Brainwave Controlled Game From Square Enix 119
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? (Score:5, Funny)
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and people who are good will be even better after they figure out hooking a battery to the thing fixes it right up.
or sticking the electrode on a cat.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)
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.
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The title is wrong. There's nothing in the original article about a role-playing game.
(sigh)
Why can't they just stick to the basic turn-based RPG? I like those; they require strategy, rather than button-mashing (or an autorepeat button).
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The title is wrong. There's nothing in the original article about a role-playing game.
(sigh)
Why can't they just stick to the basic turn-based RPG? I like those; they require strategy, rather than button-mashing (or an autorepeat button).
Actually their is a screen shot on the left that is suppose to show that it is an RPG style game, but yeah...
This better? [wordpress.com]
I enjoy turn based RPGs, but free world (like what they are making and elder scrollers made) is what is popular. I still remember back when I was a kid and FF7 had the option to turn it to turn based or real time.
Also I still find strategy in said "button-mashing" games, its just harder to see and seize.
I think that eventually we will be able to wirelessly control the game with just
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OK, now tell me how this helps me slaughter n00bs more efficiently.
It doesn't. You'll still need to take advantage of their lag.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)
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Therefore, it will make it less efficient by making it harder to kill your noobs. But at least it will be more of a challenge.
~
NoName
So the game has support (Score:1)
for bending spoons(using the mind)?
No, remember your training (Score:4, Insightful)
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For bending spoony bards rather.
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For bending spoony bards rather.
Son of a submariner! I wanted to use that line!
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But what happens when... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:But what happens when... (Score:5, Funny)
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http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:Ackbar_trapped_diary.jpg [encycloped...matica.com]
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Blue Screen of Death.
Re:But what happens when... (Score:4, Funny)
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The answer to that is simple. And I quote Morpheus:
"The body cannot live without the mind."
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Extend, embrace, and extinguish?
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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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>>>"would delete the Windows's System Folder if the game was uninstalled."
Ouch.
Of course my laptop with Windows98 did that all by itself. One minute I was surfing the web, the next I lost power, and when I rebooted it told me it could find the system folder. Wunderbar. (rolls eyes). I just love self-erasing OSes.
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Well that's to prevent virus infections. XP would crash and auto reboot hence why it had more viruses that win98.
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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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I don't remember.
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You become a creationist and buy another copy of windows.
helps in concentration? (Score:2, Interesting)
I've heard that the internet is changing the way that people think. They think in short quick bursts now instead of long thoughtful periods.
Perhaps this type of controller will reverse that trend.
(oops, IM)
K I'm back. :)
(check email)
What I mean is maybe we can ignore the interrupts if we get trained to do it by the controller. Don't tell me that you haven't been trained by games. You could probably do Ms Pacman blindfolded
Re:helps in concentration? (Score:5, Funny)
You could probably do Ms Pacman blindfolded :)
oooh kinky ;)
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I think his name is Pinky.
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Pinky, Blinky, Speedy, and Clyde. (Clyde was replaced with Sue in Ms.Pac-man). Where's my Atari?
I'm suddenly in the mood for some Jr.Pac-man action. I love that game!
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Pinky, Blinky, Speedy, and Clyde.
Speedy? Who's Speedy? And what happened to Inky?
Re:helps in concentration? (Score:4, Informative)
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:
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.
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Don't worry, I'm sure the next spin off will be something totally benign like an automatic terrorist detector [slashdot.org].
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I've heard that the internet is changing the way that people think. They think in short quick bursts now instead of long thoughtful periods.
I find it depends on what people are doing - as a coder, I have no problem sitting down and coding non-stop (literally) for several hours. I enjoy reading also, and can do this for several hours without losing any concentration. Put me in front of something I don't want to do and I'll likely wander off and get distracted by randomly browsing Slashdot or something else (like right now at work, I'm brushing up on SharePoint to show to a managementy type just because I once wrote an integration in to SharePo
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I'm a coder as well, but I find that email is a constant distraction, but I miss it if it's not there.
I used to sit for hours coding, now not so much. Course it could be the coffee....
