A machine learning animation technology from the same creator whose work was infamously shot down by Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki in a viral video almost 10 years ago, will be used in a new evolution/god-sim game coming out next week.
As spotted by Video Games Chronicle, Anlife: Motion-Learning Life Evolution will release on Steam on February 12. Describing itself as a “relaxing evolution simulation,” Anlife features a lush green world inhabited by monocolored creatures made up of blocks. These AI-driven creatures use machine learning to work out how to navigate and move around their environment. As a God-like overseer, the player can choose to merely watch or lend a hand to these struggling creatures as they learn how to move. Alternatively, you can rain down destruction with meteor showers.
The company behind Anlife is Japanese start-up Attructure. The CEO of Attructure, Masayoshi Nakamura, first started developing the technology behind the game back when he was a graduate student in 2009. According to Attructure’s Anlife website, a related simulator that Nakamura was working on was picked up by Japanese telecom company Dwango (operator of Niconico Douga, Japan’s YouTube), and was redeveloped into a different concept. This is what ended up being presented to Hayao Miyazaki by Dwango’s CEO Nobuo Kawakami on Japanese TV in 2016, in what would become a viral video.
“I strongly feel that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an insult to life itself.”
— Hayao Miyazaki pic.twitter.com/QzxPpfVDst
— DepressedBergman (@DannyDrinksWine) July 17, 2024
The example presented to Miyazaki showed deformed, humanoid models moving awkwardly around. Dwango’s CEO explained how the creatures used machine learning to work out how to navigate the environment instead of having an animator animate them, suggesting such technology could work well for a zombie game. Far from being impressed by the demo, the Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro director considered the animations insulting to his disabled friend. “Thinking of him, I can’t watch this and find it interesting,” he explained, going on to say that, “I would never think to incorporate this technology into my work,” concluding that it was “an insult to life itself.”
“Miyazaki’s words were very impactful.” Anlife creator Masayoshi Nakamura explained in a 2018 video interview. “In truth, I wanted to create life being lived within a simulation. But as a by-product of this, there was a version which used zombies. There are many people who found the zombies’ movements disgusting. Even when I showed it to various people, there were some who found the zombies’ movements disgusting or found their appearance scary. However, the majority of people would not associate that with ‘life’. I was really surprised that (Miyazaki) perceived the zombies in the video as (an insult to) life.”
The upcoming game Anlife has opted for colorful, blocky creatures instead of humanoid characters. “Life on Earth has evolved through mechanisms like genetics and natural selection. Our challenge is to recreate this profound process in digital space and give birth to new forms of life,” Anlife’s homepage explains.
Reactions to Anlife on Japanese social media have been mostly positive, with users curious about the new game and the possibilities of the technology. Others expressed relief that the developer was able to keep going despite the criticism the related simulator got from Hayao Miyazaki. “I think if it had had cute creatures like this from the start, Hayao Miyazaki wouldn’t have got angry,” opined one user.
Over on X, Anlife creator Masayoshi Nakamura mentions that at the moment, the creatures in the game are only capable of learning movements with the goal of reaching food. The creatures that succeed will survive to reproduce and pass on their traits, meaning that their bodies will gradually change shape over generations. Nakamura adds that he was inspired by Peter Molyneux’s games (like Populous, and Black and White).
“The main point of Anlife was having the AI learn on its own, something that at present is technically quite difficult to achieve.” Nakamura explains, but he has high hopes that AI-driven machine learning will be capable of creating even more complex unique experiences in future games. Although Anlife (in its current state) features fairly basic evolution, Nakamura hopes that cutting-edge machine learning technology may eventually enable such in-game creatures to autonomously evolve themselves all the way from learning how to move to eventually “creating something like a civilization.”
Photo by KATSUMI KASAHARA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
