- Meet BLOOMChat: An Open-Source 176-Billion-Parameter Multilingual Chat Large Language Model (LLM) Built on Top of the BLOOM Model MarkTechPost
- Meta’s open-source speech AI recognizes over 4,000 spoken languages Engadget
- Meta’s new AI models can recognize and produce speech for more than 1,000 languages MIT Technology Review
- Allen Institute for AI Announces OLMo: An Open Language Model Made By Scientists For Scientists MarkTechPost
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Tag Archives: Bloom
Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom go on romantic date night: See the photos – USA TODAY
- Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom go on romantic date night: See the photos USA TODAY
- Katy Perry says she and fiancé Orlando Bloom ‘continuously put in the work’ to keep their relationship strong Fox News
- Katy Perry Shares Sultry Date Night Photos With Orlando Bloom Yahoo Life
- Katy Perry Reveals How She And Orlando Bloom ‘Continuously Put In The Work’ For Their Relationship ETCanada.com
- Glamorous Katy Perry looks smitten with fiancé Orlando Bloom as she shares sweet social media post Daily Mail
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Katy Perry ‘Made a Promise’ to Orlando Bloom to Stay Sober for 3 Months: ‘I Want to Quit’ – Billboard
- Katy Perry ‘Made a Promise’ to Orlando Bloom to Stay Sober for 3 Months: ‘I Want to Quit’ Billboard
- Katy Perry Says She’s 5 Weeks Sober Due to “Pact” With Orlando Bloom | E! News E! News
- Katy Perry Says She’s Been Sober for 5 Weeks amid Pact with Orlando Bloom PEOPLE
- Katy Perry Reveals She’s Sober After Making Pact w/ Orlando Bloom Access Hollywood
- Katy Perry Reveals She’s Doing a No Alcohol ‘Pact’ With Orlando Bloom: ‘I’ve Been Sober for 5 Weeks’ Yahoo Entertainment
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Gran Turismo movie’s first trailer shows racing action, David Harbour, and Orlando Bloom
Sony has revealed the first footage of its Gran Turismo film during its press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The short “sneak peek” video emphasizes the on-track action of the motorsport movie based on the PlayStation racing game series, but doesn’t do much to sell the story.
The video shows the lengths the filmmakers, led by director Neill Blomkamp (District 9), have gone to to recreate the look of the games with real-life race cars. Wheeling drone shots recall GT’s trailers and replay modes, while the gameplay experience is echoed in cockpit cameras and a remarkably accurate recreation of the games’ high, angled chase camera.
The film’s cast also appears in the video, addressing the audience directly to hype up the immersive qualities the racing sequences will have in movie theaters. “This movie is made for the cinema,” enthuses Orlando Bloom, promising “body-vibrating sound… The audience is going to feel every jolt, every thrill of this racing at 200 miles per hour.”
“It’s badass race-car action that you’re going to feel like you’re in the middle of,” adds David Harbour.
There will also be “drama” and “a love story”, apparently, according to Archie Madekwe, who plays Jann Mardenborough in the film. Gran Turismo is based on the story of the real Mardenborough, who went from playing Gran Turismo at home as a teen to a career as a racing driver thanks to the GT Academy contest and training program.
But we don’t get much sense of that story from this teaser. At a guess, Harbour’s character might be inspired by Darren Cox, the Nissan executive who made a deal with PlayStation to launch GT Academy, while Bloom looks the part as a potential Christian Horner-style racing team boss. Not featured in the trailer, but confirmed as joining the cast, are Darren Barnet (Paxton in Never Have I Ever), Djimoun Hounsou, and in a weird twist, Horner’s wife, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell Horner.
Hopefully we’ll learn more from a proper trailer soon. Gran Turismo will be released in theaters on Aug. 11, 2023.
How Chaim Bloom Responded After Red Sox DFA’d Eric Hosmer
After the Boston Red Sox severed ties with Eric Hosmer, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom explained the thought process behind the decision on Friday.
As the Red Sox made their latest offseason move and acquired Wyatt Mills from the Kansas City Royals, the club needed roster space. That’s where Hosmer came in. Boston designated the veteran for assignment after playing just 14 games for the Red Sox last season.
Bloom, who is in the process of reshaping the roster after missing the playoffs in 2022, spoke about the move afterward and noted that the development of prospect Triston Casas played a factor in the decision to move on from Hosmer ahead of the 2023 season.
“Our roster isn’t complete yet, but as we build our club, we feel it’s important to give Triston a clear lane, and that carrying two left-handed hitting first basemen would leave us short in other areas,” Bloom said, as transcribed by Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “Given that, it’s important to do right by Eric and give him time to find his next opportunity. We knew when we first got him that this day would come at some point, and wanted to make sure we treated him right.”
Considering Casas is only 22 and Hosmer is in the midst of earning $39 million from the San Diego Padres for the next three years, the move didn’t come as much of a surprise.
While Casas hasn’t shown a large enough sample size to judge, he did show some pop in his bat. Casas crushed five home runs in 76 at-bats through 27 games played as he debuted with the Red Sox last season.
Meanwhile, Hosmer struggled to stay healthy and battled a back injury. The former World Series champ batted .244/.320/.311 and totaled 11 hits (no homers) with three doubles and four RBIs in Boston.
Chaim Bloom Discusses Boston’s Pursuit Of Xander Bogaerts
Xander Bogaerts signed with the Padres on the final day of the Winter Meetings, agreeing to a huge 11-year, $280MM deal. Despite speculation that the Red Sox had made a late bid to re-sign the shortstop, “that was definitely not what our impression was throughout the day and even the day before,” Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.
The signing officially ended Bogaerts’ time with the Red Sox, a tenure that began when Bogaerts was an international signing in August 2009 and lasted through 10 Major League seasons, two World Series championship teams, and four All-Star appearances for the shortstop. Bogaerts signed a six-year, $120MM contract extension with the Sox prior to the 2019 season, but chose to exercise his opt-out clause after the first three years of the extension, thus paving the way for his departure from Boston and his new home in San Diego.
Last spring, the Red Sox both signed Trevor Story to a long-term free agent deal and offered Bogaerts only a one-year extension (worth $30MM) on his contract, which were both widely interpreted as signs that the Sox weren’t counting on Bogaerts remaining beyond the date of his opt-out. Bloom publicly said several times that the Red Sox did indeed want to retain Bogaerts, and reiterated that stance even in the aftermath of the shortstop’s deal with the Padres.
“We wouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it,” Bloom said. “I think it became clear to us as things went on that this [Bogaerts’ price tag] was going to go to a point that we just weren’t, irrespective of how we prioritize things, it just wasn’t something that we should do. It’s hard because of how much we love him. But it’s just the reality of the situation.”
In fairness to the Red Sox, nobody expected Bogaerts to receive anything near a $280MM contract, and it is understandable why the organization didn’t want to reach that far. That said, reports suggested the Red Sox offered Bogaerts six years and around $160MM, which didn’t match the seven-year, $189MM deal MLBTR projected Bogaerts would land on the open market. In addition, the Sox have obviously had exclusive negotiating rights with Bogaerts for years, and could’ve more aggressively pursued an extension at any point before Bogaerts reached free agency.
Bogaerts joins Mookie Betts and Jon Lester as homegrown Red Sox stars who left the team (Bogaerts in free agency, Betts and Lester in trades) after extension talks didn’t materialize into a longer-term deal. Of course, as Bloom noted, Bogaerts did already ink one extension with the team, putting him “at a different place in his career.” The Sox have signed relatively few extensions in recent years and only three extensions since Bloom took over the front office following the 2019 season. Bloom told Cotillo that the team may change how it approaches extension candidates, perhaps with more of a focus on extending players to contracts before they reach salary arbitration.
“Anytime you have a situation where you have a homegrown player who wants to be here and we want him here and it doesn’t happen, I think those are fair questions to ask and those are questions we certainly need to ask ourselves,” Bloom said. “We haven’t, as an organization, always found a way to come together in those situations. I think it’s something to think about and assess.”
Rafael Devers presents the next big question for the Red Sox in this regard, as the star third baseman is set to reach free agency following the 2023 season. In a separate piece, a source close to Devers told Cotillo that “Bogaerts’ decision would not make it more likely that Devers would want to leave Boston,” as much as Devers would be “disappointed” at no longer playing with his longtime friend.
