1. Sainsbury’s Cafe do a mean bacon sandwich.
2. Mix tapes are manly.
3. Robots are slow at serving ice cream.
4. Me being Bear Grylls involves wearing an ill-fitting vest.
1. Sainsbury’s Cafe do a mean bacon sandwich.
2. Mix tapes are manly.
3. Robots are slow at serving ice cream.
4. Me being Bear Grylls involves wearing an ill-fitting vest.
You remember back when Xbox announced Project Natal a year or so ago? Unless you’re a nerd, probably not, but they showed something that I’m sure most of you have seen – the creepy, AI genius that is Milo. You saw him messing about with Kate and making her do his virtual homework, remember? If not, there’s plenty of copies out there (and some that are quite similar).
There were loads of people saying it’s faked and I was somewhat inclined to agree with them. That’s not because I thought it was too good to be real, it’s that I didn’t want to start playing a game that got depressed if I didn’t come and play every day. Neopets were bad enough.
But after reports of Milo being quietly swept under the carpet and never to be released, Peter Molyneux – the guy that seems to front this creeper project – did a talk at TED (a sort of conference for nerds, if you will) and showed off a more up to date version of Milo, which just got that little bit more creepy.
I know it says it’s 14:25, but the video’s really just over 10 minutes. If even that is too long for you to stomach, I’ll tell you what happens, but you’re really missing out.
First thing you thought when you saw the original video with Kate was probably "Hang on, he’s English. There’s nowhere in England that looks as clean as that." and you’re right. When you first meet Milo, he’s recently moved from London to, quite ironically, New England. He has no friends and he’s feeling at a bit of a loose end. Your job is to be that friend that makes sure he fits in with his new surroundings.
Every Milo would be different, depending what you do and say. You even have the option to tell Milo to squash a snail if you want him to. All these options give you some points in some sort of potential-measuring system. Seems like you get the most points for teaching him to skim stones. Typical, I’m absolutely rubbish at skimming stones. Sorry, Milo. You’re probably going to turn out to be a hobo.
He’ll recognise your voice too. None of that "I think you said ‘Plaza General Information’. Is this correct?" rubbish nowadays. It’s made in such a way that Milo can tell what you’re saying from not only the words you say but the tone you say it. The more people that *ahem* use Milo, the smarter he’ll get. So I dare say by launch he’ll clearly recognise your screams for him to "go off and die" if the Internet is anything to go by.
The only thing I think is a shame is that it’s not going to be a launch title when Kinect goes on sale November 10th here in the UK (across the pond November 5th) and they’re having a bit of trouble flogging the idea to release it to Microsoft. I mean, they love Milo, but they just don’t see it as a releasable game. It’s great for the casual gamer and has so much more longevity than, say, jumping over stuff. Go ahead and release it, Microsoft. You’ll have one person who’ll buy it.
Over the past year, I’ve gotten used to being the fresher – the new generation, if you will – at uni. I’m the one that’s not supposed to know what’s going on or where to go, so it’s all good. Now it’s officially a year on since I found out I was going to Bournemouth, I feel old.
Not old as in "oh my god I’m going to die any day now", no, that’s for those that already got their BA’s. I just enjoyed being the young one. Now there’s a whole year’s worth of people that can be considered adults now. Ah man, I’m old.
It’s been a year since I went through the process myself and now I’m in a position to mock. I haven’t listened to the radio so far today, but I’m 99% sure my mum isn’t being interviewed on it this year, but more sure of the fact Mr Griffiths the head teacher at my old school is busy defending it’s skyrocketing results scores from the negative Nancys. At the time I was thinking "Of course the exams aren’t getting easier, we’re just getting smarter" but now I’ve slipped into the de facto "Yeah they just teach the exams rather than the subject nowadays."
Anyway, I’m not meant to care, I’m a university student. My priorities now lie in making sure I can relive Fresher’s Fortnight again by blagging the fact I’ll do a couple of hours on the radio for it.
Whatever. To keep it short, I don’t like feeling old. But hey ho, still got two years of this lark to go until I really am old. Great.
So I was just flicking through the YouTubes when this caught my eye. No idea what made me click it, but that I did -
If you don’t like watching videos, let me just explain what’s happening. BBC News 24 is a… 24 hour news channel. So obviously they get bored quite soon. Presenting the weather just isn’t enough now, so the newsreader has to make a quick jab at weather forecasting before handing over to the weatherman almost ready to deliver a one-fingered salute. How ITV of them.
So it got me thinking – could I stomach presenting a show probably nobody even has on? Then I remembered I have my own student radio show, so that’s a big bold tick in that box.
Then it was more of a "What the hell would you do in that situation?". If I had to be a weatherman on a 24 hour news channel, I’m pretty sure I would be the same – bored senseless and looking for any cheap way to get some thrills from the whole thing – but then feel about two inches tall when shot comes to me flipping the bird to the nation. Pretty sure I’d be fired, too.
I love the little sort of jazz hands-style thing he does when he realises the camera’s on him. Macho macho man.
Ahh anyway. I’m sure the Internet will grab hold of it with both hands and remix it, parody it and whatnot before the day is done. good old Internet.
EDIT: Surprise.
1. Today is International Left Handed Day.
2. Dan Lane got engaged.
3. Simon likes dying his hair ginger.
4. People can trash someone’s house, leave others to clean it up and still remain friends with them.