Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 9 Jan 2012 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110531/02575314478/dailydirt-games-skill.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110531/02575314478/dailydirt-games-skill.shtml

Chess used to be the game that could measure a person's cognitive capabilities, but StarCraft2 might be the new game that provides metrics for humans' abilities to plot and strategize. Meanwhile, the computers are wondering why we're wasting so much time on variations of Tic-Tac-Toe and Rock-Paper-Scissors. [url]

Imagine a game that taught you how to program better video games, would that be a fun game? If only the result was actually a virtuous cycle for improving video games and programmers... [url]

Previous studies that suggested video games can help improve human cognitive function may be seriously flawed. Experimental design is really critical for generating psychology conclusions that aren't biased -- and surprise, surprise: there are a lot of widely-cited studies that are poorly designed. [url]

To find some cool online games, check out what StumbleUpon has found to play. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110531/02575314478 Wed, 9 Mar 2011 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110307/14562913390/dailydirt-computers-are-beating-us-our-own-games.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110307/14562913390/dailydirt-computers-are-beating-us-our-own-games.shtml

Microsoft Research is working on AI that can play the ancient game of Go -- and incorporating it into an XBox Live game called The Path of Go. This is a pretty cool project to try to get more people playing go, but adding avatars and some storyline about finding your missing twin doesn't sound like a more fun way to play Go to me. [url]

Starcraft is another AI challenge that requires more than fast reflexes and a pulse. Instead of creating supercomputers that play MMORPGs perfectly, I'd settle for AI that just happily mines gold for me all day. [url]

Computers can also beat us at really simple games that you wouldn't think need any intelligence to play. So don't play Rock-Paper-Scissors to the death, and never wage a land war in Asia. [url]

Maybe football coaches should be replaced by computers, too. When your fantasy league is short human players, try a few bots as competitive players. [url]

If only the neural nets that play 20 questions were a bit more useful... These kinds of programs were supposed to help diagnose medical diseases, but now they just play trivial games and advertise for Whoppers. [url]

To discover more interesting AI-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110307/14562913390 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:23:00 PDT Carlo Longino http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100419/1151349081.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100419/1151349081.shtml social problem. But the country's professional gaming leagues have been hit by a match-fixing scandal in which players and officials have allegedly taken bribes (via the BBC) from gamblers to throw games of StarCraft. The incredible popularity of StarCraft, and other online games, in Korea has created enough interest to fuel illegal gambling sites that bet on the outcome of matches between the country's 12 pro teams. The maker of StarCraft, Blizzard, has been trying to take a cut of the TV revenues generated from the matches, a move that wasn't well received in Korea. It looks like that spat might get precluded by the crumbling of the pro league.

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]]> where-there-is-money-to-be-made... http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100419/1151349081 Tue, 4 Aug 2009 12:56:13 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090803/0156125746.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090803/0156125746.shtml ongoing battle in Korea over the broadcasting of professional StarCraft matches. StarCraft has been amazingly popular for quite a long time, and there are professional players in Korea. It's such a big deal that a ruling body called KeSPA was put together, and organized the broadcast of professional StarCraft games on two separate networks. This has, undoubtedly, driven massive sales of StarCraft for many years in Korea. However, with StarCraft II, Blizzard is upset that it doesn't get a cut of the TV revenue and is trying to route around KeSPA. Apparently, as the fight has escalated, KeSPA has asked the gov't for help, and apparently regulators are threatening to rule that StarCraft II is an "Adult" game, which would make it difficult to broadcast on TV in valuable time-slots. You shouldn't bite the hand that promotes you...

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]]> entitlement-culture http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090803/0156125746 Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:04:50 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090702/0307515434.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090702/0307515434.shtml killed off LAN support for StarCraft II. The Buzz Saw points out that Blizzard seems to be taking the same old tactic of claiming that this removal of a feature is for the benefit of users, noting that this is "the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience." However, the company also does admit that it was a "difficult decision" and that a larger part of the reason may have been to "safeguard against piracy."

Either way, this seems like a move that's designed to backfire badly. It's all about taking away value, rather than adding value (or a reason to buy). LAN parties using StarCraft were a huge part of the appeal of the game -- and even though there were many pirated versions out there, it's part of what drove more people to buy the legitimate version. One thing that we've seen over and over again is that any business that focuses on "safeguarding against piracy" isn't focusing enough on providing unique value to customers. It's amazing that it still needs to be explained in this day and age, but you succeed in business by providing more positive value to customers, not in taking it away just because it doesn't fit with your business model.

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]]> yeah,-that-doesn't-work http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090702/0307515434