News:: MIT's 'Super Smash Bros.' AI can compete with veteran players

For expert players, most video game AI amounts to little more than target practice -- especially in fighting games, where it rarely accounts for the subtleties of human behavior. At MIT, though, they've developed a Super Smash Bros. Melee AI that should make even seasoned veterans sweat a little. The CSAIL team trained a neural network to fight by handing it the coordinates of game objects, and giving it incentives to play in ways that should secure a win. The result is an AI brawler that has largely learned to fight on its own -- and is good enough to usually prevail over players ranked in the top 100 worldwide.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: ArXiv.org

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News:: PlayStation VR has sold better than Sony expected

Since its release in October, Sony has been quiet as to whether or not PlayStation VR has been a success for them. The general worry was whether or not the current virtual reality craze would teeter out much like 3D and motion controls, and while this still may yet to be disproven, at least Sony seems to have made a dent in the market. 

Speaking with The New York Times, Andrew House, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Global Chief Executive, revealed that PlayStation VR has sold 916,000 units as of February 19th. With Sony's internal goal of selling one million within six months, this certainly took them by surprise as House initially approached production of the units cautiously. But, crediting games like Resident Evil 7: biohazard, House states average amount of time spent with VR has doubled. 

I wonder what this means for the rest of the VR competition. The New York Times notes the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have sold 243,000 and 420,000 (nice) units respectively thanks to data collected from SuperData Research. Clearly Sony's household name coupled with the base gained from the PlayStation 4 console have helped in that regard. Either way, it's great to hear Sony didn't just put all of their eggs in one basket and throw everything they had into VR. It seems it was a fun little experiment that's paid off relatively well so far. I wonder if sales can hold up as the months roll on, however. Anything can happen as it's a crazy world we're living in. 

Popularity of Sony's PlayStation VR Surprises Even the Company [New York Times] 

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News:: Review: Logitech G533 Headset

Logitech's Artemis Spectrum is oft-heralded as one of the best gaming headsets you can buy, but the company has taken another stab at audio hardware with the G533 Wireless headset. Like its forefather, it's expensive, but if you're willing to shell out your hard-earned cash money, you'll be very happy with these puppies.

I promise I won't talk like a used-car salesman for the rest of this review.

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News:: Sony has sold nearly 1 million PlayStation VR headsets

Ever since PlayStation VR, speculation has been rampant: is console-based virtual reality here to stay, or will it die an early death? Apparently, its near-term future is secure. Sony's Andrew House tells the New York Times that the company had sold 915,000 PSVR headsets as of February 19th, just over four months after its October 13th debut. That doesn't sound like much for a company that has sold tens of millions of PlayStation 4s, but it's well ahead of expectations -- Sony had hoped to reach the 1 million mark by mid-April. Sales might have been better still if the company hadn't been purposefully cautious with production, leading to shortages centered primarily in its home turf of Japan.

Source: New York Times

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News:: Ben Heck makes a Zelda lamp by upcycling laptop screens

Humans by nature can be a little bit wasteful. Recycling helps, of course, but some things are too good to throw away. That's where upcycling comes in. Karen has the idea to repurpose laptop screens to create a Legend of Zelda-inspired lamp. However, not just any laptop screen will do. As the team rips apart old hardware they soon discover the different types of panels that have been used in various laptops over the years. With the optimal screens identified, Karen gets down to business with Adobe Illustrator and designs suitable laser-cut frames. Watch the episode to find out tips and tricks to make the perfect design. Have you upcycled any old hardware? Think you could enter your project in a design competition? Find out more on the element14 Community.

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News:: Review: Dexed

I'm at the point in PlayStation VR ownership where I'm still actively seeking out new games on a regular basis, but I'm also not willing to play just anything because it happens to support the headset. That novelty has long since worn off, especially as we've gotten some truly standout full-game experiences as of late. If I'm going to wheel out and park my office chair in front of the PlayStation Camera and get properly situated to play in ideal conditions, it's gonna need to be decently compelling.

Knowing that Dexed was made by Enslaved studio Ninja Theory was enough of a hook to pull me in, and the trailer seemed promising enough. The polish is there, but unfortunately, it's just rather dull.

