Computers playing computer games may sound odd, but it's an example of the ongoing man versus machine debate.
To the outside observer, all games can seem pretty pointless. But even to gamers who know they're not, there's a whole subset of pointlessness.
To some, it's investing in a subtle, taxing game like Virtua Fighter and never doing more than bashing random buttons in the hope of a win.
For others it's buying a guide book to a Final Fantasy game and blindly following its instructions as you play, rather than the story or your own sense of adventure.
These ways of playing - staunchly defended by some - do seem to rob gaming of nearly everything it has to offer.
But there is an even greater level of pointless play that baffles almost everyone. These are the systems devised by people who are more interested in getting machines to play for them than in playing themselves.
It's a vibrant, but idiosyncratic, world, from the man who's hoping his genetic algorithms will eventually evolve into Dr Mario masters, to the frustrated Guitar Hero who built a bot - complete with a camera for eyes and virtual fingers - to complete the hardest tracks for him.
It's a little surreal, but watching both of these systems play is strangely compelling, and there's an odd sense of vindication to be found in their triumphs. It's literally a case of seeing something beaten at its own game.
So what's going on? Surely nothing could be more pointless than watching a machine play a machine.
To the outside observer, all games can seem pretty pointless. But even to gamers who know they're not, there's a whole subset of pointlessness.
To some, it's investing in a subtle, taxing game like Virtua Fighter and never doing more than bashing random buttons in the hope of a win.
For others it's buying a guide book to a Final Fantasy game and blindly following its instructions as you play, rather than the story or your own sense of adventure.
These ways of playing - staunchly defended by some - do seem to rob gaming of nearly everything it has to offer.
But there is an even greater level of pointless play that baffles almost everyone. These are the systems devised by people who are more interested in getting machines to play for them than in playing themselves.
It's a vibrant, but idiosyncratic, world, from the man who's hoping his genetic algorithms will eventually evolve into Dr Mario masters, to the frustrated Guitar Hero who built a bot - complete with a camera for eyes and virtual fingers - to complete the hardest tracks for him.
It's a little surreal, but watching both of these systems play is strangely compelling, and there's an odd sense of vindication to be found in their triumphs. It's literally a case of seeing something beaten at its own game.
So what's going on? Surely nothing could be more pointless than watching a machine play a machine.
No comments:
Post a Comment