Bloom reiterated his team’s interest in keeping Devers, saying that “Raffy, for sure, is somebody we want to build around.”
“I’ve said it, and I know we haven’t demonstrated this to the degree that we’ve hoped to, but we believe in building around homegrown talent. You want to do it in the right way,” Bloom said. “It’s certainly something we want to do as often as we can….[Devers] has been somebody that we love and want right at the center of everything we hope to accomplish, obviously in 2023 but more importantly, in the years beyond, because those are the years he’s not under our control. We’re hoping to change that.”
Bloom: Bogaerts Remains Red Sox’s Preferred Option At Shortstop
The Red Sox and star shortstop Xander Bogaerts didn’t agree on a contract extension before the start of the offseason. The four-time All-Star officially opted out of the final three years on his deal with Boston this morning, sending him to the open market for the first time in his career. The Sox still have exclusive negotiating rights with Bogaerts through Thursday, but there’s little question at this point his representatives at the Boras Corporation will soon be in contact with other teams.
Speaking with reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) this evening, Boston chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom reiterated that retaining Bogaerts would be the Sox’s ideal choice for addressing shortstop. “We want him here. He makes us better,” Bloom said. “We respect his right to exercise [the opt-out] and to explore the market. We want him back and we will stay engaged with him.”
Boston’s baseball operations leader acknowledged the presence of a few other star free agent shortstops — namely Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson. While Bloom suggested the team would explore the market for potential alternatives, he didn’t mince words when expressing the front office’s overall preference. “He’s our first choice. That’s not going to change,” he told reporters. “Part of our jobs is to explore every option to field a contending team next year and put together a really good group. We need to explore every possible way to do that, but Bogey’s our first choice.”
Bloom indicated he believes either Trevor Story or Enrique Hernández would be capable of playing shortstop if necessary but made clear the team would prefer to keep them at other positions to keep Bogaerts around. Story moved to second base this past season. While he’d played his whole career at shortstop with the Rockies prior to this year, Story has spoken about his desire to stick at the keystone if it means the Red Sox re-sign their longtime shortstop. That’d presumably keep Hernández in center field primarily, with the lackluster free agent market at that position seemingly playing a role in Boston’s decision to keep the utilityman around with a $10MM contract extension on Labor Day.
Of course, this is far from the first time Sox’s brass has gone on record about their affinity for Bogaerts. Immediately after the season, Bloom called re-signing the four-time Silver Slugger winner before free agency the team’s top priority. That obviously didn’t happen, and Speier writes that while the sides did have some discussions after the season wrapped up, it became clear fairly early on they wouldn’t get a deal done before the opt-out date.
Boston is sure to kick off the offseason by tagging Bogaerts with a qualifying offer. They’d receive only minimal compensation if he were to sign elsewhere, however. Because the Red Sox exceeded the base luxury tax threshold this past season, they’d add only an extra draft choice after the fourth round. Conversely, signing a player like Turner or Swanson who rejects a qualifying offer from another team — Correa is ineligible to receive a QO because he’s previously received one in his career — would lead Boston to forfeit both their second and fifth-highest picks in next year’s draft and $1MM in international signing bonus space. Certainly, the front office will weigh their long-term projections of each of the top free agents more heavily than the draft choices in deciding how to proceed, but they’d pay a heavier draft penalty for adding either Swanson or Turner than they would for retaining Bogaerts (and thus forfeiting the compensatory pick).
Bogaerts heads into his age-31 season coming off a .307/.377/.456 mark through 631 plate appearances. His power production dipped relative to his best seasons, but he hit above .285 with an on-base percentage at .360 or better for the fifth straight year. He also earned slightly above-average marks from public defensive metrics, an important step towards quieting some concerns he’ll have to move off shortstop in the relatively near future.
Eerie bloom of light is left by SpaceX rocket launch over the Atlantic
‘Truly a spectacle!’ Eerie bloom of light over the Atlantic Ocean left by a SpaceX rocket launch leaves US Air Force crew ‘dumbfounded’
- A bizarre bloom of light in sky over the Atlantic Ocean left a US Air Force crew ‘dumbfounded’ at the weekend
- It was later blamed on SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday
- Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the station
- It was later that day that the amazing pictures were taken by US Air Force crew 37,000ft above Atlantic Ocean
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It may have an eerie, UFO-like appearance but this bloom of light in the sky is actually part of the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch.
