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Ubisoft NEO NPC: What Does It Mean For The Future Of Game NPCs

Mason Day — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 16:15:26 +0000

Ubisoft has never backed down from cutting-edge technological advancements, and lately, has been experimenting with using generative AI in video games. At the Game Developers Conference, the publisher announced its NEO NPC project. It is a preliminary version examining how AI technology might enhance the immersion of in-game characters and encounters.

Let’s explore Ubisoft’s innovative NEO NPC prototype, learning about its creation, functionalities, and possible effects on the gaming market. We’ll also discover how this revolutionary innovation promises to transform virtual world immersion, narratives, and player-NPC interactions.

What is Ubisoft’s New NEO NPC Prototype

Have you ever wished to converse with an in-game non-player character? An actual conversation carried out via unscripted action and response? To make this vision a reality, a small R&D team at Ubisoft’s Paris office has been working with generative AI. With the help of GenAI, their project, NEO NPC, pushes the boundaries of what a player can communicate with an NPC without undermining the authenticity of the scenario they find themselves in or the NPC’s character.

Ubisoft launched a Neo NPC prototype at the GDC. The prototype enables users to engage with NPCs that have unique personalities and experiences. These Neo NPCs include novel functions that give them the ability to react to players with spontaneous speech, contextual awareness, and real-time emotion and animation. With the use of advanced AI algorithms and machine learning techniques, NEO NPC technology gives virtual characters a higher degree of flexibility and autonomy.

NEO NPCs can create stronger bonds with players by using intricate speech systems, facial animations, and emotional responses. It can significantly increase player involvement and story engagement.

Overall, the NEO NPC technology from Ubisoft is a big step in the direction of gaming that blurs the boundaries between virtual and real worlds.

What Could NEO NPC Mean For Video Games?

The launch of NEO NPC technology from Ubisoft has a significant impact on the future of video games. An indication of what it might entail for the gaming industry:

Enhanced Immersion

Because NEO NPC technology creates more realistic and lifelike virtual worlds, it promises to greatly improve immersion. With NPCs showing actions and reactions that resemble those of actual people, players will get even more absorbed in the game world.

Dynamic Gameplay

Games using NEO NPC technology have dynamic and unpredictable gameplay thanks to NPCs, which can respond to player actions in real time. It implies that gamers will have to deal with a virtual environment that is smarter and more sensitive.

Richer Storytelling

NEO NPCs’ advanced AI skills allow developers to create stories that are more intricate and detailed. Now, characters can have deep conversations, build intricate bonds with players, and make significant contributions to the story as it evolves.

Personalized Experiences

NEO NPC technology uses machine learning algorithms to customize gameplay to match each player’s preferences and play style.

Increased Social Dynamics

Multiplayer and social gaming experiences are made possible by NEO NPC technology. Envision online environments where NPCs possess the ability to establish connections, rivalries, and bonds with both human players and other NPCs.

Of course, any new protocol will have some pros and cons:

Pros

Players will feel more immersed owing to the NEO NPC prototype’s more realistic behaviors and interactions.
The game is more exciting and surprising when NEO NPCs can adjust to player actions thanks to their advanced AI skills.
Furthermore, by providing NPCs with more detailed personalities, motivations, and relationships, the prototype enables the telling of stories that are more intricate and subtle.
By offering more memorable and significant interactions, NEO NPCs can help players and characters develop deeper emotional bonds.

Cons

Developing advanced NPC behavior calls for a large investment of time and knowledge in development, which could result in longer development cycles and higher development expenses.
NEO NPCs’ greater complexity may put a burden on hardware resources, which could result in problems with performance or restrictions on gaming systems with lower processing power.
Moreover, the handling of virtual characters and the depiction of sensitive topics may become more ethically problematic as NPCs become more lifelike and autonomous.
It could take some time for players to become used to the intricacies of interacting with NEO NPCs. It could cause them to become frustrated or confused at first.
Older games or systems, may not support the advanced capabilities of NEO NPC. It makes it inaccessible to a portion of the user base.

