AI Advancement

In the KiShin Electronics Headquarters in Toshima Ward, and in the workspace of the employees, most of them were working seriously, but some of them were secretly reading the professional review of the "Silent Hill" in a magazine.

Okazaki Masanori, reading the magazine, couldn't help but smile. He has been one of the team members who worked on the video game "Silent Hill".

Although he is just one of the many programmers of the game, it felt like it also gave Masanori a sense of achievement.

At the same time, while he was working on the "Silent Hill" project, he was fortunate enough to meet the man of miracle, Shinro Suzuki.

Masanori really admired the man. Although he is just as old as Shinro Suzuki, he was not jealous, but maybe a bit envious, but he never thought badly of the Chairman.

Shinro Suzuki was the miracle man of the video game industry, and Masanori, who became a fan of video games, admired Shinro Suzuki for quite a long time.

Although there is a little doubt in his mind whether Shinro Suzuki was really the man Masanori thought him to be, that doubt disappeared after Masanori met the man himself during the production of the video game "Silent Hill".

During the production of the video game "Silent Hill," the developers encountered a challenge with pre-rendered backgrounds. The buildings and structures were not loading quickly during testing.

However, Shinro Suzuki stepped in to address the issue, and Masanori witnessed the solution. Suzuki suggested adding a foggy effect to the pre-rendered background, resolving the problem of slow loading without much deliberation.

The game developers agreed with Chairman Shinro, and after implementing the fog effect, the pre-rendered background ceased to be a significant issue. As a result, players immersed themselves in the illusion that the in-game character explored surroundings surrounded by buildings and structures—an effect achieved through perception.

Moreover, the foggy effect heightened the game's spookiness, enhancing the horror experience in this horror video game.

Due to the illusion of buildings and structures in the pre-rendered background of the video game "Silent Hill," many magazine reviews praised the graphics. They overlooked the foggy effect responsible for this illusion, instead commending the added touch of horror it brought to gamers playing "Silent Hill."

The gameplay of "Silent Hill" also garnered high praise, and Masanori felt acknowledged for his contribution as a programmer.

In fact, Masanori wasn't the only one secretly reading magazine reviews of the video games they had programmed; some other programmers also indulged during their free time.

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The "Silent Hill" video game received acclaim, as did the game "Religion of Nightmares" from Tora-Suzuki. Although Tora-Suzuki still trailed behind, they were gradually trying to catch up.

Some fans of Tora and Suzuki missed the days when the two companies competed in the video game industry.

The two competitions, seemingly in a ring, exchanging blows with funny commercials making fun of each other, were dearly missed by Tora and Suzuki fans.

Although Tora and Suzuki still used funny commercials to mock their competitor, the focus shifted. The gun was no longer aimed at each other; instead, they formed an alliance, directing their humor towards KiShin in their commercials.

However, with KiShin's evident dominance in the video games industry, the rivalry wasn't as enjoyable for Tora and Suzuki fans, given their clear disadvantage.

Regardless, many gamers found amusement in the spectacle of two large corporations attacking a smaller one, yet still unable to secure victory.

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Meanwhile, Tora-Suzuki and other video game entertainment companies analyzed games like "Metal Gear Solid I" and "Silent Hill" and noticed the innovative use of AI in these video games.

While the use of simple AI in video games began in the 1960s, as seen in arcade games like Pong and others,

Pong, an early video game, employed this early AI and played a significant role in steering the computer industry toward AI research.

During the period of 1990-1995, video games extensively integrated simple AI, particularly in aspects like enemy finding and pathfinding. Early AI primarily focused on basic enemy behavior, such as patrolling maze-like levels or chasing the player in simple patterns. Games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders from KiShin utilized these techniques to create challenging and dynamic enemy interactions.

Additionally, AI played a crucial role in the adaptive difficulty of video games. Some games utilized AI to adjust difficulty according to player performance, making enemies faster or more aggressive as the player progressed, providing a sense of learning and challenge.

The majority of video games, whether designed for consoles or computers, incorporated AI.

It's evident how pivotal AI technologies are in the video games industry, and more broadly, in almost every sector relying on computers and related technologies.

The AI techniques employed in the latest KiShin video games greatly impressed other video game entertainment companies, showcasing KiShin's innovations in the video game industry.

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While other companies marveled at the AI in the latest KiShin video games, Shin pondered deeply while playing chess on his office computer.

As of 1995, the chess AI was not as advanced as in his previous life, yet Shin was aware that, in terms of AI development, IBM currently held the leading position.

During this period, IBM possessed a technology called "Deep Blue," initially known as "Deep Thoughts." In 1995, the Deep Blue prototype participated in the eighth World Computer Chess Championship. In just about a year or so, Deep Blue would go on to challenge various chess professionals, including the world champion, Garry Kasparov.