Microsoft resurrects the infamous Clippy for new Office training game

He’s back. The talking paperclip. And no, he is not less annoying than before.

Microsoft has seen it fit to build a sequel to the application ‘Ribbon Hero,’ a training tool that masqueraded as a game, designed to help people learn the ins and outs of Office. Why, you might ask, would Microsoft do such a thing? Because, and honestly this baffles us at TNWmicrosoft, people are still afraid of the Ribbon interface of Office 2007 and 2010.

How the masses have not yet manged to adjust to intuitive interface changes that improve their beloved productivity line is confusing. Still, Microsoft wants to combat the problem because they want to sell more copies of Office. It only makes sense.

Right, so Ribbon Hero 2. We aren’t sure what to tell you about it because it is a game that is built on using Office. That handicap aside, the game is not too boring. If you are one of those Luddites who still fears the most recent versions of Office you might want to try it out.

If not, do not play. Why not? Because the subtitle of the game is “Clippy’s Second Chance;” the game is an exercise in helping Clippy get home. Screw Clippy, he was annoying as frack for years. He can get home by himself. If you play you are only encouraging him.

Microsoft should take the graphic artists and UI personnel that helped build Ribbon Hero 2 and send them to Hotmail, where they are actually needed.

What follows is Microsoft’s short clip explaining why you should play Ribbon Hero 2 – it won’t be much encouragement, but here it is for completeness: