With development time peaking out these days, Nintendo has made an attempt to lessen the learning curve. Teaming up with AiLive, they have implemented dev software called LiveMove, that lets the Wii devkits "learn" repeated gestures with the Wiimote. This is preferable to hacking all the code from scratch, so smaller development houses can make games on a smaller time table.
Nintendo and AiLive Inc. announce
the immediate availability of LiveMove, a groundbreaking Artificial
Intelligence product, that enables the Wii Remote(TM) to learn.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061011/LAW104LOGO )
Instead of complicated programming, developers need only take a few
minutes to train the Wii Remote by examples. LiveMove lets developers focus
directly on creative work without the burden of onerous coding requirements,
helping them quickly unleash the potential of Wii(TM). The only limitation is
the game creator's imagination.
"The Wii coupled with AiLive LiveMove will usher in a new era of natural
game control," commented AiLive Chairman Dr. Wei Yen. "Powered by AiLive's
patented Context Learning, LiveMove will allow the game industry to move away
from indirect digital control to more natural analog control for the first
time."
"In early 2006, I challenged Dr. Wei Yen and his AI scientists to develop
AIware for the Wii Remote. When Nintendo's development teams saw LiveMove, we
instantly recognized how it would greatly increase our ability to explore and
experiment with new concepts and make our lives easier," says Genyo Takeda,
Senior Managing Director/General Manager of Integrated Research & Development
Division, Nintendo Co., Ltd. "This revolutionary tool liberates the
imaginations of game creators. We are more than happy to share this
collaborative LiveMove tool with independent Wii software developers all over
the world. From a cowboy's lasso to a samurai's sword or a chef's cooking
utensils, we just can't wait to play the developers' new, 'unexpected'
applications."
LiveMove is currently available exclusively to Wii developers and priced
at a mass-adoption license fee of $2,500 per seat. Tutorials and demos will
be offered by AiLive. For detailed information about LiveMove, visit AiLive's
website at www.AiLive.net.
About AiLive:
A leader in Artificial Intelligence for entertainment, AiLive's vision of
video games is natural engagement and personalization through player
participation. AiLive Inc. was founded in 2000 in Palo Alto, California, by a
unique, world-class team of scientists across various disciplines of
Artificial Intelligence.
About Nintendo:
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and
software for its Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo
GameCube(TM) systems, and upcoming Wii(TM) console. Since 1983, Nintendo has
sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 375 million hardware units
globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R),
Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of
America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's
operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo,
visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.
