Have you ever given thought to Zero-Player Games? Let’s

Information:
Zero-player games are games that have no human players
Wikipedia Entry

Examples:
Progress Quest
NPC Quest
Conway’s Game of Life

Most sports games (i.e. Madden Football) can be used to create CPU vs. CPU matches and are often used to simulate the outcomes of real games.  Fighting games, RTS games, and other games can also be used for this purpose.

Glider, a bot that plays World of Warcraft for you, is also worth mentioning.  Botting, in a sense, is cruise control that plays the game for the user. (When I had an active WoW account, my favorite thing about the game was using my bot to turn WoW into an entertaining screensaver featuring my avatar grinding.)

WarGames is a movie where a zero-player game controls the fate of mankind

Discussion:

• Do you think there is a future for zero-player games?
• What type of zero-player game do you think would be most interesting/marketable/entertaining?
• If you’ve ever “played” a zero-player game before, what did you like/dislike about it?
• Do you think incorporating “cruise-control” into on-line games is a good idea?

How can anybody forget this gem of a commercial from the early nineties? Check it out after the jump!
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Unreal World is an old-school video game that is hard to stop playing once you start. Not to cut the game down at all, but the fact that it produced the “just one more minute” syndrome in me surprised me. The reason it’s surprising is that it is not at all the best looking game.

Unreal World is a graphical RPG with roguelike qualities. The setting is ancient Finland during the late Iron Age. UrW is full of historical atmosphere and emphasises northern folklore, knowledge, and way of life. Best of all, like any other great game UrW gives you freedom to do as you choose; you can become a rough hunter, a brave adventurer, a fisherman, a trapper, etc.

At $4, it’s hard to not recommend this as a lightweight game that is perfect for little sessions on a laptop.

Unreal World Official Site

The U.S. intelligence community is developing software to detect violent extremists in the World of Warcrfaft and other massively multiplayer online games. According to a data-mining report from the Director of National Intelligence, this project, known as the Reynard project, will begin with profiling online gaming behavior. The ultimate goal of the Reynard project is “automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.”

The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are
generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the
emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and
gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned
to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious
behavior and actions in the virtual world.

The report is publicly available, as mandated by Congress. Read the full report in .pdf format.

It’s interesting that Reynard the Fox is a trickster in folklore and literature.

“What would Brian Boitano do
If he was here right now,
He’d make a plan
And he’d follow through,
That’s what Brian Boitano’d do.

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At 17 years old, Bo Burnham is one talented young comedian and another Youtube sensation. Songs like “3.14 Apple Pie” and “Perfect Woman” are freakin’ hilarious. Now, normally I embed the media right to Karmarogue but in this case I am going to give out a link right to Bo’s YouTube homepage because frankly it is worth watching every single video he’s made and will make in the future. If I was a talent scout, I’d be all over this.

Bo Burnham on YouTube

Coast to Coast AM is a great late-night AM talk radio show with an emphasis on the paranormal. And for those that actually don’t know, Half-Life is one of the all-time greatest first-person shooters that has a sci-fi story. If you’re familiar with both, you will laugh your ass off as you hear this phone call in which the caller plays the role of Half-Life’s lead character Gordon Freeman.

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Japan: You are crazy. If I was suddenly able to ignore everything I’ve seen and read about your culture except for that show you did with Nasubi, I’d still think you were fucking crazy.

Never heard of Nasubi? In the name of good television, Nasubi was stripped of all clothing and locked into an apartment with no food, household goods, furniture, or any form of entertainment. Nasubi was led to this apartment with a blindfold on so he would not know where he was. This was just the beginning of the Japanese reality show known as Susunu! Denpa Shōnen.

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If living in a treehouse is not your idea of a good housing arrangement, try living in a garbage truck instead!

Once you see just how nice a garbage truck can be, you may seriously consider selling your home and going with the dumpster style!

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Because living anywhere besides a tree would make you less of a sloth, I proudly present some kick-ass tree houses!

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If you’re like me, and you’ve played a lot of Mario Bros. in your day, and you’ve always wanted to eat a flower to gain the ability to handle a fireball in the palm of your hand, then this is your lucky day. Heck, read on even if you hate Mario Bros. and want to hurl fireballs.

If you follow the simple directions outlined in the following video, you’ll have a fireball in your palm in no time at all.

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A lot of the crazy gadgets you’ll see here at Karma Rogue are not the most practical in the world. This laptop backpack, on the other hand, is another story. Continue on for a picture of the bag and more info!

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There are a lot of motivational articles out there deal with ways to better yourself. With inspiration from a fellow blogger over at The Positivity Blog, allow me to explain how to make yourself absolutely miserable.

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In Tampa, Florida, a 13-year-old girl robbed a Burger King Restaurant at knife point! Fresh out of Juvenile Detention, the girl only made one demand: “Give me a FUCKING cheesburger now!” After chasing an employee into the kitchen with the blade in hand, she was subdued by other employees until the police arrive.

She explained to investigators that she was hungry and wanted a burger. Instead of a burger, this young girl is back in JAC with charges of armed burglary, armed robbery, and violation of home detention.

TampaBays10 Report

With all the wiimote mods coming out nowadays, it was only a matter of time before somebody produced a replica of terrorists’ gun of choice. The AK-47 is probably the most famous weapon the Soviets ever produced. Somewhere along the line they became an icon of terrorists. Now all of you Wii owners out there can play Jihad!

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What’s better than sipping a Gin and Tonic? Inhaling a Gin and Tonic, of course! Behold the Gin and Tonic Fog Room!

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Creating a catchy logo is not every web developer’s strong point. If you are somebody who struggles each time you try to create a logo and you’re sick and tired of reading and watching tutorials, I strongly encourage you to check out the work of Gary Simon. I have worked with him several times over the years and I can honestly say that for the quality, quickness, and small price there is no better place to go. By small price, I’m talking less than $100. If you have ever shopped around before you’ll know damn well that is dirt cheap for a high quality logo.

Get a logo design now from garysimon.net!

Like Mitch Hedberg, Demetri Martin is a funny-as-hell comedian and also spits out random jokes. Unlike Hedberg, Martin is still alive and well and still going at it. One cool thing about Martin is the way he uses guitars, harmonicas, and drawings to present his jokes. If you’ve never heard of Martin, and even if you have, do yourself a favor and continue on for some videos of him doing stand-up like only he can do.

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Mitch Hedberg was one hell of a stand-up comedian who, like many talented entertainers, died far too early at the young age of 37. I’ve realized that many people have not ever heard of him so continue reading for videos of the man in action and for a good laugh from the master of the one-liners.

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The beer experts over at BeerAdvocate are quite a picky bunch when it comes to brew. For some time now, the site’s users have voted and graded all types of beers; from Russian Imperial Stout to American Double, they have judged it all. The results are constantly changing to reflect this democratic list of the top 100 beers and I, for one, am seeking out each and every brewskie on this list to put my two-cents in as well. I’ve tried about 20 so far and, let me tell you, God damn is Russian Imperial Stout strong stuff!

Top Beers on Planet Earth