The spectacular and colourful sight was so bewildering that, when it was spotted by a US Air Force crew, they said the unusual phenomenon left them ‘dumbfounded’.
On Saturday, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
It was later that day that the amazing pictures were taken 37,000ft above the Atlantic Ocean.
Staff Sergeant Christian Magliocca, who was unable to reveal exactly where the images were snapped because it is classified, said he and his crew were ‘confused’ after spotting an unidentified bloom of light from the deck of their huge transport aircraft.
Fascinating: It may have an eerie, UFO-like appearance but this bloom of light in the sky is actually part of the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch
The spectacular and colourful sight was so bewildering that when it was spotted by a US Air Force crew they said the unusual phenomenon had left them ‘dumbfounded’
On Saturday, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (pictured)
The 15th Airlift Squadron loadmaster said: ‘These pictures were taken at 37,000ft from the flight deck of a C-17 Globemaster III somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
‘We saw it coming over the horizon and were really confused as to what it could be.
‘At first we thought it was the Artemis Launch that keeps getting pushed back.’
However, the otherworldly-like encounter was later identified as being linked to the SpaceX satellite launch.
Staff Sgt. Magliocca added: ‘For us, the event lasted around ten minutes from start to finish. Truly a spectacle.
‘I’m a loadmaster on the C17 so my role is all things related to the cargo compartment of the aircraft.
‘The pilots and my other load flying partner were absolutely dumbfounded.
Staff Sgt. Christian Magliocca (pictured) said he and his crew were ‘confused’ after spotting an unidentified bloom of light from the deck of their huge transport aircraft
Not for the first time, the otherworldly-like encounter was later identified as being linked to the SpaceX satellite launch
‘I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will never forget it for as long as we live.’
Several times this year a SpaceX launch has left observers thinking there might be UFOs present.
In June, a mysterious blue spiral travelling across New Zealand’s skies baffled onlookers who thought it had alien origins.
The spiralling plume of gas lit up the sky over Nelson, a city at the tip of New Zealand’s south island, and travelled 750km south to Stewart Island.
However, experts later revealed that the phenomenon was caused by man-made space junk in the form of a dying rocket launched by Musk’s company.
A trail of mysterious moving lights that shocked Australians in January was also blamed on Starlink satellites being launched by SpaceX.
In June, a mysterious blue spiral travelling across New Zealand’s skies baffled onlookers who thought it had alien origins
A trail of mysterious moving lights that shocked Australians in January was also blamed on Starlink satellites being launched by SpaceX
What Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Penélope Cruz and more co-stars have said about working with Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp’s former leading lady, agent and business manager have alleged that the actor was challenging to work with when drugs and alcohol reportedly dictated his behavior.
However, many of Depp’s former co-stars offer a loyal, stark contrast to the recent testimony during the 58-year-old film star’s vicious defamation trial with ex-wife and “Aquaman” actress Amber Heard, 36.
First up: Actress Ellen Barkin, who had a romantic — or “sexual” — relationship with Depp when they both starred in the 1998 cult classic “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” testified that he threw a wine bottle at her during their relationship.
Barkin, 68, said the actor was arguing with friends in a hotel room when he tossed the object. She also reiterated Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard’s claim that he was a “jealous man.”
“Controlling,” is how Barkin described Depp. “Asking me, ‘Where are you going? Who are you meeting with?”’
Another time, “I had a scratch on my back that once got him very, very angry because he insisted it came from me having sex with a person who wasn’t him,” she said in the deposition, recorded in 2019 and played for jurors in the Virginia trial on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Depp’s former agent, Tracey Jacobs, said his professional reputation took a hit when he started showing up late to projects due to drugs and alcohol, including the production of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”
“Crews don’t love sitting around for hours and hours for the star to show up,” Jacobs said. “People talked … and it made people reluctant to use him.”
His former business manager, Joel Mandel, echoed Jacobs’ allegations, claiming Depp’s spending habits became “alarming” in 2011, and that he spent thousands on prescription drugs.