Possible Issues When It Comes to Voice Actors in Industry

When it comes to voice actors in this industry, several potential issues may arise. These may be…

Job Displacement

Traditional voice actors may worry about losing their jobs because of synthesized or procedurally generated voices as NEO NPC technology develops. It can result in opposition from advocacy organizations or voice actor unions, as well as job instability.

Quality Issues

Although NEO NPC technology might have amazing powers, it might be difficult to replicate the emotional richness and subtlety that come from using human voice actors. It could affect the complete gaming experience by making NPCs sound artificial or robotic.

Ethical Issues

Using synthetic voices without obtaining the appropriate permission or paying voice performers may raise ethical questions. Ownership of synthetic voice data and intellectual property rights may come up.

Diversity & Representation

In video games, voice actors frequently have a major impact on how diverse characters are portrayed. There might be worries that diverse voice actors will not have as many possibilities because of NEO NPC technology.

Technical Difficulties

Effective NEO NPC technology implementation might need a large amount of technological know-how and funding. For voice synthesis algorithms to generate speech that sounds natural in a variety of languages, accents, and emotions, they must be continuously improved.

Acceptance by Customers

When it comes to voice acting and NPC interactions, players may have different tastes. While some players could enjoy the novelty and ease of synthesized voices, others would value the familiarity and authenticity of human performances. For game producers, striking a balance between these preferences and preserving immersion and engagement may prove to be difficult.

Contrast Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Archive — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 10:24:00 +0000

Over the years, games based on movies have developed a reputation for being notoriously bad, and the same can also be said when the scenario is reversed. But there are a few good ones that manage to slip though the cracks because they have one key element about them that gives them a stronger chance at being good. These games and movies I'm referring to are the ones based on books or comics. They either have more information to use (in the case of video games), or are much more flexible in terms of creative licensing (in the case of movies), but when it comes to graphic novels, reinterpretation can be tricky because visuals are supplied to the reader and it could cause problems if it isn't translated properly for use on the screen. Scott Pilgrim is the rare gem that breaks this trend as both the game and movie adaptations of the graphic novel they are based on are fantastic in their own right and I am going to cover each one in this comparative review.

Scott Pilgrim Graphic Novel

Released between the years of 2004 and 2010, this six part series tells the story of Scott Pilgrim, a lazy 23-year-old living in Toronto, Canada in a small flat primarily owned by his gay roommate Wallace Wells. In his spare time, Scott plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-omb with his friends Steven Stills (on guitar) and Kim Pine (on drums), or will go on a date with his 17-year-old girlfriend Knives Chau. Everything goes relatively smoothly for him until he sees a mysterious girl from his dreams appear in his life for real which he then seeks her out and attempts to get to know her. Shortly after he finds out that her name is Ramona Flowers, the two begin dating which prompts an unusual circumstance where if he wants to continue dating her, he needs to fight and defeat all seven of her evil exes. Now this kind of story can't really be played out too well without the visuals that were generously provided by the series author and illustrator, Bryan Lee O'Malley. There is action, romance, humor and many video game references. And the internal struggle Scott experiences when dealing with not only Ramona's exes, but also his own arises, it makes you feel a unusual combination of both disgust and pity for him. It's very much a metaphor for how many relationships have emotional baggage that needs to be dealt with before you can truly grow as a person and accept that some things are just out of your control (at least, that's what I got from it). A very good read and it can be knocked out in just a day if you have nothing to do.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Film)

Now unlike the books, the movie is altered a bit due to the fact that filming started before the books were finished being written. As such, some characters toward the second half of the film have different back stories and some plot elements were removed in favor of a battle of the bands style story. But at most, this only diminished the quality just slightly as the modified story is still very good and the scenes mirror many events in the novels up to the end of book four. Now while most of the movie follows the plot of the novels very well, many scenes were moved around to improve the flow of the story, but the visuals remain extremely faithful as it looks like they were lifted from the books themselves. Even if some of it seems a little out of place after reading the novels, it is still an engaging movie to experience and a lot of fun to watch as Michael Cera plays the role of Scott very well. This is a great film for movie night.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game

