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From the DBP Site:

artificial intelligence noun: the capability of a machine to
perform functions that are normally associated with human intelligence, such as reasoning and optimization through experience
[Abbreviation : AI]

Push the limits of Artificial Intelligence while building a game with XNA
Game Studio 2.0. Create a new and innovative use of Artificial
Intelligence in a game and you could win the opportunity to
interview for at an internship with Microsoft Research, Rare Ltd
or Lionhead Studios. Review the Official Rules for more details.

Just as a thought exercise, I went to the Wikipedia entry for Game AI.  I made a (very) rough list of AI concepts in the order in which that wiki entry introduces them in.

• enemy movement based on stored patterns.
• enemy movement based on hash of human input for more randomization
• different personalities for enemies (chase, evade, random, cut off @ pass)
• Tunable AI for user controllable experience
• Pathfinding
• FSM for many actors
• Neural Network
• Evaluation of player action
• Environmental awareness (cover, getting dead mate’s weapons)
• AI Team cooperation
• Information Suppression (no cheating)

It seems to me that either you’re going to be “pushing the limits of AI”, or you’ll be “creating a new and innovating use of AI”.  Unfortunately, I know that I won’t have time to participate in this contest. However, I urge all you would-be participants to look at the list above and ask yourself if you’re going to try to come up with a new technique altogether, or simply a creative composition of the above to come up with something new and fresh.

Good Luck!

The last one resulted in a huge number of pretty awesome games.  I noticed that as a result of that contest, the topics on the XNA forums became very deep and technical.  And the games that resulted were pretty awesome:
http://www.dreambuildplay.com

Can’t wait to see what comes out of this one

In case you hadn’t heard already:
http://creators.xna.com/beta/betahome.aspx

Definitely looking forward to checking out the new “Net Rumble” starter kit … which showcases some of the new multiplayer APIs.

Well done, if Microsoft’s plan of indoctrinating new game developers “when they’re young” (so to speak) works out, these guys are positioned to really take advantage of that. By choosing to ally themselves with XNA, these guys will just naturally choose to license the full XSI tool when they go pro.

Smart. Real Smart.

I plan on taking a look at this when I get a bit more time … hopefully it’s as easy to use as Wings3D. And it apparently has animation support too

With the Xbox Live APIs being exposed in XNA 2.0, one must start to think about how to use them. One idea I had that would most certainly never be green-lit by a risk averse publisher is for what would best be described as a party game with a focus on team collaboration.

Since the XBox Live APIs are going to let you have a mixture of local and network players in a given game session, the idea is to have multiple XBoxes (at least two) taking part. One team of four would be on one xbox, while the opposing team is on the other.

Team Collaboration

Ever since I played Battlefield 1942, I’ve been enamored with multiplayer collaboration. The fact that it is possible for a well organized team in that game to mount a calculated assault and totally own the enemy is very exciting. Of course, notice I said “it is possible” … I’ve never actually been in an online game where there was any level of organization

This is why I’d like to develop something where the collaboration must occur with people physically on the same box … kinda like when the power rangers form up the megazord and they’re all in the same “room” (does each one control a limb or something? ). Or perhaps how everyone has a role on the bridge of the enterprise.

Obviously, none of this gibberish that I’ve written has much depth … these are all just ideas that I’d love to explore. I don’t expect it to have mass appeal, because you’d have to have a fairly large group to play it (8 at least) physically in the same location. But that’s the great thing about XNA … one can create things that don’t have all of these expectations of ROI.

I’m finally thinking about upgrading my mizzouse from the aging logitech trackball I’ve been using. It only has two buttons so it’s not usable for any sort of 3d modelling … anyone out there in intarweb-land have any suggestions for trackball suitable for game development?