July 06, 2006

• It sure looks like he's playing, but he might just be randomly moving the joystick around. Old games like pacman and space invaders let you get awfully far doing that. The cuts make it particularly hard to tell.
• Given that Bonobos have been doing far more complex tests than this under scientific supervision for quite some time involving touch screens, cued test responses & symbol recognition, I think that it's not unbelievable that the ape is really playing the game. Albeit badly. Whether it conceptualises what it is doing in the way we do, is entirely another matter.
• Where does he keep his quarters? /I mean, no pockets. //Ass quarters?! /I'm just saying, is all.
• Aw maaaaaan! That monkey's always on that game, man! *waits, sulkily*
• I feel cheated. When I read "Bonobo" I was expecting a two-player game betwenn Bono Vox and Bo Bice.
• What is that research for? Do they want to find the culprit for the hedonistic attitude of those monkeys?
• You're probably right Chyren. If so, it's pretty impressive since there's really quite a lot going on in pacman: you've got the maze, the change of state, different kind of pills to eat, and the scrolling. All pretty complicated things to deal with. I'll be most impressed when I seem him use memorized patterns! Wonder how he'd do at Tetris?
• Apes playing videogames? What's next? Monkeys filtering the internet?
• That is illogical.
• Pac-man didn't scroll, did it? At least not until Super Pac-Man or Pac-Land... Remember when Scholastic could make money putting out books with "Winning Pac-Man Patterns" in them? Man, I wanted to get one of those, but in a choice between that and The Monkey's Paw, I ended up choosing getting the crap scared out of me. I stand by my decision. But now, the monkey's paw controls the Pac-Man! Spooooooooky.
• Ms. Pacman scrolls (that's what he's playing). Ms. Pac-man is a much much MUCH better game than Pac-man. Maps change, ghosts are smarter, and speeds are faster and more natural. The chimp wants to constantly eat the ghosts. He'd do much better (and prolly have more fun) with a modified game of pacman, where the sole objective is to chase the ghosts constantly.
• Is it really a bonobo? I doubt that it is since it isn't engaging in some sort of sexual behavior. On the subject of bonobo sex, check out the funniest FAQ ever where the zoo tries to sound professional when they are basically saying that bonobos have lots and lots of sex.
• Flagpole wrote: "What is that research for? Do they want to find the culprit for the hedonistic attitude of those monkeys?" No. This was funded by Blizzard. Apes would be cheaper than human beta testers. They start 'em on Ms. Pac-Man, then move them gradually up through Super Mario Bros and next thing you know they're whipping your ass on World of Warcraft.
• From jccalhoun's link: "Any erotic behavior employed by man is also used by bonobos" Why, what a bunch of preverts! "Bonobos believe in "make love, not war." ... "How intelligent are bonobos? Without going into a lot of detail defining intelligence in ape terms, suffice it to say that bonobos are very intelligent." Indeed. If only our own society defused all conflicts via sex instead of power... Guess it would be just the same. But ah, what fun!
• I'd like to see him play Defender.
• Aren't bonobos the closest to humans, genetically? That would account for the mutual obsession with sex.
• I think I'm in love.
• Musical ability of bonobos on older thread. Best bonobo recreations link, as originally delivered by Wolof, here.
• *loads up "Leisure Suit Larry" for Mr. Tickles*
• Sure he can play Ms. Pac-man, just not very well.
• The ape appears to be able to navigate the maze, chase ghosts, and seemingly follow the pellets to eat up - which is pretty awesome. However, if you listen, it cannot distinguish the effect of eating a super-pellet - instead, it appears to actually be responding to the instructor's commands to 'eat the ghosts' and 'run away'.
• Team: Chimps May Have Used Stone Hammers
• And who would blame them?