Having been subjected to many 'interactive' games throughout my teenage years, some on earlier models such as the EyeToy for the PlayStation 2 and perhaps most recently, the Nintendo Wii, there is one thing they share in common; they are fun.

When LorD suggested purchasing EyePet for the Playstation 3, I was (if I'm honest) far more excited by the prospect of receiving a PlayStation Eye because we all know how fun they can be! However, I didn't want to dismiss EyePet before even playing it, so I read the blurb on the cover and looked at the various images, and learned a bit about the gameplay and what was involved and suddenly I couldn't wait to play it!

Okay, so like any interactive game, there are certain procedures you need to follow: you must have a clear space in front of your TV, the correct lighting (not too bright and not too dark) and no unruly pets who may interupt your gaming session. These are all fairly simple, and setting up the PlayStation Eye is no exception.

The big eyes, the innocent smile, the floppy tail, the long fur and its charming aura all add up to perhaps make the EyePet one of the cutest game characters of all time. And what this game does, it does well and by creating something so sickeningly cute, the audience is immediately engaged and responding to the creature with expressions such as "aww" and "isn't it cute" while annoyingly prodding the person sitting next to them. When you start a new game, you'll be introduced by a scientist, whose job it is to study these adorable creatures. The scientist is played by a real actor who will appear in a separate window on the screen. While his sense of humour and his approach to the audience is exaggerated and may appear to be patronising at times, this game is aimed at children and adults of all ages, so it's deliberate and really, it works. Had this been some random guy off the street, reading an autocue and underplaying the part, it wouldn't be nearly as effective.

As I stroked and moved my hands through the little creature's fur, it purred loudly and I felt embarrassed; I didn't know what I was meant to be doing, and even then, if I were doing it right. But five minutes later I could feel myself really starting to get used to it, and feeling confident about laying on the bedroom floor, calling the pet over and smiling while I had my picture taken with it. The pet will almost always interact with a sudden movement or sound, for example, you can sing a song, and the creature will mimic the tune with its cute high-pitched voice or, you may want to make a sudden gesture towards the pet, and he will react by jumping over your hand or following your foot when you walk across the space. The way in which this rodent-esque creature does so is so natural and adds to the cleverness and the brilliant capabilities of the PlayStation Eye.

The question remains though, have we seen this all before? Caring for a pet by feeding it regularly, making sure it gets plenty of exercise as well as rest? I was first introduced to this in the 90s with Bandai's digital handheld pet, the Tamagotchi. And then the physical interaction by moving or influencing something on the screen by waving your hand or foot? This first came to me five years ago, when the PlayStation 2's peripheral, the EyeToy was released. Is EyePet just a mere representation of a far superior and more interactive Tamagotchi? The facts are that this game does combine various effects the PS2 EyeToy used, with the famous digital pet but it is far more developed. The game includes a total of fifteen 'days' (days being equivalent to levels) with various tasks to complete; and the quicker and more competently you complete a task, the more goodies you'll win and these may range from different things your pet can wear or different toys it can play with. It's developed in the sense that there is much more to do, there are many different features that can include you as a player to get mildly creative as well - be it singing or drawing.

One feature I liked above anything else which really puts the software to the test, is the sketchbook. Draw a picture on a piece of paper using a thick black pen, leaving enough room around the edges, hold it up to the camera, and your pet will attempt to copy it. At first the quality is pretty awful, but bearing in mind the poor thing has just hatched, the quality of its drawing isn't going to be its number one priority. But like anything, if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. A few attempts later and you'll have an impressive replica that would well deserve a place in The Louvre. The illusion is shattered a little, however, when you are told to draw a fish and instead you can choose to draw a three headed dinosaur on the Eiffel Tower, holding a recycling bin promoting Greenpeace, and you'll still be praised for your attempts. Yet, on the other hand, I suppose it's quite cool with the way it allows that freedom; just to see your work of art being transformed on screen in front of you. The game progresses as pretty soon you'll be able to draw cars and planes, and they magically become solidly rendered 3D objects.  You can watch your pet fly or drive across you room, with a nice use of the PlayStation 3's analogue controls. The ability also to choose what material your objects and toys are made out of was a nice feature, taking advantage of the Havok physics engine, as the materials affect the mobility or weight of the object; for a second I was reminded of Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet.

However, a few things appeared to be off target: loading times were quite long, I found myself lying down for what seemed to be a couple of minutes, sitting back upright only to find it still loading, which is a great shame. Strangely enough, I often found by moving the right analogue stick, it would speed up the loading time, whether this was a mere coincidence or just me being weird, I don't know. Also, directions for challenges appeared to be vague and at times didn't appear to make sense. One such example of this was when I had to take my photo with me smiling and the EyePet next to me, beaming also. The directions didn't make it clear as to what to do, and naturally, I found myself reading them several times, until I got so fed up I hammered the hell out of the R1 button, taking random pictures, and eventually getting a worthwhile picture; and also filling up LorD's PlayStation 3 hard disk drive with picture upon picture of EyePet loveliness. Ooops.

All in all, however, I would say this isn't the best gaming experience you'll ever know and it's about as far from being a core gaming title as you can get this side of the Wii, but it's cute, fun and well worth any spare time. The interaction can be slow or delayed and the loading times may cause the game to appear sluggish, however, this game can promise some great times to be had by one on their own, or a number of people. I'm sure all ages will enjoy EyePet and I'm pleased I didn't dismiss it immediately because I now know if I had, I would have missed out, big time!