Averaging Gradius: an experiment in stastical analysis
by Christopher Grant 
{ Feb 13th 2006 at 3:30PM }
The New Gamer has a fascinating video, with analysis, of the "averaged gameplay" of fifteen different gamers playing through level one of the classic shmup, Gradius. Why Gradius? Because it's "an auto-scrolling shoot'em up, is programmed so that the stage automatically scrolls at a fixed rate. With the stage constant, that allows us to compare how the player interacts with the AI and how, retroactively, the AI responds to that."
The resulting video (.mov), while providing unique insights into the design of the game, is unexpectedly dazzling to watch, as if Gradius has been reengineered as a light show with the ships dancing in concert.
[Via /.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Seer @ Feb 13th 2006 5:21PM
It's weird, if you look away after watching it for a while, you still have the sensation of lights moving around everywhere (no, I'm not talking about after images). Try it!
Cascador @ Feb 13th 2006 6:36PM
Yeah, got that too after every game of Lumines. It's worse than crack...
C. Grant @ Feb 13th 2006 6:42PM
"This is so old" posts are getting trashed... kidding or not! :)