Now this is where things get interesting. The game adaptation of the novels was made to promote the film and was released around the same time the film was released to theaters. The game on the other hand, follows the books much more closely likely due to direct influence of the series author. The game is an arcade style RPG beat-em-up for up to four players, in which you can play as Scott, Kim, Steven or Ramona in a quest to defeat Ramona's seven evil exes. The game is mostly modeled in the same vein as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons Game, but is also influenced by River City Ransom as many of the actions you can perform, such as lifting and throwing downed enemies, and buying healing items and power ups from shops, can also be done. The gameplay can be a bit chaotic with four players on the screen at once, but to me, that just adds to the insanity that this game offers. Like most games with RPG elements, the more you fight, the more experience you get toward leveling up which grants new skills and powers at each level until you max out at sixteen. The game's graphics are outstanding; it is done in a style reminiscent of 16-bit and 32-bit games and was done mostly by Paul Robertson who is known for the animations Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 and Kings of Power 4Billion%. The music is fantastic too; all of the songs in the game are composed by chiptune rock band Anamanaguchi and it fits the style of the game extremely well. Everything about this game just meshes so well with everything else that's in it. My only real gripes about it are that it is a little short, it is a little repetitive and you can't play online until you buy the DLC for it and even then it can only be someone from your fiends list. Still, this is a great game and it is even more fun to play with friends.

Well, that's all I can say about this. If you wish to buy the books or the movie, you can get them from Amazon for pretty reasonable prices and if you wish to buy the game, you can download it to the PS3 and XB360 for about $15USD. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Graphic Novel Score:

Film Score:

Game Score:

Tom Clancy's The Division Beta - Preview

Archive — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 07:20:00 +0000

After many delays since its announcement in 2013, January 28th to February 2nd, people who pre-ordered The Division (or some lucky individuals that were on a long waiting list) got access to a closed beta for The Division. As this is a beta, it is entirely possible that any and all grievances or admirations can be changed. The version of the beta I got to play was on Xbox One.

Let's get the obvious out of the way. Yes, the graphics have had a bit of a downgrading since The Division's initial reveal. This is unfortunate, but I suppose it's to be expected considering the developer/publisher. Besides this, the graphics actually were still quite impressive. The Division really benefits from having a day/night cycle and this is mostly evident during nights and early morning.

As the sun rises, sun rays pour out from between buildings and, at night, snowflakes begin to fall and even a small blizzard will sometimes roll in. Although, it's still a shame to think that the graphics could have been much better if there wasn't a downgrade.

Textures are a bit of another story. Character models are decent, and textures on clothing look good, but environment textures all look flat and dull. And, besides sun rays in the morning and headlights in blizzards, the lighting is pretty flat overall. It's as if more work was centered around one aspect of graphics than others. There also appears to be a character customization feature allowing the player to create his or her's desired face, but the beta limited this into a few default choices for male or female.

Some of you may roll your eyes when I say that The Division is a cover based shooter, and that's understandable. The cover based shooting is, admittedly, rather dull. There's a lot of cover so you can flank and get around the enemy, but all encounters are usually the same. Run up to a group of enemies, take cover, shoot, change cover, shoot, win, repeat. It's standard and doesn't do anything to reinvent the wheel of this sort of gameplay, but there is one flaw that ultimately hurts the entire side of gameplay.

You can not crouch or go prone in The Division. This is absolutely unacceptable for a game that touts itself as a more tactical focused shooter. Without crouching, stealth is no longer an option (even though you can still equip your guns with suppressors) and it's too difficult to coordinate a team that can only stand around and get shot unless they tap 'A' to take cover. Perhaps not being able to go prone is acceptable, because not all third person shooters let you do this, but not being able to crouch is not.

As well as being able to take cover, you can also climb on top of cars and other large objects to shoot down at enemies, but you'll just be standing on top of said object looking like an easy target since you can't crouch or go prone. Just don't expect the tacticality and player interaction that can be found in other Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.

