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A new hilarious and innovative iPod Touch app called Clumsy Ninja was presented by NaturalMotion’s Torsten Reil yesterday to show off the device’s capabilities.
The game centres around a comical 3D ninja with which the user can interact by pulling it around the map, throwing it in the air, or training it up with various exercises.
Reil was on hand to provide amusing commentary for the ninja, which he described as a next-generation interactive toy.
“Until now game characters have been based on playback animation,” he said.
“Today we’re showing for the first time a character that is based on the real-time simulation of his body, muscles and central nervous system.
“This means that Clumsy Ninja is self aware, aware of his environment and fully interactive.”
To present how the character could interact with the user, Reil showed off the ninja being tickled with a feather, to which it reacted by running off and hiding behind a tree.
“Clumsy Ninja probably didn’t like that very much, but he does like being tickled," he said.
“He likes that to a point, and has decided to hide behind a tree. But you can probably tell Clumsy Ninja isn’t very good at hiding and that’s because he’s a clumsy ninja.
"You have to help him become a better ninja by playing with him and doing different exercises.”
Reil said that Clumsy Ninja was based on years of research at NaturalMotion and Oxford University, and claimed it used technology that “not long ago would have required a super computer”.
“Now running in the palm of your hand on the new iPod touch, we think that is truly remarkable,” he said.
“Clumsy Ninja is looking forward to playing with you this holiday season.”
As well as presenting a new game at last night’s Apple event, NaturalMotion’s Reil was also on hand at the tech giant’s new iPad reveal, in which he showed off the high-end triple-A app CSR Racing.
The free-to-play title, developed by recently acquired studio Boss Alien, has been a huge success for the company, garnering $12m in its first month.
