In adaptive gaming, game plays you!

I read an article in New Scientist last week about adaptive gaming - a technology that allows the game to figure out what kind player you are, and adapt the game play to be more fun for you. So if you, for instance, love killing zombies, but hate timed puzzles, the game figures this out based on your fail rates and give you more zombies and less timed puzzles.

An excerpt:

To investigate the idea, the researchers altered the game Super Mario Bros, varying parameters such as the number and type of enemies and the size of gaps between platforms in response to how the players fared. The game also records a player's moves, including how often they run and jump, and the time spent standing still.

...

Some early results appear obvious. "If you die by falling too often down gaps that is indicative of frustration," says Yannakakis. However, the approach goes beyond "common sense" associations to uncover those that are not so readily apparent, he says. In Super Mario Bros, for example, hitting bricks to release coins or stomping turtle shells and throwing them - activities not necessary to accomplish the overall goal - positively correlate with a fun experience, Togelius says.

While Super Mario Bros is an awesome game and a classic, it's not exactly Bioshock or Fallout 3. In a way, games like Fallout 3 have already been doing this for years, by letting you play the game the way you want. You like blowing shit up? Up your explosives skill and blow some shit up. You like puzzles? Up your security skill and start hacking. Even whole levels can change based on your actions, like in Fable 2, but the game never takes into consideration what you think is more fun. If it did, would the game be as good?

Or maybe the more important question is, how could this technology be used to make games (and maybe other things) better? Letting people who avoid challenges keep avoiding challenges doesn't help them, and it definitely doesn't keep them interested for long. The main benefit seems to be in keeping people who suck at games from getting frustrated and quitting. More easy stuff might equal more sales within a certain market segment, but would it make for a more enriching and memorable user experience? I don't think so.

The only way this technology benefits the user is if it finds out what she enjoys, then makes that aspect of the game progressively harder. Then she ends up being really good at something she likes doing. The applications go well beyond games.

Update: You can play the experimental Super Mario Bros game yourself here. Thanks to Fast Company for digging up the link!