WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF
Today AI is impersonal, but tomorrow it could be your best friend …
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We’re surely all feeling the effects of not seeing our friends enough this year, so what if we had an Artificial Intelligence (AI) friend to play with instead – one that learns more about us as we play with so it can become an even better friend!? Soon you’ll be able to treat yourself to just that after indie developer Not a Sailor Studios announced the upcoming release of Buddy Simulator 1984.
Like another game I wrote about recently that uses AI to create a procedural game that adapts and tailors itself to every individuals behaviours and actions Buddy Simulator 1984 presents you with a fictional cutting-edge AI that “simulates the experience of hanging out with a best buddy.”
Meet your new best friend, 1984 meets 2021 AI …
Considered the “next big step in game evolution,” the program not only invites you to play games together, but it also promises to “constantly be learning all about you in order to become better friends.” So, what could go wrong!?
As befits the year in which it’s set Buddy Simulator shows only a monochrome computer monitor on which you can play simple games like rock-paper-scissors and hangman. When that novelty wears off, your ever-adapting new AI pal can construct classic-styled text adventures that require typing in commands while rudimentary graphics are displayed on-screen. And all the while, not only are you offering input, the computer can talk back – think Zork meets WarGames and you’ll have the basic idea.
While the full version of Buddy Simulator 1984 isn’t due out on Steam until early next month for Windows PC, you can introduce yourself to your would-be computer friend right away through the playable demo that’s already available.