The negative claims are among the first the public has heard about Depp in this trial — aside from those made by Heard and her team, of course — but have his former co-stars ever slammed his professionalism?
Here’s what other co-stars have said about working with Depp:
Eva Green
Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” co-star Eva Green has publicly supported the actor on Instagram throughout his ongoing legal battle.
“I have no doubt Johnny will emerge with his good name and wonderful heart revealed to the world, and life will be better than it ever was for him and his family,” the 41-year-old French actress wrote after Thursday’s bombshell testimony.
Orlando Bloom
Orlando Bloom told the BBC that working with Depp during 2003’s “The Curse of the Black Pearl” was the most fun he’s ever had,
“I got to work with one of my heroes, Johnny Depp, and to see how he goes about business, which was really inspiring for me at this stage in my career,” said Bloom, 45.
He also raved about Depp’s dedication to his craft: “I knew he’d bring something unique to it the way he always does with his roles. I just didn’t know what it would be when I saw it, it was fantastic.”
Winona Ryder
Depp and Winona Ryder, 50, were co-stars in Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” in 1990, and got engaged five months after dating during that time.
“I can only speak from my own experience — which was wildly different than what is being said,” Ryder told Time in June 2016 after Heard’s allegations first made headlines. “He was never, never that way toward me. Never abusive at all towards me. I only know him as a really good, loving, caring guy who is very, very protective of the people that he loves.”
The two-time Oscar nominee and “Stranger Things” star also provided a witness statement in the Depp-Heard UK trial in 2020: “I understand that it is very important that I speak from my own experience, as I obviously was not there during his marriage to Amber,” Ryder wrote. “But, from my experience, which was so wildly different, I was absolutely shocked, confused and upset when I heard the accusations against him.”
Kevin McNally
Depp’s “Pirates” co-star Kevin McNally had nothing bad to say about the actor in a 2021 interview with LADbible.
“I’ve never seen a hint of any dark side to Johnny,” he said. “I see a great humanitarian and a beautiful human being. I don’t see any impediment for him coming back and playing Jack Sparrow.”
That, of course, won’t happen, as the blockbuster franchise’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, 78, has announced that Depp won’t be back, at least “not at this point.”
Keira Knightley
Another “Pirates” alum, Keira Knightley, told IGN in 2003 that the actors can hardly get through scenes without laughing.
“He’s just great. It’s really weird, because he’s a huge star of Hollywood, but he’s such a nice bloke,” she said. “We’d be over at the craft services wagon and he’d make a cup of tea and we’d have a chat and have a giggle, and do a scene then. He’s just really, really, really lovely.”
The two-time Oscar-nominee continued, “He’s one of the only actors around at the moment who will take those huge risks, and it was a risk. He’s got the balls to play a part like that, and I think that’s brilliant.”
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie raved about her time working alongside Depp in 2010’s “The Tourist.”
“He’s just such a nice guy. He’s so funny and so fun to hang out with,” Jolie, 46, said at a press junket for the film at the time.
“He’s not just somebody who’s doing these fun [movies]; he’s a real experimental, deeply feeling artist, who gives a lot and is very gracious on set to everybody and to his fellow actors. He’s just a pleasure.”
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway and Depp worked together in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” and the “Les Misérables” Oscar winner has praised Depp’s down-to-earth demeanor.
“He has such a mystique about him that I feel like his fans and the media puts on him,” she said in 2010. “And he is as real a person as you can be. He’s, I think, exactly who he would be if none of this fame had happened to him.
“I admire that so greatly — it’s not only that it’s not gone to his head, but it’s not changed him one iota, and I think that’s remarkable.”
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb was just 9 years old when she started filming in 2005 for Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” alongside Depp.
“He’s really, really down to earth and he treats everyone with the same amount of respect,” she said of Depp at the time. “He invited you to his trailer and talks to you and makes jokes. Little simple things that make you feel comfortable and not ‘Oh my gosh it’s Johnny Depp.’ It’s just like, ‘Oh, It’s Johnny.’”
Penélope Cruz
Actress Penélope Cruz couldn’t wait to work with Depp again when she joined the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.
