This is an IGN opinion piece from Mat Jones. He loves weird little guys in video games.
If your social feed is anything like mine, it’s been overtaken by a weird little crocodile man that’s knee-high to a Tauntaun and has an unresolved rage twelve times his size. His name is Biddy Blas, he’s one of Galactic Racer’s supporting cast, and he’s the best new thing to happen to Star Wars since Andor.
Give an AI as long a time as it needs: it couldn’t have made Biddy Blas.
With every new day, the ground underneath video games as a medium, one where professional creatives are valued and capable of negotiating an honest living, feels more and more unstable. Perfectly good studios are shutting in the name of brand restructuring. Electronic component prices have no incentive to reduce. The cost of producing anything is rising due to the precarious supply of energy and the push to end physical ownership. It’s hard to imagine what the future of the medium looks like, regardless of AI’s role to play in it.
But look, I’m not a doomer – games continue to exist in spite of these truths because of the passion of the people involved. They’re also often better than they’ve ever been. Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a highlight for the under-served genre of arcadey high speed racer, with surprisingly in-depth vehicle customisation, heat management and opponent rivalry systems.
It’s hard not to think about how good it is in the context of Epic Games’ apparent push for an "AI first" production model. Such a pivot has reportedly delayed a secret Star Wars and Marvel crossover shooter, which will apparently be developed with AI tools on both the coding and art sides of the project.
I can’t speak to the quality of a supposed game that is an indefinite time away from release, especially one that no one outside of the Epic offices has seen a frame of, but I can’t see this approach being able to emulate Galactic Racer’s secret weapon. For all the arguments of efficiency, accuracy, and speed, I don’t think a Large Language Model has the capability to create a breakout character. AI cannot make a Biddy Blas.
Blas is an icon. He’s the perfect example of what Star Wars fans have dubbed a “Glub Shitto”; not important enough to the narrative to be a main character, but so arresting in their limited screen time that they become your favorite anyway.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/ai-couldnt-have-made-star-wars-galactic-racers-biddy-blas
