Next up from SplitFish Gameware is the eyeFX 3D adapter for the PS2. This is one unique piece of hardware that is forging science fiction with reality. The eyeFX is meant to be worn like a set of glasses while you play a game that tries to recreate a sense of true 3D. 3D in the sense of full stereoscopic 3D that gives a more precise reproduction of depth and distance. Like 3D movies, the eyeFX has is a hard sale, but the reward if it works is worth an hour of investigation.

First off the eyeFX slightly more difficult to set up then the Motion FX. The adapter that you plug the PS2 controller and glasses into has a LED setting marker listed from 1 to 5. What this tells you in amount of effect used in game. For each game you will need to fiddle around with the eyeFX settings until you get a setting that doesn’t give you a headache. Finding the right depth and can be adjusted and it’s possible to save you settings into a bank of three script banks. By default Split Fish already has included settings for Ace Combat 5, Bounty Hunter and Drop Ship. Even though it sounds like a simple process, hook up and find the right number, I found the eyeFX to be frustrating and hard to get working, not to mention it can be irritating on the eyes while you're trying to find the right settings.

Felt Geeky with the Wiimote? Try wearing these to a party

Since I was already trying out Reservoir Dogs for the PS2 with the Motion FX, I thought I would try it out with the eyeFX. It took me a while to get the settings so it resembled a 3D simulation, but it really didn’t enhance the gameplay to make it worth all the effort. The eyeFX actually started to bug out my eyes, I guess that is why they say don’t play for longer then two hours in the manual. After Reservoir Dogs, I decided to try out a 2D sprite based game, NIS America’s complex and lovely, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia. Figuring the eyeFX might spice up this traditional NIS styled 2D game was a good bet, but the effect is so limiting that it wasn’t what I expected or worth the effort to calibrate.

In the defense of the eyeFX these two games are the only ones I tested the hardware, and they could of been diagnosed with weak or no 3D support. On the SplitFish website they have a list of proven games that work and don’t work with the system. Unfortunately I don’t have any of the games still in my collection from the best category or I would have used them for this review. To give you an example, here is a small list of some of the games that are best suited for the eyeFX. 007: Agent Under Fire, Ace Combat X, DNA, Half-Life, Killswitch, Time Splitters and more. For non-compatible games you have God of War, Crash Bandicout, Grand Theft Auto, The Getaway and more. The full list of supported titles can be found on the Split Fish website.

I can’t recommend the eyeFX from SplitFish simply because it failed to improve the gaming experience. The eyeFX is also difficult and irritating to get working. Besides the compatibility list that is online finding new games to work with the eyeFX would be a guessing game. Duplicating 3D is almost an impossible task to do at 100% Like the phase in 3D movies from the Golden Era on, I don’t think gaming in this format will ever fly.