The Playroom (2013 video game)

The Playroom
Developer(s)	SCE Japan Studio[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4
Release date(s)	NA: 15 November 2013[1][2] EU: 29 November 2013[1][2] AUS: 29 November 2013[1][2] SA : 29 November 2013[1][2]
Genre(s)	Augmented reality
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

The Playroom is a casual video game that is a collection of augmented reality mini-games. It was developed by SCE Japan Studio, comes pre-loaded on all PlayStation 4 consoles, and is meant to demonstrate the use of the PlayStation Camera and the DualShock 4 controller. The PlayStation Camera accessory is required to play The Playroom.^[1] If a camera is not present, a trailer for The Playroom will be displayed instead of the full game. Firesprite, the new studio from former employees of SCE Studio Liverpool, worked on the visuals of The Playroom. So far, all of the DLC has been free.^[3]

Minigames

Play with Asobi

Asobi is a pet-like robot that can be summoned by rubbing the Touch Pad. Players can interact with Asobi in various ways, and Asobi has the ability to recognize different people through facial recognition.^[4] Asobi is an evolution of the previous Sony Computer Entertainment title, EyePet.

AR Bots

AR Bots is a minigame that places thirty robots in the DualShock 4 controller screen. Players can interact with the robots through the controller, utilizing the motion sensor. The robots can also be displayed on the television instead of the controller screen by gesturing up on the touch pad.^[4]

An update released on 15 April 2014 (v1.04) added Sackboy as a hidden extra into this room.

Air Hockey

Air Hockey uses two controllers to augment a virtual play field in front of the players. The motion sensor stretches the play field, and the touch pad is used to control the paddles to return the ball. The first player who scores seven points wins the game.^[4]

Downloadable content

There are currently four add-ons, all of which are free. Two of these add-ons: Toy Maker and AR Studio, enrich the experience by taking advantage of the second screen capabilities built into the official PlayStation App.

Toy Maker

Toy Maker is free downloadable content for The Playroom which takes advantage of the PlayStation App, allowing users to interact with the AR Bots through tablets, smartphones or the PlayStation Vita. Players can create a two dimensional drawing which will become a three dimensional toy for the AR Bots to play with. The Toy Maker DLC was released on 26 November 2013 in North America and was available at the PlayStation 4 launch in Europe on 29 November 2013.

My Alien Buddy

Double Fine Productions created free downloadable content, titled My Alien Buddy,^[5] which utilized the skills in augmented reality mini-games that Double Fine learned while making the Xbox Live Arcade Kinect games Double Fine Happy Action Theater and Kinect Party for Microsoft.^[6] The alien buddy is a deformable toy with which the player can interact. My Alien Buddy was released on 24 December 2013.^[7]

Ninja Bots

A DLC game in which the player controls a ninja AR Bot, evading traps and firing shuriken. The Ninja Bots DLC was released on 13 March 2014 and supports up to four players.

AR Studio

SCE Japan Studio created free DLC content, titled AR Studio, which, when used in conjunction with the PlayStation App, adds many features to help aspiring streamers set the stage for their own unique talk show.^[8] A few included features are: colored smoke that comes out of the Dualshock 4 by pressing the touchpad, up to 3 different colored spotlights, a variety of screen filters, and a handful of virtual masks the streamer can put over their face.

References

Notes

Footnotes