We recently brought you Major Nelson's Vegas face mapping results, but those were merely pictures. Today we bring you the holy grail of face mapping evidence: video. It seems that the overall goal of face mapping, however, is not to map normal faces. If our previous commenters are to be believed, Vegas players have been trying all kinds of head gear, from sun glasses to Spiderman masks. It's fitting, then, that this video features a woman using the face mapping feature to give Xbox Live a permanent raspberry. Check out the video and tell us what creative things you've done with your Vegas avatar.
Here's a promotional gimmick for the folks behind Xbox Live Arcade: Give away a free component of Lumines Live for every baby Madonna steals from Africa. This could be followed by a charity tournament to help the kids she doesn't turn into human accessories. Maybe it's a bad idea, but so is ripping off the gaming public with this offensively piecemeal game.
For some reason, Activision's $40 poker title, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions has yet to garner a single review on MetaCritic, despite being the first game to showcase the Vision Camera's Digimask facial mapping technology. That's a shame because right now it's the best reason to pick up a Vision. I'm not an expert when it comes to poker (either the real or video game variety) but this game is a worthy upgrade from the bare bones XBLA version that most people downloaded for free, if only for the chance to...um... play with yourself.
Point blank, the Digimask tech just works. You snap a pic from the front and side profile and the game takes a couple minutes to map your face over a 3D frame. I tried it under mediocre lighting conditions and it worked on the first try. Speaking as a geek who spent hours painstakingly building my virtual doppelganger in the last Tiger Woods (long the Cadillac of create-a-character modes), poor, forgotten WSoP presented me with most accurate representation of my own handsome face I've ever seen in a game, It does warp your lower face a bit, but the eyes, ears and nose were spot on. I've only slept about 6 hours over the past couple days and it was awesome to see the same black under eye circles I saw in the mirror on my newly created me. The 3D modeling is a vast improvement over previous attempts at this sort of thing. In fact, the detail was so good that my wife refused to give it a shot without doing her make-up. I tried it again sporting a Mr. T "Pity the fool" scowl to see if it could handle a little emotion and the results were equally impressive.
As expected, Microsoft has updated following Arcade titles for use with the Vision Camera:
Bankshot Billiards 2
Hardwood Hearts
Hardwood Spades
Hardwood Backgammon
The press release also reminds parents to check their family settings. Good idea.
Speaking of adult-oriented action, Activision's World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, the first game to take advantage of the Digimask facial mapping stuff, hits store shelves today.
So Microsoft has camera support covered as far as pool sharking and problem gambling are concerned. Now where are the gesture-based games, starting with Totem Ball? I have read that the Vision is supposed to come with a download code for that flailing effort, but the $40 SKU I picked up at Toys R Us included only Uno and one month of XBL Gold (There are no titles mentioned on the packaging).
I'll try out the facial mapping feature in WSoP tonight and let you know if it does my handsome mug justice.
I picked up a Vision Camera a few days early thanks to the stock first, ask questions later policy at the local Toys R Us. After a weekend spent playing Uno under the watchful gaze of complete strangers (at the expense of this blog I'm afraid), I can report that the camera is a worthy purchase based on that cool watery dashboard effect alone. Webcams have been around forever, but it still feels strange to have to check your boxers for complete scrotal coverage while playing a console. Just pray the guy on the other side does the same. I talked to a couple girl gamers who had already witnessed Uno hands that devolved into a sordid game-within-a-game of "show me yours, I'll show you mine" to the shrieking glee of the zit-faced participants (and presumably, the horror of the ESRB). Wild Cards never had so much economic clout. Expect this type of seedy peep show bartering to take off as the Vision makes its way into more sweaty palms this week. It will probably take a couple months before the novelty of pimping out your girlfriend for color changes wears off, or at least settles to a tolerable level. In the mean time, YouTube should prepare for a flood of poorly lit softcore with the same soundtrack.
Rather than just a standard pod blogcast this week, Major Nelson has instead posted a video podcast. Big deal, you say. But wait, there's more! This video podcast is all about the new Vision camera, which comes out tomorrow (assuming you couldn't snag one early from Toys R Us). The video -- weighing in at over twenty minutes long -- outlines all the super nifty great features of the peripheral. And, did we hear that Rainbow Six: Vegas will feature face mapping? We're pretty sure we did.
Those of you interested in the camera (vibration functions and all) should definitely check it out.
SquadXP.com has an in-depth video review of the Vision Camera's dashboard interface. They note two missing features: 4-way chat and the ability to save pictures to the hard drive. I would add making the video chat window full screen, but that's what dash updates are for, right? These guys don't demonstrate the "vibrate the other dude's controller" capability, which is probably a good thing. Personally, I'd buy it just for the trippy water effect.
Check out Gamasutra for some detail on the really interesting stuff like the DigiMask facial mapping soon to be displayed in World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions.
Anybody else who managed to get their hands on a Vision, please give us your first impressions.
