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Sony wants to add 'digital spice' to card games

Project Field brings card games to life using smart pads that pair with a phone or tablet.

Carrie Mihalcik Former Managing Editor / News
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For now, Project Field is only slated for release in Japan

Sony

Sony wants to change the way kids (and some adults) play card games.

Sony on Wednesday unveiled Project Field, a gaming platform that uses Bluetooth and NFC-like technology to connect card games and mobile games. Project Field consists of smart pads that connect to a phone or tablet. When a card is placed on the pad, it shows up in the game. Moving the card in the real world translates to in-game action.

"We believe this is a brand new platform that will allow for a playing style that has not existed up until now," said Sony's Kazuyuki Sakamoto a press conference in Tokyo, according to Bloomberg. "To sum up the concept in a few words, we want to add a digital spice to the experience of touching an analog thing."

Bringing together analog toys and digital games isn't exactly a new idea. Activision's Skylanders franchise kicked off the games-to-life genre in 2011, with figurines that transformed into digital characters when placed on a pad connected to a game console. Nintendo, Lego and Disney all now have their own versions of toys-to-life games.

For now, Project Field is only slated for release in Japan. The first Project Field game will be based on Yo-Kai Watch, a popular Level-5 RPG, though no release date was given.

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Card games are clearly more fun when technology is involved.

Sony