Something that surprised me right off the bat is that guns have actually weight to them. It didn't feel like pulling the trigger on cap guns. Weapons also sounded fairly accurate as well. The Division also claims to be both an MMO and an RPG. Both of these elements are really simplified. You can team up with a small group of players, but you won't see huge groups of people like you would in other MMO's like WoW. The Division does have RPG elements. You can choose perks from three different tiers, but it's very simple. Almost to a negative point.

The Division is also loot based. Meaning that enemies will drop weapons and items. In the PVE (player vs enemy) areas, enemies won't always drop worthwhile loot. You will have to go into the PVP (player vs player) area known as "The Dark Zone" to get good loot. Inside The Dark Zone, you have a completely new level system and a brand new form of currency to use at Dark Zone vendors. The Dark Zone is actually pretty interesting. You can either choose to team up with other players to hunt down enemy NPCs and get loot from them, or you can choose to either go solo or team up to kill other players to steal their loot. The only catch is that the loot is infected with a virus so you have to call an extracting helicopter to take your loot from you whilst in The Dark Zone. You are a huge target while waiting for it.

Like previously stated, all grievances and admirations can all be changed in The Division's official release on March 8th. Yet, overall, The Division still hooked me and got me very excited to play it when it finally is released. Some things like not being able to crouch and go prone are borderline unacceptable, but here's hoping that is fixed for it's release. Let's just hope that The Division is worth the long wait from it's 2013 announcement in March 2016.

50 Haiku for my Top 50 Favorite Video Game Series

Archive — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 07:36:00 +0000

It's that time again! That's right everyone, I've reached article number 50 since I started writing here. And if my calculations are correct, then this will double as the site's 200th article as well. DOUBLE KILL! To be honest, I've actually been planning this article for months. I've been meticulously compiling my Top 50 favorite video game series and writing a little haiku that I believe sums up what I feel about each one. So, without further ado, here's 50 haiku for my fop 50 favorite video game series.

Animal Crossing

Banjo-Kazooie

Bayonetta

BioShock

Castlevania

Chibi-Robo

Crash Bandicoot

Donkey Kong

Doom

Final Fantasy

Fire Emblem

F-Zero

Game & Watch

God of War

Golden Sun

Halo

Jak & Daxter

Katamari Damacy

Kid Icarus

Kirby

The Legend of Zelda

Mario Kart

Mario Party

Mass Effect

Mega Man

Metal Gear Solid

Metroid

Monster Hunter

Mortal Kombat

Mother/EarthBound

Okami

Pac-Man

Phoenix Wright

Pikmin

Pokemon

Professor Layton

Punch-Out!!

Ratchet & Clank

Rayman

Rhythm Heaven

Shantae

Sly Cooper

Sonic the Hedgehog

Spyro the Dragon

Star Fox

Super Mario Bros

Super Smash Bros

Tetris

Warioware

Yoshi's Island

Thanks once again for your continued support and I hope you all will still be reading my articles even after I reach 100. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of E3 2018

Archive — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:12:00 +0000

I know I usually do a recap of Nintendo's E3 Direct and press conference for E3 every year, but this time I'm going to do something a little bit different. Since I saw the majority of conferences this time instead of Nintendo's by itself, I'm instead going to list off my top 10 games and add-on expansions that were shown or revealed at E3 that I'm most excited for. So let's get started.

Cyberpunk 2077

I love me some good old-fashioned Sci-Fi, but if there is one thing that I need in order to get REALLY invested in it, it is aesthetic. Cue Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red; when I first saw the game, I was not expecting an 80's punk rock style RPG mixed in with shooting elements. But in all honesty, I didn't know what to expect since this is my first experience with this game. If the immense praise that The Witcher 3 got is any indication of this game's quality, then I'm sure to pick this game up on day one, assuming I have the cash.

