HEARTLAND SERIES: Q&A WITH FILAMENT GAMES CEO DAN WHITEESA asked Dan White, CEO of Filament Games in Madison, Wisconsin, about his experiences in the video game industry, the types of games and technologies the studio focuses on, and the role that video games will play in the future of education. Read the Q&A to learn more about Filament Games and how it creates some of the best learning-based video games in the industry. Showcasing the geographic diversity of the video game industry, the Heartland Series features interviews with video game publishers, developers, and innovators from across America, highlighting the groundbreaking work and innovation they bring to every corner of the nation. NEW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD ENHANCE VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENTWith no code and less than two minutes of video game footage, an artificial intelligence (AI) developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has recreated several game engines. Researchers trained the AI using a single “speedrun” video of a platform game, which made the training problem more difficult. Despite the difficulty, the AI reproduced an accurate, general model of the game using only the short video clip. The research team then ran another experiment to assess the recreated engine’s performance when played and found that there was no difference between playing the cloned engine and the original game engine. “Our AI creates the predictive model without ever accessing the game’s code,” said Matthew Guzdial, lead researcher and doctoral candidate in computer science. “A single video won’t produce a perfect clone of the game engine, but by training the AI on just a few additional videos, you get something that’s pretty close.” The research team, which has since begun replicating their experiments using other platform games, hopes the technology will someday help both novice coders and professional developers make projects once beyond their reach. “Instead of putting people out of work, this will make it possible for people to create games that were otherwise unable to do so," said Mark Riedl, associate professor of interactive computing and co-investigator on the project. “That makes it possible for more people to create – increasing the size of the pie instead of supplanting individuals. Second, professionals may be able to build games faster by having the system make an initial guess about the mechanics. Working more efficiently doesn’t necessarily put people out of work, but does allow them to make bigger and better games in the time available.” DID YOU KNOW? American men age 18 to 25 watch esports online more than traditional sports or TV shows. In fact, they watch esports more than any other form of online video content except movies. (Source: Business Insider) NEW VIRTUAL REALITY GAME HELPS PERFORM DEMENTIA RESEARCH‘Sea Hero Quest VR’ tasks players with navigating a ship safely through the sea to test spatial awareness. (Image from Instagram - @glitchersgames) Popular mobile game Sea Hero Quest, designed to help perform dementia research, recently received a virtual reality (VR) update. Using VR technology, the player orientation data collected by the game will be 15x more precise. London-based developer GLITCHERS created the game in partnership with dementia scientists, spatial navigation consultants, and data security specialists to evaluate spatial awareness. Deterioration of spatial awareness is one of the earliest symptoms of dementia, but until the creation of Sea Hero Quest, scientists lacked an effective means of evaluating it in humans. “If you’re testing someone in Manhattan or in the Himalayas, you’re going to have very different environments in which to test someone’s disorientation,” said Hugo Spiers from the University College of London, one of the lead researchers on the project. “It’s very hard to create a universal test, and really the only valid way to do that is to use virtual reality.” Sea Hero Quest and now Sea Hero Quest VR gather information on spatial awareness by testing navigational ability – players are tasked with captaining a boat safely through the sea, dodging obstacles to reach their destination. This information is being used by scientists to establish a baseline for the general population’s spatial awareness. Once that baseline is established, they will be able to use Sea Hero Quest VR to diagnose dementia early, before the onset of more serious symptoms. In addition to the improved accuracy of the new game in determining player orientation, researchers believe Sea Hero Quest VR will better assess navigational skill than the original mobile game because the gestures used to navigate the virtual world closely mirror the gestures of the real world. The game can now collect information on where players look to get their bearings and at what points in the game they hesitate. RISING ESPORTS MARKET SEES INVESTMENT FROM MAJOR PLAYERSGamers compete in the E3 ESPORTS ZONE, the dedicated esports stage Projected to reach $1.9 billion in revenue by 2018, esports have become one of the most lucrative worldwide markets, and investors are taking notice. Leading industry players in tech, media, and sports recently announced new partnerships and investments in esports. Earlier this year, YouTube announced a multi-year deal with FACEIT to stream the competitive gaming platform’s Esports Championship Series (ECS). As part of the deal, YouTube also plans to work with ESC players to build their profile and grow the audiences on their YouTube channels. “This is definitely our biggest investment in this space overall,” said YouTube Head of Global Gaming, Content, and Partnerships Ryan Wyatt. “I think the big thing that esports needs to do right now is ... introduce esports to the masses, so that we can continue to get bigger brands involved.” Facebook also recently announced a partnership with Hi-Rez Studios and the World Esports Association to stream their new Paladins Premier League exclusively through Facebook Live. The deal is only the most recent in a flurry of partnerships being undertaken by the social media giant, which has also partnered with ESL, Wargaming, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. “We’re all in,” Facebook Director of Global Games Partnerships Leo Olebe said in a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re putting all of our cards, all of our chips on the table. We fundamentally believe that games are an incredible way to connect people to each other and videos are an incredible way to do that too. With our understanding of those two concepts, we’re going to invest and invest.” Like traditional sports, esports boast a large fan base and structured tournaments, which may be why traditional sports leagues and teams are also investing in esports. In May, the NBA announced that 17 NBA teams will take part in the inaugural NBA 2K esports league, scheduled to kick off in 2018, and it was exactly one year ago that the Philadelphia 76ers became the first North American professional sports team to own an esports team. The proliferation of esports has even prompted increased investment in the number of venues that host esports tournaments, including the recent opening of Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. The new venue, custom designed and built for Blizzard Entertainment, includes soundstages, practice facilities, a merchandise store, and seating for about 450 fans. The Overwatch Contenders Season One playoffs, set for October 7-8, will be the first event held at the arena. STATISTIC OF THE MONTHTotal spending on augmented and virtual reality products and services is expected to jump from $11.4 billion in 2017 to nearly $215 billion in 2021 – a compound annual growth rate of 113 percent. (Source: Digital Insurance) IN THE NEWS QUOTE OF THE MONTH“Video games are part of our visual culture, and worthy of display as well as study at [the Smithsonian American Art Museum].” - Stephanie Stebich, Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Source: Technical.ly) CONTACT USEntertainment Software Association
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