In early December 2016, Sony announced Project Field. It’s a new interactive platform which integrates with tablets and smartphones and adds additional functionality to card games. It’s equipped with an IC chip reader, Bluetooth connectivity and a number of additional sensors. Project Field correlates real-world actions with cards into a digital version, adding a whole new layer to gaming.
More info about Sony’s Project Field
This is Sony’s attempt to expand that mixed-reality gaming systems. The concept has been around for the last few years. Companies like Disney, Activision and Nintendo have made billions from selling augmented reality toys and models to consumers and it was only a matter of time before Sony made their move into this market.
Project Field was originally built to support the Yokai Watch card game. The game allows players real-world card movements to have an impact on the game itself. The Project Field pad also identifies which cards are which and lets players watch their monster sand heroes battle it out in real time. Players can also improve or level up over their monsters over time thanks to their saved data in the Project Field device.
The future is here it seems. There is a variety of online card games such as online blackjack that you can play already. Sony have confirmed that they are working on various titles and it will be interesting to see which games they release for Project Field in 2017. It will most likely be card based games or RPG games like Hearthstone or Hex.
Sony hasn’t announced when Project Field will be available and it sounds like this system will be only be released in Japan, but the Western popularity of Yo-Kai Watch, toys-to-life systems and trading card games in general doesn’t make a wider release impossible in the near future.
The future could see the project releasing card games like Uno or Magic: The Gathering, or we could see a whole range of card-based games or board games, such as Yugioh NZ, that could totally revolutionize gaming.
Only time will tell if Sony’s Project Field will be successful. Sony is a major player when it comes to gaming and it will be interesting to see what they come up with in the future.
Watch this space for updates in the Gaming category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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