Gamertag Radio got to check out the Vision Cameras video chat functionality at the Microsoft Games Unwrapped event in NYC. Not exactly earth shattering if you've used a webcam in the past 10 years, but still eagerly awaited. Unfortunately, the hot chick isn't included with the retail SKU, so you're stuck chatting with whoever is on your friends list. I hope there's an option for full-screen.
Xbox Live Arcade Manager Aaron Greenberg handed the hip-hopping podcasters at Gamertag Radio a scoop by revealing that several current XBLA games will be updated for use with the Vision Camera on September 19 to coincide with the peripheral's launch. Titles include Bankshot Billiard 2, Hearts, Spades and Backgammon. Juicing up the old games should add some depth to a cam-enabled line-up that already looks pretty solid with Uno, Totem Balls and World Series of Poker leading the way. Meanwhile, Godfree from Gamertag is campaigning hard for votes in the Podcast Awards, and he's doing it the old-fashioned way: With bribery. All you have to do is register with their site and your name will be thrown in the hat for a drawing to win a Vision (surreptitiously obtained from MS) one month before it goes on sale.
Joystiq has learned the "unofficial" price point for the Xbox Live Vision Camera: $39.99 bundled with Uno and one month of XBL Gold. It's not clear if those of us who already spent our hard-earned MS Points on Uno will get the opportunity to buy either a less expensive un-bundled version or another camera-enabled game. I'm guessing we're out of luck.
The 'stiq also has info on various other "Holiday 2006" peripherals:
New faceplates featuring Halo, Forza 2, & Viva Pinata for $19.99 each
Wireless headest with a 30-foot range for $59.99
256MB Memory Unit for $59.99
Wireless gaming receiver for $19.99 (but it'll go on sale in Winter 2007, unlike the others, probably around the month of February)
The upcoming wireless racing wheel previously reported at $130 isn't on the list, indicating MS is re-evaluating that price.
Back to the camera. Is this price point and bundle pretty much what you expected? Furthermore, is $40 a small price to pay for the chance to see how ugly the strangers on your friend's list really are?
Major Nelson has some tentative dates for the release of the Xbox Live Vision Camera (still no price point):
North America: September 19th
Europe and Asia (except Japan): October 2
Japan, Australia and New Zealand: I don't have confirmed dates yet.
Admittedly, I still have BBQ sauce on the brain (hence the late post), but the "Vision" moniker is news to me. My first experience with this camera, playing the weirdly suggestive Totem Balls at E3, was a poor one. I'm more excited about video chat and user-created gamer pictures than gesture-based games requiring stadium lighting. Here's video of the camera in use during an exciting game of Uno.
How many people will be picking this peripheral up on day one? That is, besides the pedophiles and morons dying to show their ass on XBL.
I was pretty eager to get my hands, or rather my flapping arms, on Totem Balls, the first Xbox Live Arcade title to make use of the 360 camera for gesture-based gameplay. Totem Balls has a tropical island theme. You control a little a totem pole-looking character by moving your arms up and down at your sides (a motion that resembles the funky chicken) as he collect balls that balance on his head. Unfortunately, it turns out the still-unpriced Xbox 360 camera has the same studio-like light requirements as the Sony EyeToy, making the game basically unplayable in the dim, romantic glow of the Xbox Live Arcade booth -- much to the chagrin of the Microsoft staff on hand. Despite keeping the gaming press in the dark until the emergency floodlights arrive, they claim it's a superior product.
It looks like Uno for Xbox Live Arcade is the first game to have built in support for the yet-to-be-released Xbox 360 Camera. Video proof here (way to flout that NDA fellas). No word on whether the cam is used simply for communication purposes, or if it has some gameplay function. How cool would it be if it gave you a reason to break out your old Uno deck?
Xbox360Galaxy.com got their hands on an Xbox 360 Camera flier intended for developer's from last month's Game Developer's Conference.
Aside: Hey! I was there, I didn't see any fliers ... they must have been hidden. Yeah, hidden, that's the ticket.
In addition to technical camera details (it has a 43° Field of View ... w00t?) the flier mentions the camera contains "features such as high quality video chat and video recording, high resolution image capture, gesture recognition, and more." We imagine gameplay along the lines of Sony's EyeToy games: arms waving, bodies jumping, hands swatting. Good times.
Continue reading for my transcription of the flier.
Here's a promotional gimmick for the folks behind Xbox Live Arcade: Give away a free component of Lumines Live for every baby Madonna steals from Africa. This could be followed by a charity tournament to help the kids she doesn't turn into human accessories. Maybe it's a bad idea, but so is ripping off the gaming public with this offensively piecemeal game.
For some reason, Activision's $40 poker title, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions has yet to garner a single review on MetaCritic, despite being the first game to showcase the Vision Camera's Digimask facial mapping technology. That's a shame because right now it's the best reason to pick up a Vision. I'm not an expert when it comes to poker (either the real or video game variety) but this game is a worthy upgrade from the bare bones XBLA version that most people downloaded for free, if only for the chance to...um... play with yourself.
As expected, Microsoft has updated following Arcade titles for use with the Vision Camera:
Rather than just a standard 
