UK-based In2Games has been receiving a bit more press over the last few months than it’s used to. There’s a buzz beginning to build around the release of its RealPlay series of games, motion-sensing PlayStation 2 titles, largely sports-based, that have inevitably been compared to Wii Sports. So, first things first, how similar is the RealPlay PS2 tech to that of the Wii?
“Realplay uses tilt technology, an accelerometer, along the lines of the way the Wii works,” says In2Games director Holmwood. “With the Wii, if you’re not pointing the controller at the screen it has no idea where it is. We use a 5G accelerometer whereas Nintendo uses a 2G accelerometer, the difference being that you can move ours around a bit faster before it starts getting confused.”
A common consumer misconception seems to be that In2Games is aping Nintendo following the dramatic success of the platform holder’s Wii console, something that couldn’t be further from the truth. As Holmwood points out, In2Games has been developing its technology since 2000, and had the firm which begun so humbly had more cash in its early days it would have got more product to market a lot sooner.
A little company In2Games may have been, but thanks to some grovelling and the remortgaging of homes it still managed to get its wired Gametrak 3D motion-sensing controller to market in 2004, followed by a brace of Real World Golf games that shifted 300,000 units.
While Gametrak was launched on a minimal budget, In2Games this year managed to secure around £8 million ($16.3 million) from investment firm Ingenious Media Active Capital, funds that allowed the company "to step up a gear” and facilitated the development of its new wireless, motion-sensitive technology.
In the run-up to Christmas In2Games will release RealPlay Puzzlesphere, Racing and Pool in the UK, followed by RealPlay Bowling, Tennis and Golf early in 2008. Each title will come with its own signature controller and offer users wireless gaming on PS2 via a USB-based system.
Next-Gen recently had a chance to play-test RealPlay Racing, Pool and Puzzlesphere, each of which was fairly impressive in its own right.