News/Gaming
Nvidia’s new app may be slowing down your PC games
The recent replacement of Nvidia's GeForce Experience with the new Nvidia App has led to unexpected performance issues affecting gaming frame rates, even when the app's new features aren't actively being used. Key performance impact: Testing reveals that the new Nvidia App's background processes are causing significant frame rate reductions across multiple high-end games. Frame rate testing shows drops of 3-6% across various games and settings when running the Nvidia App Assassin's Creed Mirage experienced the most severe impact with a 12% frame rate reduction at 1080p Ultra settings Other affected games include Baldur's Gate 3, Black Myth: Wukong, Flight...
read Dec 15, 2024Midjourney’s new ‘Patchwork’ AI feature enables collaborative worldbuilding
The emerging field of AI-powered creative tools is expanding with Midjourney's latest innovation in collaborative storytelling and worldbuilding technology. Major announcement: Midjourney is introducing "Patchwork," a multiplayer collaborative worldbuilding platform that marks the company's expansion beyond pure image generation. The platform allows up to 100 users to simultaneously work on an infinite canvas, creating and developing story elements in real-time Users will need both a Midjourney account and Google Account connection through Discord to access the research preview The system integrates multiple large language models to power its creative capabilities Key features and functionality: Patchwork operates as a comprehensive creative...
read Dec 12, 2024Google tests Gemini AI agents to assist video game players
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is pushing into the gaming world as Google explores new ways to integrate AI assistance directly into gameplay experiences. Core Development: Google's latest Gemini 2.0 AI system is being tested to create intelligent gaming assistants that can analyze gameplay in real-time and provide contextual guidance. The AI agents can interpret on-screen action and engage in real-time conversations to offer strategic suggestions These agents can leverage Google Search to access and apply gaming knowledge from across the web Initial testing is being conducted with popular mobile games like Clash of Clans and Hay Day from...
read Dec 11, 2024Itch.io’s temporary shutdown shows importance of humans overseeing automation
The growing pains of AI automation in brand protection led to the temporary shutdown of a major indie gaming platform, highlighting the risks of removing human oversight from automated systems. The incident overview: Popular indie gaming platform Itch.io experienced a complete domain shutdown due to an automated AI brand protection system's error. The shutdown occurred on December 9, 2024, when Funko Pop's BrandShield service flagged a fan page on Itch.io as fraudulent The platform's creator, Leafo, confirmed that despite complying with the initial takedown request, the domain registrar's automated system proceeded to deactivate the entire domain The site remained offline...
read Dec 9, 2024Gaming platform Itch.io recovers from AI anti-phishing mishap
The indie game platform itch.io experienced a brief but significant service disruption due to an automated brand protection system's misidentification of potential trademark infringement. The incident overview: A domain takedown affected itch.io for several hours on Monday morning, stemming from an AI-powered brand protection system's report about alleged phishing activities. The shutdown was triggered by BrandShield, a brand protection service working on behalf of Funko, the company known for Funko Pop collectible figures The domain registrar, iwantmyname, disabled itch.io's domain despite the platform having already addressed the initial complaint Users could still access the site directly through its IP address...
read Dec 8, 2024Why some players can’t wait to see more AI integrated into games
Current state of AI gaming: AI integration in video games is beginning to emerge through modifications of existing games and new experimental titles, with developers exploring ways to make character interactions more natural and unpredictable. A development team has successfully implemented AI functionality in a Stardew Valley mod, showcasing the potential for AI-enhanced character interactions Text-based adventures and role-playing games (RPGs) are proving to be the most suitable genres for current AI implementation Several pioneering games are already utilizing AI, including SimTown (a Harry Potter-themed adventure), AI Dungeon (featuring AI-generated narratives), and AI People (a life simulation game using OpenAI's...
read Dec 7, 2024Google’s new AI model creates interactive worlds, but not everyone’s impressed
The advancement of AI-generated interactive environments has reached a new milestone with Google's Genie 2, which transforms static images and text descriptions into explorable 3D worlds, marking a significant evolution from its 2D predecessor launched just nine months ago. Core capabilities and advancements: Google's DeepMind team has expanded their AI model to generate interactive 3D environments from simple inputs, complete with controllable avatars and basic physics interactions. The model can create diverse interactive scenes featuring wooden puppets, robots, and vessels, capable of performing basic actions like popping balloons and climbing ladders Genie 2's most notable feature is its "long horizon...
read Dec 5, 2024DeepMind’s Genie 2 AI creates self-building video games
The ability to transform static images into interactive 3D environments represents a significant advancement in AI technology, with implications extending far beyond gaming into AI training and virtual world creation. Core innovation: DeepMind's Genie 2 system can generate playable 3D worlds from single images, marking a significant leap forward in AI-generated content and virtual environment creation. The system uses an autoregressive latent diffusion model to create interactive environments that respond to user actions in real-time Generated worlds maintain consistency in physics, lighting, and object permanence for up to one minute The technology allows for instant transformation of conceptual images into...
