Reddit.

The patent called “STATE MANAGEMENT FOR VIDEO GAME HELP SESSIONS” describes multiple examples where a pop-up might ask a player to let a helper take over the gameplay for a while.

Imagine if a user were struggling to find a rare gem in an RPG; if allowed, the helper would take control from the player. They would proceed to chat and guide the user through the process of acquiring the gem.

  • fum@lemmy.world
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    1 hour ago

    Why even bother living. Just get “AI” to live for you, and recycle your meaningless meat form.

    • Bieren@lemmy.today
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      52 minutes ago

      You exist to be exploited for the benefit of the shareholders. This allows you to work so many more hours a day.

  • Zink@programming.dev
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    1 hour ago

    Prior art: I remember a long time ago seeing a video of a Barney (as in purple dinosaur) video game for little kids that would just start playing itself if you didn’t touch the controller for a while. It was a side scroller, probably NES/SNES/Genesis.

  • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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    2 hours ago

    Wasn’t there a similar shit patent headline about sony doing that?

    Oh yeah, there was, “ghost assistance”, aka “no need to look up on youtube”; something which I’m pretty sure exists as “previous art” in some game or another - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sony-patents-ai-generated-ghost-support-system-to-assist-stuck-players

    Also, bots that automate play have existed since the old MUD days, this patent must be like the many that are “something that already exists, but on a computer with AI”

  • LievitoPadre@feddit.it
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    4 hours ago

    I mean… Use the developers console or a cheat if you’re stuck with something and want to continue playing, or just quit the game. There’s no need for an AI to do this.

    • T156@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      I do wish that more games still had cheats. It does feel a bit like a lot of newer games have foregone them entirely. You can’t type plane into GTA V, and have a plane materialise, like you could in Vice City, for example.

      You’d need to mod it in.

  • kazerniel@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Tbh I wouldn’t mind this, I hate boss fights in games, I would definitely let the AI do those, and switch back to me for the stuff I enjoy :D

    Edit: Though as another commenter said below, a skip button would achieve the same, no need for an LLM if that’s what they mean by “AI”.

  • Eggyhead@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Then they tell publishers and game developers that more players finish their games on Microsoft’s platform than any others!

  • MousePotatoDoesStuff@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    This sounds like the ironically good version of the Nemesis System patent - no AI helpers in non-Microslop games for the next 20 years.

  • Tamps@feddit.uk
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    15 hours ago

    The other thing the helps people get unstuck in games is good game design. 🙃

    <sigh> I suppose this is just the equivalent of reading a game guide that someone has written, but this feels like it could remove too much friction. Are you playing the game if everything just becomes a tutorial?

    • lorty@lemmy.ml
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      2 hours ago

      If it works I expect it to be popular. A lot of people don’t actually want to engage with videogames and would rather zombie through the experience

      • lost_faith@lemmy.ca
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        34 minutes ago

        Exactly, “I hate the grind”, “The boss/sub boss fights are too hard”, “I only have so many hours in a day”.

        Some days I barely have an hour to play a game, sometimes I think maybe, just maybe, I could use a bot/AI to get a little more done while I’m doing those tedious life things, then I think “What’s the point if I don’t do it myself?”

    • Victor@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      Yeah I don’t get it. Just have a program write to a file with the finished game data, no need for an AI to waste cycles playing the game for you.

    • MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      It’s kind of like the old Nintendo hotline. Call when you’re stuck on something in a game. Or just looking up a walkthrough online.

      That said, this makes it far easier to ask for help and kids might just rely on it too much instead of figuring stuff out on their own.

      • MrQuallzin@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        With the hotline and guides you still had to actually play yourself. This is a step further, you just watch the game play itself.

        • MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          At least, it’s not just someone watching a YouTube video of someone else playing… though I imagine some of that is just due to affordability.

          I know my young nephew gets frustrated on some games and then just gives up… even if he knows what to do. Maybe when he’s older he could get better at those, but by that time, he’ll be on to something else.