Kingdom Hearts III

The epic conclusion to one of the most beloved crossover game series of all time, Kingdom Hearts III by Square Enix and Disney is sure to sell like hotcakes. I have played a few games in this series and I've tried to make heads or tails of the overly convoluted plot, but to no avail. Hopefully this game will tie up some much needed loose ends so we can finally get the closure we've all been waiting for this January.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas

If any of you were hoping for anything to fill that Star Fox shaped void in your life, this game might be able to pull that off. Starlink from Ubisoft is an open-space adventure game mixed with Star Fox style dogfights and a toys-to-life-based vehicle customization, but thankfully the game does not require the use of the figures to unlock everything. They still look quite nice though and with the Switch version having Star Fox exclusive content, you might actually want to plunk down the $75 for the game's starter edition this October.

Cuphead: The Delicious Final Course

I LOVE Cuphead; everything from its gameplay, music, and art style has proven to me that classic animation is not dead. So imagine how elated I was when the trailer for the game's DLC dropped. The fact that we're getting a FULL new island with new weapons, bosses and a new playable character just shows that this game is a labor of love that deserves every dollar thrown at it. For me, 2019 can't come soon enough.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

I may not be a big fan of the Dark Souls series, but I love Bloodborne. Yes its difficulty is more forgiving than Dark Souls, but I was more drawn in by the setting and atmosphere than anything else. To me, dark medieval fantasy has been played to death, so the Victorian era horror that Bloodborne offered was a breath of fresh air. Hopefully the feudal Japanese theme that Sekiro will offer will do the same thing that Bloodborne did for me, plus I'm really looking forward to using that multipurpose prosthetic limb that the main character has.

Devil May Cry 5

I have a confession to make: I have only really gotten into one game in this series, and it was the DMC reboot by Team Ninja Theory. I'm not sure what the general consensus is regarding that game, but I had a lot of fun playing it; it reminded me a lot of Bayonetta in its presentation. Now I know that Team Ninja Theory isn't working on the latest installment in this series, but considering how similar the gameplay looks I'm sure that I'll have just as much fun, if not more.

Spider-Man

This is a bit of a big hurdle for me. On the one hand it's Spider-Man; a comic book series that I have loved since I was a child, but on the other hand it's a licensed game; a mark that usually doesn't bode well with me as most licensed games never really do too well, but damn does this game look GOOD. Insomniac did a fantastic job in capturing the look and feel of the Spider-Man comics and the updated costumes of the villains in this game look amazing. I also love that the game has heavy stealth elements and the combat makes use of the environment. I may have to bite the bullet and buy this game because it is starting to make me think that maybe licensed games now have a chance at being genuinely good.

Babylon's Fall

Very little was shown about this game other than some of the game's backstory and the developer behind it, Platinum Games, but considering that Platinum is the same company that has given us Bayonetta, Vanquish, Nier: Automata, and The Wonderful 101, I am more than certain that this game will be a great, fast-paced, high-fantasy action game. I'll be sure to get this game day one as well, once again assuming I have the cash.

Doom Eternal

Doom 2016 was a great way to breathe life back into a mostly dead game genre, arcade style FPS, and now that the game is getting a sequel, I can only hope for one thing with the new entry: More of EVERYTHING. I want to see more weapons, more gore, more demon types, more locations, and most importantly more insanity. Only time will tell, but if the previous game is any indication, I could see the Doom Slayer getting revenge on Samuel Hayden for trapping him back in Hell.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

As if this was even a surprise. I can't wait for this game and so far the only things we know about it is that it has over 65 characters, over 80 stages, every character from the previous 4 and half games will make a return plus Inkling, Daisy and Ridley, 8-Player smash will make a return, several characters had some major tweaks to their movesets, many final smashes were overhauled to speed up the fights, and some new items, pokemon and assist trophies will make their debut in this entry. Besides amiibo support, we don't even know anything about any side modes, collectibles, or single-player stuff and I'm STILL excited. December 7th will be marked on my calendar, and I will be waiting.

So that's my list. I am likely going to go broke in the coming year or so trying to get all of the games I'm most excited for, and I only listed my top 10 here; there are many more that were shown at E3 that are now on my wish list. I just hope I'll be able to at least get the ones listed here, but until then, I'll be seeing you.