e515 with Andy, Michael and Michael – the Fortnite Darth Vader NPC, IO, both from Google and Open AI, AI hardware, an intriguing Vision Pro use case, infrared contact lenses, Car Play Ultra, Microsoft’s GamePass set of retro classic games (Pitfall said to be coming!), and a Warhammer typing game.
Andy, Michael and Michael start off with stories about Darth Vader in Fortnite. One article deals with how players have gotten the Darth Vader NPC AI (non-player character) to say questionable things and another on the rights Fortnite secured to do so.
The team then turned to a summary of the top 15 announcements from Google’s I/O 2025. The cohosts were impressed by the fact that Google created a NotebookLM from the content of the conference. Less impressive was how interacting with the NotebookLM did not create the personalized results expected. Moving along to a different IO; the OpenAI acquisition of Jony Ive’s company, the cohosts note that reimagining what it means to use a computer (AI or otherwise) is an enormous undertaking.
Rethinking how spatial computing could be used, Michael R walked Andy and Michael through a use case to see through walls, floors and ceilings in an intuitive and easy way. Another example of superhuman visual powers are contact lenses that provide the wearer with infrared vision. According to the article, these lenses work even better when the wearer closes their eyelids to help block out more of the (previously) visual spectrum to allow for the infrared to be more easily discerned.
Rounding out this episode, the cohosts take a slightly deeper look at Car Play Ultra beyond the Aston Martin experience described last week, enjoy the Microsoft Game Pass offering for retro classic games, as well as the Warhammer typing experience. Perhaps some of these user experience and interaction mechanisms from such games will surface in the IO AI computing device.
What do you think is the next computing paradigm – both in hardware and software? How will the user experience become so transparent, that all that is left is creativity, augmented in the flow of the creative process? Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know!
These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot. All rights reserved. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.
Google created a NotebookLM notebook with everything they announced at Google I/O. So instead of slogging through thousands of hours of video and other content, you can just ask NotebookLM questions, listen to a podcast, or get a FAQ, etc. https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/953b658a-579b-4b3c-b280-43b3781babf3
The weekly conversation hosted by Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, and Andy Piper, Games At Work dot Biz, explores the intersection where our digital play and professional lives collide. This isn't just a review show; it's a deep dive into the technology that powers our hobbies, the business behind the leisure, and the cultural news shaping both worlds. Each episode feels like pulling up a chair with three friends who are as passionate about the craft of game development and the evolution of hardware as they are about the pure joy of finding a great new title. You'll hear specific discussions on everything from the latest graphics card impacting performance to the narrative design of an indie darling, all filtered through the lens of professionals who live in the tech space. The Games At Work dot Biz podcast operates on the belief that the games we play and the tools we use are inextricably linked, offering listeners a consistently thoughtful and engaging analysis that goes far beyond a simple score. Tune in for a regular dose of insightful commentary where the serious business of technology meets the serious fun of games.
Author: Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, Andy Piper
Language: en-us
Episodes: 50
Photo by benjamin lehman on Unsplash Published 21 July 2025 e521 with Andy, Michael and Michael – stories about expressive robots (Shoggoth Mini, Apple ELEGNT, SpiRob & facehugger), newly reengineered Commodore & Sinclai…
original photo, by Michael Martine, Sandwich MA June 2025. Animated by Google Veo3 July 2025 Published 14 July 2025 e520 with Michael, Andy and Michael – stories about AI advertising, still photo animation, anime agents,…
Photo by Mike Stimpson on Unsplash Published 30 June 2025 e519 with Michael, Andy and Michael – stories about AI conversations with pets and people, LLM data retention, AI slop, Clippy-esque prompts, AI workloads in spac…
Photo by Boris Langvand on Unsplash Published 23 June 2025 e518 with Andy, Michael, and Michael – stories about Atari adjacent AI, a new Emotiv experience, Midjourney video magic, Bondi blue, visionOS persona improvement…
Photo by Hasnain Sikora on Unsplash Published 9 June 2025 e517 with Michael, Michael and Andy – stories about Atarino microcomputing, AI through movie and television metaphor, AR running, screens and zombies, Skyrim Gran…
Photo by insung yoon on Unsplash Published 2 June 2025 e516 with Michael and Michael – AI prompts, browsers, model collapse & automation along with a teeny tiny pico Mac nano, and a whole lot more. While Andy is away, Mi…
Photo by WTFast on Unsplash Published 19 May 2025 e514 with Michael R and Andy – generative ads & LEGO, Aston Martin x Apple CarPlay Ultra, new Vision Pro UX, an Internet Roadtrip, Leroy Jenkins and so much more. While M…
Photo by Hande B. on Unsplash Published 12 May 2025 e513 with Michael and Michael – Clippy + LLMs, social AI, first person video, Duck, Pong & other games, and so much more. While Andy is away, Michael and Michael start…
Cartoon versions of Andy and Michael M, generated by ChatGPT Published 5 May 2025 e512 with Andy and Michael – E Ink monitors, Agent run companies & towns, winning arguments with AI assistants, pixellating reality and mu…
Photo by bill emrich from Pexels: Published 28 April 2025 e511 with Michael, Andy and Michael – Vibe coding with the Vision Pro, E Ink, ePaper, multi and single player MMORPGs, Minecraft London and much more. Michael, An…
