An AI learning to walk through a Doom-inspired maze by sight is one thing, but how can it handle live multiplayer mayhem? That's what the "Visual Doom AI" competition this September hopes to discover. The first set of matches are limited to a dozen 10-minute rounds on a known map, with only one weapon: the rocket launcher. The AI "controllers" can pick up health packs and ammo, as well, and the winner will be picked by highest kill count.

Via: Popular Science

Source: Visual Doom

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This weekend the NFL Draft will spread across our TVs for three days, along with the continuing NBA and NHL playoffs. Of course, Game of Thrones is back, but on Showtime we also have the excellent Penny Dreadful back for another season (watch the premiere episode here, right now). CBS has the season finale of Limitless, while Netflix offers up the Ricky Gervais film Special Correspondents and the documentary Team Foxcatcher. For gamers, there's a new episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne, and Housemarque (Super Stardust HD, Resogun) is releasing Alienation on PS4. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

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Ubisoft and Patrice Désilets, the creative director of Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2, have reached an agreement that gives Désilets ownership of a mysterious original IP, 1666 Amsterdam. Désilets and Ubisoft have a rocky, winding history: Désilets is recognized as the creator of the studio's most famous franchise, Assassin's Creed, but he left the company in 2010.

Désilets joined THQ Montreal in 2011 where he started work on an original franchise that turned out to be 1666 Amsterdam. However, THQ famously went under in 2012 and sold off its assets in January 2013. The Montreal studio -- complete with 1666, Désilets and all -- was picked up by Ubisoft for $2.5 million. Désilets was right back where he started, but he didn't stay long.

Source: Panache Digital Games

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Australian indie game developer House House announced on Monday that its highly anticipated (and cringe-inducing) sports game, Push Me Pull You, is finally being released for the PlayStation 4 on May 3rd. The game pits two pairs of opposing players in a weird, soccer-ish game where each team is joined at the waist. No, literally, each team operates both ends of a single torso or, as House House describes it, "you and your partner must use a shared body to wrap, writhe, and wrestle the ball into your half of the court." Here, this new gameplay trailer might help explain.

Source: House House (Twitter)

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John Romero and Adrian Carmack helped found id Software in 1991, and by 1993 the studio had changed the video game world forever. That's when id released Doom, a genre-defining first-person shooter, and it was followed by Quake, another classic FPS, in 1996. Today, Romero and Carmack are back with Blackroom, a new FPS set in a future where lifelike holographic reality is the norm, but it's being overrun with sinister visions. The game stars Dr. Santiago Sonora, an engineer at the massive holographic company, Hoxar, as he investigates irregularities in the Blackroom military training system.

Source: Blackroom

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Wireless gamepads for the NES are nothing new (just ask anyone who bought an Akklaim Double Player), but what if you had your pick of controllers? Analogue and 8Bitdo want to make that happen. Their newly launched Retro Receiver lets you use a host of wire-free gamepads with Nintendo's classic console. You'll get the most authentic-feeling experience if you use one of 8Bitdo's peripherals, but the real party trick comes when you bring modern controllers into the fray -- you can use a Wii remote, a Wii U Pro Controller or even Sony's DualShock 3 or 4. Retro Receiver sells for $20, so it might be worth a go if you're determined to play some old-school Legend of Zelda without stringing an original controller across the room.

Source: Analogue

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You've had pretty slim pickings for major movie rentals on Steam (unless you really like Mad Max), but that's changing today. Lionsgate has reached a deal with Valve to put over 100 of its movies on Steam, including flicks you'll definitely recognize -- the Hunger Games, Saw and Twilight movies, for example. Availability might vary where you live, but the prices are at least right. You're usually looking at between $4 to $5 for a 48-hour rental, depending on how big a title you're hoping to watch.

Via: Variety

Source: Steam, Lionsgate (PR Newswire)

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One of Rock Band's biggest draws has always been local multiplayer. When four or five people are in the same room, jamming away on plastic instruments, it's hard not to crack a smile. Of course, it's not always possible to get people together, so developer Harmonix is working on bringing online multiplayer to Rock Band 4. It's due this holiday and will offer a "Quickplay-esque" experience for you and a few friends. So if someone can't make band practice -- or your group is miles apart -- you can still play together and prepare for that all-important reunion gig.

Via: Polygon

Source: Harmonix

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Because when there's VR and cosplay around the corner, a simple gaming keyboard is not going to cut it.

Source: YouTube (Logitech)

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