Behind the façade: How crowdsourcing will bring videogames to life

August 4th, 2010 by Tommaso De Benetti

The history of the videogame industry has been quite a ride, every bit as dramatic as some of its action packed creations. As the style and complexity of games has evolved, so too has the creative process behind the scenes. Now, more than ever, is an exciting time for the industry as number of developments – notably cloud computing – seem likely to revolutionize the way we interact with computers.

What began as an industry dominated by the conquests of mythological lone programmers, now relies more on the collective efforts of a studio. While the lone programmers still exist, the colossal amount of work required to create modern games means their influence is much diminished.

Standing on the shoulders of giants
Today the rich heritage of big names like Will Wright (Populous, SimCity, The Sims), Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario Bros, Zelda), Jeff Minter (Tempest, Gridrunner) or Rob Gilbert (Monkey Island) is carried on by a new generation of young designers, all eager to leave their mark on the pixilated hallways of the industry.

So much has changed since these legends were born it almost seems incredible that they are still alive, let alone still overflowing with volcanic creativity. As a programmer, Peter Molyneux celebrated themes like power, choice and influence in his games. Now, as the Creative Director of Microsoft Games Studio, he can spend less time on technical details and more time developing the concepts that will shape the gaming industry in the future.

It was back at the Los Angeles E3 Conference of 2009 when Molyneux proudly displayed Milo for the first time to showcase what is now known as the Xbox 360 Kinect. Milo was also recently a star at the TedGlobal 2010 conference.

Milo is a boy who lives in your TV. Just like any normal boy, you can talk to him, ask him questions and interact with him. Thanks to the visual scanning features of Kinect, Milo not only interprets your words, but also your facial expressions and body language. You can even pass him objects from the real world to the virtual one. It looks like a smart gimmick (and it probably is), but one can’t help but be amazed how far we have come since Little Computer People captivated our attention.

Façade is another project based on the natural interaction with virtual entities. Predetermination is history. You just say (or in this case, write) anything you like, and the virtual characters will respond in a consistent and relevant way. Although a relatively controlled experience, it’s a brilliant achievement based on years of hard work.

Crowdsourcing computer games: The final frontier?
Where do we go from this natural, but very finite playground? What if we could extend the simulation indefinitely? In the near future, instead of having a studio sweat for years over Milo’s artificial intelligence, it will be entirely managed by the cloud. For no matter how dedicated or talented the team of programmers, they will never come up with sufficient algorithmic behaviors to allow for every possible situation.

The cloud will add human intelligence to the recipe, allowing avatars like Milo to be imbued with the experience of millions of brains working together. Milo’s children will learn day by day from human inputs (becoming, de facto, semantic expert systems and developing at the same time their own unique personality.

As these simulacra develop they will redefine our relationships with computers, and might even make us wonder what “being real” actually means. Transhumanists, who advocate human evolution through science and technology, will have goosebump-filled, sleepless nights at the very thought. For the rest of us, the idea may be as scary as it is thrilling, probably depending on our appreciation for science-fiction and its knack of influencing the future. Where the industry takes us next is anyone’s guess, but whatever happens, the wild ride is sure to continue.

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