read Dec 4, 2024Google’s Genie 2 turns text into playable 3D games
The intersection of artificial intelligence and gaming reaches a new milestone with Google DeepMind's introduction of Genie 2, a groundbreaking AI system that can generate playable 3D game environments from text prompts. Core innovation: Google DeepMind has developed a foundation world model that creates interactive gaming environments based on simple text inputs, marking a significant advancement in AI training and game development. The system allows both human and AI control through standard input devices like keyboards and mouse Environments can be generated in real-time, providing unlimited possibilities for training scenarios The technology builds upon DeepMind's legacy of using games for...
read Dec 2, 2024AI agent characters develop religious beliefs in Minecraft experiment
AI-powered characters in a Minecraft simulation have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in forming complex societies, complete with jobs, culture, and even religious beliefs, showcasing the potential for AI to model human social behavior and decision-making. Project overview and setup: Altera's Project Sid placed up to 1,000 AI-controlled characters in Minecraft's open-world environment to study how they would interact and develop without significant human intervention. Each AI character utilized a large language model (LLM) along with specialized task modules The experiment organized characters into groups of 50 agents who could interact over 12 in-game days (equivalent to four real hours) Initial text...
read Nov 27, 2024Musk’s xAI wants to develop AI-powered video games
The announcement of Elon Musk's plans to enter the video game industry through his artificial intelligence company xAI marks another expansion of his business empire into entertainment and technology sectors. Key announcement and context: Elon Musk revealed plans for xAI to launch a video game development studio, positioning it as an initiative to transform modern gaming. The announcement came via Twitter/X, where Musk declared his intention to "make games great again" This move represents xAI's first major venture into entertainment content creation The initiative appears to be driven by Musk's criticism of current gaming industry trends rather than specific technological...
read Nov 27, 2024Google’s ‘GenChess’ lets users design custom game pieces with AI
The intersection of artificial intelligence and classic board games continues to evolve with Google's latest experimental project, which brings a creative twist to the ancient game of chess. Project Overview: Google has launched GenChess, an AI experiment that allows users to create customized chess pieces using the sophisticated Imagen 3 model from Google DeepMind. The tool leverages the same AI technology that powers ImageFX and image creation in the Gemini chatbot Users can choose between classical chess pieces that maintain traditional forms or opt for more creative, experimental designs The system automatically generates a thematically complementary set for the opponent...
read Nov 27, 2024AI agents form surprisingly human society in Minecraft experiment
The intersection of artificial intelligence and gaming has reached a new milestone as AI-powered characters in Minecraft demonstrated surprisingly sophisticated social behaviors and organizational capabilities without human intervention. Key experiment details: Altera, an AI startup, conducted groundbreaking research by deploying up to 1,000 AI agents in Minecraft to study their autonomous interactions and social development. The AI agents were equipped with "brains" consisting of multiple modules powered by large language models (LLMs) Each module was specialized for specific tasks like social interaction, communication, and decision-making The experiment ran for 12 in-game days, equivalent to 4 real-world hours Emergent behaviors: The...
read Nov 19, 2024Genies debuts AI-powered virtual worlds for brands and creators
The gaming and entertainment industry is witnessing a significant development as Genies introduces Parties, a new AI-powered platform that enables brands and creators to build customized gaming environments. Platform Overview; Parties represents a convergence of AI technology, gaming, and user-generated content, allowing for the creation of interactive digital spaces powered by intelligent avatars. The platform builds on Genies' substantial $150 million funding round from 2022, demonstrating strong investor confidence in their vision Smart Avatars serve as the cornerstone of the platform, featuring AI-driven personalities that can interact dynamically with users Users can create their own games, avatars, and fashion items,...
read Nov 19, 2024Niantic builds AI navigation sysem using Pokémon Go player data
The gaming company Niantic is leveraging player-generated data from Pokémon Go and other apps to develop an artificial intelligence system for real-world navigation, marking a novel approach to AI training data collection through mobile gaming. Project overview and scope: Niantic announced its development of a "large geospatial model" (LGM) that will process physical spaces using geolocated images collected through its gaming applications. The system builds upon Niantic's Visual Positioning System (VPS), which uses phone camera images to determine position and orientation within 3D mapped environments The company has accumulated data from over 10 million scanned locations globally Users contribute approximately...
read Nov 19, 2024Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 adds AI terrain and new career modes
The latest iteration of Microsoft's iconic flight simulation game brings unprecedented detail and realism to virtual aviation, leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced streaming technology to create an immersive global flying experience. Major technical advances: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 introduces a dramatically optimized installation size while maintaining expansive worldwide coverage through innovative streaming technology. The initial installation size has been reduced to approximately 30 gigabytes, down from the 2020 version's 130GB requirement Data streaming requirements average around 5GB per hour for typical players, with higher rates for more demanding settings Machine learning technology enables "4,000 times more" detail in textures and...
