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Lucas talks about game AI

"Nooooooooooooooo!"

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

Star Wars creator George Lucas gave the keynote speech earlier this week at annual computer graphics and interactive entertainment expo SIGGRAPH and expressed his desire for improved artificial intelligence in games.

Talking at his "Q&A with the Father of Digital Cinema" section of the conference in Los Angeles, Lucas announced he intends to get more involved with his company's videogame division, LucasArts. Although often criticised for his dialogue and characters in films, the movie-maker said that he wants artificial intelligence and speech recognition to improve "to a point where you can talk to the game and it will talk back."

Reuters reports he went on to state his hopes for the improvement of storytelling through increased AI, with an example made in what he wishes to be an evolution of the first-person shooter genre into "intelligent and challenging first-person shooter-type dramas."

The next title to come from LucasArts will be Star Wars Battlefront II, launching on PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and Xbox this November. The company recently announced plans to increase its game production staff from 60-70 to around 150 and broaden its title range to encompass less Star Wars related videogames.

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