We know that you spent hours on Wind Waker's Outset Island terrorising the little piggies that roamed freely around the place. We know that you chucked them in the ocean, and off cliffs. We saw everything. Well, the pigs are about to get their revenge, because scientists taught them how to play video games.
Scientist researchers at Pennsylvania State University just completed a study in which they wanted to figure out if pigs could be successfully taught to play games, through reward-oriented tasks.
Don't worry, the pigs aren't coming for your Fortnite trophies just yet - they were given a special, very basic video game to play, called SIDE. All they had to do was nudge a joystick with their snouts, in order to get the cursor to touch the edge of the screen. Once they did, the computer would go "bloop" (the scientific term, of course) and the pigs would receive a dog food pellet, as well as praise from their handler.
The results were mixed. Two of the pigs, named Hamlet and Omelet, were fairly good at it, with 70-78% accuracy on small targets, but they didn't seem to be learning as much as just getting it right by accident. Also, they were taken off the project early because they got too fat.
The other two pigs, Ebony and Ivory, were a little better at some tasks, and a little worse at others. However, they did seem to be learning over time.
The overall conclusion of the pig-game study was that "to some extent, [the pigs] all acquired the association between the joystick and cursor movement", which the researchers note as being "remarkable, and indicative of their behavioural and cognitive flexibility." Although they weren't always very good at it, the results suggest "some level of conceptual acquisition of the task."
Although their performance was worse than rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees, it's worth noting that all the pigs had bad vision, which may account for some of their difficulty in completing the game, as well as having trouble moving the stick and looking at the screen simultaneously. To put it more simply: pigs need hands to be good at video games.
What animals would you like to see playing games? Have you already taught your dog to play Minecraft? Give us your research ideas below.
[source frontiersin.org, via bbc.com]
Comments 40
I feel compelled to comment but I have nothing to say.
I would never eat a pig if he can play video games with me.
I....have nothing to say. I don't know whether I like this or not. On one hand, pigs gaming is pretty hilarious. But on the other hand, Fortnite voice chat is terrible as it is. We don't need to add pigs squealing on top of that.
"Also, they were taken off the project early because they got too fat."
Wow. I don't know why but I feel super called out right now.
We already have pigs playing games. I don't even need to say who it is, we all know somebody that fits the criteria
I'd rather be a pig than a fascist
@PosterBoy I never eat a pig, 'cause a pig is a cop. Jump Around!
So... pigs hoof a hard time moving the joystick in and snout?
Wow I was not expecting to see my Alma mater mentioned on nintendo life today. Usually all the cited research studies are from University of Michigan, or like, Harvard. But no, at PSU we love pigs
They should have given them Psycho Pigs UXB to play, who wants to play "Guide the Cursor".
@Baker1000 Porco Rosso!
e Sports about to get wild
@Baker1000 The Pigs are Fascist
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dlk9PsMESEo
@jump or better yet a Terminator, like Arnold Schwarzenegger
The second pig (the white one) is kind of cute, I know this can't be really seen like that but for some reason he looks like he's having a good time.
Pigs don't get much gammon time but when they do get a chance, they like to play
The Snouter World's
No Man's Sty
WWF No Percy
Rasher Team Racing
Herzog Swine
The pigs are takin' the bacon...
I would never teach a pig to play video games, seems like a weird way to eat bacon.
I have seen cats on youtube beat call of duty. animals are smarter than what we give them credit for.
"Also, they were taken off the project early because they got too fat."
lmao
@OorWullie
Metroink II: Hamus Returns
@Lony85 there’s no such thing as a weird way to eat bacon
@Desrever Good one. I was trying to fit 'oink' into a game title but I couldn't think of anything.
crickets chirping
Just like everyone else here I don't got nonthin to say, just K?
@kategray saw that subheader and thought “only the legendary Kate Gray would think these levels of puns are fine (swine? Porcine?)
Kudos 👑
@jump All Cpigs Are Bgamers
That title is misleading
Gamer Pig.
Gamers can be pigs, yes, that's the furry lifestyle I reckon.
Pigs can be gamers, now that's a different topic. I already knew that pigs have more intelligence than the populance tends to attribute to them and that they are able to understand and play very simple games, but it's good to have some more research and data on the matter. Just for curiosity's sake.
That's a mighty swine observation.
I misunderstood this title. I’m both happy and disappointed it wasn’t about a study claiming that people who game are secretly pigs.
All the ladies in the room be like "I've been playing online with with pigs since dialup, what's special about this?"
@michellelynn0976 That's not surprising. Cats do nothing but think of efficient murder all day long
@PosterBoy That's a great test! 1v1 DM high score or get in my belly!
Well done to all of you for this fantastic comment section 👏
You're all the finest of the swine.
Imagine playing Donkey Kong with Koko the Gorilla. Hopefully she wouldn't go ape sh*t.
pigs can be gamers. fixed it.
@Baker1000
Are those our 2 choices?
@Anti-Matter https://images.app.goo.gl/68iaJhkmjD1u1yDeA
Listen here, I generally don't like to play with my food, and I especially don't like it when my food is playing with me
@NEStalgia Haha! I know.
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