StarCraft II going beta!

Now, what has this got to do with chess? Well, if your regular OTB meetings experience a decline in attendance especially in the teens bracket, you may have a suspect here. Or this is simply just one of those things that one can get excited with side by side with chess.

Blizzard is set to give beta test accounts a few weeks from now. You can find the full mechanics on how to get one on their FAQ site (click pic to get there).

After all this long time of anticipation, I already got myself confused about what this new StarCraft is going to be about. But given my experience with the original StarCraft, it's understandable why the excitement hasn't abated still. This is one of those games that you hardly think would disappoint. You have to hand it to Blizzard to maintain the excitement of the followers of this game after all this time. Quality does pay big time.

Excuse me while I try to get myself a beta account...

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War of the Machines

No, it's not another movie review. This is about games that computers play. You read that right. The International Computer Games Association (click pic to get to the site) started out as the International Computer Chess Association, which holds regular championship events for computer vs. computer matches. It has been renamed in 2002 as ICGA, and now caters to other computer games and game artificial intelligence. It hosts the World Computer Chess Championship, as well as the Computer Olympiad. ICGA fosters relationships with the fields of Computer Science, Commerce, and Game organizations throughout the world.

There's something awkwardly eerie when you consider more closely the idea of two programs, slugging it out on a game of chess, checkers, or backgammon. It also has deeper repercussions than one would normally consider at first. What computer developers will learn from developing these programs can have day-to-day applications. As I see it, a computer vs. computer game will fete the developers ability to develop a better database of moves and a means to evaluate the best possible move in the shortest possible time. And since the human mind is arguably the best computer still, what if you design these game computers the way we are designed, providing them a sort of "freedom" that will allow them to "discover" new tactics and plans. Do we have a Sonny or a VICKI (from I, Robot) in the making?

Check out ICGA today! Read More......