Okay, if you clicked on to this article because you are a Harry Potter fan and you saw the key words: 'The Book of Spells', let me simply state: Yes, it is THAT Book of Spells. For those without an intricate familiarity with Harry Potter, the Book of Spells was, apparently, a spell book referred to but never seen in the popular wizard franchise. That was until JK Rowling saw the PS3's Wonderbook in action and said it was the perfect means to create this mysterious tome. For those even less familiar with Harry Potter than I am, the Wonderbook is going to be used to create a spell book that tells you stories offers minigames and allows you to practice spells from a popular series of books and films. So did you want to be a wizard as a child (or even now)? If you answered no, please leave the room for the rest of us to have fun.
Before discussing the game itself, the Wonderbook itself needs an introduction as the Book of Spells is the opening tile for this new peripheral to the Playstation 3's Eyetoy / Move. Those familiar with the AR (augmented reality) card games offered with the 3DS and Vita or the Eyepet games will quickly get the concept. The Wonderbook is a physical book that will interact with the Playstation's camera accessory creating an interactive experience on screen. In this case, when observed on screen, the Wonderbook will be turned into the Book of Spells itself and when you open its cover the words, pictures and everything else contained within it will magically display itself on screen floating out of the book for you to interact with. Unsurprisingly given the title, the Move controller is incorporated and becomes a literal wand on screen.
Unlike many other AR games, the Wonderbook will be compatible with multiple games and 'The Book of Spells' is it's the launch title. Therefore the game really has to be judged on two levels, one as a game in its own right and two whether or not it is a selling point to the Wonderbook. The Book of Spells is definitely a mixed bag. On its strongest point, I can say that even with my limited knowledge of Rowling's work, you can really see her style and sense of humour in the games narrative. It really is to the credit of the design team, that this does feel like a 'proper' entry into the series and it was hard not to get caught up in their obvious enthusiasm for the project. While my critical gamer side has an urge to point out some of the graphical limitations, I think that it is unfair to judge this by some minor issues here and there. The challenges of trying to create anything interactive onscreen is daunting by itself, let alone when it has to be recognisable to fans of the books, films as well as accessible to newcomers. As art director Joel Smith, who had not worked on anything similar in the past, admitted this was a thoroughly different experience and challenge to traditional game design, allowing him to draw more on his experience in fine art and illustration.
Outside of the technical issues, there is no denying the buzz that was generated by casting a famous Hogwarts fire spells in person. Seeing it played live rather than in a trailer also creates an undeniable desire to pick up the book just to see it interact with the televised version. There were, unfortunately, downsides to the whole experience. Despite the care and attention to the presentation, I cannot help feel that this game will simply not last very long - even to the most obsessed Harry Potter fan. Now, the game is intentionally designed for a more casual audience and I was not expecting the same challenges to a standard game but the Book of Spells did not look like it would have a long shelf life by any gamer's standards. I don't know if I would replay the title after my first go or two. The original Eyetoy's game on the PS2 could be accused of the same thing but they were far more focused on creating an experience for multiple players - making it a fun party piece and thus increasing its life span. A Wonderbook game really did feel like a single player experience even if you may get a crowd watching you.
The Wonderbook, by design, is for family friendly usage and I was, therefore, encouraged by the fact that Book of Spells was play tested in the designers homes as it needs to be both responsive in a typical household conditions and the book itself needs to be durable enough for kids to use. While I have only seen it operated in the presentation set up, I have been assured that it does operate well in the average living room and that it has proved operable even with a number of stains introduced by the younger play testers. In fact, my favourite story involving the Wonderbook, was when it was accidentally left in a living room by one of the team and then found by his three year old daughter. She intuitively discovered by herself that the book in their hands was changing what appeared on the television. She may not have known Harry Potter or that it was a spell book but she did instinctively get the Wonderbook
As I said previously, I was very impressed by the enthusiasm of Smith and producer Suzanne Tee and I hope it is a positive indicator of future titles. In fact, I asked Tee why should I considering purchasing the Wonderbook and she responded by pointing out that unlike traditional AR games, the Wonderbook was not limited to one game and should therefore be considered an investment for future titles. Of course future production is, unfortunately, dependent on how well the early titles do, and the sad truth though is that the numbers may simply be against them. By my limited research, I am guesstimating that the number of PS3 owners with a PS camera and Move is at best 10%. Now how many of them have are willing to invest in a family friendly peripheral? Even with a franchise like Harry Potter launching it, I just can't see the amount of Move / Eyetoy owners being increased by enough to believe that a huge line up will be created for it.
My strongest feeling after seeing the Wonderbook in action is that while the Move controller is appropriately incorporated here as a Wizards wand (it is after all a Harry Potter game), I hope that future titles would simply ignore the Move periphery entirely. The Wonderbook was at its most fun when held by the player. Whether swiping away the soot left behind from a dragon's attack to picking up the book and placing it at a new angle for an easier view. The book itself really needed to be incorporated more into future titles. It was two days after the presentation that I released what I really wanted from the new peripheral. When I was (much) younger the book and cassette series were a huge influence on me and probably were the only reason I ever got into reading. I can't help but wish that the Wonderbook would be used as the next generation version of this. I would love to be able to have a whole host of fairy tales for my younger relatives to interact with. Am I the only one who would love to see a PS3 version of Jackanory with a whole host of voice actors and interactive elements to make these stories live? The BBC has indicated they would commit to the Wonderbook so perhaps my dream is not so farfetched. The first 'book' I ever read by myself was a ladybird version of 'The Three Little Pigs', I would love a Wonderbook version for my nieces (perhaps narrated by Stephen Fry - surely the LittleBigPlanet people wouldn't mind).
For a Harry Potter fan who already owns a PS3 and the Eyetoy and Move, then this is a must buy: unlike most computer game tie-ins, this genuinely feels apart of the Potter mythos and a worthy addition. For those without a PS3, then it would be a rather serious investment for what looks like a short experience. I came out of the press conference rooting for the Wonderbook as a fun looking approach to gaming for younger players / family fun but I would still not be committed to purchasing one until I have a clearer idea of the future line-up.