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On
Ah but... (Score:3, Funny)
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Under, so it can transmit back to the base console but not wipe your mind sporadically. :)
Oh My Overlord ! (Score:1)
Says brainwaves all over the places, but I wonder how much of the interaction is instead due to muscle movement [wired.com] sampling.
I wonder how the sensor will read... (Score:5, Insightful)
...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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As usual, it will depend on the implementation. I'd say it is believable that, with good design, this feature could provide a lot of entertainment. I would liken it, somewhat, to the Wiimote. It provided people another way of interacting with the game. In some cases it's stupid, but in others it works well. Mindlink-enhanced solitaire is a bad choie, but imagine all the people wetting themselves when they can actually use Jedi powers in-game with their thoughts.
I got to try NeuroSky's device somewhat
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I got to try NeuroSky's device somewhat recently, and it looked like they were going the Jedi route. They even had you levitate an X-wing.
Now this is the sort of thing that could catch on. It's a bit like seeing an autostereogram the first time.
I could imagine a Golden Compass game where you played the part of Lyra trying to read the Alethiometer, having to get into the right frame of mind before it started working.
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That's the main issue I have with the DS and Wii. A lot of games I see they use the wand/stylus in very odd ways to make them seem new and innovative when they just end up being shoddy and useless.
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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
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Think about a game, where the monsters could actually sense your fear.
Of course they have to make it so it would be enjoyable and at the same time horrifying to play, still remember my first time with Resident Evil... going down that corridor and as you turn so you can barely see behind you, a undead dog just crashes through the window and jum
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You forget -- as we all know here, every game is built ultimately using only simple on-off switches.
(Now, was it concentrate-concentrate-relax-concentrate-relax to turn left...?)
Just one step closer to hooking up to the internet (Score:1)
Imagine someone's brain when it gets slashdotted. *winks
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of peoples brains hooked up to the internet.
When will the control work in reverse and extend to mind control?
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with our brains so we can get first post! Imagine someone's brain when it gets slashdotted. *winks Imagine a Beowulf cluster of peoples brains hooked up to the internet. When will the control work in reverse and extend to mind control?
this isn't like some brain interface; a peripheral would match it more. We have a while until the brain is a fully understood organ. Mapping it out doesn't create a true interface, but you can use it to create an output that decisions are made based on it, like a joystick or gamepad. Keep wishing though Mr. Lawnmower Man :-P
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Even though I don't wanna get brain-gimped by some mistake or someone messing with it hehe
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"Even though I don't wanna get brain-gimped by some mistake or someone messing with it hehe"
Meh, that's just the meat talkin'. Just watch out for the ice...
In other news... (Score:2)
finally! (Score:5, Funny)
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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.
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>
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.
You just made me think of something... what If they found a way to use this to find out when some one is cheating? I mean I'm sure they would find a way around it eventually but it would be interesting... Quick!!! We need monkeys to test this!!!
~
NoName
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In RPG world, finding a weakness of your enemy and exploiting it is already a type of cheating.
Essentially any (winning) strategy can be also seen as cheating.
It's not that I have experience in cheating (it's only console folks cry about it all the time) but IMO there is a little difference between (1) using a cheat and (2) having a winning strategy/tactics.
Essential difference between the two is that presence of cheating means imbalanced game mechanics. Or even dumber case of engineers leaving a
Just an insidious form of piracy prevention. (Score:1)
Meh ... wait until you see virtual sex (Score:5, Funny)
"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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Changes the whole concept of farming......
That sounds a lot like an old TV series. (Score:2)
That was the basis for William Shatner's movie*: 'TekWar' [imdb.com] and the TV series of the same name.** [imdb.com]
*(from imdb.com) "A television movie based on the futurist story by William Shatner." and from same source:"Plot summary for
TekWar (1994) (TV) More at IMDb Pro
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After four years, Jake Cardigan is prematurely awoken from his fifteen year cryogenic punishment to a world very different than the one he knew. Much more than before 'Tek', the highly-addictive electronic designer narcotic of the 21st century,
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Just sex fantasy ? you'll get bored and get fewer fewer pleasure. Activate directly your dopamine receptors and there to ecstasy !
