unreal-tournament-2004
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Bots 'out-human' humans in competition
Who's a bot and who is not? Careful with your guess; you might just have it backwards! Alan Turing, a mathematician and computer scientist born 100 years ago, argued that the best measure of sentience in a machine is whether it can fool us into believing it is human. And in a recent gaming tournament pitting AI bots against humans, two artificially created virtual gamers did just that. Set in Unreal Tournament 2004, the competition gave players "judging guns" to tag which competitors they thought were human and which they thought were bots. Two bots created by scientists convinced the judges that were more human than half of the human competitors. In fact, both bots mimicked human behaviors well enough to receive a humanness rating of 52%, whereas the human players in the tournament averaged only 40%. [Thanks to Matt for the tip!]
Alien Swarm and Source-based SDK launching for free this Monday
In an announcement perhaps meant to obliterate the definition of "Valve Time," the publisher announced that Alien Swarm has been rebuilt in Source Engine and will be released -- for free, no less -- tomorrow, Monday, July 19. The team that originally built the mod for UT2004 has since been hired on by Valve for work on the Left 4 Dead series and Portal 2, but luckily found enough time to move their game over to Valve's game engine between bouts of working on those other two games. If you're so inclined, you can pre-load Alien Swarm starting right now before it goes live tomorrow. Oh! And when it does go live, Valve will also release the full SDK for the game, allowing users to get a more thorough look at what makes the game tick. Us? We're just excited to blast swarms of aliens with the totally insane looking flamethrower seen above. Hit the break for a trailer of the game in action. [Thanks, Morey]%Gallery-97701%
GOG.com offers good ol' deal on Unreal titles
Believe it or not, there was a time before Unreal Tournament III when the series was (gasp!) not purely about multiplayer. It had ... a story. This story is about how the purveyors of good ol' games at GOG.com remember these less competitive times, and want their patrons to, as well. So, from now through next Monday, August 31, the site is offering the plot-driven Unreal and Unreal II: The Awakening for $8.49 a pop.Of course, if you're still keen to revisit the transition into a tournament-play franchise, the first Unreal Tournament and still-quite-excellent Unreal Tournament 2004 are also being sold at the same low prices, through Monday. Us? We'll be playing other games, but are still glad we managed to make it through this post without referring to GOG.com's sale as an "unreal deal." (Wait, did that count?)
Study finds 'action' video games can improve vision
So, we've got good and bad news for you. First, the good news: A study conducted by the University of Rochester has found that "the very act of action video game playing enhances contrast sensitivity." Rather, playing lots of Call of Duty might actually help keep your eyes in shape and the contrasts in color sharp as you age. But now, the bad news: Those 100+ hours you sunk into Fallout 3 may not have helped. The study explains that, of the "expert video game players" tested, the "VGP group" (group playing "action" games Unreal Tournament 2004 and Call of Duty 2) exhibited "enhanced contrast sensitivity" versus the "NVGP group" (the folks playing "non-action" game The Sims 2), especially in the light of the population differences' interactions with spatial frequencies. Wait, WHAT?! In so many words, majority percentages of the "VGP group" were clustering together on the high end of the scale while "NVGP group" numbers were clustering on the other end. Professor Gary Rubin, of the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, sums up these findings rather nicely, saying, "This is a small study, showing a small effect, but it was carefully done, and merits further investigation."[Via BBC]
Study shows Horde have advantage for wearing red
All the red tabards on the Horde side really annoy me. How come everyone picks a red tabard? Isn't it enough that the Horde flag is red? Can't we have as much variation in our color schemes as we do in our tusk/horn/pigtail configurations? Red is so 2007.Or maybe it's not. A study published in the Cyberpsychology & Behavior journal determined that teams who wore red while playing Unreal Tournament 2004 won 55% of the time over teams that wore blue. Another study from 2005 showed that wearing red gave an advantage to athletes in the 2004 Olympics, too. However, I'm not sure I buy the reasons given for this advantage, though. The neuroscientist who studied the Unreal Tournament matches thinks that because men turn red when they're angry this color acts as a psychological distractor. Sounds like some reaching, if you ask me.Now, of course, in WoW we don't always wear the colors of our faction, but the predominance of red tabards on the Horde side and blue ones on the Alliance side may just put a Brutal Gladiator's Painsaw in the hands of those who claim the Horde has an advantage in the battlegrounds. But only if everyone wears red or blue. Hm. I wonder if I can change my guild's tabard color from green to red...[Thanks, Avadann Kedeth.]
Scientists find red team is better than blue team (seriously)
Finally. Proof that red team roolz. The scientific journal "Cyberpsychology & Behavior" has published the results of a research study, finding that over the course of 1,347 matches of Unreal Tournament 2004, the red team beat the blue team 55% of the time. Yes, this is actually what passes for science now.One neuroscientist reasons that the slight red team advantage may be psychological, as the color red could prove distracting to men, "possibly because men flush and turn red when they're angry." As silly as that sounds, the study parallels a similar one performed in 2005, where it was found that wearing red in real-life one-on-one sporting events increased the likelihood of victory.Acknowledging the findings of the research, Epic Games VP Mark Rein said they won't be changing the classic multiplayer colors of Unreal Tournament anytime soon. At least now you have an excuse for losing all the time, right blue team?
WoW Moviewatch: Kake Buk Island Teaser
Now that Baron Soosdon has landed a comfy job as Community Manager at Machinima.com, he has time to make lots of movies -- or trailers, at least! His next project is a cross-game video, Kake Buk Island, using World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004. There is an extensive list of guest voice actors tied to the project, including Drewbie (Insert cameo joke here!), Olibith, Tuesday Smith, and Vilaeryn. Since this movie seems to have a plot, yet he doesn't describe it to us, let's make one up for him![Thanks, Baron!]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Cinemassively: Limited Escapism - To Cure a Hangover
When an orc wakes up with a horrible hangover and no booze in sight, he heads for the video store. The clerk begins showing him a series of movies, some hits and some misses. This Machinima has it all - guns, anime girls, tentacles, music, and murlocs.BaronSoosdon has done it again! With voice acting by Nyhm & Olibith, and creative use of World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004, it's no surprise that this movie won first prize in the comedy category of the Fabled Few contest. My personal favorite mini-clip was "Unlimited Escapism - Liberation." What was your favorite moment?
