Boku - game making for infants?

April 4, 2007 | Video Games

Alice from Wonderland has recently mentioned a new piece of software by Microsoft called Boku. I have tried looking all the obvious places but can find very few references to it anywhere.

Boku’s programming model is extremely simple as it does not use a textual language or wiring diagrams. Kids use simple behavior cards to enable a small virtual robot to navigate its world and achieve specific tasks.

One of the developers on the project has a blog on Live Spaces so you can read a little more about the project there - but the information is very limited. There is also a small amount of extra info on Wired.com, along with some screenshots.

I think the idea of this system is great and would love to see if grow into something much bigger. If anybody knows any more information about Boku I’d love to hear it.

Ratatouille - Pixar movie trailer

April 2, 2007 | Links

The full trailer for the latest Pixar movie, Ratatouille, is now online and it looks… interesting. It’s the least “hero movie” of any of the Pixar films, in fact it looks like there will be very little action at all. In fact this movie looks like it will be entirely character driven. This should probably come as no surprise since it’s the second Pixar film directed by Brad Bird - the man responsible for the wonderful cartoon - The Incredibles and for the equally genius The Iron Man.

I won’t bother explaining the story since it’s outlined quite nicely in the trailer, but this looks like it will be another work of genius from the clever folks at Pixar.

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