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News:: Shadow of Mordor sequel leaked by Target

Fans of Monolith's take on the classic Lord of the Rings saga will be happy to know that a sequel is in the works. Leaked by Target, Middle-earth: Shadow of War seems to be the title of the upcoming game. The description on the Target website (which has since ceased to be) reads, "Go behind enemy lines to forge your army, conquer Fortresses and dominate Mordor from within."

The much-touted "Nemesis" feature from the first game will be making a return. In addition to that information, a "Gold" version of the game was listed which included two story expansions, a different playable character, new abilities, and extra side missions. The "Gold" version also comes with some exclusive "Nemesis" content in the form of an extra Orc fortress and specific tribe.

The release date was listed for August 22 and will cost $60 for the standard and $100 for the "Gold" on PS4 and Xbox One. Seeing as how the past game launched on PC, as well, I'd assume the game is also coming to that platform.

Shadow of Mordor sequel Shadow of War leaked [PC Gamer]

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News:: Samsung's Gear VR returns with a motion controller

While there was no shortage of new Samsung hardware, the company's MWC showcase also had a new Gear VR headset to show off, with a new controller. Adding motion input (as well as a few more buttons) lets you navigate and interact with VR content without having to paw at the headset's buttons like we had to do previous iterations. Alongside a clickable touchpad, there's a trigger, home, back and volume keys. The controller also has an accelerometer, gyrometer and magnetic sensors built-in, and the new hardware will work with Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, the Note 5, as well as the Galaxy S6 series.

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News:: The greatest Legend of Zelda dungeon is obviously Snowpeak Ruins

We are less than a week away from the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game that has been in development since around 1895. It’s been a long time but in a few short days, we’ll all finally be able to see just what this team has been doing since Skyward Sword and finally figure out why they missed the initial launch date by more than a year and a half. I’ve personally avoided as many spoilers as I could leading up to its release to go in as fresh as possible, but what I have heard so far has greatly piqued my interest.

I’ve often said The Legend of Zelda is my religion, and if that’s true, then the dungeons are my New Testament. These lovingly crafted labyrinths are the best part of my bible and I am greatly looking forward to whatever tricky tests await me in Breath of the Wild. More so, I’m very interested in seeing if any of them can even come close to matching the magnificence that is Twilight Princess’ Snowpeak Ruins.

The greatness of Snowpeak Ruins starts before you even open the door to this dilapidated mansion. In order to get to this frigid fortress, you have to snowboard to it on a frozen leaf, which was a nice palate cleanser after all the shit you had to go through to get to the summit of Snowpeak. And the snowboarding here is way better than that garbage from Final Fantasy VII.

What is easily my favorite thing about Snowpeak Ruins is how it takes an instantly recognizable building and makes a dungeon out of it without going out of its way to over exaggerate its size and proportions. Up until this, I think all pervious Zelda dungeons had been big, hollowed-out trees or caves or castles or other types of buildings that didn’t really exist around me. Making this dungeon out of a mansion brought a sense of verisimilitude to the game. As I defeated the various ice creatures found within, grabbing all the necessary ingredients for the soup being brewed, I would often stop, look around and imagine what this building looked like in its prime. It was the first time I ever traversed something in a Zelda game that felt familiar and recognizable, something that would be repeated with the Sandship in Skyward Sword.

Not only is it well designed, but the dungeon itself has a wonderful little story about love woven into it. Peter touched on it when we wrote about our favorite gaming love stories and he’s on point. The bond between Yeto and Yeta brings warmth to this frosty manor with its iced-over puzzles and challenging lack of hearts. Plus, the item you receive here is the goddamn Ball and Chain, which is just awesome.

Twilight Princess isn’t in my top five Zelda games, even though it has so many moments I love, but this dungeon is bar none the best the series has ever produced and I dare anyone to tell me otherwise. I dare ya, I double dare ya, I triple dog dare you to tell me I’m wrong.

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News:: The Simpsons predicted nearly every Switch game

The Simpsons has been on the air for over 25 years, setting the record for the longest-running scripted show in U.S. television history. The famous family has been pretty much everywhere and done everything in that time, and their occasional correct predictions have led some to assume that the writers must be time-travellers visiting from the future. I can't confirm or deny that supposition, but I couldn't help but notice that almost all of Nintendo's announced titles for the Switch have been featured on the show. With the help of Frinkiac, I thought I'd lay out some evidence and let you, the readers, decide for yourselves.

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