Brainwave Controlled Game From Square Enix

zombies-alive writes "Square Enix and Neurosky, maker of wearable sensory equipment, are coming out with a new 'Brainwave-Controlled' RPG. The game will be demonstrated at the Tokyo Game Show for the (Windows) PC, which features the NeuroSky MindSet headset. At this moment, the headset only detects the gamer's level of concentration and relaxation by means of a single electrode placed on the forehead."

Why?

OK, now tell me how this helps me slaughter n00bs more efficiently.

Re:Why?

Unlocked technique: Carebear Stare

This technique requires an enourmous amount of concentration and relaxation at the same time. Only applicable to NeuroSky MindSet users.

You don't believe me? Try aiming while doing that.

Re:

Doesn't this require an additional output device on your belly?

Re:Why?

You don't get it. This is for dating simulations [megatokyo.com]

Re:

People that are already terrible at a game probably won't intentionally handicap themselves with a device like this.

But what happens when...

...Windows crashes and accidentally erases your mind?

Re:But what happens when...

accidentally?

Re:

That's why I always make backups.

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There would never be a game bug so bad it erases everything, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_of_Radiance:_Ruins_of_Myth_Drannor [wikipedia.org]

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That's why you mount a scratch monkey* [google.com] first.

*any average Windows user will do

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Accidental "Memory dumps" is a bug that still needs to be solved. It might take some time since the QA testers are trying to remember who they are right now.

Re:But what happens when...

you mean the Blue Seizure of Death

Ah but...

...do I wear my aluminum foil over or under this electrode?

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Under, so it can transmit back to the base console but not wipe your mind sporadically. :)

I wonder how the sensor will read...

...when I get slaughtered by a boss, and I realize that no amount of skill will compensate for the requisite three hours of level grinding to go before I have a chance of winning.

It's a cute gimmick, but this will likely equate to a single extra button - a hands-off on-off switch. It's a bit of a stretch to say the game will be "brain controlled". If the game can be controlled with a single button, then that's a little more shallow than RPGs I normally play.

My fear would be that this would mar an otherwise fun RPG with a pointless piece of flaky hardware. I'll wait and see how the reviews go, I guess.

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Actually the article never says it will be used for RPGs. Bad summary.

The use I thought of immediately was a game like Bushido Blade [wikipedia.org]. This was a samurai movie style game where a single well-placed attack on an unguarded opponent could kill them - a hybrid of pure action, good old fashioned fight tactics and a balancing act between opportunism and the code of Bushido.

I would really like to see a controller like this added to the mix, where the computer detected your tension and made your opponent act like a

finally!

A way to look more nerdy while playing an RPG!

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Since this is Square Enix we're speaking here (read: old-timers, with legs firmly cemented in past) I wouldn't be all that surprised if in case of taking damage, electric shock would be send directly to your brain. Just to make sure that, you know, analogous to other SE RPGs, you are taking it seriously and in no case enjoying the game.

P.S. And obviously, as friendly guesture, you brains would be lobotomized if you die. To make sure that you can't cheat and all are on the same leveled play field.

Meh ... wait until you see virtual sex

The entirety of the wealth generated by the Internet, all Software ever written, and every piece of adult content ever generated, will pale in comparison to the wealth generated when you can download into your brain a sexual fantasy that seems completely real. In fact, this may be man kind's last invention.

"No time to work on that, I just finished my custom simulation of Planet Bigboner, which is populated exclusively by 19-year-old-Claudia-Schiffer-Nymphomaniac-Clones who all worship me as their Great Deity. Sometimes I am a just and fair God, sometimes an angry one. I will be playing this until I die or they turn off my power, now go away and don't interrupt my simulation or I will kill you."

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you jest but the day someone works out a method to do the operation easily and cheaply it will become real. Of course it wouldn't catch on too much because even if it's less destructive than heroin there's no money to be made once the operation has been done.

It could catch on for other purposed though. imagine an implant for people who want to get off really addictive drugs which only activates while their bloodstream is clean and they're in good physical shape (indicators of dehydration or starvation could

concentration vs relaxation

They had an exhibit at the science center in calgary that let two people sit down and each wear this helmet strap thing. The more you relaxed, the closer a ball got to your opponent's side. Conversely, the more 'stressed' you were, the closer it got to your side, forcing you to "try to relax" even more. We played it 4 or 5 times, the first few genuinely, then with me trying as hard as i could to be stressed and concentrate as much as possible. I found absolutely no correlation between me and the ball

OCZ Already has a similar product in the market.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned the OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator yet.

Its essentially the same thing, but with a USB interface for PCs.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/ocz_peripherals/nia-neural_impulse_actuator [ocztechnology.com]

Price is a little steep for a first gen product, but it has been quite widely reviewed and said to actually work.

No, remember your training

There is no spoon!

Re:helps in concentration?

You could probably do Ms Pacman blindfolded :)

oooh kinky ;)

Re:helps in concentration?

while i think this technology may have some useful purposes in the future, i'm a little disturbed at the type of applications it's already being marketed towards:

NeuroSky's products offer opportunities for its exclusive partners and developers to create next generation applications in markets as diverse as consumer electronics, health & wellness, education & training, transportation, market research and others.

i'm honestly afraid that this technology will be used by marketing/advertising firms to develop even more insidious ways of manipulating consumers. with marketing/advertising permeating all aspects of popular culture, even being used by politicians to frame political issues in ways that will win them public approval, we're increasingly living in a society of mass manipulation. we don't need to give the persuaders an even greater degree of control over us by letting them have unprecedented access to the thoughts and mental processes of consumers.

though i'm sure they'll probably start handing these out at focus groups so that they can tap directly into the subconscious desires of the individual as the ultimate form marketing research. marketing gurus are already helping major corporations appeal to the primitive reptilian minds [pbs.org] of consumers to exploit people's subconscious associations. unfortunately, this results in consumers making irrational purchase decisions, which is at least partly responsible for the family SUV phenomena [gladwell.com] in the U.S.