“I missed working with him through all those years because we had a great experience when we were shooting ‘Blow,’” Cruz told Access Hollywood via Digital Spy about their 2001 collab.
Like Knightley, Cruz said Depp made her giggle.
“Our problem is that we cannot stop laughing,” the Oscar winner continued. “That can really become a problem sometimes with us because some days we could not control ourselves. I always say it’s a good problem to have because, in the end, that will reflect on the chemistry of [our] characters.”
Kaya Scodelario
Brazilian “Pirates of the Caribbean” actress Kaya Scodelario opened up about how Depp helped her to get into her role.
“We were just lying on a piece of green screen and we had to pretend to be falling,” she told the Evening Standard in 2017. “I didn’t know what the f–k I was going to do, and I looked over to him and as soon as they said ‘action’ he was just completely committed, he didn’t care if it made him look silly or weird or strange,” she gushed. “That inspired me to let go and get out of my mind.”
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis and Depp starred together opposite Leonardo DiCapro in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” back in 1993.
“Johnny is self-debasing. Is that the right word? Anyway, sometimes he’s too self-debasing,” Lewis described the actor to the LA Times in 1993. Merriam-Webster defines the phrase as “the act or process of lowering oneself in status, esteem, quality, or character.”
Pikmin Bloom impressions after six months
For reasons not entirely logical, I still love playing Pikmin Bloom. It’s been almost six months since Niantic’s walking companion app launched, and my routine hasn’t changed much in that time. Every day, I try to get my steps in. I often fail to. I sometimes earn far too many steps by driving with my phone in my pocket. I occasionally go out of town, and have to wait weeks for items I discover there to find their way back to me. But every day, multiple times a day, I check in. I feel like I’m accomplishing something.
I’m not. I’m making numbers go up. And I’m still trying to wrap my head around the appeal of it all, because it runs counter to so much of what I typically like in games.
On a mechanical level, there’s not a lot of game here. You have tasks to do, which occasionally take a hint of strategy to complete. And there are ways to optimize your squad. But generally, it’s about walking. You walk to find seedlings, walk to make them grow, walk to get food to feed them. In a typical game, this would lead to something. Growing more Pikmin would unlock different types of gameplay or new stories to explore. Here, you plant flowers and fight mushrooms, but there’s no challenge to either. You essentially build up your team to keep building your team.
Image: Niantic/Nintendo
A big part of that, I imagine, is Niantic needs to make money, and the more it can get you thinking about the numbers, the more likely you are to spend money to make those numbers move faster. Which is weird in a game built around walking, since you’re essentially cheating yourself, but it’s done responsibly — the game doesn’t hold key features back if you don’t pay, and I have yet to spend (or feel like I need to spend) a dollar on it.
Without the typical challenges I look for in games, I find that a lot of Pikmin Bloom’s appeal comes down to something that sounds pretty boring on paper: it’s satisfying to see new technology working well.
Games set on real-world maps are no longer brand new at this point, but there’s still something fascinating about seeing yourself in two worlds at once, and Niantic’s tech has evolved to the point that it all works smoothly. In this case, you essentially play the role of a post office supervisor, and it remains fun sending Pikmin out and seeing them return, over and over. Even the smaller details, like the way the app uses vibration, feel refined to the point that playing seems like a taste of the potential of what games can be in the future.
I also love the passive collaboration of it all. Unlike Pokémon Go and Ingress, Pikmin Bloom doesn’t feature competitive elements. I recall the developers of Journey talking at one point about removing features that would allow players to negatively impact each other online, and it feels like Niantic took a similar approach here. You can plant flowers alongside other players, and team up with other players to fight mushrooms faster, but the design limits you from doing anything that would ruin someone else’s experience.
It reminds me of Noby Noby Boy or Curiosity: What’s Inside the Cube?, in that you’re all working together towards a shared goal, though I suppose in the latter case that all kind of fell apart (and arguably wasn’t “shared” to begin with).
I do wish all my time spent was leading to something a bit more concrete. Not just items to collect, but things to do. An end game. Yet, as I keep reminding myself, doing so would clash with the idea that this is a companion app for exercise as much, if not more, than it is a game. And perhaps more importantly, it would also, sadly, mean I’d have to stop playing.