Column: 'The Esoteric Beat: On Body Language, Virtual Pets...'

In this week's 'The Esoteric Beat,' a look at the latest goings-on in esoteric game topics, regular columnist Jim Rossignol takes a look at non-verbal NPC behavior, an infrared-controlling owl, and professional sex workers on Grand Theft Auto. In this extract, Rossignol quotes a product description for BUBO, the "infrared owl": ""Bubo is a toy owl with 'magic' power that can cast spells and take control over innocent devices or other toys in its surroundings. It also has a learning mechanism to expand its spell book stored inside. Spells are hidden in surrounding infrared remote controls. There are plenty of home appliances controlled by infrared, such as TV, air condition, computer, printers, etc. Bubo can sense the infrared transmission around it, and picks up new spells from." Rossignol's response: Quite how far the spells go beyond 'making it slightly warmer in here', we're not quite sure, but nevertheless we hope to see Bubo annoying the parents of wealthy children later in the year. You can now read the full Gamasutra column, including a journalistic approach to criticizing sex workers (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).