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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
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(indicators of dehydration could cause it to switch off to make sure the person takes care of themselves)
... I and many others would find ways to bypass that fail switch if it truly gave that much pleasure.
~
NoName; gaming and dehydrated since 1991.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_terminal_man [wikipedia.org]
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Eventually the guy turned gay, and after the experiment, he was rumored to be working the streets as a gay prostitute... Experiment FAILED?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead [wikipedia.org]
Obligatory Niven.
concentration vs relaxation (Score:4, Informative)
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Sounds to me like not everyone is identical... Wow, imagine that!
I see them having a lot of problems with this technology because of that. Our brainwaves may all be similar, but that doesn't mean they're all the same. Or even alike enough to have a single plastic helmet fit everyone.
I'm hoping this device (and game) does well, and I'll probably be sucked into buying one, but only the fact that Squeenix is involved gives me any confidence in it.
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Sounds to me like not everyone is identical... Wow, imagine that!
Sure. But since this thing only measures an increase or decrease in brainwave activity, it cannot be explained by a simple "We are all different.". That's why the fact caught my interest in the first place.
Great idea! CIrca 1984 (Score:2)
The idea is much older than you might think. Atari planned to do something very similar in addition to cordless controllers, light guns, and a primitive motion sensor controller. Atari had a lot of great ideas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Mindlink [wikipedia.org]
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Errr ya, except for the part where that controller used the motion of your eyebrows instead of EEG, it's a very similar idea, if by similar you mean festering with the scent of an unmatched chromosome...
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Y'know, referring to "1984" and "mind-controlling" in the same post could give some people the wrong idea. Personally, I'm just glad you said "Atari", and not "Microsoft".
They use EEG sensors for epileptics (Score:1)
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Forehead? (Score:2, Funny)
Slashdot, ten years from now... (Score:1)
No?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23595533/ [msn.com]
I can see the Slashdot headline ten years from now: "Nerd plays MMO for three years, control fused to forehead. On an up note, he reached level 50!"
Wow! (Score:1)
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"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"... ONE electrode... magic?
"Let's see now. You've come here from a great distance.... You want me to buy a subscription to the Saturday Evening Post!"
OCZ Already has a similar product in the market. (Score:3, Informative)
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.
Re:welcome to the future (Score:2)
I was looking at this the other day... would be an interesting toy to tinker with to see what else you could do with it... too bad there are no linux drivers.
My prediction is that in less than 20 years cell phones, or whatever passes for cell phones by then, will be implanted below the skin. Look at all the people walking around in what would normally be in and off itself a social setting and yet they are simultaneously busy chattering away to someone on their phone non-stop. It won't take more than a gen
Um, sorry, not "brainwaves" (Score:2, Insightful)
Sorry their device probably does not measure brainwaves. A single electrode on the forehead would measure only forehead muscle activity (EMG) and eye movements (EOG), but not brainwave activity (EEG). The developers are basically banking that you wrinkle your forehead when you "concentrate". As an aside, EMG is really easy to record, while EEG is much more complicated and not well-suited to a consumer device.
I hope it's the marketing department BS and not the inventors who are misrepresenting their product.
Super Ninja Looting Skill! (Score:1)
Wow I can't wait to see all the whining posts on how quickly people can ninja loot phats with this gadget.
Childhood's End's Telekinesis!? (Score:2)
Imagine a brainwave LAN party where a guy and a girl rise above the gray matter mass, and after some tough head to head battle (ROFL) they fall in love, and have kids. Their son/daughter repeats on the latest technology... Repeat. Pretty soon, you're breeding, yea, EVOLVING BrainWavers.
By that time, the technology of the headsets will improve to where the better brainwavers work better, and the creme de l
biofeedback (Score:2)
It's called biofeedback [wikipedia.org]. My Uncle used to have an electric train that you could "control" with your mind. The more relaxed you were, the faster the train would go.
I can hear my wife asking... (Score:1)
Need less brain (Score:1)
i figure, they'll show off the device, by attaching it to a amoeba, since i suggest that's about the most brain power you'll ever need (want to have) to successfully finish one of their rpgs.