If, like me, you’ve been waiting for every measly snippet of news about Microsoft’s potentially game changing Xbox 360 add-on, these three words will mean an awful lot to you: ‘I’VE PLAYED NATAL!!!!’ I’ll get straight to the point - while the demo rig I used has already been superseded by advances on the latest gen prototypes, it rocked my world. IT ROCKED MY WORLD, PEOPLE! It’s not bang on - you move a hand rather than a finger with this version of the hardware but there is an exactness to the experience that is missing from those waves of your Wii-mote and a kinetic connection to the action on screen. I played the bouncy ball demo. I now want a full on Kung-fu smack-down and gestural control of my movie collection.
With the right developers, we could be talking about a paradigm shift in our living rooms come release before Christmas 2010 (not actually sure what that means, but it’s late, I’m tired and I’m excited!)
Wow! A breathtaking week of book signings and Robot performances is over. The launch of Dot Robot: Atomic Swarm was intense! A sold out show at South Bank Centre, newspaper, TV, radio & magazine interviews & four crazy signings all around London. All I can say is THANK YOU to everyone who joined me for real and virtually on Twitter/Facebook/Blog. And ENJOY READING THE BOKS to those of you who have bought copies this week. Dot Robot: Atomic Swarm is finally here!!! But this is just the beginning of a year’s worth of events that I’ll be tweeting & blogging about. So, stay tuned!
All the info you need to enter the online world of my Dot Robot Books and buy them is HERE.
Thanks to team behind my Gadget Show games review page for getting me a preview copy of Tony Hawk’s: Ride with the much anticipated board peripheral. What you see in this review is my first five minutes of play. The hardware board has had mixed reviews online, which I have to say I understand; it’s not perfect, but as you’ll see from my brief experience with it, you can ollie and you can rail slide - first time! It’s no hardcore simulation, but as a fun, physical addition to the skating game genre, I think it’s successful. Enjoy!
Four years ago I built a hoverboard for The Gadget Show - this week we’re unveiling version 2.0 of the original design with two, more powerful hover engines and, yep, a jet engine!! Check out this cool trailer:
Yep, that’s me, threading a needle, using DaVinci, one of the world’s most advanced surgical robots. With Suzi at the helm we filmed a game of Operation with DaVinci, then I had a go. ‘I’ll start you on something easy,’ said Omar, DaVinci’s surgeon operator. ‘You can thread a needle!’. I asked the photographer to include a five pence piece, so you can see just how small DaVinci’s hands are. During the week we filmed for The Gadget Show, DaVinci & Omar performed five operations on real people!
I want to be a pupil at Bacons College in Rotherhithe! What an awesome school. From the moment I arrived, the sense of fun and enthusiasm from teachers and pupils (and their ace librarian) hit me like a tractor beam. As with so many of the schools I’ve visited with Dot Robot, the children were mad for the tech and the reading. Thanks for having me (Robonova says ‘Hi!’)
Pictured with the kids, are some of the Dot Robot Roadshow robots: Rovio (Who I operate via the net with my iPhone), Robonova (who has just finished his Tai Chi routine) and Punk (from my book)
Another school, another Dot Robot Roadshow. As you can see from the bottom picture, it was mayhem during the robot race at Walworth - I even got some stern looks from the teachers for being a bad influence (^_^) Big hello to all of the kids (and teachers!) from Walworth Academy who made me and the robots feel very welcome.
Dot Robot is the Blue Peter book of the month!!! And even better, I was invited onto the show to chat about it and review some seriously cool tech - like the new Microsoft smart table and a really nice augmented reality encyclopedia.
And yes! I got a badge! That’s another life box ticked!
The Dot Robot Roadshow hit Harris Academy of Peckham. It’s a HUGE school!!! And wow, what a great bunch of kids! The hall was jam packed! I thought my signing hand was going to fall off. I based the fictional school in Dot Robot on Peckham Academy, so it was kinda like coming home. And here’s a thing, this picture of me taking my fictional robot, Punk, for a walk, was shot on the road next to the school. A big thank you to the pupils and teachers for accepting me into the home borough of Dot Robot’s hero, Jackson Farley.
My first school visit with the Dot Robot Roadshow was to the boyZ & girlZ of Preston Manor High School, Wembley, London! What a crazy bunch they were. SOooo many autographs! My ears still haven’t recovered from the shouting during the robot race.