read Nov 14, 2024How Cybever and Cloud Zeta make 3D environment rendering easy
Cybever and Cloud Zeta are partnering to create a web-based platform that aims to simplify 3D environment creation by combining AI-driven world-building capabilities with advanced cloud infrastructure for 3D asset management. Strategic partnership overview: The collaboration between Cybever's AI-powered world-building platform and Cloud Zeta's specialized 3D data hosting service will launch in Q1 2025, utilizing the OpenUSD standard for 3D asset compatibility. The platform addresses key industry challenges including high production costs, workflow complexity, and format compatibility issues Both companies were recently founded, with Cybever established in 2022 and Cloud Zeta in 2024 The joint solution targets both entertainment and...
read Nov 14, 2024AI models show unexpected behavior in chess gameplay
The unexpected decline in chess-playing abilities among modern Large Language Models (LLMs) raises intriguing questions about how these AI systems develop and maintain specific skills. Key findings and methodology: A comprehensive evaluation of various LLMs' chess-playing capabilities against Stockfish AI at its lowest difficulty setting revealed surprising performance disparities. GPT-3.5-Turbo-Instruct emerged as the sole strong performer, winning all its games against Stockfish Popular models including Llama (both 3B and 70B versions), Qwen, Command-R, Gemma, and even GPT-4 performed poorly, consistently losing their matches The testing process utilized specific grammars to constrain moves and addressed tokenization challenges to ensure fair evaluation...
read Nov 13, 2024Tencent’s game profits surge as AI benefits emerge
Chinese technology giant Tencent posted strong third-quarter results, highlighting continued growth in its core gaming business while positioning itself to capitalize on artificial intelligence opportunities. Financial performance and key metrics: Tencent's third-quarter results showed significant profit growth and steady revenue increases across multiple business segments. Profit attributable to shareholders jumped 47% year-over-year to 53.23 billion yuan ($7.37 billion), exceeding analyst expectations of 46.18 billion yuan Overall revenue grew 8% to 167.19 billion yuan, slightly below the forecasted 167.82 billion yuan The company's messaging platform WeChat/Weixin reached 1.38 billion monthly active users, representing 3% growth from the previous year Gaming division...
read Nov 13, 2024The first fully AI generated video game is getting rave reviews
AI's first fully-generated video game demonstrates both the potential and current limitations of generative AI in game development, marking a significant milestone in the intersection of artificial intelligence and gaming. The breakthrough: Oasis, a Minecraft-inspired game released by Israeli AI startup Decart and silicon design company Etched, represents the first fully AI-generated video game where each frame is created in real-time by an AI model. The game uses a transformer AI model trained on Minecraft gameplay footage to generate each new frame based on the previous one and user inputs Unlike traditional video games that rely on game engines and...
read Nov 11, 2024AI video models try their best — but still struggle — to replicate real world physics
AI video models struggle with fundamental physics: Recent research reveals that artificial intelligence systems designed to generate video content can mimic physical laws but fail to truly comprehend them, highlighting limitations in AI's understanding of real-world dynamics. A collaborative study involving researchers from Bytedance Research, Tsinghua University, and Technion investigated whether AI models could independently discover physical laws solely through visual data analysis. The team created a simplified 2D simulation environment featuring basic shapes and movements, generating hundreds of thousands of short videos to train and test their AI model. Three fundamental physical laws were the focus of the study:...
read Nov 5, 2024This AI model transforms sketches into playable games
AI-powered game generation breakthrough: Oasis, a new AI model developed by Decart in collaboration with Etched, has demonstrated the ability to generate playable Minecraft-like gameplay from images in real-time. Oasis is described as "the world's first real-time AI world model," processing user input and visual data to create dynamic gaming experiences. The system generates gameplay frames at approximately 20 frames per second, simulating physics, game rules, and graphics internally. Netflix is exploring generative AI for gameplay, even closing its own game studio to focus on this technology. Technical innovations behind Oasis: The AI model combines Vision Transformer technology with a...
read Nov 5, 2024This new AI tool turns regular video into fully editable 3D scenes
AI-powered animation breakthrough: Wonder Dynamics, recently acquired by Autodesk, has launched Wonder Animation, a tool that transforms regular video footage into fully editable 3D scenes using artificial intelligence. The technology aims to make high-quality visual effects more accessible and flexible for filmmakers of all skill levels. Wonder Animation uses over 25 different AI models to analyze video, understanding body movements, lighting sources, and camera positioning to translate 2D video into 3D space. The tool can recognize various shot types and recreate them as 3D data, allowing artists to edit and experiment more easily. Democratizing filmmaking: Wonder Animation's technology has the...
read Nov 4, 2024Netflix pivots to AI gaming after closing internal studio
Netflix pivots to AI-driven game development: The streaming giant has appointed Mike Verdu as VP of GenAI for Games, signaling a significant shift in its gaming strategy. Netflix is embracing generative AI technology to accelerate game development and create novel gaming experiences. This move comes shortly after the company shut down its internal studio focused on creating "AAA" games. Verdu emphasizes that human creative talent will remain central to the game development process, with AI serving as a catalyst and accelerant. Potential impact on game development: Verdu envisions AI as a transformative force that could revolutionize the gaming industry's productivity...
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